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Mac Mini with 42" HD Plasma

R

RobTuck

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
119
32
UK
Ive been considering buying a Mac Mini to connect up to my Plasma for a while now. The old mini wouldnt have been able to play HD H.264 files, which was why I held back. The new dual-core mini's should handle them fine.

Although my plasma (Hitachi 42PD7200) is HD Ready, i'd like to make sure I can run the Mini in a HD resolution over DVI. The display supports 720p and 1080i. However, when I connect my powerbook up to it, the display preferences will only allow me to select 1024x768 as the maximum res. With some playing around, I can get it to do 1280x864 (the PowerBooks' native res). Ideally, i'd like to at least run it in 720p (1280x720), although the option to occasionally go to 1080i would be nice. Ive previously been able to get a PC to do this using PowerStrip.

Im expecting the Mac Mini to suffer the same problem, and only allow me to go to 1024x768. Ive tried DisplayConfigX, but this program seems a bit useless for my needs without a registration code, and im not prepared to pay for software if I dont know that it will solve my problem.

Any ideas? Anyone using DisplayConfigX for this scenario?
 
I'm not sure if that's an issue with your Powerbook, but my Macbook can drive a display up to 1080i resolutions. I assume the Mini does as well.
 
The issue isnt that it cant drive a display at that resultion, its that the display isnt identifying that it supports a resultion higher than 1024x768, so the preferences pane is only allowing a max of 1024x768. It can go higher than that, as ive had it running higher, it just needs to be forced on the Mac/PC.
 
RobTuck said:
Ive been considering buying a Mac Mini to connect up to my Plasma for a while now. The old mini wouldnt have been able to play HD H.264 files, which was why I held back. The new dual-core mini's should handle them fine.

Although my plasma (Hitachi 42PD7200) is HD Ready, i'd like to make sure I can run the Mini in a HD resolution over DVI. The display supports 720p and 1080i. However, when I connect my powerbook up to it, the display preferences will only allow me to select 1024x768 as the maximum res. With some playing around, I can get it to do 1280x864 (the PowerBooks' native res). Ideally, i'd like to at least run it in 720p (1280x720), although the option to occasionally go to 1080i would be nice. Ive previously been able to get a PC to do this using PowerStrip.

Im expecting the Mac Mini to suffer the same problem, and only allow me to go to 1024x768. Ive tried DisplayConfigX, but this program seems a bit useless for my needs without a registration code, and im not prepared to pay for software if I dont know that it will solve my problem.

Any ideas? Anyone using DisplayConfigX for this scenario?
Click to expand...

My powerbook can drive my samsung HDTV (LCD) just alright.

However, the problem you have is:

You did mention you have a plasma TV right? For my understanding, unlike LCD TV, any pre-1080p plasma will have a max resolution of 1024x768 (some hitachi ones have resolution of 1024x1024 which is weird), the tv receive the signal, and then convert from 720p or 1080i to 1024x768 or 1024x1024, so that's why your max screen res is 1024x768, also 1024x1024 is such a none standard resolution, so i don't think any computer (graphic card) will support that. But there is a script can make your graphic card to run at 1024x1024, I need to find it tho.

Code: 
-x "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32@85" platform=ACPI or platform=X86PC
 
True, the panel has a hardware resolution of 1024x1024, as its an ALIS panel. However, thats a bit of a red herring. That number really means very little due to it being an ALIS panel.

The panel supports 720p and 1080i, so I am able to send it a 1280x720 signal, or a 1920x1080 signal, and it can handle both. Ive done so in the past using a windows PC. Its just that Mac OS X doesnt give me the option to set the display to these resolutions. For 1080i, I believe the 1920x1080 signal also needs to be at 30Hz.

This is where PowerStrip came into play under windows, as it allows you to configure these kinds of resolutions. I believe DisplayConfigX should allow me to do the same under Mac OS X, but im unable to verify this.
 
-x "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32@85" platform=ACPI or platform=X86PC

try the above code, change mode to whatever you needed. Try it, I am not sure if it will work tho.
 
RobTuck said:
The issue isnt that it cant drive a display at that resultion, its that the display isnt identifying that it supports a resultion higher than 1024x768, so the preferences pane is only allowing a max of 1024x768. It can go higher than that, as ive had it running higher, it just needs to be forced on the Mac/PC.
Click to expand...

Ah. Apologies for misunderstanding the question.
 
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