Using my iMac as a monitor for pc (With HDMI)

5 years later, but I can reply to question....
Video conversion go only in this way: DP(Best video signal)> HDMI/DVI-D> DVI-A/VGA....
If you want to convert HDMI to DisplayPort you have to buy an active converter that transform HDMI video signal to DP and it costs about 200$....... I've tried it: doesn't work very well, it support 720p and 1080p but 27" iMac use 2k monitor.....

Best result with a GPU that support DisplayPort and a DP to mDP cable....

"Target Display Mode lets you use the built-in display on a supported iMac as an external display for another Mac."

Now maybe my comprehension isn't what I thought, but there is NOTHING in this article that mentions PC!

You can use the MiniDisplayPort to HDMI to attach a secondary screen to the iMac to give your Mac extra workspace. However, to my knowledge, you can not use the iMac as a display for any computer.

I've had a look around and I've found this;

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924

I know it isn't completely what you're looking for, but that's the closest I could find.

Sorry but to my knowlege, this is an impossible thing to do unless the PC has either Thunderbolt or MiniDisplayPort.

Ok, sorry I couldn't help.

Hi ColdVectom,

I came across your post regarding hooking up a pc to the imac. I do want to connect my pc to my iMac so I can have a bigger screen to view on. Did you find any way to do this?

Thank you

Donna

Actually yes you can... this article states it right at the very top of the article.

"With Target Display mode, you can use your iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with Mac OS X as an external display. Connect any computer or other device with a Mini DisplayPort to your 27-inch iMac using a Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable or using a converter that converts other electrical, video, and audio protocols from another source device to Mini DisplayPort compliant signals. (Cables and converters available separately.)"

Taken from this tech write up: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US#

There are lots of videos on youtube showing people using the mini display to hdmi converters for hooking up their imac for dual monitors, xbox, pc's, etc.

this company sells them and has an instructional video worth watching:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802 &p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2

Guys,

I found an alternative software solution to the problem - why not use logmein or similar remote access service to access the PC from your imac. No need for any additional cables or extra screen on desktop. Voila

Ian

Hi everyone ,

I've tried and spent more money than it was sensible to :-)) it doesn't work !! ;-(

I just gave up , an iMac CAN'T be used as a monitor for a PC !!

Ren

Hey MCX2012,

Did you try thunderbolt to thunderbolt?

Based on what I've found online, it was possible to use the late 2009 and mid 2010 iMacs as external displays for PC's if the PC and Mac were connected via mini displayport. The connection couldn't be made if the video signal was converted to mini displayport from another interface, like HDMI or DVI. But if the PC had an actual mini displayport output on its video card, then the iMac could be used as a Target Display.

However, it seems that the newer iMacs with thunderbolt support don't allow for this. Apple's website states that another Mac can be connected to the iMac's display via thunderbolt (and only thunderbolt; not mini displayport), but makes no mention of a PC being able to do the same.

Some posts by other users claim that this should be possible, but I'm not hopeful because I haven't read any success stories.

This is aggravating. I want to buy the new iMac and be able to switch between that computer and a PC, which I'm using as a 3D render machine.