Intel iMac & Front Row -> SVHS -> HDTV
Although Iâve already gone to great lengths to put together a home theater network WITHOUT my new Intel iMac, I decided to see how well Front Row looked on my modest 32â? Phillips LCD HDTV. And without further adoâ¦
â¦it looked great. The display was automatically detected by my iMac. I didnât have an HDMI converter (which Iâd need for my TV), so I used a SVHS adapter that I use with my Powerbook. And despite the lack of digital video signal, the picture was BEAUTIFUL when played back with the latest VLC Universal Binary build. Quicktime (Front Row’s media player) has never worked well with my TS files and being integrated into Front Row didn’t eliminate this critical problem. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
Although the iMac was playing back a 1080i TS file on itâs own screen, it effortlessly passed on the analog signal to my LCD screen. There were no artifacts or dropped frames (or, frankly, anything at all) to complain about. The PQ was similar to a well-encoded DIVX file and I look forward to trying out an actual digital connection.
Overall, I was impressed. While I never plan on integrating an iMac into my own home theatre set-up, it would have rocked back when I was younger and jammed into a single apartment. The HD capabilities, integrated remote, and VLCâs ability to play back anything I can think of makes it ideal for someone who plans on using the monitor as a TV as well.
