[CharlesS]

A while ago a bunch of us were wondering whether Mini-DisplayPort was actually the same as DisplayPort pin-for-pin or not. This, I think, should settle it. I just got my shipment of this $15 MDP-to-DP cable, from CircuitAssembly:

Mini Displayport to Displayport Adapter Cable - Circuit Assembly eStore

The cable was back-ordered, so it took a while to arrive. The cable is white and fits in well with Apple gear, and has a male DisplayPort connector on one end and a male Mini-DisplayPort connector on the other. Interestingly, the MDP connector has the CircuitAssembly logo on both the plastic and on the connector itself, implying that the MDP connector is original and not simply chopped off of an Apple cable and spliced.



I used it to connect my Dell 2408wfp to my MacBook Pro, and it seems to be working at least as well as DVI did. The connector feels about as firm as USB, and doesn't come out if I pull on it with a small amount of force. One thing - I did have a little visual glitch when I hot-plugged it to my MBP - there were vertical bands of the screen in which text would look blurred, as if the monitor were not displaying in its native resolution. Fortunately, switching the display off and back on again solved the issue and now it looks crisp and clear. Unlike with DVI, the Mac seems to be able to notice when the DisplayPort monitor is switched off, and move everything over to the laptop's built-in screen instead of displaying stuff invisibly on a switched-off screen. Unfortunately, the Mac does not seem to be sending audio over the MDP connection, as a pair of headphones connected to the monitor remain silent, even after connecting via DisplayPort (dammit, Apple...).

Overall, I like it. It's a lot less cumbersome than a bulky DVI adapter. It's also cheaper than Apple's DVI adapter (and a heck of a lot cheaper than the dual-link DVI adapter if you have a 30-inch display, as well as not taking up one of your USB ports). If you have a third-party monitor with a DisplayPort connection on it, I would recommend this cable to connect it.

The company that makes it also makes a bunch of other MDP gear - along with cheaper versions of Apple's DVI, VGA, and HDMI adapters à la Monoprice, they also sell a MDP male-to-female extension cable, and a female MDP to male DP cable for connecting the new Apple displays to DisplayPort-equipped PCs (or older Macs with a PCI-Express GPU installed that has a DP port).

Mini Displayport

Hopefully someone finds this helpful / interesting.

[ibook_steve]

Apple licenses the use of Mini Displayport to other vendors, so that's how this cable could get made:

Mini DisplayPort - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve

[Raptor007]

Yep, there are a few third-party solutions out there filling in the gaps Apple left in the Mini-DP product Line. For example, DataPro has Mini-DisplayPort extension cables and matching USB extension cables for the new Apple LED Cinema Displays, which come with a maddeningly-short 3-foot built-in cable.

[SSharon]

This thread got me thinking that I should order myself a mini displayport adaptor, but I don't know which one to get. I am thinking of only getting the MDP to DVI because then I can get a much cheaper DVI-> VGA cable or a DVI -> HDMI down the road.

Newegg.com - mini displayport

I've never heard of this brand before, have any of you tried these ones from newegg?

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

This thread got me thinking that I should order myself a mini displayport adaptor, but I don't know which one to get. I am thinking of only getting the MDP to DVI because then I can get a much cheaper DVI-> VGA cable or a DVI -> HDMI down the road.

DVI -> HDMI might work, but I don't think that attaching a DVI -> VGA adapter to a MDP -> DVI adapter will. You'll have to get the regular MDP -> VGA adapter for that.

Also, if Apple ever fixes their DisplayPort implementation so that audio actually works over it, then the MDP -> HDMI adapter will be a lot nicer than using DVI as a middleman.

Newegg.com - mini displayport

I've never heard of this brand before, have any of you tried these ones from newegg?

I'd probably go with Monoprice. Even cheaper, but it's a brand that's relatively well-known and respected on the Internet

In fact, it looks like Monoprice is adding a MDP -> DP adapter that would do a similar job to the cable in my original post in this thread. I don't think that was there a month ago. It looks like it hasn't begun shipping yet, though.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

DVI -> HDMI might work, but I don't think that attaching a DVI -> VGA adapter to a MDP -> DVI adapter will. You'll have to get the regular MDP -> VGA adapter for that.

That is correct. Apple's VGA dongles do more than just change the pin-out. They actually tell the GPU to switch its output signaling. If you connect an MDP->DVI dongle the GPU will always output DVI regardless of the VGA dongle you insert further down the chain.

HDMI's video signal is basically DVI so that's a different story. MDP->DVI and MDP-HDMI are pretty much the same thing (but no audio on MDP->HDMI though) with different ports.