Customer Reviews

Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (female) Cable

5 star:		(146)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

Many reviewers ignorantly rate this lower because they blame their hardware or software for being unable to pass audio along with video. After using it with my Macbook Pro (2010), it works without flaws for both audio & video, if your Mac OS settings are correct.


For instructions on how to pass audio & video on Mac OS X, see the bottom of my review.


Pros:
+ Passes Video cleanly
+ Passes Audio in sync
+ Small, clean design
+ Inexpensive


Cons:
- Does not have Gold-plated contact for female HDMI connector (or display port connector)



Hardware tested it with:
+ April 2010 Macbook Pro (i7 - but that is insignificant)
+ Pioneer Kuro 6020 + Standard HDMI Cable
+ Belkin HDMI Cable


*********************************

How to Pass Audio & Video via Mac OS 10.6


Note: Only recently released macs have the hardware capable of passing audio out via display port. These are (as of 08-2010): iMac (Late 2009), MacBook Pro (Mid 2010), and MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010).


Step 1: Connect the adapter to mac, HDMI cable to adapter and HDMI cable to TV.

Step 2: Select appropriate input on TV.

Step 3: The mac should auto-sense the display connection and extend the desktop to it. If this does not occur, you must go to System Preferences - Displays and click "Detect Displays."

Step 4: You should have video at this point, but not audio, outputting. Why? Because you have to tell your mac to stop using its speakers and output audio elsewhere instead. This is a software feature and has nothing to do with the adapter. It is not plug & play and this is why some people have failed in getting audio, because they did not change their settings.

---> Go to System Preferences - Sound. Click on the 'Output' table. By default, the internal speakers are selected. Below that, you should see your television as an option. Click your output device. Once you do this, audio should play along with the video.

Step 5: Put something good on to watch for a change (if it's reality tv, ignore the above instructions). Enjoy!

I am using this on a Mac Mini. Does the job for video, but I had to put a book over the wire as after a few hours of pain debugging my wireless signal, I found that the cable disrupts my WiFi to the Mini. It seems the other reviews are with Macbooks. The Macbook WiFi antennas must not be as close to the adapter location.

I used this with my late 2008 13 inch MacBook and it works perfectly.
I hooked it up to a 46 inch samsung tv.

oh also, not really the adapter's fault, thats why i'm still rating it a 5/5, but it doesnt carry audio over the hdmi cord, so i had to hook up a separate cable through the headphone jack into the tv.

Works perfectly with the new MacBook equipped with the Mini Display Port.
Will not transmit sound, you'll need a separate cable.

I specifically bought this adapter as it even has the following statement:

*NOTE* AUDIO: This adapter will support audio only if your source device allows audio output through the Mini DisplayPorts interface. If you're not sure, please check with the manufacturer or website, to confirm if your device allows audio out through the Mini-DP interface.

Since Apple finally allowed audio over the DisplayPort in the Mid 2010 MacBook Pro's I figured it would work. As luck would have it, it did not. The video came through but the audio didn't.
On the bag containing the adapter it states:

Support Mini DisplayPort 1.1a input and HDMI 1.3b output
Support uncompressed audio such as LPCM
Support compressed audio such as DTS Digital, Dolby Digital (including DTS-HD and Dolby True HD)

Now according to Apple's KB:

[...]

this adapter should work.

When I contacted the company their response was:

We suppose you ordered wrong item, the item is NOT supported on 2009 or newer line of MacBook / MacBook Pro.

Buyer beware!

UPDATE 6/24/10: Note that the vendor I recommended and identified earlier as "Pro_eb (PE - Pyrus Electronics) and Fulfilled by Amazon" (also listed as "Pro Ebiz LLC") has CHANGED THEIR NAME to "Bear Motion". I have now communicated with Bear Motion (also shows in some places as "Bear Store") and they have verified their name change and have stated that they continue to sell the exact same audio-capable adapter that they were selling under their previous business name. Assuming this is true (and I have no affiliation with Bear Motion so can only go by what they tell me), my recommendation is to buy this adapter from "Bear Motion and Fulfilled by Amazon". Other vendors may or may not have an audio-capable adapter, but Bear Motion DOES.

One more thing: I've been tracking this vendor for a couple of months now and note that they will randomly appear and disappear from this item's listing for days at a time. I have no idea why. All I can say is that, so far, they have disappeared and reappeared several times--and, if you can wait for one of their magical reappearances before placing your order, you might want to do so to be sure of getting an audio-capable unit.

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UPDATE 5/26/10: I have now ordered and received SIX of these adapters over several days, all from vendor "Pro_eb (PE - Pyrus Electronics) and Fulfilled by Amazon". (Note: vendor also listed as "Pro Ebiz LLC", same source). ALL have arrived as identically the same unit (which, curiously, is neither the same unit nor packaging as currently shown in Amazon's photos, but is a much more compact and attractive unit) and ALL have been tested and confirmed to carry audio successfully. So, if you want audio output (and have a newer Mac that carries audio out the Mini DisplayPort, not all do), I'd suggest buying this adapter ONLY from the "official" Amazon vendor listed here; other vendors may or may not have an audio-compatible adapter, but, as of this writing, vendor "Pro_eb (PE - Pyrus Electronics) and Fulfilled by Amazon" DOES.

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So far, after a few days usage with my new 2010 MacBook Pro, this adapter has performed perfectly! I love it! And, contrary to people who say otherwise (possibly due to a lack of understanding of how to switch the settings in their MacBook), it absolutely DOES send BOTH audio AND video out across a standard HDMI cable, that is, as long as you have the latest 2010 version of a MacBook Pro that supports audio out of its mini displayport.

For those who do have the newest generation MacBooks, to get the sound to work over HDMI, you do need to go into your System Preferences and open the Sound panel to tell your Mac to use the "Built-in HDMI output". It is a simple process.

As to the qualities of the adapter itself, it is that rare object that successfully combines highly attractive styling and wonderful functionality, and does it at a rock-bottom price, currently about one-half to one-third of competing products. An added bonus, it currently is available with free shipping through Amazon Prime, making it even cheaper than other solutions. As silly as it sounds to say, even the packaging is attractive. The only factor that remains to be seen is this adapter's long-term reliability, and that can only come with time; rest assured that, should I see any issues develop anywhere in the future, I will come back to this review and post an update.

One final comment: When I first hooked up this adapter, my 2009 Sony HD TV (1920 x 1080) was making the MacBook's text look TERRIBLE, all broken up with an odd ghosting effect. At first I thought perhaps it was the adapter causing the problem. Then I realized that, if I want to use a TV as a computer display, I needed to go into the Sony's PICTURE settings and adjust SHARPNESS down from its (factory default) high-sharpness setting all the way to OFF. Instantly, everything from the Mac, both picture and text, looked right

In summary: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

works well with late 2008 aluminum unibody macbook and 2007 Samsung 50" plasma. I set my TV to "Just Scan" and the macbook defaulted to the best resolution. Great looking picture, text is readable from across the room. I can play commercial DVDs via the DVD player.

Update- with the upgrade to Snow Leopard, the resolution options are more HDTV friendly, now I get 720p, 1080p, etc. Less to choose from, but works great with the TV.

For people saying that this doesn't pass audio, regardless of who makes the adapter, it will not pass audio unless you have a 2010 built macbook PRO or iMac. If you have anything but those, it doesn't matter who makes the adapter, or how much they sell it for, it will not pass audio. I learned this the hard way after buying the actual apple one. So please people, don't bash products until you do a little research, and no, I have no affiliation to this company, I'm simply a consumer who went though the research and decided to post it here.

If you need to connect a Mini Displayport computer to an HDMI Display, this is your device. Just be aware that you may have some configuration to do on both sides.

In my initial review I called this product a disappointment because I could not get a good signal from my computer to the HDMI port of my Samsung 2333HD Display. I was careful in my original text to say I didn't know where the blame lay. It turns out that not assigning blame was prudent and I should have done a little more digging on Google. Thankfully the fault was a somewhat hidden, misconfigured setting on the Samsung.

It seems that the Samsung expects a TV driving the HDMI input. What I didn't know is that TVs and video devices drive HDMI displays differently than PCs do. TVs use a different colormap than PCs and TVs employ something called "Overscan". What's unexpected, and undocumented by Samsung, is the configuration steps needed to switch one if their HDMI inputs from TV/Video color mapping to PC mapping. As it happens, the way to do this is to label the Samsung's HDMI input "PC" via the configuration menus on the Display. If you do this you get a great Digital PC display! That Samsung decided to bury the switch in the "input label" functionality is not expected and that sin is further compounded by their lack of documentation on the subject. But, that's Samsung's issue and not the fault of this adapter. The overscan issue is something that in the Mac's Display Preferences panel under options.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, poor quality display from computer to a Samsung display via HDMI input, read my Samsung 2333HD review It gives the menu path that set me up.

-- Chris

I used the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (female) Cable for Apple Mac along with 25ft HDMI to HDMI Cable Premium Gold Series HDMI Certified to connect my iMac to my HDTV. The picture is fantastic! Don't pay for overpriced cables--these work great!

Note that you have to have a separate audio connection, as the Mini DisplayPort is only video out, no audio. I used theDigital Optical Audio TosLink to Mini TosLink Cable, 12 FT along with RiteAV - Digital Optical Toslink Cable 25ft. and Optical Extension Coupler to connect my iMac to my home theater. I bought all the cables and connector on Amazon for practically nothing compared to retail. It sounds fantastic--huge improvement over wireless (bluetooth) or RCA connections. Don't waste money on expensive cables. The cheap ones carry the digital signal just as well.