Displaying Mac/computer on TV

[anxious]

We have decided to try and go away from DirectTV and watch TV through internet and Netflix. I have an Apple Macbook and have the cable to go from the computer to HDMI, however, I cant get the correct setting to display the picture right on the TV. Has anyone had this problem, or know how to get it to display correctly on the TV?

Thanks for helping out the ignorant. :grumble:

 

[ka0tyk]

We have decided to try and go away from DirectTV and watch TV through internet and Netflix. I have an Apple Macbook and have the cable to go from the computer to HDMI, however, I cant get the correct setting to display the picture right on the TV. Has anyone had this problem, or know how to get it to display correctly on the TV?

Thanks for helping out the ignorant. :grumble:

yeah on some TV's you need to adjust the refresh rate and if your TV is 720p, 1080i, or 1080p as well as the resolution.

once its connected and your tv is blinking or looking like crap, go to apple, system pref's, display settings. on the tv that sucks you should see a seperate setting window. make sure everything is set correctly. it might be a little difficult since your TV will probably be blinking or not even displaying correctly.

also a lot of TV's will have an "auto adjust" setting for the picture mode. make sure its HARD SET to 720p, 1080p, 1080i or whatever depending on your TV. a lot of times the laptop is trying to auto detect, the tv is trying to auto detect and neither of them come to a happy decision.

 

[Tom Brown]

Consider going with a pre-integrated solution, like WD TV Live Plus which you just plug in and it already does NetFlix and a bunch of other stuff. I'm pretty sure WDTV Plus does Hulu, too.

These boxes don't cost much anymore.

One thing I'd say about the WDTV Live Plus is, it's not as good as a good quality video card and a computer, at 720p. I understand they are similar quality to a good computer output at 1080p but haven't connected mine to a 1080p TV to test. I've been more concerned with the firmware side of it.

Which reminds me... There is a firmware hack for the WDTV Live Plus that gives it a couple of additional features that a computer nerd like myself thinks are really neat. The average guy probably wouldn't care about them but it's nice to know there is a whole ecosystem of stuff out there, if you ever wish to get carried away with it.

Boxee is pretty good too, as are a couple of other platforms.

Personally, I wouldn't waste a nice Mac on a TV.

 

[rivermobster]

Forget Netflix. Try Amazon's video service. Newer releases, HD and 5.1. Even streams with a fast connection.

I had that blinking deal with Win7 too. Jus had to keep tweaking the settings.

 

[lebel409]

Good info... I'm getting a macbox for the garage...HDMI to my big screen.

I may dump Direct TV if I can get some other options. DTV pissed me off, sold me cable boxes, but won't service/replace them, now they "lease" them after you buy them.

 

[mjc]

I just picked up the cheapest computer i could get(279) plugged it in with an HDMI cable and it came up without having to change any setting. May have to do with never having anything else for a monitor. I also just put a HDTV antenna on the roof and it has a better picture that I ever had with Dish tv.

 

[Nord]

I don't want to threadjack but have a question. I'd like to run a TV in my retail store but don't want to pay for Direct TV. I don't have a Mac. Is there something out there where I can watch sports on TV and maybe something like CMT for my Country store?

Thanks

 

[ka0tyk]

I don't want to threadjack but have a question. I'd like to run a TV in my retail store but don't want to pay for Direct TV. I don't have a Mac. Is there something out there where I can watch sports on TV and maybe something like CMT for my Country store?

Thanks

if you have TV at home you can always run a slingbox at home and it basically streams your home feed into your store when you're there. the only downside is that your home cable/sat box is consumed by streaming and you cant watch anything else at the time... and quality is based on upload speeds, etc.

also keep in mind that dish network has a feature where you can access your DVR content from the internet via phone/browser. but only DVR content not live content.

i think a good idea would be streaming youtube videos from a playlist. theres a lot of great country videos out there and with them on youtube they're easily accessible.

you dont need a mac to hook up to a TV, most PC's these days are DVI out and you can either hook the DVI to the TV or get a converter ($5) to hdmi and almost every tv these days has HDMI input.

 

[Deleted Account]

Just bought a new Samsung LCD and the Samsung Blu-Ray player. Player is $99 at Best Buy and it streams about all the movie options available. It has built in WiFi...:thumbsup

 

[anxious]

Just bought a new Samsung LCD and the Samsung Blu-Ray player. Player is $99 at Best Buy and it streams about all the movie options available. It has built in WiFi...:thumbsup

River, can you go to cbs/fox or any website you want to on your dvd player and watch from there?

 

[anxious]

Im looking for one that has hulu netflix etc and one that also has internet that you can go to a direct site and watch tv. Ie cbs/fox etc

Consider going with a pre-integrated solution, like WD TV Live Plus which you just plug in and it already does NetFlix and a bunch of other stuff. I'm pretty sure WDTV Plus does Hulu, too.

These boxes don't cost much anymore.

One thing I'd say about the WDTV Live Plus is, it's not as good as a good quality video card and a computer, at 720p. I understand they are similar quality to a good computer output at 1080p but haven't connected mine to a 1080p TV to test. I've been more concerned with the firmware side of it.

Which reminds me... There is a firmware hack for the WDTV Live Plus that gives it a couple of additional features that a computer nerd like myself thinks are really neat. The average guy probably wouldn't care about them but it's nice to know there is a whole ecosystem of stuff out there, if you ever wish to get carried away with it.

Boxee is pretty good too, as are a couple of other platforms.

Personally, I wouldn't waste a nice Mac on a TV.