Connecting Mac Mini To Hdtv Via Hdmi

[whamcs]

Hi Guys,

I've only recently installed a Mac Mini as a HTPC to my 50" Fujitsu plasma (1366x768). Initially I had the Mini connected via VGA using switchResX with a resolution of 1360x768. To be honest, I was disappointed, the picture was a bit soft for my liking with video and HDTV (via Miglia TVMini) when compared to my HD set top box connected via HDMI. In addition, being in Australia which broadcasts at 50Hz, running at VGA 60Hz introduced micro judder into the HDTV pans from the TVMini.

So next I tried HDMI via a DVI to HDMI cable. OMG! what a difference! While the resolution was only 720 x 1280 I could set the refresh to PAL 50Hz (no judder on HDTV anymore) and the image was razor sharp! HDTV and 1080p video clips looked stunning! The detail and clarity was very impressive. While there was a small amount of overscan (about 10 pixels) the Fujitsu controls allows you to easily adjust for this to get a perfectly centred image filling the whole screen. Interestingly, while 1280x720 isn't 1:1 for the Fujitsu, the text on the desktop looks sharper than 1360x768 via VGA.

So at this point all seems fine, well the only minor problem was that the Fujitsu only has one HDMI port. No problem, I went and purchased a HDMI 5 port switch from www.htcustomcables.com. However, when I plugged the Mini into the switch I couldn't get an image! Plug the Mini directly into the TV and it would work fine. To cut a long story short, I discovered that the HDMI switch (and it's not just htcustomcables's switches, but quite a few brands) don't pass the TV's EDID data to the Mini. This is the protocol the Mini uses to determine what resolution to sync with the TV. I confirmed this via VNC. When plugged into the switch the Mini had no idea what it was trying to talk to. When plugged directly into the TV it knew it was a Fujitsu.

The happy ending is that you can fix the problem by purchasing 'DVI Detective' (DVI Detective)

This learns the EDID protocol from your TV, then sits between the Mini and the HDMI switch and fools the Mini into thinking that it is talking directly to the TV. It also solved the problem when you change inputs on the HDMI switch the Mini can lose sync with the TV.

So in summary I'm a happy camper now with excellent image quality from the Mini connected to the Fujitsu via a HDMI switch.

Regards,

Stephen

[Angsty]

[snip]

So in summary I'm a happy camper now with excellent image quality from the Mini connected to the Fujitsu via a HDMI switch.

Regards,

Stephen

Stephen,

Thanks for sharing your info and solutions. I'm not ready to upgrade the old CRT tv till the end of the year, but if the Mac Mini gets an upgrade soon, it may be the 'excuse' I need to start this project. I guess a whole new world of connectivity issues and cables and settings awaits me

Angela

[evil_josh]

Hi Guys,

I've only recently installed a Mac Mini as a HTPC to my 50" Fujitsu plasma (1366x768). Initially I had the Mini connected via VGA using switchResX with a resolution of 1360x768. To be honest, I was disappointed, the picture was a bit soft for my liking with video and HDTV (via Miglia TVMini) when compared to my HD set top box connected via HDMI. In addition, being in Australia which broadcasts at 50Hz, running at VGA 60Hz introduced micro judder into the HDTV pans from the TVMini.

So next I tried HDMI via a DVI to HDMI cable. OMG! what a difference! While the resolution was only 720 x 1280 I could set the refresh to PAL 50Hz (no judder on HDTV anymore) and the image was razor sharp! HDTV and 1080p video clips looked stunning! The detail and clarity was very impressive. While there was a small amount of overscan (about 10 pixels) the Fujitsu controls allows you to easily adjust for this to get a perfectly centred image filling the whole screen. Interestingly, while 1280x720 isn't 1:1 for the Fujitsu, the text on the desktop looks sharper than 1360x768 via VGA.

So at this point all seems fine, well the only minor problem was that the Fujitsu only has one HDMI port. No problem, I went and purchased a HDMI 5 port switch from www.htcustomcables.com. However, when I plugged the Mini into the switch I couldn't get an image! Plug the Mini directly into the TV and it would work fine. To cut a long story short, I discovered that the HDMI switch (and it's not just htcustomcables's switches, but quite a few brands) don't pass the TV's EDID data to the Mini. This is the protocol the Mini uses to determine what resolution to sync with the TV. I confirmed this via VNC. When plugged into the switch the Mini had no idea what it was trying to talk to. When plugged directly into the TV it knew it was a Fujitsu.

The happy ending is that you can fix the problem by purchasing 'DVI Detective' (DVI Detective)

This learns the EDID protocol from your TV, then sits between the Mini and the HDMI switch and fools the Mini into thinking that it is talking directly to the TV. It also solved the problem when you change inputs on the HDMI switch the Mini can lose sync with the TV.

So in summary I'm a happy camper now with excellent image quality from the Mini connected to the Fujitsu via a HDMI switch.

Regards,

Stephen

Great Post!

How does the Mac Mini go when rendering HD channels? Do you think that switching the display to 50Hz lowers the amount of processing required by the Mini?

I have a Macbook 2.0GHz and the fan spins up when watching a HD channel due ot the extra processing. I am wondering if I install switchresX and set the refresh ot 50Hz if this will ease the processor load as it no longer has to resample the picture to 60Hz?

Any Ideas?

[whamcs]

Great Post!

How does the Mac Mini go when rendering HD channels? Do you think that switching the display to 50Hz lowers the amount of processing required by the Mini?

I have a Macbook 2.0GHz and the fan spins up when watching a HD channel due ot the extra processing. I am wondering if I install switchresX and set the refresh ot 50Hz if this will ease the processor load as it no longer has to resample the picture to 60Hz?

Any Ideas?

Hi evil_josh,

The Mac Mini does a great job on HD channels (1.83Ghz / 2 Gb RAM). I see no stutter and pans are very smooth. I switch between my Mini and my dedicated HD settop box (also connected via HDMI) and I can't tell the difference between the two.

I also have a Macbook 2.0Ghz (nice bit of gear!) Running a 50Hz should take some of the load off the Macbook. I sit about 4 metres from the Mac Mini and can't hear any of the fans on the Mini or external disk unit when watching HD TV with things set to 50Hz. I'd be interested to hear how you go with the fans on the Macbook.

Regards,

Stephen

[bennygsr]

OMG, I just got my mini (1.83 duo 1gb ram) for my Pio 43 inch (the 6th gen) and what you describe in the first post Stephen, is exactly my problem.

The mini connects to VGA and the standard desktop is great (about 1280 x 768 by think) ( I think this Pio is detected by the mini display settings). However, SD and HD on eyetv are stuttery, and even Divx AVI's are VERY stuttery at full screen. I even have two thin black bars on top and bottom of the screen. So DVI to HDMI may solve the stutter issues ?

When I first saw the Pic quality diff. between the mini and Topfield HD stb, i was disappointed: I am still thinking of selling the mini, and getting a TOppy HD PVR and then use my new laptop for divx every now and again.

Know a cheap to place to buy a DVI to HDMI adaptor ? Ignore this question, Jaycar $13.95

[whamcs]

OMG, I just got my mini (1.83 duo 1gb ram) for my Pio 43 inch (the 6th gen) and what you describe in the first post Stephen, is exactly my problem.

The mini connects to VGA and the standard desktop is great (about 1280 x 768 by think) ( I think this Pio is detected by the mini display settings). However, SD and HD on eyetv are stuttery, and even Divx AVI's are VERY stuttery at full screen. I even have two thin black bars on top and bottom of the screen. So DVI to HDMI may solve the stutter issues ?

When I first saw the Pic quality diff. between the mini and Topfield HD stb, i was disappointed: I am still thinking of selling the mini, and getting a TOppy HD PVR and then use my new laptop for divx every now and again.

Know a cheap to place to buy a DVI to HDMI adaptor ? Ignore this question, Jaycar $13.95

Hi Bennygsr,

I agree with your comments on the VGA connection on the Mini, I was also not happy with it. It gives HDTV and DIVX a soft look. Nowhere near as sharp as my dedicated HD set top box. Also using VGA the refresh rate is 60Hz. This introduces judder (stuttering?) into the eyetv picture. First thing is to get the DVI to HDMI adapter and connect the Mini to the HDMI port on the Pioneer. Next use switchResX (you may not even need this) to set the resolution to 1280x720 (720p) and importantly 50Hz. This should elimanate the stutter and give a nice chrisp image.

Regards,

Stephen

[angryofmayfair]

If I could just chime in with my 2c worth.

Just installed a MacMini (1.83Ghz 1GB) as a HTPC connected to a Pioneer 507.

Totally agree with the above comments - using a DVI to VGA connection the desktop looked reasonable and fits the screen perfectly with no overscan. DVD's and DVIX playback looked a bit ordinary, as did stills jpg's from iPhoto.

Switching to DVI to HDMI is just amazing - would never have thought there would be such a difference - crisp and vibrant PQ - just stunning, especially with the Apple HD movie trailers...

Only problem is the overscan - it's just possible to see some of the top menue and half of the dock (actually it's far easier to control the MacMini by using remote desktop software via my MacBook Pro then I don't need to switch the plasma on for tweaking and can see the full screen.)

I might have a go with SwitchResX - do you have any settings for a 1377 x 768 res or is it easy to set up?

Whatever, I have to say I am over the moon with the quality of the MacMini via the 507 HDMI input also the Mini itself is brilliant and totally silent - a much better experiance than the hot and noisy Media Centre PC I built a couple of years ago...

whmacs what external drive are you using? Is it totally quiet and would you recommend it? At the moment I am using a couple of smallish external laptop HDDs as they are totally silent but looking for larger alternatives, just as long as there is no fan noise.

Thanks

[whamcs]

If I could just chime in with my 2c worth.

Just installed a MacMini (1.83Ghz 1GB) as a HTPC connected to a Pioneer 507.

Totally agree with the above comments - using a DVI to VGA connection the desktop looked reasonable and fits the screen perfectly with no overscan. DVD's and DVIX playback looked a bit ordinary, as did stills jpg's from iPhoto.

Switching to DVI to HDMI is just amazing - would never have thought there would be such a difference - crisp and vibrant PQ - just stunning, especially with the Apple HD movie trailers...

Only problem is the overscan - it's just possible to see some of the top menue and half of the dock (actually it's far easier to control the MacMini by using remote desktop software via my MacBook Pro then I don't need to switch the plasma on for tweaking and can see the full screen.)

I might have a go with SwitchResX - do you have any settings for a 1377 x 768 res or is it easy to set up?

Whatever, I have to say I am over the moon with the quality of the MacMini via the 507 HDMI input also the Mini itself is brilliant and totally silent - a much better experiance than the hot and noisy Media Centre PC I built a couple of years ago...

whmacs what external drive are you using? Is it totally quiet and would you recommend it? At the moment I am using a couple of smallish external laptop HDDs as they are totally silent but looking for larger alternatives, just as long as there is no fan noise.

Thanks

Hi Angryofmayfair,

I don't believe (and I might be wrong here) that you can set up the HDMI port for 1377x768 as it is expecting a TV resolution of 720p (720x1280) or 1080i (1080x1920). On my Fujitsu I get about 20 pixels of overscan (half the top menu bar) which the controls on the TV allow me to adjust for.

The mini is great from a heat / noise point of view, I can't hear it from my seated position and it generates very little heat. I would like better integrated media centre applications (i.e. Vista Media Centre), but I hope that Leopard will address these. I'm also starting to play around with 'Remote Buddy' which may solve a lot of my remote control issues of switching between applications.

I'm using the This Harddrive enclosure with a 320gb Western Digital drive. It has temperature monitoring built in and only actives the fan when needed. Even with the fans running you can't hear them when more than a few feet away. Very happy with the unit so far.

Regards,

Stephen

[xr06t]

looks like a great setup!

does it have a digital audio out at all?

couldn't see it anywhere on the apple site..

how do you go about connecting it to your amp Stephen?

thanks, and nice website, very informative!

[whamcs]

looks like a great setup!

does it have a digital audio out at all?

couldn't see it anywhere on the apple site..

how do you go about connecting it to your amp Stephen?

thanks, and nice website, very informative!

Hi Xr06t,

Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it. When I get a spare moment I'll do a write up on the Mac Mini as a HTPC.

Yes, it has optical out. Apple do some trickery that allows the analogue audio out and optical out to share the same socket. You just need a 3.5mm to toslink cable (Apple sell them). This goes into an optical connector on my amp to give digital 5.1 sound.

Regards,

Stephen

[jokiin]

Yes, it has optical out. Apple do some trickery that allows the analogue audio out and optical out to share the same socket. You just need a 3.5mm to toslink cable (Apple sell them). This goes into an optical connector on my amp to give digital 5.1 sound.

This is the same type of connector as a Foxtel box, you can buy the Toslink to 3.5mm optical cable from Jaycar or DSE quite cheaply

[xr06t]

cool, thanks for the info guys!!

[mattrixx]

cool, thanks for the info guys!!

Hey folks. I am using the Mac Mini CoreDuo with the standard 512 RAM... Using EyeTV, I am getting the stuttery pan effects, even though I have a great picture using DVI to HDMI....

I mean the picture is awesome and I have DisplayconfigX sorted thanks to some guy in Europe (could give you the settings in pic form should any one want it.)

I was wondering if more RAM might help this problem or am I stuck with it? Any sport action, even in SD is a bit jittery, compared to my HD set top box, connected via component.

Regards,

Matt

[whamcs]

Hey folks. I am using the Mac Mini CoreDuo with the standard 512 RAM... Using EyeTV, I am getting the stuttery pan effects, even though I have a great picture using DVI to HDMI....

I mean the picture is awesome and I have DisplayconfigX sorted thanks to some guy in Europe (could give you the settings in pic form should any one want it.)

I was wondering if more RAM might help this problem or am I stuck with it? Any sport action, even in SD is a bit jittery, compared to my HD set top box, connected via component.

Regards,

Matt

Hi Matt,

I'm running a 1.83Ghz CoreDuo with 2gig of RAM and my panning is very smooth with EyeTV. Can you confirm that you are syncing with your TV at 50Hz? I also think that 512Meg of RAM is borderline for good performance, I would recommend increasing it to at least a 1gig.

Regards,

Stephen

[mattrixx]

Hi Matt,

I'm running a 1.83Ghz CoreDuo with 2gig of RAM and my panning is very smooth with EyeTV. Can you confirm that you are syncing with you TV at 50Hz? I also think that 512Meg of RAM is border line for good performance, I would recommend increasing it to at least a 1gig.

Regards,

Stephen

Thanks for the reply Stephen,

I have tried syncing at 50Hz an the image/picture was exactly the same. No differemce at all. So I suspect that the low RAM may have something to do with it. i will get some more and hopefully that will sort it out.

Cheers,

Matt

[gsxrboy]

Hey folks. I am using the Mac Mini CoreDuo with the standard 512 RAM... Using EyeTV, I am getting the stuttery pan effects, even though I have a great picture using DVI to HDMI....

I mean the picture is awesome and I have DisplayconfigX sorted thanks to some guy in Europe (could give you the settings in pic form should any one want it.)

I was wondering if more RAM might help this problem or am I stuck with it? Any sport action, even in SD is a bit jittery, compared to my HD set top box, connected via component.

Regards,

Matt

Definitely get more ram and it will be much nicer, if you can stretch to get 2gb that will be perfect.

I am currently running a 1.5ghz pbook, (until a mac mini purchase later in the year), connected to a 50PX600A via dvi to hdmi with a 1216x684 pixel resolution setting in DisplayconfigX. It is so close to perfect, maybe 4 pixels bumped to the right, which I can't eek back just yet. As a mini is becoming popular for HTPC use, we should build up a range of profiles in resolutions, porches etc to help take some of the initial setup out of it all. It may also help to have them all so people can try a few different profiles to see what works best for a particular screen combo. I'll amend post later tonight when home to start things off.

Apart from the extra resolution 'benefit' VGA gives over a hdmi (modified dvi resolution output to 720p), the hdmi input is so much nicer/vibrant/etc it isn't funny.

[mattrixx]

Definitely get more ram and it will be much nicer, if you can stretch to get 2gb that will be perfect.

I am currently running a 1.5ghz pbook, (until a mac mini purchase later in the year), connected to a 50PX600A via dvi to hdmi with a 1216x684 pixel resolution setting in DisplayconfigX. It is so close to perfect, maybe 4 pixels bumped to the right, which I can't eek back just yet. As a mini is becoming popular for HTPC use, we should build up a range of profiles in resolutions, porches etc to help take some of the initial setup out of it all. It may also help to have them all so people can try a few different profiles to see what works best for a particular screen combo. I'll amend post later tonight when home to start things off.

Apart from the extra resolution 'benefit' VGA gives over a hdmi (modified dvi resolution output to 720p), the hdmi input is so much nicer/vibrant/etc it isn't funny.

Ok.... I have now put 2gig of RAM in it. I have my screen settings spot on (thanks to Display config X). However, 50 - 60Hz makes no difference to the picture when viewing the 9HD demo for example. (both Live and Recorded).

It's got me beat. The images are smooth as silk coming from my HD STB, but viewing the same program from the MacMintel Duo1.83, latest version of EyeTV (Progressive scan, Motion adaptive etc, doesn't matter), the action is flickery and not smooth like the HD STB. You definitely couldn't watch football without getting a headache.

There is simply nothing else I could change. Dissappointing.

[gsxrboy]

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/294/resolutiont1fu0.png

Pana TH50PX600 settings..

[mattrixx]

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/294/resolutiont1fu0.png

Pana TH50PX600 settings..

That looks almost identical to my settings on the PV60A. I could show them also, if anyone wants them!

[gsxrboy]

Yep, you should show them, they might help me bump my screen 4 pixels or so to the left .

As for your problem, got me stuffed then, is it as it is coming in, or recorded playback? You might have to wait until the next software revision to see if that helps, or install a rev or two before and try that. From memory and reading, (I don't have an eyeTV), the software releases do have up's and downs from elgato.

[mattrixx]

Yep, you should show them, they might help me bump my screen 4 pixels or so to the left .

http://picasaweb.google.com/mattrixx/Displ...892054140212322

As for your problem, got me stuffed then, is it as it is coming in, or recorded playback? You might have to wait until the next software revision to see if that helps, or install a rev or two before and try that. From memory and reading, (I don't have an eyeTV), the software releases do have up's and downs from elgato.

Mmm, happens with both recorded and live tv streams (HD especially) Also with an EyeTV recording played back with VLC etc.

[angryofmayfair]

Matrix my 1.83ghz MiniMac has just 1GB of ram and the eyeTV output is silky smooth - no jerkies at all.

It's a bit of a mystery as to what your problem is - I wonder if it's related to lowish signal strength? I was getting a lot of jitters and strange glitches until I fitted a video amplifier in place of the four splitters I had feeding the Elgato, Topfield and Pana DVD recorder!

The only time I get the odd jerky pan seems to be if I am recording a HD program and playing back another one at the same time and I put that down to perhaps the bottleneck external USB HDD that I use for EyeTv storage

[mattrixx]

Matrix my 1.83ghz MiniMac has just 1GB of ram and the eyeTV output is silky smooth - no jerkies at all.

It's a bit of a mystery as to what your problem is - I wonder if it's related to lowish signal strength? I was getting a lot of jitters and strange glitches until I fitted a video amplifier in place of the four splitters I had feeding the Elgato, Topfield and Pana DVD recorder!

The only time I get the odd jerky pan seems to be if I am recording a HD program and playing back another one at the same time and I put that down to perhaps the bottleneck external USB HDD that I use for EyeTv storage

Yeah, I know what you mean..... but the signal strength does seem to be pretty high (in the preferences panel), so I am not certain it has anything to do with that. Sport, say Aussies rules, for example, just doesn't look good, compared to a normal STB.

[mattrixx]

Just thought I'd bump this topic in the hope that someone else may have seen this problem..

Summary:- MacMini CoreDuo 1.83 (2 gig RAM) DVI---->HDMI Panasonic PV60A Viera.

Using EyeTV Twinhann Mac Alpha tuner, USB2.

It is all looking really good, except that action is not as smooth as my HD set top box.

I have used Display configX to configure the correct rates and I have no overscan. It's all sorted in that regard.

It doesn't seem to help that I have EyeTv set to progressive scan.... It just doesn't look as good as the set top box.

DVD's and other movies look great playing via this setup and there is no flicker on the screen... it's just when watching EyeTv and when I say flicker, it is really subtle, but incredibly bad when watching sport or action sequences. It's like it lags between frames.

Any advice appreciated.

[Guest Eraser]

Hi,

Was wondering if I could get some advice. I'm looking at putting together a HTPC as thinking of using the lil ol, mac mini as a base. Just a few questions:

Is the interface on the Mac as good as/better than Vista for HTPC kind of stuff? Do all the programs run off the Mac interface, or do you have to use specific programs for specific things (eg use a DVD player for DVDs, use a picture program for pictures, use a separate PVR program for recording... I hope you guys understand what I mean)

Is it possible to upscale regular DVD's or downloaded avi/dvix files on the fly? Kinda like I think FFDshow does on the pc?

Do the twin tuner solutions on the Mac allow recording of two things at once? Is the HDTV PVR function less buggy than the reported bugginess of all the current off the shelf HD PVRs (eg Strong/Topfield)

If recording two channels at once with one device is not possible, what about doing something silly like plugging in two usb tuners! Will that cause too much trouble??

Which twin tuner solution would people recommend?

Would it be a completely stupid thing to get the mac mini (cos it looks too cool), and if the vista home theatre interface is better/more versatile (because of some/all of the above questions), then to run vista instead??

Thanks for answers to the above.