Use a macbook Air for watching TV using thunderbolt
Solution 1:
The answer is still no! The graphic card inside the MacBook cannot handle video input! Only output!
Second: There is currently no working adapter beside "HDMI to Thubderbolt". No converter yet!
Solution 2:
No, the feature you refers to is called Target Display Mode, it's only available on some Intel iMacs with Thunderbolt or Mini Display Port. And they are very picky about their source, only Macs with the Mini Display Port can output to iMacs with Mini Display Port, same for Thunderbolt.
I believe Belkin has an accessory that will trick iMac into taking other sources. But the point is, you MacBook Air doesn't support it.
I will recommend getting a monitor, but if you really really want to use that screen, you can. Here's your option: Video Capture Cards. You can find them on Amazon.
Basically they are cards connected hopefully by USB or Thunderbolt to your Mac, and then transmit a video from a source connected to it. Higher-end ones will have HDMI 1080p input or H.264 encoding. Their main usage is to offload encoding job from CPU so their computer can focus on streaming content to the Internet. But you can however view that content locally.
Solution 3:
No MacBook Air is capable today of doing this without additional video-in hardware.
Apple's FAQ on target display lists all hardware that can support video input:
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924
In summary here are the current details of video on on Mac hardware that need no external video-in adapters:
Model - cable needed
- iMac (27-inch Late 2009) - Mini DisplayPort
- iMac (27-inch Mid 2010) - Mini DisplayPort
- iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) - Thunderbolt
- iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) - Thunderbolt
- iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012) - Thunderbolt
- iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) - Thunderbolt
Depending on your model year of Air, you have multiple options for video-in over Thunderbolt and/or USB.