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Plasma displays, HD, and the Mac mini
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 / Displays, Hardware, Media Center
Some display questions:1. can plasma displays be used as computer monitor? (or is resolution poor)2. or can the Apple 32″ Hi Def be used as TV monitor (switchable?)3. what is largest display that the original 1.25 Ghz Mac mini can handle?
You could use a Plasma screen as a computer monitor, but it would be so blurry you would not want to do much work on it. Here is a way to visualize it. At the highest broadcast level of HDTV, 1080i, you have a picture of about 1920 X 1080 pixels. An Apple 23″ LCD (Apple 23″ Cinema Display) has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. If your HDTV is bigger than 23″ but has the same 1920 x 1080 resolution, then the picture will be enlarged but with less detail. If you are seated far enough away from the screen it could work, but that adds a distance strain to working with the display. Also many Plasmas will not work well with computers on a hardware level. Your Mac mini can take up to a 23″ Apple display which is close to the resolution of HDTV. A 23″ display makes a good TV as well as a great display.
