Ok.... :-) 

I've a BV7 Mk2 (no hdmi) and a link BV6

Connected to the BV7 is an early Sky HD box - It's connect via component for the HD and Scart for the sound and signal to the BV6. The picture is great on the BV7 and very acceptable on the link BV6. 

The MacMini is connected to the BV7 via DVI to DVI for the picture. I have a display port to hdmi cable, that is then connected into a hdmi to scart converter and from that to the BV7. The audio is coming from the phono on the mac mini into the same scart plug from the converter. The picture on the BV7 is great, but on the link is fairly terrible.

As a test I connected an old laptop with s-video out into the camera connector on the BV7 and the picture was the same terrible quality as i'm getting from the scart converter. 

Any thoughts gladly accepted. All the other inputs to the link tv are great, Sky, DTV ( the bv7 has a digital tuner fitted ) and the DVD.

:-D

The only option i've not tried is using the VGA input on the TV, but will that be shared to the link TV?

Or are only scart connectors shared? 

Hello again,

So the problem is getting good quality simultaneous output from a mac mini, one SD and one HD.

The trick is to get both signals into the same AV group. You can use any combination of inputs (Scard or not)  as long as you can assign them to the same AV Group.If you are getting picture and sound, I assume that this is OK.

The HD signal to the BV7 seems to be OK as well, your question seems to revolve around the MacMini DisplayPort -> HDMI  -> Scart. I had some similar problems with an DisplayPort -> HDMI converter and the root cause was that I could not generate a signal that the next converter in the chain could work with easily.

First thing would be to be verify the output from DP with input to HDMI->Scart converter.. If you need detailed control of your displays for the Mac Mini I would suggest SwitchResX.

I suspect that the DP->HDMI cable is not generating a correct signal. If it really is generating a signal that is in the accepted input for the converter then it is time to look at a different or better converter.

- Scott

Hi Scott, 

Thank you, at last somebody who actually knows what they are on about. How can I check what the DP is outputting? I wish I could find a better converter but there only seem to be versions of the same one.  At this stage i'm considering buying a Gen1 AppleTV and using that with the BV6. 

As i'm using the MacMini in mirroring mode for the displays, SwitchResX seemed to get a tad confused. But that could also have been the user getting confused.!

Thanks for your help. 

Take care, Andrew.

Yeah,

SwitchResX is powerul, but hard to grasp.   :-p

The fact that mirroiring is trying to match the resolution of the two displays sounds like a possible source of error. I assume you are creating a 720p50 signal for the HD signal. You need to be sure you DP->HDMI and HDMI->Scart converts can both use 720p50.

I would think they should, but to double-check can you see what happens if the DVI cable is unplugged from MacMini (i.e. no mirroring) and the MacMini is set to output a SD resolution for the BV6.

- Scott

Hi Scott, 

Thank you for your help with this, i'll have look at it again tonight. What would be causing there to be a black strip on the left and right of the BV6 display? It looks like the picture is slightly compressed. 

It's annoying I cannot set both monitors to have different resolutions and still mirror. 

Thanks, Andrew.

Hi Scott, 

I reinstalled SwitchResX, to test things I've mirroring turned off. So when I set the resolution to 1366 x 786 @ 60hz all I get is a blue screen. So something is out of sync. One thing that might be confusing things further is the BV6 is not HD ready. Cycling through the recommended resolutions in SRX gives me a picture, but none of them correctly fit the screen. Any ideas?

Thanks for your help.

Andrew. 

Yeah,

I have a SD BC6, so I know what you mean.

I think the BV6 is expecting a 1280*768 image. Try using p50 or p60. If that doesn't work, you could start playing around with interlaced signals.The not-fitting the screen problem could be overscan.

If the BV6 has an option for this managing, you're saved. Otherwise you could sacrifice a little screen rel estate on the BV7 to make a better fir on the BV6. On my BC6, I just live with an image that is slightly cut...

However, this was just a test and we found out what we need to know.

The mirroring seems to be the problem because it is trying to make the resolutions the same. So how to get around that ?  I can see three choices :

1. Double your HD signal and then use a converter to downscale to 1280*768
2. Output a HD signal over DVI and a SD sigal over MDP. while mirroring.
3. Output a HD signal to DVI and MDP->HDMI and then downscale to 1280*768

To be honest, I have no idea is the second option is possible. Options 1 & 3 are similar and both are based on the idea that your converter can take a HD signal and downscale it.

Option 1 seems more robust because it does not use mirroring. You would need a DVI doubler (easy) and a DVI to S-Video downscaler (maybe not so easy). You could also use the MDP-HDMI and then a HDMI->DVI Adaptor plus a HDMI->S-Video downsclaer. This adds an 'extra' box, but they are easier to find.

Option 3 requires the same HDMI-S-Video downsclaler, but more fooling around on the MacMini becuase of the mirroring. This resembles your initial configuration I believe, and it was not working. So either the downscaler is bad or the mirrored output in the Mac is causing the problem.

Can you tell me more about your HDMI-<SVideo downscaler ?  We need to be sure it can work.

It's a torturous path... Talk to you soon,

- Scott

Hi Scott, 

Nope, no joy on the different resolutions. It's all very odd. Overscan is the only way to get it to fill the screen, but then it's bigger than the viewable area. I'm starting to think the converter might be part of the problem, here is the one I bought...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-SCART-Composite-Video-Converter-Stereo-Audio-Adapter-PS3-SKY-HD-Blu-Ray-/331246225486?hash=item4d1fd0484e

Thanks, Andrew.

Hi,

I am a bit late here and off to the pub, Though this may help.

All worked via ML and video distribution to other B&O TV's including Beo4 commands

For the Wii I bought a Wii to SCART cable from eBay. 

For the Sky+ box I used a HDMI to DVI-I connecter on the BV7 MKII and ran a HDMI Cable to the BV7. I also ran an optical to coax digital sound connecter. For video distribution on the Sky + box I used composite to a SCART connector supplied by B&O.

I bought an Apple TV Gen 1 with the ATV flash update which allowed colour via the component connection in composite form + the SPDIF to coax connection for sound.

I have the Mac mini in a box, it was too hard.

.... there is some more to the story... I still have an Atlona HDMI switch etc..

Beoaus.