HDMI on your Mac: Monoprice's Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adaptor tested

Apple doesn't sell a MiniDisplay Port to HDMI adaptor for hooking your Mac up to an HDTV. But Monoprice.com does, and we've had one sent in to test it out.

It'll cost you just under £25 for the cable, including shipping from the US, and our first hands-on thoughts are "Dude, what's not to love?" We tested it out on a new aluminium unibody MacBook, running OS X 10.5.6, and as the cable promises, you'll get up to a full 1080p-resolution output.

You can use an HDTV or HDMI-equipped monitor as a second or even primary display with your Mini DisplayPort-enabled iMac or MacBook. Thanks to the MDP standard not currently supporting audio, you will of course have to route your audio via other means. That's a gigantic fail right there, but the adaptor itself isn't to blame.

Tested with a 42-inch Loewe Art SL 42 Full-HD+ 100 DR+ 1080p TV (yes, that really is the TV's real product name), image quality was superb. We were able to watch full-screen 1080p video files glitch-free, and use the telly just as we would a standard -- albeit massive -- monitor.

The same grandiose feeling of utter success was felt when used with an 26-inch HDMI-ready Samsung monitor (the T260HD, FYI).

Note, however, that if you experience any lag or delay -- such as your mouse movements taking half a second or so to be displayed on an HDTV -- you may have to disable any picture processing currently enabled on your TV set, or use any kind of 'gaming mode' offered. Initially we experienced lag with the Loewe TV, but disabling its picture processing fixed the issue.

Safe to say this is a superb way to add HDMI to your Mac, and considering Apple charges £20 for its DVI adaptors, £25 for Monoprice's HDMI adaptor seems perfectly reasonable. If you live in the States, your postage costs will be significantly less, of course. Check out some in-use photos in the gallery above.