Zach SpearDiscount cable outlet Monoprice.com will sell Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapters for $14.25 starting March 15th. Two other new adapters, offering to convert the Mini DisplayPort signal for either DVI or VGA, will be available that same day, providing customers with an alternative to Apple's adapters at more than half the cost. The vast majority of today's HDTVs have HDMI inputs, but DisplayPort is a relatively new player on the connection standard scene and connectors between the two are rare, especially for Mac owners.
Apple's new LED Cinema Display (review), MacBook (review) and MacBook Pro (review) introduced last October and last month incorporated Apple's own variation called Mini DisplayPort into the machines, replacing DVI with a much smaller port, but options to connect the new computer models to HDMI devices are extremely limited, if they exist at all. Amazon, for example, doesn't offer any except the larger DisplayPort standard, which Apple notebooks do not use.
Some users have worked around the problem with a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter that in turn feeds a DVI to HDMI cable, but that method may be less than ideal for many. It requires the purchase of two adapters and may not be aesthetically satisfying. Video quality may also be a concern in some cases.
The Mac maker sells Mini DisplayPort to VGA ($29) or DVI adapters ($29) through the Apple Store, but nothing for the HDMI standard. The Apple TV can output HDMI, but for users who want their whole desktop on their TVs, Monoprice's adapters go on sale in a little more than a month.
Additional DisplayPort Transition Coverage from AppleInsider
Inside the new MacBooks: Audio and Video
A closer look at Apple's move to NVIDIA chipsets, DisplayPort
Apple pushing Mini DisplayPort through no-fee licenses
Apple's mini connector set to be part of DisplayPort standard
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
102 Comments
The real question is whether these cables support audio over HDMI. If not, then why not just use a displayport->DVI adapter with a cheap monoprice DVI->HDMI cable? Or does that not support HDCP?
What I don't understand is why Apple doesn't include HDMI in their computers as the PC market has been doing for the last couple years.
I come home, take my notebook and plug in the HDMI cable and switch to Video 7 on my TV and turn on my wireless keyboard and mouse and have everthing I need to stream Hulu, surf the web without the need for any additional hardware or software.
Chasing the puck with 1 adapter after another.
The real question is whether these cables support audio over HDMI. If not, then why not just use a displayport->DVI adapter with a cheap monoprice DVI->HDMI cable? Or does that not support HDCP?
Absolutely - No-one's been clear on whether the mini-display port in the macbooks supports audio, although most suspicions are that it doesn't. Which still leaves us with plugging in the audio by analogue/toslink/USB to a seperate amp, or living with Mac speakers.
The real reason I'm interested in audio over display port? Well if the next mac mini has it (or even just a vanilla A/V HDMI connector), home theatre will become much easier...
What I don't understand is why Apple doesn't include HDMI in their computers as the PC market has been doing for the last couple years.
I come home, take my notebook and plug in the HDMI cable and switch to Video 7 on my TV and turn on my wireless keyboard and mouse and have everthing I need to stream Hulu, surf the web without the need for any additional hardware or software.
Chasing the puck with 1 adapter after another.
I agree. HDMI is the industry standard not only in the computer world but in the home intertainment world as well. Wasn't HDMI approved by the U.S. congress to simplify things? This seems to only make it more complicated.
What I don't understand is why Apple doesn't include HDMI in their computers as the PC market has been doing for the last couple years.
I come home, take my notebook and plug in the HDMI cable and switch to Video 7 on my TV and turn on my wireless keyboard and mouse and have everthing I need to stream Hulu, surf the web without the need for any additional hardware or software.
Chasing the puck with 1 adapter after another.
DisplayPort is the 'intelligent' HDMI, much like FireWire is the 'intelligent' USB. Unlike FireWire, however, DisplayPort is becoming the successor to HDMI in the computer world. HDMI is great for multi-source topologies, much like you'll find on home AV systems, while DisplayPort offers a different feature set that is attractive for computer use, such as daisy chaining. In AV systems, there's generally one display, and many sources, while in computers, there are generally multiple displays and one host.
The fact that the display signals are interchangeable makes the distinction more or less moot. Get a $15 adapter and call it a day.