A TV Watching Monster

Alan Forkosh wrote:
> Monster also makes a version of the ITV cable with an S-Video plug on
> the Mac side rather than a mini-DVI plug. This is useful for those
> with PowerBooks with an S-video outlet or those who already have the
> mini-DVI to video-out cable from Apple.

This cable - I assume I'm looking at the right one:
  <http://www.monstercable.com/computer/productPageComputer.asp?pin=1732>

looks interesting. Two questions I'd appreciate answers to, if anyone has
experience of it:


[Since I have a 12-inch PowerBook, that's not the cable I have. Mine is mini-DVI and audio on the PowerBook side, S-video and RCA left/right audio on the TV side. -Adam]


    - I assume that the two lines on the Mac end are split sufficiently
high up to deal with the fact that on the AlBooks the headphone and S-video
sockets are on opposite sides of the PowerBook (Oy! Ives! <slap>)?

    - it looks (Monster's description is full of exciting words, but stops
short of actually telling you what connectors are on each end) as though it
has s-video and headphone plug on one end; s-video and 2x RCA on the other
end. Is that mono audio out on one RCA, and a choice of video via RCA or
video via s-video? Or is it left and right audio from the two RCA plugs,
and video from s-video only?

If the latter, that seems like a disadvantage: in the UK at least, I think
displays more often have just three RCA inputs for audio and video; s-video
input is less often seen. Is the US different in this respect? Or have I
just been looking at very old TVs?

Thanks,
 
  Ben Rubinstein | Email: benrcogapp.com
  Cognitive Applications Ltd | Phone: +44 (0)1273-821600
  http://www.cogapp.com | Fax : +44 (0)1273-728866

On Jul 4, 2005, at 7:18 AM, Ben Rubinstein wrote:

>
>
> - I assume that the two lines on the Mac end are split
> sufficiently
> high up to deal with the fact that on the AlBooks the headphone and
> S-video
> sockets are on opposite sides of the PowerBook (Oy! Ives! <slap>)?

I think not if they haven't changed in 2.5 years. There are 4.5
inches of free cable from the connector to the junction of the 2
cables on the Mac end, with the connector housing being 1.25 inches.
Thus the practical span is on the order of 6 inches (since you need
to overshoot by the length of the connector housing. Unlike many
stereo cables, you can't extend the split, as the cables are joined
through a piece of plastic and run inside a woven cover at the other
end. On the other end, the home theater connectors side has only 2.5
inches of freedom.


>
> - it looks (Monster's description is full of exciting words,
> but stops
> short of actually telling you what connectors are on each end) as
> though it
> has s-video and headphone plug on one end; s-video and 2x RCA on
> the other
> end. Is that mono audio out on one RCA, and a choice of video via
> RCA or
> video via s-video? Or is it left and right audio from the two RCA
> plugs,
> and video from s-video only?

On the Mac side, there is a stereo headphone minipulg and an S-video
connector. On the home theater end, there is an S-video connector and
right and left channel audio RCA plugs. If you don't have a setup
that has S-video and stereo audio inputs close together, this cable
is not for you. In particular, there is no composite video output
(video via RCA plug) at all. I don't believe that any Powerbook
supplies composite video directly, although it can be gotten from
Apple's mini-DVI to video cable (one end is a mini-DVI connector, the
other end is a small box with outlets for composite (RCA video) and S-
video. For connections to the television or home theater, you might
scour a local electronics store for the right cables.



Alan Forkosh Oakland, CA
aforkoshmac.com