Xbox to MAC

Benny Powers

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Hi all, would appreciate any help in this, my daughter has just started uni and has a mac and wants to play xbox through the mac, i have searched ebay and found display port to hdmi but it doesn’t work. Can seem to find any other connecter out there which is strange. Anyone with any knowledge on this?

Thanks in advance
 
Which Mac is it? Most Macs won’t support a video input (some iMacs might) as standard. They have video outputs. Much better getting a TV for gaming on Xbox or looking into a remote play feature perhaps.
 
iMac 2010.

It’s strange as the cable fits perfectly so not sure what it’s actual purpose of it is then.
 
It’s strange as the cable fits perfectly so not sure what it’s actual purpose of it is then.

It's for a feature of DisplayPort called dual mode which allows a DisplayPort source to optionally implement the ability to output DVI or HDMI via the DisplayPort socket.

HDMI has no analogous feature so a passive adaptor like that is not going to do anything with an HDMI video source and a DisplayPort Display.

The 27" versions of the two iMac models sold in 2010 did have a DisplayPort input (using the Mini DisplayPort socket), but the 21.5" versions didn't.

If she has the larger model what you need is an active adaptor that converters the signal itself, not just the plug. They're typically one way so you'll need an HDMI to DisplayPort one, a DisplayPort to HDMI one won't work.

If she has the smaller model then it's going to be a bit more complicated. It's not USB3 or Thunderbolt so a capture device that works well enough for gameplay might be tricky. I would probably investigate the Xbox's ability to stream over a network first. If she's got Windows on the mac already then the support is built in, if not then I believe there are receiver applications for Mac OS such as OneCast.
 
iMac 2010.

It’s strange as the cable fits perfectly so not sure what it’s actual purpose of it is then.
As an anecdote, a colleague of mine once plugged a USB cable into a Ethernet socket by just feeling around. Width-wise, they're similar - so beware when plugging into the iMac's rear.
 
Thanks for the replies all.
 
Hi all, would appreciate any help in this, my daughter has just started uni and has a mac and wants to play xbox through the mac, i have searched ebay and found display port to hdmi but it doesn’t work. Can seem to find any other connecter out there which is strange. Anyone with any knowledge on this?

Thanks in advance

'EndlessWaves' has already provided you with an excellent explanation on how Hdmi to DisplayPort works.
Here is an old link on Amazon for the Kanex XD Hdmi to Mini DisplayPort converter which worked with the 27" Imacs.

Kanex XD

Unfortunately it is unavailable at this time and has probably been like this for some time. They were not cheap, from memory around £150, a friend of mine used to have one for connecting a Playstation to his Imac. It was hoped a similar product would appear for the Thunderbolt equipped Imacs but I don't think this ever happened.

Ebay is your friend here and whilst there is nothing on Ebay UK there is one for sale on Ebay US:

Kanex XD for Sale

Not cheap but remember they cost £150 when new. There may have been other manufacturers of similar converters at the same time as Kanex but they are the only one I can remember.
 
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Ebay is your friend here and whilst there is nothing on Ebay UK there is one for sale on Ebay US

Is there something non-standard about the iMac's DisplayPort support that makes it necessary to source an old product like that? There are plenty of currently available HDMI to DisplayPort converters for £30-50.

They will typically use the more common full sized DisplayPort connector, but Mini DisplayPort is just a plug variation, as far as I'm aware, and DP to MiniDP plug adaptors are a fiver or less.
 
Is there something non-standard about the iMac's DisplayPort support that makes it necessary to source an old product like that? There are plenty of currently available HDMI to DisplayPort converters for £30-50.

They will typically use the more common full sized DisplayPort connector, but Mini DisplayPort is just a plug variation, as far as I'm aware, and DP to MiniDP plug adaptors are a fiver or less.

I remember reading on a forum that somebody had tried to use a console with a newer USB powered HDMI to DisplayPort converter and it did not work. Looking for solutions he was advised to search for the older Kanex converter.

Looking on Amazon at the 'Ugreen HDMI to DisplayPort' adapter I saw this question:

"Can one use this to connect a playstation 3 to an imac 27" mini-displayport (*not* thunderbolt) input? many thanks..."

This was the answer from the manufacturer:

"Hi Jml, the iMac 27'' will not be used as external display except using with Macbook pro. So you can NOT use this cable for that purpose."

From the answer it suggests to me the manufacturer might be getting confused between Thunderbolt and DisplayPort equipped Macs?

To answer your question I don't know if there was some sort of 'handshake' between the Kanex converter and the Imac that enabled it to work.
 
Onecast is an option which can stream Xbox to a Mac using the built in streaming feature of the console which has no native OSX client, Onecast provides that.

Though you would need to set up the Xbox first on a TV to enable streaming and possibly then attach a dummy HDMI output adapter so the console thinks there is a TV when you move it near the Mac.

Input lag is the main issue with this approach, best ways to avoid it are.
* Use controller associated with console and not a controller connected to the Mac, this is easy in your case.
* Use wired ethernet for the Mac and Xbox, not easy I'm guessing, how well the wireless works remains to be seen.

If your still looking for a HDMI 2.0 to DP converter this one is available on the market but is not cheap, you can buy a new monitor for that money. It's a re-badge, a company makes those but I forget the name I've seen them around under other names.
 
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Is there something non-standard about the iMac's DisplayPort support that makes it necessary to source an old product like that? There are plenty of currently available HDMI to DisplayPort converters for £30-50.

I have had another look at this and searching through some old forum posts I found that Apple had only configured certain display resolutions to work through its Mini DisplayPort input.
It will accept 2560x1440 and 1280x720 (720p). Annoyingly, it would not accept 1920x1080 (1080P) signals. This may be the reason why some of the newer converters do not work. If they cannot output 2560x1440 or 720p they will not work with the DisplayPort iMacs.

If the original poster is still following this thread two other converters that WILL work with the 2010 27" Imacs (assuming you have the 27" model) are the 'Atlona AT-HD620' and the 'Belkin AV360'.
The Atlona was a more capable converter than the Kanex and Belkin but more expensive.

Given the choice of the more common Kanex or Belkin, the Belkin is the better unit because it had an inbuilt video scaler. Both only output 720p but the Belkin automatically detects the input signal and converts it to an iMac friendly 720p. On the Kanex you had to manually set the output of the Hdmi device to 720p to work.
 

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