Hello Everyone,

I've been a longtime lurker on AVS Forum and wanted to contribute something.

I have figured out how to get 720p/1080i to my Sony 60" SXRD via the HDMI input from my MacBook as well as my older PowerBook G4. In fact it should work on any Mac that DisplayConfigX can handle.

I'm sure this information might be helpful to owners of other TV's as well.

It's a lot of information, so I've built a .mac site for it.

http://web.mac.com/darkknightreturns/iWeb/Batcave/OSXRD.html

Hopefully this is helpful, and will answer many of the questions I have seen on the board lately.

brucewayne

Hello Everyone,

I've been a longtime lurker on AVS Forum and wanted to contribute something.

I have figured out how to get 720p/1080i to my Sony 60" SXRD via the HDMI input from my MacBook as well as my older PowerBook G4. In fact it should work on any Mac that DisplayConfigX can handle.

I'm sure this information might be helpful to owners of other TV's as well.

It's a lot of information, so I've built a .mac site for it.

http://web.mac.com/darkknightreturns/iWeb/Batcave/OSXRD.html

Hopefully this is helpful, and will answer many of the questions I have seen on the board lately.

brucewayne

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!! :D
I am using a mini, and I was naively thinking it would just "see" the Sony and give me the resolution of choice... NOT!!! :mad: After trying a couple of res changes via DisplayConfigX, and having to completely disconnect my setup and move the mini into my office to connect it to the monitor to "fix" it, I gave up. I will give your suggestions a try first thing tomorrow, and let you know what happens.
Very nice site, BTW.

Hello Everyone,

I've been a longtime lurker on AVS Forum and wanted to contribute something.

I have figured out how to get 720p/1080i to my Sony 60" SXRD via the HDMI input from my MacBook as well as my older PowerBook G4. In fact it should work on any Mac that DisplayConfigX can handle.

I'm sure this information might be helpful to owners of other TV's as well.

It's a lot of information, so I've built a .mac site for it.

http://web.mac.com/darkknightreturns/iWeb/Batcave/OSXRD.html

Hopefully this is helpful, and will answer many of the questions I have seen on the board lately.

brucewayne

I've read that the SXRD gives a better picture if you feed it the 1080i signal, have you found that to be the case from your Apple?

I'm glad you like the site - if you have any suggestions please let me know.

I've been playing with it for a few days now and I'm not sure with I prefer.

The Cars trailer is a perfect example. On 1080i the detail is incredible BUT it is a little jerky on some motion scenes. 720p has smoother motion, but a little less detailed.(on the couch 10 feet away it's hard to tell the difference though)

Via FrontRow DVD's look better in 1080i. My test discs were The Incredibles and Penn & Teller BS. The Incredibles always looks great and I haven't seen any motion artifacts in 1080i. P&T is my test disc because of horrible picture quality, and it is watchable finally through the Mac. Unfortunately, my 80-dollar Sony upconverting DVD player looks better than the Mac hands down.

I want to look at some different material, but for right now I would say that I'd say 1080i produces the biggest initial 'WOW!' factor, but 720p is easier overall to watch.

brucewayne

So, it worked as advertized. However, if I use 1920x1080i, the desktop is well off the screen. So I RTFIed the DisplayConfigX website, and what it seems to say is that if 1920 doesn't fit, then make it smaller... which I assume is what you did to come up with the 1840x1020i (yeah, I know I can be pretty dense some times :o ). I guess I still don't understand why, if the Mac is putting out the resolution the SXRD is supposed to be most happy with, the froggin' thang doesn't fit :mad: Oh well.

Anyway, my new problem (or at least my problem that is now noticable since my desktop fills the screen ;) ) is that my screen is not rotationally correct... the top left corner is overscanned vertically(i.e., off the top of the screen), while the top left corner is underscanned vertically, and the bottom corners are correspondingly out of wack (I guess the good news it the the screen seems to be squared... 90° corners). I bet that's a thing to tweak in the menu. Do you know???

Also, DVDs look better to me using Apple's Display Pref and checking that button the says something about improving moving pictures (I can't remember exactly what it was called, and it's no longer available with DisplayConfigX installed) so maybe that's why you prefer your DVD player over the Mac. King Kong definitely is not as clear during the fast-motion scenes as it was prior to installing DisplayConfigX.

Dude, it worked, you rock!

Hi grubavs,

The SXRD is displaying the 1920x1080, the edges are just being masked by the cabinet. Its just more noticable in this application because we know where the dock and menubar should be located on the screen. If Sony didn't intentionally overscan the picture on its rear-projection sets, small variances in the geometry of the mirrors and lenses inside would be very noticeable (i.e picture doesnt fill the screen, pincushion, etc). This is differnet than LCDs/Plasmas in which the pixels have a fixed area to be displayed. 1840x1020 just limits OS X to the viewable pixels.

The default apple preferences I believe you are talking about are 'Overscan' and 'Best for Video'. During the handshake (information passed from the TV to OS X telling it what kind of display it is), DisplayConfigX sort of 'intercepts' the SXRD from telling OS X that it is a TV and forces OS X to treat it is a standard monitor, which is why we can adjust the resolution.

You can reset the original Apple options by clicking 'Uninstall' under the Install tab of OS X. Either reboot (or unplug the hdmi cable of the monitor for a few seconds) and you are back to before. Of course the resolutions you set in DisplayConfigX will no longer be options.

My screen bows down about a half inch from left to right on both the top and bottom, which I think is due cabinet flex resulting from two things - the weight of the center speaker perched on top (pushing down the center), and the TV hanging about 4" off the back of the cabinet (weight of set isn't evenly distributed) . I'll have to live with it until this fall when I build a new cabinet. :(

A far as picture quality - I just don't think the Mac handles deinterlacing properly. Playing TV shows on DVD, even on my laptops screen, looks marginal. Sources progressive from the start (like the Quicktime HD trailers), have to be converted to interlaced, which I don't think my MacBooks integrated graphics card handles well. It's those same TV shows that look better via the 1020i output, so who knows.

The Sony DVD player via HDMI slightly 'underscans' causing the bowing to be very noticeable on full-screen DVD's - I have to set the 'overscan' option on the SXRD to +1 to eliminate the problem. Which makes me feel that if Sony can't even get two of it's products released the same year to work properly, how can I expect perfection from my Mac?

What model Mac are you using?


So, it worked as advertized. However, if I use 1920x1080i, the desktop is well off the screen. So I RTFIed the DisplayConfigX website, and what it seems to say is that if 1920 doesn't fit, then make it smaller... which I assume is what you did to come up with the 1840x1020i (yeah, I know I can be pretty dense some times :o ). I guess I still don't understand why, if the Mac is putting out the resolution the SXRD is supposed to be most happy with, the froggin' thang doesn't fit :mad: Oh well.

Anyway, my new problem (or at least my problem that is now noticable since my desktop fills the screen ;) ) is that my screen is not rotationally correct... the top left corner is overscanned vertically(i.e., off the top of the screen), while the top left corner is underscanned vertically, and the bottom corners are correspondingly out of wack (I guess the good news it the the screen seems to be squared... 90° corners). I bet that's a thing to tweak in the menu. Do you know???

Also, DVDs look better to me using Apple's Display Pref and checking that button the says something about improving moving pictures (I can't remember exactly what it was called, and it's no longer available with DisplayConfigX installed) so maybe that's why you prefer your DVD player over the Mac. King Kong definitely is not as clear during the fast-motion scenes as it was prior to installing DisplayConfigX.

Hi grubavs,

The SXRD is displaying the 1920x1080, the edges are just being masked by the cabinet. Its just more noticable in this application because we know where the dock and menubar should be located on the screen. If Sony didn't intentionally overscan the picture on its rear-projection sets, small variances in the geometry of the mirrors and lenses inside would be very noticeable (i.e picture doesnt fill the screen, pincushion, etc). This is differnet than LCDs/Plasmas in which the pixels have a fixed area to be displayed. 1840x1020 just limits OS X to the viewable pixels.

The default apple preferences I believe you are talking about are 'Overscan' and 'Best for Video'. During the handshake (information passed from the TV to OS X telling it what kind of display it is), DisplayConfigX sort of 'intercepts' the SXRD from telling OS X that it is a TV and forces OS X to treat it is a standard monitor, which is why we can adjust the resolution.

You can reset the original Apple options by clicking 'Uninstall' under the Install tab of OS X. Either reboot (or unplug the hdmi cable of the monitor for a few seconds) and you are back to before. Of course the resolutions you set in DisplayConfigX will no longer be options.

My screen bows down about a half inch from left to right on both the top and bottom, which I think is due cabinet flex resulting from two things - the weight of the center speaker perched on top (pushing down the center), and the TV hanging about 4" off the back of the cabinet (weight of set isn't evenly distributed) . I'll have to live with it until this fall when I build a new cabinet. :(

A far as picture quality - I just don't think the Mac handles deinterlacing properly. Playing TV shows on DVD, even on my laptops screen, looks marginal. Sources progressive from the start (like the Quicktime HD trailers), have to be converted to interlaced, which I don't think my MacBooks integrated graphics card handles well. It's those same TV shows that look better via the 1020i output, so who knows.

The Sony DVD player via HDMI slightly 'underscans' causing the bowing to be very noticeable on full-screen DVD's - I have to set the 'overscan' option on the SXRD to +1 to eliminate the problem. Which makes me feel that if Sony can't even get two of it's products released the same year to work properly, how can I expect perfection from my Mac?

What model Mac are you using?

Hey brucewayne! Thanks for the feedback. I'm using a mini Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz w/2GB RAM. From what I've read on this forum, I guess you're correct about the Mac's performance. I hadn't looked at King Kong since the first viewing, and I didn't remember any "fuzzyness" durning action shots, so that's why I suggested the "Best for Video" option. I may take the time to check out the difference by restarting with my firewire drive still running the Mac monitor preferences. I'll let you know if I see any difference.

As for the "complaint" about the screen rotation... and the bowing of your screen... my 20-inch SOny CRT monitor has adjustments for all of those parameters, so I was hoping somebody had found similar adjustments in the Service Menu on the SXRD. I posted on the Owner's Tweaks thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7953908#post7953908), but no joy. :(

BTW: I hope my post didn't sound like I was complaining... I am not planning to deinstall. Your site was great... really easy to use. And the process worked flawlessly. Unplugging the HDMI is easy and works! Much better than the feeble attempts I made when first trying to "fix" my picture. I really thank you for your effort.

Brucewayne, you are the man! Thank you so much for taking the time do make our beautiful tvs and our beautiful computers talk to each other. And for sharing it with all of us. Very nicely laid out website, by the by.

On another note, does anyone have trouble putting their intel mini to sleep on the sxrd? Mine can't wake up. I have the Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. But neither the remote nor the power button will wake it up.

arsy

Bruce,
I just wanted to thank you for your time and effort. It works perfectly. Thank you.

Well i was looking for a way to get a macbook to work on my 60" sxrd... well that was easy ha


couple questions/slight problems:
1. Picture is... i dunno, looks sharp?, like when you edit a picture and make it sharper, more and more, it looks kinda crappy, around the mouse is pixelated (had same thing when plugging my PC in... is there way to get rid of that

2. is there a way to have Mirrored displays (theres no real use of having the laptops monitor to be an extension of a 60" tv... and with mirrored displays i believe i can close the laptop and just use the tv

Thats it for now

Thanks again for this

anyy body?

don't mirror, just switch the title bar to the sxrd in the arrange window in the displays system preferences... and read mr. wayne's post (the reason for this thread!!) to get it to look sharp.

nice job!

I'm buying this TV later this year and already have my intel mac mini prep'd for the TV. I was a little concerned after reading all the other posts whether or not i'd be able to get it working (with the overscan mumbo-jumbo). But Batman saves the day again!

Brucewayne:

Your .mac site is down. Got a backup somewhere?

Brucewayne:

Your .mac site is down. Got a backup somewhere?

I sent Brucewayne a direct mail last week... no answer. Too bad.That was really a helpful site.

I sent Brucewayne a direct mail last week... no answer. Too bad.That was really a helpful site.

I sent him a PM today after posting that, although I guess if his registered email was a .mac account it'll be gone too, and he won't get any PM notification.

OK, in case other people find this like I did, here's the quick version of what I found in playing around once I knew that 1840x1020 was the target resolution:

The defaults as seen in SwitchResX for the KDS-R50XBR1 that I have are:


Pixel Clock 74.25 Mhz, Interlaced

Horizontal Vertical
Active: 1920 pixels 1080 lines
Frt. porch: 88 pixels 5 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels 10 lines
Back porch: 148 pixels 30 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz 30 Hz


I have no idea why the vertical scan rate says 30Hz there, 'cause it should be 60Hz and if you enter those numbers manually it'll be calculated as 60.05Hz

If you use SwitchResX (Download (http://www.madrau.com/) -- you can just download the control panel if you like to avoid APE, as I do) you can then create a custom configuration for the SXRD. Start by entering the values above, then you can shrink the size of the visible display using the buttons in the bottom right corner of the Timing Parameters window, and move it up/down/left/right with the arrows at the top (which will adjust the porch values for you while keeping the pixel clock and scan rate the same). These are the values that worked for me:


Pixel clock: 74.25 Mhz (the same as above), Interlaced

Horizontal Vertical
Active: 1840 pixels 1020 lines
Frt. porch: 120 pixels 42 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels 10 lines
Back porch: 196 pixels 52 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz 60.053 Hz


Depending on what order you enter those values, SwitchResX may recalculate other values while you're in the middle, so make sure before you save that they're all correct.

Like others, I've noticed that my display is slightly rotated clockwise, but those porch values result in a full picture with little loss to skew and overscan (which should still be enabled for this configuration). You may need to adjust your picture slightly along the vertical or horizontal axes in order to fit it to your actual display. While I find SwitchResX easier to use than DisplayConfigX, I did think that DisplayConfigX was also useful, as it can display an "Image Size Test" pattern (on the "Test Screen" tab) that lets you see exactly where you might need to shift the image.

I am thinking about getting a Mac Mini for my SXRD and I have two questions. First, is the G4 Mac Mini powerful enough for driving an HD display? I would rather get an Intel Mac, but I am on a budget. I won't be watching very much video; photo viewing and iTunes are most necessary. And I see that you can get 760p and 1080i with some display configuration tools, but is there any way to get 1080p or a progressive resolution higher than 760p out of the Mac Mini?

I am thinking about getting a Mac Mini for my SXRD and I have two questions. First, is the G4 Mac Mini powerful enough for driving an HD display? I would rather get an Intel Mac, but I am on a budget. I won't be watching very much video; photo viewing and iTunes are most necessary. And I see that you can get 760p and 1080i with some display configuration tools, but is there any way to get 1080p or a progressive resolution higher than 760p out of the Mac Mini?

According to Apple's support page on the topic (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300652) the Mini can support a DVI display up to 1920x1200, which would include your 1920x1080 SXRD. Whether it's progressive or interlaced depends on your particular model of SXRD. The actual display in all SXRD models runs at 1080p, but last year's models (the KDS-R50XBR1 and KDS-R60XBR1) don't support 1080p input on their HDMI ports -- the new ones apparently do. I've got the old one and 1080i looks pretty good. :D

If your video needs don't include any HD content, the G4 Mini should be fine. I've been playing SD video with the Mini on my desk for a while now. The G4 Mini can't play any HD video at full resolution (MPEG2 streams play back at 1/4 size in EyeTV, although they're scaled up to fit the screen, and H.264 Quicktime movies from Apple don't work at all, IIRC). If there were an MPEG playback application that actually took advantage of the GPU in the G4 Mini (which has an integrated MPEG2 decoder) you could probably play HD streams (although not H.264 streams, which would require a newer GPU for hardware decoding). Elgato, however, has explained that Apple doesn't make it easy for them to use GPU decoding for MPEG streams, so they're not likely to do it, which means no accelerated MPEG2 playback, and no HD on the G4 Mini without it.

The G4 Mini can't play any HD video at full resolution

Can the 1.83 Core Duo Mini handle HD playback at full resolution? I'm new to the Mac world and I'm thinking about picking up one of these.

Can the 1.83 Core Duo Mini handle HD playback at full resolution? I'm new to the Mac world and I'm thinking about picking up one of these.

I am using the 1.66 Core Duo mini with my SXRD 60", DVI->HDMI. It works flawlessly. Especially since I used BruceWayne's method for SwitchResX (aparently no longer posted). My SXRD is the one that accepts 1080i only on HDMI, but presents all as 1080p. I am blown away by the HD previews from Apple's site... I don't have any other HD method yet, but when I get 'em, look out!!! Go for it! BTW: get loads of RAM. I got 2GB, but a few have said 1GB is enough. Of course, 5-years ago 1MB was enough ;)

I haven't seen anything that would indicate you'd need the 1.83Ghz Core Duo for HD playback, but it does give you the advantage of a built-in dual layer DVD burner. If you don't anticipate wanting to burn DVDs directly, you can probably get away with the 1.66Ghz Core Duo.

I can't speak to minimum RAM requirements, since I've actually been hooking up a MacBook Pro and not a Mac Mini, and I have 2GB in my MBP. I suspect that you could still play any content without all that RAM, but the interface will slow down when you switch applications.

I think the dual-layer burner is an option I would like to have. I would like to have the option of burning HD content to disk for playback on my HD DVD player.

With the previous G4 Mac mini models, the combo drive was replaceable with a slimline IDE burner... I haven't heard that the same isn't true of the current Intel-based models. Alternatively, you could always just buy an even cheaper dual-layer burner and throw it into an external enclosure with either USB2.0 or Firewire connections. Last year I bought a dual-layer Pioneer for my G5 for less than $40, so there are options available to you.

Also, a while back when the Intel minis first came out, I was in my local Apple store with a mini hooked up to a Cinema 23" display (1920x1200) and the Core Duo 1.66 was playing the "1080p" H.264 trailers from Apple's movie site without problems. (Note: I use quotes because the actual vertical resolution of many of Apple's trailers is not the full 1080 because of the original aspect ratio)

OK so this may sound like a stupid question but how the heck are you guys getting your Macs to your TV when Apple doesn't even supply the proper cables????

I've got a 15" Powerbook that needs a mini DVI plug and a Samsung LNS40 LCD that takes a D-Sub (Male) (HD-15) PC in. For the life of me I can not find a cable with these configurations. Mini DVI / D-Sub HD-15.

All I can find from Apple are those puny little monitor connects but none of them have a Male D-Sub and none of them are over 6 inches long.

I need a hand (link) to a place where I can get at least a 10 foot cable with a mini DVI/Male HD-15 D-sub connection so I can run my laptop on my TV from my couch. HELP!!!!!! Please.

UPDATE: Nevermind. I used one of those puny Apple adapters (mini DVI/VGA) and fed it to a VGA/HDMI cable by-passing the D-Sub PC port on the TV all together.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l61/ChuPhoto/Macdesktopon70XBR2.jpg

Follow this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8771219#post8771219).

Now this is awesome! iTunes Visualizer at full screen on a 70" display. Totally mesmerizing...

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l61/ChuPhoto/iTunes.jpg

I'm really glad I stumbled across this page. I was getting set to do preliminary tests w/ my Powerbook and my Sony 55XS955 HDTV using either DisplayConfigX or SwitchResX (in prep for an Intel Mac Mini purchase and install)...but alas, the site is down.

Has anyone hooked up to a 2004/5 model Sony RPTV such as mine? I know that the panel resolutions on my set are 1386x788...but I wasn't sure what the input resolution/etc. should be.

You shouldn't have any problem. Does your set accept its native resolution of 1386x788? Probably not. Therefore you will need to sent it a 720p signal which will give you a desktop size of 1280 x 720. Then use SwitchResX to adjust out the overscan so the menu bar and dock are not cut off.

Let me know if you have any problems figuring out SwitchResX. I poked around until I found the Custom Timing Parameters window, as shown in my post. Select the SONY from the menu. See if you can get default settings of 1280 and 720 to show in the active line. Then decrease the active size in both directions with the shrink arrows. My Sony has an overscan of 5%, so try decreasing the active until its around 1216 (1280 x 0.95) by 684 (720 x 0.95). Save and reboot. Then go to Display Pref, click on Arrangement, and drag the tiny menu bar from one display to the other. See how it looks--from here it's trial and error to get the size and position fine tuned.

Good luck!

Blue, this only works with HDMI, correct? It won't work with a VGA-connected Mac?

Gord

I've never tried VGA, so I can't help you there.

The problem with the 70XBR2 is that although it will accept 1080p over the VGA port, it does not display it at full screen size. Someone else found that there is a 5" black border all around. I have no idea why. SwitchResX can't fix this problem. Your display may vary.

I think the picture quality would also not be as good over VGA, which is analog.

Yeah, I had a 5" black strip around it as well. I picked up a VGA cable yesterday for $20 - much cheaper than DVI to HDMI. I'm hooking it up to a 60" SXRD XBR2 - just a bit smaller than your 70".

I'll have to look into getting a DVI-HDMI cable to hook my little mini up. I don't know what I'll do when I get a Blu-ray, HD-DVD and PS3 though.....I'll be out of inputs!

Gord

I picked up a VGA cable yesterday for $20 - much cheaper than DVI to HDMI.
Not necessarily. Look here (http://bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi/index.htm). 20 bucks for a 5' DVI/HDMI cable.

I've bought here. Good quality cables.

I buy my cables from a seller on eBay. Total cost for my last cable (delivered) was less than $10. That's for a 6' HDMI Male/Male cable. Received it in two days. A 6' DVI to HDMI cable is the same price.

Mark

Hey Blue, I picked up a DVI->HDMI cable and used the settings you posted (with some minor tweaks) and it looks fabulous on my 60" TV. Thanks again for walking me through the steps.

Gord

Hey Blue, I picked up a DVI->HDMI cable and used the settings you posted (with some minor tweaks) and it looks fabulous on my 60" TV. Thanks again for walking me through the steps.

Gord
Glad it worked for you!

OK, in case other people find this like I did, here's the quick version of what I found in playing around once I knew that 1840x1020 was the target resolution:

The defaults as seen in SwitchResX for the KDS-R50XBR1 that I have are:


Pixel Clock 74.25 Mhz, Interlaced

Horizontal Vertical
Active: 1920 pixels 1080 lines
Frt. porch: 88 pixels 5 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels 10 lines
Back porch: 148 pixels 30 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz 30 Hz


I have no idea why the vertical scan rate says 30Hz there, 'cause it should be 60Hz and if you enter those numbers manually it'll be calculated as 60.05Hz

If you use SwitchResX (Download (http://www.madrau.com/) -- you can just download the control panel if you like to avoid APE, as I do) you can then create a custom configuration for the SXRD. Start by entering the values above, then you can shrink the size of the visible display using the buttons in the bottom right corner of the Timing Parameters window, and move it up/down/left/right with the arrows at the top (which will adjust the porch values for you while keeping the pixel clock and scan rate the same). These are the values that worked for me:


Pixel clock: 74.25 Mhz (the same as above), Interlaced

Horizontal Vertical
Active: 1840 pixels 1020 lines
Frt. porch: 120 pixels 42 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels 10 lines
Back porch: 196 pixels 52 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz 60.053 Hz


Depending on what order you enter those values, SwitchResX may recalculate other values while you're in the middle, so make sure before you save that they're all correct.

Like others, I've noticed that my display is slightly rotated clockwise, but those porch values result in a full picture with little loss to skew and overscan (which should still be enabled for this configuration). You may need to adjust your picture slightly along the vertical or horizontal axes in order to fit it to your actual display. While I find SwitchResX easier to use than DisplayConfigX, I did think that DisplayConfigX was also useful, as it can display an "Image Size Test" pattern (on the "Test Screen" tab) that lets you see exactly where you might need to shift the image.

This worked like a charm on my Mac Mini - it would have taken me upwards of 154 years to figure this out. Thanks a million!

Maybe I'm thick but...,

I've read the whole post a few times now, and while I see the purpose of SwitchResX from this thread, I don't get what I should have done to follow BruceWayne's original method on his .mac site. It is down now, and my hope is that someone can post the instructions on this thread???

I'm not familiar with BruceWayne's method. Is there a specific question or problem we can help you with? What model Mac and display do you have?

Maybe I'm thick but...,

I've read the whole post a few times now, and while I see the purpose of SwitchResX from this thread, I don't get what I should have done to follow BruceWayne's original method on his .mac site. It is down now, and my hope is that someone can post the instructions on this thread???

I have brucewayne's info on PDF, but I don't know how to "post" PDFs on the forum. I sent you a "Private Message" on the Forum yesterday saying that if you send me an email, I will email you the PDFs. You did not reply. Do you want them?

let me try to post an image of the PDF no joy

I'm not familiar with BruceWayne's method. Is there a specific question or problem we can help you with? What model Mac and display do you have?

Hey Blu! I realize I'm admitting to actual stupidity here, but would you please tell me how to post a jpeg (or any image) here? I can save brucewayne's pdfs to an image and post them...
Thanks!
Shoot! There goes another neuron :(

No problem.

Below the reply box click on Manage Attachments, then navigate to the image on your computer to be uploaded, then click Upload. Max size, however, is 800x640 pixels. May be too small to read text.

Other option is to upload your images to any online photo site, then reference it using the "Insert Image" button along the top of the reply box (looks like a icon of a mountain). You paste in the internet address of your image. I don't think there's a size limit with this.

Grubavs, you've got mail.

I'm using a mac mini and connecting to a Sony kdl-46s2010. Right now I'm runnin 1280x768 out of the mac mini. I'm running via the dvi-vga module supplied with the mini. And the using a vga cable to my TV.

1) I'm awfully confused about resolution. Is What pc resolution give you 720p? or 1080i? Someone had explained to me that if the resolution is AAAAxBBBB and AAAA and BBBB are both > 720 that should mean 720p. But with that same logic if the BBBB number is =1080 this means `1080i. I'm not yet clear on what the goal ratio for this is?
2) Secondly I now have my .iso ripped DVDs playing via FrontRow (Thanks!!! SS). Thus I take it that the SwitchResX software is to change resolutions on the fly when one of my DVDs has black bars around it, as several do? Is this correct?
3) I assume that once the instructions are posted this will clear up several other questions???

Grubavs, you've got mail.

I'm using a mac mini and connecting to a Sony kdl-46s2010. Right now I'm runnin 1280x768 out of the mac mini. I'm running via the dvi-vga module supplied with the mini. And the using a vga cable to my TV.

1) I'm awfully confused about resolution. Is What pc resolution give you 720p? or 1080i? Someone had explained to me that if the resolution is AAAAxBBBB and AAAA and BBBB are both > 720 that should mean 720p. But with that same logic if the BBBB number is =1080 this means `1080i. I'm not yet clear on what the goal ratio for this is?
2) Secondly I now have my .iso ripped DVDs playing via FrontRow (Thanks!!! SS). Thus I take it that the SwitchResX software is to change resolutions on the fly when one of my DVDs has black bars around it, as several do? Is this correct?
3) I assume that once the instructions are posted this will clear up several other questions???
Check my email response... I am not sure if brucewayne's stuff'll solve all your probs/questions, but it should help...

No problem.

Below the reply box click on Manage Attachments, then navigate to the image on your computer to be uploaded, then click Upload. Max size, however, is 800x640 pixels. May be too small to read text.

Other option is to upload your images to any online photo site, then reference it using the "Insert Image" button along the top of the reply box (looks like a icon of a mountain). You paste in the internet address of your image. I don't think there's a size limit with this.

Testing
edited: it worked! Thanks!
and I didn't do the second suggestion as I do not have the experience with an online photo site (I know... out of touch) :confused:

If you cannot read these and you need the original PDFs,send me your email. There is no number 2 (no data).

second in file

third in file

last two docs

These loog GREAT!!! Thanx much. I'll read them through

First Big Thumbs up to MonoPrice There cables look and feel are far superior to what I was going to buy from BestBuy. So much so that I got 4 toslink-Mini and a 10ft DVI-HDMI for less than one DVI-HDMI.

Second, I am now using the DVI-HDMI cable instead of DVI-VGA from my macmini to my Sony KDR462010. The picture on still images was FAR better. I've been a VGA cable fan for many years now because I've been goint htpc to a CRT projector. I didn't think that it could get better than VGA.

But now that I can do true 720p and 1080i to my tv, I get more jaggies and worse pixelization. When I was using dvi-vga there were no digitial artifacts being displayed no matter how close I stood to the tv. So with VGA while I was using lower resolution, media played through the PC were actually smoother. At far distances the HDMI looks better because it's brighter and the pixels are closer together.

Anyone with similar experiences or any suggestion on fixing the pixelization problems of my hidef resolutions?

I have a Mac mini (which I am admitadly a newbie to) and I am having a bugger of a time trying to find a resolution that works with my TV. I have an HDMI/DVI cable from my mac to my TV, but I can not get a resolution that either looks good, or fits the screen. I have a second generation SXRD (KDS55A200) that fully accepts 1080p, but how do I utilize this? If someone could help me out with this, I would be utterly gratefull! :) :eek: :confused:

I have a Mac mini (which I am admitadly a newbie to) and I am having a bugger of a time trying to find a resolution that works with my TV. I have an HDMI/DVI cable from my mac to my TV, but I can not get a resolution that either looks good, or fits the screen. I have a second generation SXRD (KDS55A200) that fully accepts 1080p, but how do I utilize this? If someone could help me out with this, I would be utterly gratefull! :) :eek: :confused:

Well, you could try those things I have added to the forum about three replys up...
may work...

*** NOTE - The following two posts were entered before I discovered that the Mac Intel machines have not yet fully realized the true capability of the video output from the Intel Graphic Media Accelerator. I may check out running Windows Media Center Edition 2005 with the Nvidia codec as suggested elsewhere (see third post below).



Hey!

This thread rocks! I'm watching Mini'd episodes of CSI HD and Amazing Race using the EyeTV Hybrid. I was able to use SwitchResX to create a custom display resolution, and I can see my entire MacOSX desktop edge-to-edge. Also using the LogiTech diNovo bluetooth keyboard and kickin' it on my couch.

Now the issue: I've noticed that when watching OTA HD using my EyeTV Hybrid tuner (thru the Mac), I'm seeing pixilation and graininess in the darker parts of the picture, which isn't an issue when I flip back to the Sony 50A2000 onboard tuner. Very noticable when comparing images between them. It almost looks like I am losing color bitdepth, and the image is bitmapping.

In my mind, there are a number of possible causes:

1 - Is it SwitchResX doing the scaling that is losing the resolution? or...
2 - Is it the EyeTV software or Hybrid tuner that isn't faithfully reproducing the HD image that is being broadcast? or...
3 - Is it how the Mini is outputting the HD via the DVI out? or...
4 - Could it be the way the Sony SXRD is handling the HD from the Mini via HDMI?

I'm going to play with it tonight, and try VLC player to play some straight HD Quicktime clips I've downloaded (for some reason QT didn't like them). I'll also go DVI to VGI into the Sony to see if I can still detect the bitmapping in the darks.

I might also perform the LPF tweak, but I doubt that will affect the pixellation.

I'll report back after I've finished. If anybody has any thoughts on this issue, please chime in!

Thanks,
MB

Well, I was up late last night screwing around with my 50A2000, Mac Mini, and EyeTV, trying to figure out where this 'pixellation' or 'bitmapping' was coming from.

Apparently, my display already had the correct LPF settings, as I tunnelled down into the service menus according to instructions and found my "014 YFLR" setting was already at 7. So I guess I can rule out incorrect LPF settings as a cause of the pixellation in the darks.

I also decided that I would try going into the VGA input on the display, rather than DVI-HDMI, and quickly remembered from earlier trial-and-error that the highest vertical resolution offered on that input was 738 (or 768?). Anyway, I decided that the VGA input was not going to help with troubleshooting the pixellation.

At that point I went back to HDMI via the Mini's DVI, and in OSX system prefs set my display resolution back to 1920x1080i, just to see whether going native pixel-to-pixel with the Sony would make any difference. It seemed to make a slight improvement, but the graininess was still there (I was watching Letterman thru my EyeTV Hybrid). When I switched back to my display's OTA tuner, and examined closely (in the dark blue of the backdrop above Dave's head), the pixellation was there to some degree, but much less noticable. I'm going to guess it has something to do with the Sony ATSC tuner, and the way it handles and filters the HD OTA signal. Sony definitely knows how to make pretty pictures.

I figure there is a pretty high probability that the noise is in the OTA signal to begin with, and that my EyeTV Hybrid is faithfully and transparently streaming those broadcast bits directly onto my MacMini's hard drive without altering them in any way, and the pixellation in the darks is just more visible due to the way the EyeTV software is using the Mac's video decoders to display the HD stream. Using SwitshResX to scale the image to 1840x1020 to fit into the SXRD's frame just accentuates the artifacts.

Or... just maybe... the EyeTV software itself is not lossless during playback of the same files it streamed to my hard drive! Maybe the streams themselves are identical to the OTA streams, but EyeTV, since they do not have direct access to the Mac video decoders, is somehow munging up las stremas during playback.

But this is all just conjecture until I do another test. I gotta find out if Quicktime or VLC player or such will play back the raw EyeTV HD stream outside of EyeTV.

And another test - use VLC player to play an HD file with the SXRD set back to 1920x1080 native, and then compare with the same playback in 1840x1020 just to see if there is a noticable difference in the bitmapped darks. I've been screwing around with that Lord of The Rings 5 minute clip linked from the EFF review of the EyeTV Hybrid. If anybody knows of a better resource for clean and pretty HD clips, let me know.

More to come...

McB

This link discusses shortcomings of the Mac Mini video output. There also is mentioned some software solutions to remedy some interlacing issues I have also seen along the way.


.../avs-vb/showthread.php?t=752093

(unitl they let a noob like me post cross-links)

McB

Well, I have spent quite a bit of time playing around with my SXRD display settings on HDMI input 7, and was able to tone down some of the bitmapping in the blacks. I'm leaning toward the hypothesis that the EyeTV is actually displaying and recording the unadulterated raw HDTV stream, but Sony's onboard ATSC tuner, decoder and filtering on the antenna side of the display is just kicking ass on anything the EyeTV software decoder can do. Now that I've tweaked out the settings for that HDMI input from the Mac Mini to the Sony, I'm relatively happy with the image.

On to other issues!

Now I just need to figure out how to get my mini to go back to sleep after it has finished recording a program. The Power Saver system prefs settings don't seem to operate, since the mini thinks EyeTV is busy as long as it is open on the desktop.

Also, my mini's remote works fine with FrontRow, but is temperamental with EyeTV. Maybe I'll try speaking with Elgato directly.

Another thing - I can't seem to be able to schedule recordings remotely using the web. It actually worked the first attempt, but then I changed my account login name with TitanTV, and it hasn't worked since.

I don't feel the setup is easy or intuitive enough at the present moment to pass the "Wife test."

McB

McB. I can tell you when I had EyeTV 250, El Gato cus service was extremely helpful getting me through setup and use trouble-shooting. They are great! BTW: I finally gave up on EyeTV because I couldn't get it to reliably record the shows I planned to record.

Well, I have spent quite a bit of time playing around with my SXRD display settings on HDMI input 7, and was able to tone down some of the bitmapping in the blacks. I'm leaning toward the hypothesis that the EyeTV is actually displaying and recording the unadulterated raw HDTV stream, but Sony's onboard ATSC tuner, decoder and filtering on the antenna side of the display is just kicking ass on anything the EyeTV software decoder can do. Now that I've tweaked out the settings for that HDMI input from the Mac Mini to the Sony, I'm relatively happy with the image.

On to other issues!

Now I just need to figure out how to get my mini to go back to sleep after it has finished recording a program. The Power Saver system prefs settings don't seem to operate, since the mini thinks EyeTV is busy as long as it is open on the desktop.

Also, my mini's remote works fine with FrontRow, but is temperamental with EyeTV. Maybe I'll try speaking with Elgato directly.

Another thing - I can't seem to be able to schedule recordings remotely using the web. It actually worked the first attempt, but then I changed my account login name with TitanTV, and it hasn't worked since.

I don't feel the setup is easy or intuitive enough at the present moment to pass the "Wife test."

McB

Hey Folks,

I spent about 3 hours doing my own experimenting trying to get my Mac Book to display correctly on my Sony 60in A20 which is a 720p TV. I then searched google for Powerstrip and my TV (I'm coming from the Windoze world) and got a host of resolutions that were suppose to work with Powerstrip. However, none of these custom resolutions worked for me with DisplayConfigX or SwitchResX. :(

I just wanted to let folks know that Bruce Wayne's original setup of 1232 x 680 worked perfectly on my KDFE60A20 (I imagine it will work perfectly on the KDF-E55A20 too). Both these TV have native resolution of 1368 x 788).

I'm using the mini-DVI to DVI apple convertor and then a DVI to HDMI cable from monoprice.

Here are the 1232 x 680 resolution setting that you can input directly into DisplayConfigX


Horizontal Vertical
Active: 1232 pixels 680 lines
Frt. porch: 48 pixels 23 lines
Sync width: 80 pixels 5 lines
Back porch: 288 pixels 42 lines
Refresh rate: 59.992 Hz


or here's the screenshot:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=69021

Gord, if you have a chance, could you post your SwitchResX settings? I've been going at it without any luck. I'm hooking up my 12" powerbook via DVI->HDMI to my 60" XBR2. I've gotten close to the point where the bottom portion of the desktop is cut off by the size of my unhidden Dock.

Thanks!



Hey Blue, I picked up a DVI->HDMI cable and used the settings you posted (with some minor tweaks) and it looks fabulous on my 60" TV. Thanks again for walking me through the steps.

Gord

About a year ago I hooked up my Mac Mini to my SXRD thru the DVI input using brucewayne's settings for DisplayConfigX. Everything was as close to perfect as I could get. A month ago, I had the optical block (i think thats what it was) on my set replaced (twice, actually). After the first replacement, the output of the mini was messed up. Mainly it off-center (menu bar off screen, but seemed to be the right width). After the 2nd replacement, not only is the alignment off, but the image seems soft or slightly out of focus. All other inputs on the set look good in this regard (though I'm still not happy with the color).

What can I do to resolve this? I dont' know enough about DisplayConfigX to do this on my own and I don't want to make random changes to it.

Mike

Has anyone figured out the correct #'s for the A3000 SXRD line? I've tried the previous numbers and its not working out right.

I have a wake from sleep issue when using a 1080i resolution for a Philips HD CRT TV via DVI/VGA converter - resolution set by either SwitchResX or ConfigDisplayX.

Has anyone had a similar issue and, if so, what can be done?

The mac is fine starting up. But in wake from sleep it hangs. A dim picture comes on the screen but the machine is unresponsive and requires a restart. Otherwise from startup it works fine and the picture is realy good. Mac is latest mac mini core duo intel processor.

I would appreciate feedback.

anyone have the proper settings for the sony A2000/A2020 sxrd 1080p connected via hdmi with the latest mac mini? any help would be appreciated.

EDIT:
The settings in this post worked 100% on my 55A2020 SXRD for displaying 1080p w/a C2D mac mini via HDMI.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8771219#post8771219

Anyone have any problems hooking up an old Powerbook G4 (titanium, 1Ghz)? I have a DVI-HDMI adapter that I've used with a 17" AL Powerbook, but with the Ti, the Sony won't recognize the signal @ 1920x1080 (running 10.3.9, btw).

TIA

UPDATE: For clarification, the TV can recognize 1280x720 but not 1920x1080....any ideas why?

SO, I have the Sony KDS-60A3000 and have a couple of questions.

I am looking at getting a mac min and use it as a media center and I had a couple of questions. The notes I could find say that the mac mini resolution is 1920 x 1200 but that the resolution for 1080P is 1920×1080. Kinda confused.

If I drop the mac mini to 1920x1080 will I still need to use SwitchResX to change the resolution of my desktop to 1824 x 1018 to see the entire screen? If so, is the output that I will see on the TV a "resized" 1920x1080 picture?

Also, is there really enough horsepower in a mac min to view x.264 or h.264 HD content without stuttering?

SO, I have the Sony KDS-60A3000 and have a couple of questions.

I am looking at getting a mac min and use it as a media center and I had a couple of questions. The notes I could find say that the mac mini resolution is 1920 x 1200 but that the resolution for 1080P is 1920×1080. Kinda confused.

The maximum supported resolution of the display controller in the Mac mini is 1920 x 1200 (16 x 10 aspect ratio). 1920 x 1080 is less (16 x 9 aspect ratio) and will work fine. The Mac will automatically detect a working resolution over a digital connection, so it should automatically configure itself to 1080P as long as the display says it's capable of it (imagine that when you connect them, the TV gives the Mac a list of all its resolutions and the Mac chooses the "best" one from the list -- this is pretty much how it works, except sometimes what the Mac thinks is "best" isn't the same thing as what you want).

If I drop the mac mini to 1920x1080 will I still need to use SwitchResX to change the resolution of my desktop to 1824 x 1018 to see the entire screen? If so, is the output that I will see on the TV a "resized" 1920x1080 picture?

The reason people have been coming up with custom resolutions is to avoid losing menus, the dock, and other useful desktop real estate to overscan. For reasons of history and manufacturing simplicity, even HD sets still overscan by default. The Mac will happily run at 1920 x 1080 without having to resize anything, but overscan might cause the menus to be cropped out. For video content (once you've gotten it started, that is) this is basically a non-issue because video is engineered to fit in a "safe area," and the parts you're missing to overscan were intended to be acceptable losses.

If you do use a custom resolution, though (1824x1018 or whatever) then yes, any video content will be scaled by the computer before it's sent to the TV.

Also, is there really enough horsepower in a mac min to view x.264 or h.264 HD content without stuttering?

There's no single answer to that question, and there have been many threads about this, like this one (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=903638). 1080p content using h.264 high profile is a definite no-go, but formats with lower bit bit rates and CPU requirements play fine (including 720p h.264).

Thanks for the quick reply, I can't wait to get my mac!!!

Everything was as close to perfect as I could get. A month ago, I had the optical block (i think thats what it was) on my set replaced (twice, actually). After the first replacement, the output of the mini was messed up. Mainly it off-center (menu bar off screen, but seemed to be the right width). After the 2nd replacement, not only is the alignment off, but the image seems soft or slightly out of focus. All other inputs on the set look good in this regard (though I'm still not happy with the color).

What can I do to resolve this? I dont' know enough about DisplayConfigX to do this on my own and I don't want to make random changes to it.

Mike

Mike,

I too have my optical block replaced in my 60" XBR1, and have the same issue.

Have you recieved any help? If so, would you be kind enough to tell me what you had to change?

Or, can someone tell me which setting (displayconfigx) I would need to change to bring the menu bar down around a quarter of an inch?

I believe the centering is off ever so slightly, which I could live with. However, if it is easy to change please help.

If possible, I would like to change both the 720P and 1080i settings.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

Anyone have any problems hooking up an old Powerbook G4 (titanium, 1Ghz)? I have a DVI-HDMI adapter that I've used with a 17" AL Powerbook, but with the Ti, the Sony won't recognize the signal @ 1920x1080 (running 10.3.9, btw).

TIA

UPDATE: For clarification, the TV can recognize 1280x720 but not 1920x1080....any ideas why?

Ross,

I have a G4 Ti 550 and AL 1.5. I think that I have viewed both of them on my 60A2000 but it was thru the S-video port to the HK A/V receiver and then to the TV. I was only testing to see if I could get a picture and did not look at resolution.

Brett

The maximum supported resolution of the display controller in the Mac mini is 1920 x 1200 (16 x 10 aspect ratio). 1920 x 1080 is less (16 x 9 aspect ratio) and will work fine. The Mac will automatically detect a working resolution over a digital connection, so it should automatically configure itself to 1080P as long as the display says it's capable of it (imagine that when you connect them, the TV gives the Mac a list of all its resolutions and the Mac chooses the "best" one from the list -- this is pretty much how it works, except sometimes what the Mac thinks is "best" isn't the same thing as what you want).



The reason people have been coming up with custom resolutions is to avoid losing menus, the dock, and other useful desktop real estate to overscan. For reasons of history and manufacturing simplicity, even HD sets still overscan by default. The Mac will happily run at 1920 x 1080 without having to resize anything, but overscan might cause the menus to be cropped out. For video content (once you've gotten it started, that is) this is basically a non-issue because video is engineered to fit in a "safe area," and the parts you're missing to overscan were intended to be acceptable losses.

If you do use a custom resolution, though (1824x1018 or whatever) then yes, any video content will be scaled by the computer before it's sent to the TV.



There's no single answer to that question, and there have been many threads about this..1080p content using h.264 high profile is a definite no-go, but formats with lower bit bit rates and CPU requirements play fine (including 720p h.264).

Just wanted to say thanks to fedward for this explanation. I've been reading a lot about this stuff over the past few weeks, and this is the first time the 'light bulb went on', so to speak.

Thank God for smart people. :)