Connect MBP to Polaroid TV via HDMI 'not supported'

Your Macbook Pro Mid-2009 should work with a Mini Displayport to HDMI adapter however only through video; there won't be any audio transmission. As listed in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4241.

You should be using a Mini Displayport to HDMI adapter, not a DVI to HDMI adapter.

Caesar1948 wrote:

Can a modern flat-screen LCD or plasma TV do the work of a dedicated computer monitor? A sales clerk tried to tell me that a 23-inch TV would be a better choice than a 23-inch monitor—lower cost, higher resolution, and, oh, by the way, you can watch TV on it.

There are two issues, resolution and color quality.

Today's consumer televisions are built for 1080p HD, which is 1920x1080 pixels. But computer monitors are usually built for higher resolutions. You probably will find that most 23-inch computer monitors today are at least 1920x1080, matching a TV. But as you go up in size, TVs don't have any more pixels, while computer monitors do. A 30, 60, or 70-inch TV will still be 1920x1080, but a 30-inch computer monitor will be 2560x1600 pixels, which is a lot more detail. Part of this is because TVs are meant to be seen from 10 feet away while monitors are meant to be seen from 2 feet away.

Color quality on a computer monitor will often be better than on a TV. If you were a design or photo professional, you'd want high resolution and a well-calibrated screen and a computer monitor would do better at both. That's one reason TVs are cheaper than computer monitors, the standards are lower. TV watchers are just not as critical about image quality as computer users working on web sites and photos.

But if you're just doing office work where sharpness and color precision are not important, a TV can be a great and economical substitute for a computer monitor. Just realize that as monitor sizes go above 23 inches, TVs don't provide any additional resolution but computer monitors do.