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I wonder if I can use my new MacBook Air 13" 2011 as a display for PS3 (of course with the help of some adapter, e.g. Kanex XD/Belkin AV360™)? I know it sound weird, but that's my situation.

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You'll need to look for HDMI capture boxes. The best one for your situation would seem to be these Blackmagic products, specifically the Thunderbolt one (it says "shipping in January").

I doubt there'll be many (if any) HDMI-USB capture boxes, except maybe USB 3.0, which your Air doesn't have.

Of course, if what you want to record (and maybe watch) is HDCP protected, you won't be able to. Be aware that any digitizing solution will introduce lag so this is not at all an optimal solution for gaming where you might care about reaction speeds.

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Even given a capture box, will the MBA display an external video signal? Does simply pushing a video signal into its Thunderbolt port suffice to put it on-screen? – Dan J Jan 10 '12 at 1:24
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Presumably with a capture box and the proper software, yes, it will display the signal. I did that a few times with my Elgato EyeTV (but in standard def). And just pushing a video signal into a TB port is insufficient: the electrical connections have to be arranged properly inside, and I believe that only the 27" iMac has that facility. – CajunLuke Jan 10 '12 at 16:03
I don't want to record, I want to play PS3 using my MBA as a display, because currently I have no HDTV at home. I know that iMac 27" can be used to receive and display some video sources like PS3/XBox 360 or Blu-ray via Kanex XD/Belkin AV360™, but I wonder if MBA is able to do the same? – Paul Semionov Jan 10 '12 at 17:37
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The two devices you mention will not work with an Air, as only the 27" iMac has display-in capability. I doubt those devices would even work with a current-gen iMac, as the TB iMacs will only take input from TB devices, and MDP iMacs only take from MDP devices. – CajunLuke Jan 10 '12 at 21:56

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