Mini DisplayPort to Composite/ S-Video??

Does anyone know for sure if the supposed Mini displayport > DVI-I adapters actually have the connections going from the DVI-A pins to the connector? I was thinking about it and that may be a reason for it not to work.

Wouldn't we be able to test it simply by using a DVI-A > VGA adapter? I'd assume that they would use the same pins, since the analog options on MDP are limited as it is, but I could be wrong.

I'm just speculating as I am as frustrated as the rest of you, I really wish that my macbook could output to standard definition displays, as 90% of the places I would use it at don't actually have HDTVs.

Message was edited by: Slack3r

Hey all,
Firstly, I'm new to the forums, but a long time mac user, so hello!

I have a method I was playing with last night with my brand new MBP and a couple of cables and adapters I've picked up. I'm not quite there yet, but I reckon with a bit of community effort this could work.

_*You will need:*_

1. Mini Displayport to VGA adapter
2. VGA to S-Video adapter (as so: http://www.amazon.co.uk/VGA-to-S-Video-RCA-Adaptor/dp/B000P3UB24/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262888631&sr=8-1)
3. A simple yellow RCA cable
4. SwitchResX (Do not buy yet, just download the free trial) ( http://www.madrau.com/download/latest/latest.html)

_*How to (So Far)*_
1. Remove pin 12 from your VGA to S-Video adapter to disable plug-n-play detection. I also shorted 2 pins on the S-Video adapter as well, but I don't think that's neccesary.
2. Connect them in the obvious order:
Macbook (Pro) -> MiniDP to VGA -> VGA to S-Video -> TV
N.B. When I connected my hacked VGA to S-Video adapter, the screen of my MBP went blue, then a second display WAS found, before I had connected to the TV. If this does not happen for you, either try shorting the S-Video part of the adapter or you have removed the wrong VGA pin
3. At this point, I turned my TV on. I had a signal, and could make out bits of the wallpaper, and the top of a window. This, as I understand, PROVES that analogue output is there. However, it was totally useless, as the refresh rate was way off, and so I had massive distortion
4. Install and run SwitchResX to alter the resolution and refresh rate.

THIS is where I need help. After playing around, a refresh rate of about 50hz (I'm in the UK, so PAL is the standard here), but wasn't sure about horizontal refresh rates, and realised this morning I didn't alter the resolution either.

SO

With enough fiddling and fine-tuning, I think we could have a working solution with nothing more than the MiniDP-VGA adapter, which I think most users have anyway, a $5 cable, and a cheap piece of software! That's even cheaper than the old Mini-DVI to S-Video adapters!

Hello, did you already find a solution to this one? If so, I would be glad to hear about it!

Based on my quick investigation in the WEB,
Horizontal Refresh Rates in PAL is 15.625kHz...
and resolution is 768 X 576 shown in Wikipedia Japan.

If you have a chance, please try this number and advise us the results!!
I cannot buy new Mac due to this issue...

Haven't found anything that works, of the same quality as the older MBP. Here's what I've tested:

Sabrent PC to TV http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CM3H4U/ref=ossT15product

VideoSecu VGA2TV http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-VGA2TV-Computor-Presentation-Converter/dp/B000X3 FAJU/ref=pdcp_e1

Matrox MX02 Mini http://www.amazon.com/Matrox-Definition-Analog-Adapter-Desktop/dp/B002CU8IO6/ref =sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263929716&sr=1-1

Geffen HDMI to Composit Scaler http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013LTNF8/ref=ossT15product

The results:

The Sabrent and VideoSecu produce substandard output, when compared to the older MacBook Pro. What should be white text comes out as bands of red and green. Plus, some flicker. Unacceptable for live performance.

The Matrox MX02 seemed promising, but never worked. I talked for an hour with Matrox tech support and it appears that it was designed to be used only with Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier.

The Geffen unit never worked for me. A reviewer on the Amazon site said that it will work if you split the HDMI and route one to a DVI display and the other to the Geffen converter, which is totally unworkable for most live performances settings.

Here's what I haven't tried:

sVideo.com - HDMI to Composite and S-Video Converter (AT-HD530) http://www.svideo.com/athd530.html

I have one on order. Will post the results.

A lot of new PC laptops are also leaving out S-Video. Dell still offers one, but their support has gone to the dogs; before my old and new MacBook Pros, I'd purchase 6 Dells over the years - never again.

Received and tested unit from sVideo.com - HDMI to Composite and S-Video Converter (AT-HD530) http://www.svideo.com/athd530.html

It works. HDMI to S-Video is rock solid. This is the only solution that I've found that is on par with S-Video from older MBP. But, I am returning the unit. Here's why:

1) Output from Composite flickers. Don't know if this is due to a defective unit or is by design. The work around is to ignore the composite port and simply use an S-Video to composite converter.

2) The unit is heavy, bulky, and requires an AC outlet (not USB) with a very short cord.

3) The iPad has composite output.

At many VJ gigs, I would often just show up with a laptop on my back and simply plug in to the house board via S-Video. The Atlona unit is too heavy and bulky for that. At other gigs, there would be a crew setting up equipment. It would be too easy to forget that the Composite output is flawed; remembering and explaining non-obvioius flaw to someone else in a loud and chaotic environment is a too complicated.

Meanwhile, the iPad was just announced, with a VGA and Composite adapters. So, am going to buy two iPads. Not sure what to do about live video tweaks, but will figure something out.

Kudos to Apple for supporting analog for the iPad!

BTW, if you're a VJ or DJ who writes code I'm porting a patch bay that wraps ObjectiveC for the iPad: http://www.muse.com/tr3 (This is not a scripting language, you still have to write ObjC code.)

does that gives a good image on the tv?
thanks

Hei
Also use mac for a long time and new to forum.
Have unibody and same problems as you all.

Now I ordered equipment as Chrispy said. Will try this solution and tell you my results in a few days.

I realize I am way late to this thread, and I apologize if this has been addressed already, but I tried the solution you mentioned, because I thought the same thing...

However, as far as I've found, the Apple DVI port (DVI-I) has those 4 pins that the mini-DisplayPort to DVI doesn't have (DVI-D). Those four pins carry the analog signal, which the DVI-D doesn't support.

So... I'm still looking for a solution to this myself, because I am going to be upgrading to a unibody MBP soon, but still have an analog TV. I want to stream Netflix via my MBP to TV. (I'm contemplating using an old G4 to hook up for now (mini-VGA to video), since I can't buy a new TV yet with DVI or HDMI.)

If anyone's answered this, let me know...

Did you get this working successfully? If so can you post the settings for the video resolution?

Bill.

So i read some but not all of this topic and had a thought, tell me if this has already been addressed. Would a mini displayport to dvi converter with a dvi converter to composite work?

Hear me out tho. Apples mini displayport to DVI is DVI-D correct? and the DVI to composite is DVI-I correct? But would a mini displayport to DVI-I work instead? I found one at this link http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&pid=5106&seq=1&format=1#largeimage However it does not say it is a DVI-I it does look to be what wiki calls a DVI-I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigitalVisualInterface .

So with the mini display port to DVI-I from monoprice and the DVI-I to composite from apple do you think it could work?

Just a thought and sorry if this has already been brought up. Haven't wanted to break down and buy a converter box yet nor buy these parts if its not going to work either.

Just out of curiosity (and I am far from an expert or even all that knowledgeable on the subject), does anyone know why apple hasn't created a lightweight solution for minidisplay port to video (s-video & rca) as they have for mini-dvi to video? I know mini-dvi can output digital and analog making it easier, but apple seemed to do OK with making minidisplay to VGA.. so why not to video as well?

ALSO, how does the minidisplay port to VGA compare quality wise to minidvi or regular dvi to VGA?

I'm far from an expert on this topic (is it just me or is it just flatly amazing how much reading one can do on this and still not be able to give definitive answers?). However, the web site for the product you mention says:

NOTE: This adapter does NOT support analog signal. It will only output a digital signal.

So, even though they used a DVI-I connector on the end of their adapter, Monoprice is in effect admitting that it should really be a DVI-D connector (since it doesn't feed the extra pins with an analog signal, regardless of their being there...)

Any adapter that purports to output a composite or s-video signal has to have an analog signal to work with or has to do the digital-to-analog conversion itself. As far as all the available evidence goes, Apple's dvi to composite adapter does not do any digital-to-analog conversion -- it just takes advantage of the analog output of some of Apple's DVI-out computers. Since the product you're suggesting also does not output an analog signal, the solution you suggest would not appear to work.

Has anyone tried these solutions?

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8687

http://kanexlive.com/products/item-id-3137.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=minidisplayport&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

From what I can see there, macpro8, the first two adaptors you list are MDP to DVI. Neither of them provide support for the analogue signal , and neither of them, accordingly will work together with a DVI to composite /S_Video adaptor to provide a composite signal.

Not sure which of the ones in the last link you were thinking of, but none of them that I can see there will work to achieve composite or S-Video without the use of an additional active digital to analogue signal conversion box.

You will find a useful illustrated guide to a setup that WILL work at http://createdigitalmotion.com/2008/10/macbook-pc-notebook-with-no-analog-output -tested-solutions/



Cheers

Rod