How do I view my Macbook Pro through my TV?

It’s running into your cable box? Into an input on the cable, right? You may need to switch the input of your cable box.

If you have another HDMI input on your TV, you might want to try that.

We have used the HDMI input on the TV but the picture cuts out constantly. How do I switch the input on my cable box. Help us Andrew!

@Supergirl Wait, the input on the TV cuts out? That’s crazy!

What kind of TV do you have? What kind of cable box? How is the cable box hooked into the TV? Via HDMI? If it is, then have you tried pulling the cable HDMI and just trying the DVI=>HDMI cable? If you’re still getting weirdness, it may be a problem with the cable from your MacBook.

We have a Sony TV and HD Comcast cable box. The cable from the Macbook to the TV is an dvi to hdmi cable and when we switch the input on the mac (F7) the picture cuts in and out. So frustrated! Not sure what to do next…

I was thinking that maybe it was the HDMI output on the TV so thought we could hook up the laptop through the cable box.

This is what you do. You take the DVI-HDMI out to the TV not the cable box….The cable box has only outputs for HDMI and Component, not an input.

You should now have two connections in the back of your TV, 1 HDMI from your macbook pro, and another connection from your cable box.

You will hit the menu button on the remote control for you TV and switch between the sources for whatever you want to view, whether it’s the Cable, or the Macbook Pro.

Do not go through the cable box, it will not work that way. If you want a sound cable, most Sony TV’s will offer two composite audio connections (red and white) for the HDMI you use for the Macbook Pro.

Treat the TV like a monitor. And then just switch between the sources depending on what you want to watch.

Oh, and once you have it plugged in, it will initially want to use the TV as an extended desktop, you can set it up for mirroring if that’s what you wanted to achieve. So initially if you bring your mouse to the edge of the display, it can cross over into the TV.

If you need anymore help, let me know. I sell Media Center computers (including macs), have set up several, and generally know pretty much any adapter you’d ever need to make it work.

@RandomMrdan thank you thank you! It is working and now my husband can “happily” watch Sleepless in Seattle ;) :)

we have a macbook pro and an Italian Philips tv with only DVI receptacles. Hooked it up to the computer but can not get the picture up on the tv screen. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much for any thoughts!

Sony says I need to use the RGB connection on the back of my XBR TV to connect my macbook pro. That TV is just about permanently anchored to the wall and I would have to get the neighbors to help take it down. Can I just go from DVI on computer to HDMI connection on side of TV? thanks

@pdubya Yes—you can buy a DVI => HDMI adaptor. It works well.

Yes, the DVI to HDMI connection will work actually better than RGB, and will support a higher resolution than RGB.

So use a mini DVI to DVI adapter that you can buy at any apple retail store, or apple certified seller, get a DVI to HDMI cable for video, and then use the applicable cable for sound (probably 3.5mm to RCA).