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Desktop and Laptop FCP to HDMI TV for HD suggestions please
Hello all, happy 2008 to you!
My PAL SD monitor has just died, and concurrently ive bought the sony EX1 camera, but am definitely NOT interested in an HD Monitor – no point for the non broadcast work I do, and way too expensive, so would like to connect MacPro and also MacBookPro to a 1920×1080 HD TV via HDMI…
the main question is how do i get the signal out of the computers (cheaply) to HD monitors and NOT restrict my editing workflow.
I dont want to give up one of my dual screens on the desktop or the single screen on the laptop laptop.
I guess on the desktop one (not so cheap) solution would be the Kona Hi5 HD SDI>>HDMI box, any other suggestions? and on the laptop?
Suggestions please,
tx
Mark. -
7 Replies
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You know you can just plug straight into a TV using a DVI to HDMI cable, right? You won’t get a real broadcast signal but you can use fullscreen Cinema Display Mode.
To keep the dual-desktop just add another video card. Or better yet you can get a Blackmagic Intensity card which is a real broadcast HDMI output.
As for the laptop, there’s no way to connect a 3rd monitor. You’d need an AJA IO plus an AJA Hi5.
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Hi there Sean
Thanks for the replyOn the desktop, i guess the AJA hi5 would do the trick… at a price.
But on the laptop… If you plug a DVI to HDMI cable into the laptop’s DVI socket and use Cinema Display Mode, surely your laptop screen will also be toggled to full screen video? This is what I want to avoid. I want to be able to edit and simultaneously have full screen video output. Is this possible?
Thanks,
Mark. -
[mark palmos] “On the desktop, i guess the AJA hi5 would do the trick… at a price. “
You can do that. But it’s a lot cheaper to get a Blackmagic Intesity card. It’s like $200 and gives you a broadcast-type HDMI output. It’s just a question of having an available slot, and whether or not you need SDI as well.
[mark palmos] “But on the laptop… If you plug a DVI to HDMI cable into the laptop’s DVI socket and use Cinema Display Mode, surely your laptop screen will also be toggled to full screen video?”
Surely not :). You get 2 independent displays. You can have Cinema Display on the monitor and the laptop screen stays the same. Someone in my office has this right now.
Also check out the Matrox MXO product. Same type of setup, but instead of Cinema Display you get a real broadcast output from the DVI port. You also get SDI output.
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[Sean ONeil] “Surely not :). You get 2 independent displays. You can have Cinema Display on the monitor and the laptop screen stays the same. Someone in my office has this right now.”
thanks for the replies sean, that sounds cool
do you know if Macbook Pro can output the cinema display at full 1920×1080, or will it be some super vga dimension?cheers,
Mark. -
[Sean ONeil] “You know you can just plug straight into a TV using a DVI to HDMI cable, right?”
Sean, my 1920×1080 TV set has a DVI input socket. I connecte the macbookpro to that socket but the display does not take up the whole screen. it seems to be a more 4×3 aspect ratio that is being output… any idea how to make the macbook/digial cimena output full 1080?
TX mate!
Mark. -
System Preferences -> Display
Not all “1080p” televisions accept a 1080p signal. Some only accept a 1080i signal and deinterlace it. If that’s the case, then your TV is not suitable to be used as a computer monitor. You could do 1080i or 720p, but it won’t look very good.
If it really is a true 1080p set, and you don’t see it available in the System Prefs, then then your TV is not properly identifying itself to the computer (this is called EDID). Check with the manufacturer and tell them you’re simply trying to connect a computer to it. There may be a firmware update.
You also need to make sure your TV has a “Just Scan” option. It can be called many different names, but they do the same thing which is to map 1920×1080 to the screen natively. 1080p televisions by default will actually not do this. Instead they blow up the picture by 5% or so in order to hide the overscan area. Switching to the “Just Scan” mode will fix this.
FYI, my main desktop monitor here is a 37″ 1080p Westinghouse television. Works great.
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Thanks for all your input Sean, very helpful!
Ive got some homework to do
Cheers mate
Mark.
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