What's the best way to hook up your mini to a TV?

[jcroblesemanuelli]

I see a lot of the users out there with their minis hooked up to a tv. I bought a DVI to video adapter and connected to my tv with an RCA cable. Needless to say the image quality wasn't very good. Is it my tv or am I going to get better image quality if I use the S-video port?

[trustory]

the quality of the image will be slighty improved using s-video but unless you have a hi-def tv, the resolution of tv's is generally very low about half that of a pc monitor.
_________________
MacBook 1.83Ghz C2D, 2GB Ram, 160GB 7200rpm HDD, OS X 10.6.5
Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
Elgato EyeTV
iPhone 4 Black 16GB

[Influx]

I've used the DVI-Video adapter through the S-Video cable and I've received good results, but this is on a CRT 27" tv. For sound, I just used a stereo mini to RCA cable through to my receiver, the sound here was just as good as anything else connected that way.
_________________
Mini 1.83 C2D 2GB/80GB/Combo, 10.5
Mini 1.66 CD (HTPC) 1GB/80GB/SuperDrive, 10.5
MacBook 2.16 C2D 2GB/160GB/SuperDrive, 10.5
Mac user since Aug 27 1956

[Susurrus]

Use the DVI or HDMI port. Of course, only very high level sets have this inputs, though they are "the best".
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

[SOCOMRAIDER]

A standard TV set has the resolution around 640x480 interlaced. A EDTV is around 800x600 progressive/interlaced resolution. A HDTV is 1280x720 and higher.

So a S-Video cable is going to give you the full 640x480 (the RCA is going to have signal degradation, because it combines the picture with the color all in one signal (S-Video separates the picture and color)), however you can still put the computer's resolution at 800x600 and have a decent picture. Now it's only going to look real good on pictures and video, but text is going to look horrible.

The best way to use your TV as a monitor, is to get an HDTV with a decent resolution. Of course as long as it has the right inputs.

So yes you can use S-Video and get a better picture than a RCA, but it is only going to be marginally better due to your TV's resolution.
_________________

[camination]

I'm looking for a set with HDMI as I was told that was the best connection to take advantage of the 32 inch LCD I planning to get
_________________
iMac Fans Unite

Agloco got me too . . . damn John Chow!