Mac Mini (Late 2009) connection to LCD Television

Bear in mind that some TV's have the resolution on the PC input lower than what the panel can actually display. But read your manual and see.

Now HDMI is the best connection you can get (quality wise) and you can pass sound through the HDMI connection. This is setup in the Audio MIDI setup application in the Utilities folder. Bear in mind that when you connect the mini to the tv through HDMI, you will only get 1920x1080(HD resolution) and not 1920x1200 (monitor resolution) and you may have to use the underscan adjustment in the Display preference pane in System Preferences.

Hope that helps

Oops, sorry for missing that. There is only one method to get audio and video through and HDMI cable on your machine. See this device: http://www.cableshark.com/MiniDisplayPort_to_HDMI_with_audio_converterp/com-adp-wss-ac10.htm . A separate mini display port to hdmi and toslink cable may prove to be cheaper though.

The following cable should also work and is cheaper.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/H1824ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTgwOTAxNjA

In fact I'm in a similar situation. I have a late 2009 Mini and currently have it connected going from mini display port DVI cable to DVI/HDMI adapter to HDMI cable to my Sony 32" HDTV via my Onkyo surround sound amp. I'm using the 3.5 mm audio out to a JBL 2.1 computer speaker setup for the sound. I want to output sound through the mini display port using a direct HDMI connection rather then using the separate computer speakers.

It clearly states that it supports the Mac Mini. My understanding of the foot note is that when it comes to MacBooks and iMacs only certain models are supported regards sound. As far as I can tell it does not imply that sound is not supported on the Mac Minis.

John Durrant wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion Mr.C UK. I saw that cable the other day but unfortunately it has the little footnote that says it only works with certain systems (and the mac mini is not one of them)...

I am in agreement that the product description and footnote are indicating that the Moshi adapter works for video with a Mac Mini, but not audio.

... why they waited until 2010 when every TV make out there abandoned DVI three years ago is beyond me...

Because HDMI is not a "computer" display interface and is not widely supported by computer monitors. DVI and DisplayPort are considered (by the computer industry) to be computer monitor standards. The Mini is foremost a computer and a media center second. That's why it continues to have a displayport connection, in addition to the HDMI.

John Durrant wrote:
....unfortunately, i don't think that the mac min does not have an audio out via USB. i'm thinking that my only option is to use the PC input and a separate connection for audio. That way, i know the TV will be expecting a separate audio input... Let me know if you think differently or if there is a way to tell the mac mini to output sound via the USB port.

Well, using the PC input is certainly a surefire route to what you are trying to achieve. If your monitor has analog audio input, that's the path to take.

But the Mini certainly does support USB audio with generic audio USB audio devices. And I would expect that adapter at cableshark to be such a USB audio device. So I suspect that adapter will work for you, if you want to go the HDMI route.

But it's certainly more expensive than simply using your monitor's "PC" input with the analog sound, so I would use the PC route and see if your are satisfied with the results. As long as it doesn't involve using a VGA cable, I think you'll be happy with what you see.

John Durrant wrote:
....My tv allows me to run a separate audio connection... a single rca stereo plug...

That would have to be mono sound. It must be pretty unspectacular. You should definitely consider some external speakers.

... playing my first home video, all is good except there is a very annoying delay in the audio every once in a while.

What application are you playing the videos in?

You might want to try VLC, as it allows adjustment of audio sync on the fly (using the F and G keys).

http://www.videolan.org

...what other type of PC Inputs exist other than VGA. it does say that there is a PC Input on my TV but it is labeled VGA...

DVI is another popular display interface. Less popular is DisplayPort. Both are digital. VGA is extremely common in the Windows PC world. It's an analog interface and inferior to the digital ones.

My Sony HDTV also refers to the VGA input by the name "PC". I think this is because of the ubiquity of VGA connections on PCs.

MacProCT wrote:

John Durrant wrote:
....My tv allows me to run a separate audio connection... a single rca stereo plug...

That would have to be mono sound. It must be pretty unspectacular. You should definitely consider some external speakers.

I'm thinking this is digital 5.1 sound. How long has it been since a TV had mono sound?

Tracy

Tracy Reynolds wrote:

I'm thinking this is digital 5.1 sound. How long has it been since a TV had mono sound?

Indeed it seems odd that a TV would have mono sound only. But I have never heard of a TV having a coaxial digital audio input and the MacMini certainly does not have an coaxial digital output. So this would have to be an analog mono audio connection.

My brother has a Dell computer with a 5.1 audio out single RCA jack.

Tracy

The one RCA jack is for S/PDIF audio. The name stands for Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format (more commonly known as Sony Philips Digital Interface).

Google it.

Tracy