mini to VGA is a better signal vs the s-video (which is not output by the newer systems). Try not to go to composite, it's horrible.

You would then typically need some type of VGA to the inputs that you need for your projection / LCD system.

Thanks.

The reason I have to go to S-video, is because I have to hook into a video amp that accepts Composite and S-Video. The video amp then distributes to 7 projects, 10 LCD's, and 6 Plamsa's

Any suggestions on any type of connectors or converters or anything like that???

Hello Tugs,

You need to purchase this --> store.apple.com.

You might also need to purchase a longer S-video cable depending on how far away the video amp is from you.
I would not suggest going any further than 20ft with an s-video cable though.

Zach, you gave him the wrong one to buy. The new MBP's do not have a mini port out, just a mini-display port out.

The only 2 connectors for them are:
store.apple.com
store.apple.com

He would then have to get a converter to go from these to s-video.

Ah right:(

Anyone have any suggestions on good converters that work well>??

I found this doing a quick Google search --> www.svideo.com

Looks like that AverMedia would work too.

I am in the same situation as Tugs but also wanted to make sure. If i get the adapter from Apple then I can hook straight up to a projector so it would be... Mini display convert to VGA> projector, or would I need some type of converter?

Glad I found this discussion...I'm also curious as well. Just bought a mac today and was wondering which one was the better option....DVI or VGA? I'll be running into a video mixer which in turn feeds 17 flat displays along with 7 projectors. Been using dvjs for awhile now, but finally making my move to go just with the mac and video sl. Curently I have both dvj's connected by bnc and wondering if I should just connect from there or a new line to the video mixer which will probaly take 10 ft' of cable or more.

pski,

If the projector has a VGA input then all you'll need is this --> store.apple.com. No other adapter needed.

vinylmanipulator,

I'm not sure what 'bnc' is but what you need to get is dependent on the type of input your sending the signal to.
What type of video output does your Mac have?
What type of input does the video mixer have?

Thanks all. This was very helpful.

DJ STYLE HERE! HOLD OFF ON BUYING VGA TO S-VIDEO ADAPTER SOLD ON EBAY OR AMAZON. I GOT ONE, INSTALLED ONE AND NO SIGNAL IS PASSING TO MY PROJECTOR. DIRECT HOOK-UP TO PROJECTOR VIA VGA INPUT IS YOUR BEST OPTION RIGHT NOW. THE EFORCITY COMPANY I FOUND ON EBAY IS SENDING ME THE REPLACEMENT CABLE. I WILL POST AN UPDATE IF THE REPLACEMENT ADAPTOR WORKS.

I SPOKE WITH LOCAL APPLE DEALER IN RENO, NV FOR ANY APPLE MADE ADAPTOR - MINI PORT DISPLAY-VGA TO S-VIDEO. THE ANSWER IS ZERO. MINI PORT DISPLAY IS DIGITAL AND NO CURRENT CONVERSION ADAPTOR TO ANALOG (S-VIDEO/RCA VIDEO).

DJ STYLE

WARNING TO VJ'S USING A MBP AND NEED ANALOGUE VIDEO OUTPUT:

You are out of luck. Or should I say WE are out of luck. I've been tackling this problem for 3 solid months, looking for a decent solution from every and any forum and every and anybody I could talk to. Here it is:

The converters linked in this thread provide decent video if your showing off vacation pics to your grandparents, but whip this out in a professional environment and you will quickly look the fool. The quality is beyond terrible. This leaves you with two options:

1. Buy an a professional converter for around $800

2. Buy a cheap laptop powerful enough to run VSL and old enough to provide S-Video outputs (or VGA, then a regular adapter to switch to S-Video)

I went with option two, I only spin video once a month at most, so on those rare occasions I leave the comfort and stability of my MBP and fire up a Toshiba PC, which provides analogue video outs for the ancient video mixer at the venue.

there is a big thread discussing this here....

www.serato.com

I've just picked up the AverMedia but not used it in a club yet just testing it at home just now....

DJ Wunder,

I think you are a bit misinformed. Check out the numerous converters from Extron on ebay. I use several of them (both a converter and a distribution hub) and they were both priced for less than 100.00.

Think about this for a minute everyone. What resolution is your original video? In no cases is it larger than 800x600...so you use a scaler to make it bigger. Once again, in most cases...why?

The majority of people are running to videos via s-video and anything else is just a waste of bandwidth. Look at your "chain" for whatever system you are using. The very best your video can be is limited to the lowest device or cable in that chain.

Now, if you are in newer clubs / installed systems, then you can use an HDMI switcher / splitter then that's a different thing. But anyone using a V4 or V8 is limited to rgb as the best output available.

Once again, if you are traveling from club to club, talk with teh tech person there...if you have a steady system, optimize for that one.

man this is OLD the unibody's have been out for a while now......

anyway relax all you need to do is buy this it's what i use & and it works GREAT!!!.......it's the best converter i found for the money

www.radioshack.com

Thanks for the reply Zach...BNC is just the type of connector on the end of a coaxial cable. It basically kinda springs on with a twist and locks. The club where my residency is at was built in 1998 so they're a little behind with equipment.....lol. I've been slowly getting them to upgrade all of our equipment. In my booth behind me we have a full video setup both for live footage (4 monitors along with several cameras throughout the club) and editing. I haven't decided how I'm gonna hook up yet. I think we're gonna go with a dedicated line instead of tapping into the dvj line. I appreciate your quick response and the overall support from both rane and serato.

@VJ Justin Allen and Joee

I haven't tried the Extron converters, but as far as all that Pc to Tv Ez Radioshack/Fry's consumer crap, when I throw it up on the projector the videos (decent videos that look great when I'm able to plug in HDMI) look crap. Faded, not blurry...but definitely not sharp. Compared to a regular old Sony DVD player they are garbage.

This is when I'm running through the video mixer at my work, not sure what kind it is (the video guys man that board and mix in graphics and whatnot) but it only accepts S-Video from me so when I send them my converted MDP>VGA>Converter Box>S-Video signal and they pass it through to the projector it looks tacky on the 12 foot screen.

I spent time on the phone with Apple, checking my settings and all that, making sure they were optimized. I was able to get email support from some of these converter manufacturers. I've spent time twiddling thumbs and scratching heads with respectable video-tech guys. The picture is ok, certainly good enough for the grandparents or a 6th grade classroom, but as far as exciting visuals in a professional party? Nah. Like I said I can play a music video from a home dvd player through s-video and it looks perfect, not so much from my $2500 MBP/$30 adapter/$75 converter box.

thank you zach!

Dj Style update on VGA to S-Video converter from Ebay.

I received the replacement from Eforcity - VGA to S-Video.
It's crap- no signal. I'm stuck with VGA hook-up only and my V-4 mixer
is no longer an option. We purchased a $2500 Mac Pro for VSL Video
application and it's useless - what a waste of fund.

Look like we are going to fire-up our old PCDJ VJ and our old HP Computer laptop for or our Pioneer DVJ X1 for our Corporate Events which starts this week. Very disappointed

thanks to all that replied

hey guys for those of you still looking heres a solution.

you need to get a mini dvi to vga from Apple store and then

one of these

www.maplin.co.uk

JOB DONE

ah it seems you cant post links on here........

well go to www.Maplin.co.uk

and enter product code - A94HT

thats the baby

Used that. Returned it. I suppose it would work if your sending video to a small screen, but blown up on my projector it looks like baby barf

So is there still no hope for those with the uni-body MBP?

there is- it's just not cheap. any scan converted under about 600 $$ is going to give you some sort of error or bad quality images. almost guaranteed.

save yourself the headache and buy a quality extron or kramer unit

just thought i'd chime in on this. I just did the dry run for my video party that i'm doing for my mobile company. I got the Sabrent PC to TV unit. Sells for about 40 bucks and I hooked that up to the official apple MDP to VGA converter. So out of my macbook i go to the apple converter, through a VGA cable to the Sabrent box and then that's going into a video mixer. It's worked fine thus far in the test we did today. I know this may not be "professional" but it's working. Could be a great solution to this problem.

If I go COMPUTER>CONVERTER>TV, wont the signal be of my computer and not the fullscreen video? I was thinking I had to do something like this COMPUTER>CONVERTER>EXTERNAL TV>MAIN VIDEO FEED FOR ALL TV's

????

No. You'll need to switch from mirrored desktop to extended desktop. Your laptop will be the main screen and the tvs will be the extended. Just drag your VSL window to those tvs, click Fullscreen in VSL and you're good to go.

I have a problem with the video clarity when using my MBP unibody 13.3'.?
I have a mini display port to VGA running to a Toshiba Projector
What should I use to get better quality of video to watch over the projection screen.? without purchasing a new HDMI projector?

VGA should be crystal, I get great results, sure your projector is optimized?

Calibrate your secondary monitor through display preferences.

Anyone find any other solution to this yet? Like Dj Wunder said few posts above. The picture quality from the radioshack converter and most of those converters is really bad. I got the radioshack one a while back and took it back cause of quality. Apple really screwed video djs on this one.

Don't worry we're all going to be up against it in a few years when VGA starts to disappear as an option in favor of digital connections.
I use the Avermedia KeyMicro and it works fine. Picture quality is still good.

Hey guys i have an old 2008 Mac Book Pro. I just got into video djing. Had a few questions:

First: What kind of output connector do I need ?
Second: I want to use two TVs and when i am not mixing videos i want to display slide shows. What do I need as far as equipment for that.
Lastly: What is recomended/popular as far as video output VGA/DVI/SVIDEO and why?

I have a Mac Book Pro
TTM 57SL
2 MK3 Pioneer

Already thanks

I use this one:
www.amazon.com

It's cheap and I'm happy with the quality when I set the resolution to 800x600. I have to use it's menus to adjust the horizontal and vertical size when displaying to some TV's. It has a VGA pass-through so you can still send the full resolution to a projector while sending S-Video to the TV distribution system.

wondering if this will work since the new MacBook Pros come with mini-display port to VGA. Has anyone tried?

liten.be

Round and round we go...

It doesn't work. You need a digital to analog scan convertor.

lol, my bad Dj Wunder, I wasn't 100% sure. Thanks Carter.

All good Killbill. Sometimes I have dreams of that method just all of a sudden working, and I wake up and try it before I realize that Steve Jobs is a complete a$$h0le

guess no one cared to read my input here, i do a video DJ party every week w/ my setup and it works great.

Has anybody actually tried mini DVI to HDMI ??? Thats what I have coming in the mail. I didn't like the VGA and I've also noticed quality varies on certain types of T.V.'s

I personally haven't. In the 3 clubs I'm spinning the need long run cables. VGA works the best for those. And for each of those I have a different display calibration setting in display preferences to compensate for the difference in the displays.
Keep in mind that the quality is going to vary on the different videos you play as well.

Also make sure your converter box supports 1920x1080 or 1280x720p. My old pctotv converter box did not and I had to buy a new one.

I use a macbook pro and run it direct from vga adapter to my tv. Should I still use a converter if I'm using a macbook?

No.

Still don't understand why you would send it out at 1080 or 720? More than likely the video you're sending to the tv is going to be VGA quality or standard def. Adding an HDMI cable and increasing the frame size doesn't change the video from standard to high def. In theory you're actually making the video look worse. You're taking a video that has x amount of pixels and stretching those pixels to fit into a box y amount larger. The ideal display output for videos is something close to, or the same as, the frame size of the video.

Agreed, but some projecors or monitors wont work correctly unless you set the output to 720 or 1080. You get the square box problem. You can use the medium setting and let vsl just scale it as best as possible.

I am talking about the output setting on your display. I have entered venues where anything that was not 720p would give me a no signal, better safe than sorry.

Ha ha I just give up lol....

I'm sure I can fix my problem in the settings and I'll get around to it...

OK I Found most everyone is asking… i bought a Grandtec PC to TV/ PC to Video Composite at Radioshack.com…..

I can finally plug my MAC to any video source (Composite Video - Yellow, S-Video, VGA out to Projector, RGB Component) just by using this Convertor

I VDJ at Different clubs and this lets me plug into any source

All i use is the mini-Display Port to VGA on my mac, the plug it into the PC to TV Convertor and i got video to even my old 15" TV

so here is the link to Radio Shack and see for yourself….

Grandtec PC to TV/Video Component
www.radioshack.com

im gonna make a youtube video to show you it works..

youtube.com/djrebelx and subscribe

Just in case anyone is still interested in this thread, here's one that I would say 90% of us VDJ's in Chicago are using...

www.compusa.com

Works wonderfully & has multiple options for output... Best $60 I have ever spent...

Hey Sturb, I have the same box and love it. I cant seem to be able to get 1280 x 720 resolution setting tho. Yes i do use the 640 x 480 setting either way, but for some screens it looks funky and I have to use the 1280 x 720 res for it to look good.

Anyone know if this new "Thunderbolt" ports on the new Macbook Pros somehow help solve this analog/digital issue?

thunderbolt is digital.