[Kitschy]

I have a 1.2 Ghz iBook G4. It has a mini-VGA output.

I have a 30" 1080i HDTV. It has several inputs.

My goal: to hook up the iBook to the television in high definition.

What I CAN do: use this mini-VGA dongle to connect the iBook to the television via an S-Video cable. Words are too blurry to read, but video is nice on the telelvision screen. So, I was thinking that there may be a way that I am not familiar with to get a higher quality (or high-definition) on the television.

Maybe someone out there understands what I'm trying to do and can tell me 1) if it's possible and/or 2) how.

Thanks.

[slpdLoad]

I've recently been playing around with hooking up my PowerBook to a 37" LCD HDTV. I'm not sure that it is possible to acheive high definition over VGA. As I understand it, HD has to go over HDMI, DVI, or a Component connection. I could be wrong though. Unless you can hook your computer up with a DVI to HDMI cable, you won't get HD-level quality. Also, when hooked up to a computer, I've found you're limited to whatever resolution the TV is, so it's only as good as the highest resolution you can select in Display Preferences (1024 x 758 for example).
I hook mine up with a DVI to VGA converter. I don't have a DVI to HDMI cable to test that out.

[Kitschy]

I didn't think that you could get high definition through VGA. But, I wasn't sure if there was a workaround. Anyone else know if there is a workaround? Through firewire? I dunno...

[stevesnj]

HD can be sent over VGA cable but the conversion may not go well but if you look at an HDTV card on a TV or a HDTV cable box they have blue,green,red input/outputs...guess what VGA is? yep, 3 primary colors also, and some HDTV's have a VGA input. if your video card can push the 720 or1080 signal and you have HD content to play thru it, you should see HD.

[mduell]

VGA is ok for 1920x1080... not as crisp as DVI, but it can send the signal at a decent refresh rate.
Does your HDTV have a VGA input?

[Kitschy]

No, my HDTV doesn't have a VGA input. It has HDMI, Red, Green, Blue cords, RCA and S-Video. Currently I'm using the mini-VGA to S-Video. Even though the iBook's mirrored resolution would most likely be 1024x768, I'd still like to see a crisper image on the HDTV. I was hoping for a way to get the crispness of the resolution on my 12" iBook screen to look that good on a bigger HDTV screen.

[stevesnj]

well you not going to get an HD signal from your iBook the graphics card is not powerful enough, can the iBook even play HD content? If it can it may be able to push the signal to the TV but i think the graphics card is your stopgap, you ccan get an HD upres box to simulate HD from the iBook, they work well but I think they are not cheap

[harrisjamieh]

Im pretty sure the G4 in your iBook would just fall to its knee's when trying to play HD material - heck even my 1.83 Ghz MacBook drops some frames in full 1080 HD.

As for connecting your iBook to the HDTV - this may be of use to you:


around half way down, the DB15HD Male to 3 RCA Shielded RGB Video Cable

From what I understand, it seems to allow you to connect a VGA signal to RCA ports. Someone correct me if I am wrong

[Kitschy]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...nMore=M9109G/A

This is what I have.

[Uncle Skeleton]

I don't know what's available for your ibook, but the crappiness of your current signal is due primarily to your use of S-Video. S-Video can only get slightly better than VHS. Even on standard definition DVDs you can see the difference. If your ibook doesn't have a true VGA output (the connector with 15 pins in 3 rows, with the big screws on each side), you're not going to get any better than what you've already got.