How To: Convert Your Old Apple iMac G4 into a Cable-Ready HDTV

Most of us have traded our desktop systems for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, meaning there's a lot of outdated hardware sitting in attics. Want to give your old computer a new purpose? Matthew Chappee turned his iMac G4 into an HDTV using the guide by Dremel Junkie.

One thing to note before you take on this project yourself is that if you want to use it to watch cable, you'll need a converter box to get around the MPAA's HDCP restriction. But, a converter box is considerably less expensive than an HDTV, so if you need to save some cash, or just want to use this as a second display, it's still worth doing.

Matthew started by taking apart the base and removing the CD-ROM, hard drive and motherboard.

Next, he found the video cable and pulled it off the motherboard, then stripped off the internal connector. That left him with a bunch of tiny wires, which make up the TMDS signal. He split the cable, then attached a DC power supply to the inverter, control, and TMDS wiring.

After adding power leads to the control and TMDS wires, he connected everything according to the DVI-pinout and attached a DVI to HDMI adapter.

To finish up, he coated everything with hot glue to keep the connections in place, then cleaned up the wires and shoved everything back inside the base.

You can find more photos and instructions on Matthew's blog, and detailed advice and technical specs over on Dremel Junkie.