tlaci60
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Mac Mini HDMI output gives bad resolution on external 1920x1200 external monitor

A brand new Mac Mini gives blurry picture with HDMI  HDMI connection to an external 1920x1200 HDMI monitor.

very bad start

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 30, 2011 2:10 AM

by SuperAwesomeJoe,Solvedanswer
SuperAwesomeJoe SuperAwesomeJoe
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

Just an update. Using the supplied HDMI to DVI seems to have fixed the problems. Haven't had a problem at start up or after waking the computer up from sleeping.

Posted on Aug 18, 2011 1:18 PM

Close
tlaci60

Q: Mac Mini HDMI output gives bad resolution on external 1920x1200 external monitor

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 of 4 last Next

  • by mooblie,

    mooblie mooblie Apr 30, 2011 2:51 AM in response to tlaci60
    Level 4 (1,935 points)
    Apr 30, 2011 2:51 AM in response to tlaci60

    I'm afraid we're going to need some more information to help.

     

    What monitor?

    Does the monitor have any "scaled" or pixel mapped" or "1:1 display" or similarly named setting?

    What resolution does the Displays panel (in SysPrefs) say it's outputting?

    What refresh rate?

    Does it offer you "overscan" choices (probably not.)

    Does it offer you 1920x1200 (hopefully yes!)

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 Apr 30, 2011 9:59 AM in response to mooblie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2011 9:59 AM in response to mooblie

    Samsung Syncmaster 245T

    1920x1200 1:1

    1080i and 1080p, does not matter

    50Hz and 60Hz, does not matter

    thx for reply

  • by mooblie,

    mooblie mooblie Apr 30, 2011 12:50 PM in response to tlaci60
    Level 4 (1,935 points)
    Apr 30, 2011 12:50 PM in response to tlaci60

    You don't want 1080 anything.  Feeding a 1080 image to a 1920x1200 display is why the image is blurred.


    Is 1920x1200 not offered to you by the mini?

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 Apr 30, 2011 9:49 PM in response to mooblie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2011 9:49 PM in response to mooblie

    1920x1200 is NOT offered by Mac Mini, Using SwitchResX I can setup 1920x1200x60Hz, but then picture disappears..

  • by BSteely,

    BSteely BSteely Apr 30, 2011 10:54 PM in response to tlaci60
    Level 5 (7,635 points)
    Apr 30, 2011 10:54 PM in response to tlaci60

    What's the resulting pixel clock from using SRX? If it is above 165 MHz, it won't work. If it is above that level, use the "Use simplified settings" check box in SRX and select "CVT-RB" in the related pop-up. That should cause the pixel clock to fall to below 150 MHz.

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 1, 2011 1:10 AM in response to BSteely
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 1, 2011 1:10 AM in response to BSteely

    "HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution"

    http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html

     

    I will give a try to recomended SRX setup soon..

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 1, 2011 1:19 AM in response to tlaci60
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 1, 2011 1:19 AM in response to tlaci60

    Screen shot 2011-05-01 at 10.17.36 AM.png

  • by Matthew Yohe,

    Matthew Yohe Matthew Yohe May 1, 2011 1:24 AM in response to tlaci60
    Level 2 (180 points)
    May 1, 2011 1:24 AM in response to tlaci60

    Is that picture supposed to be helpful? You're not even putting in 1200 like you want.

     

    What does System Preferences, Displays look like?

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 1, 2011 2:28 AM in response to Matthew Yohe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 1, 2011 2:28 AM in response to Matthew Yohe

    no, this did not help. I tried 1080 and 1020 resolution. It seems that HDMI detects my monitor and overwrites my setup, during the boot.When I switch in SystemPref./Desplay to 1920x1200 (added by RSX) then picture disappears and my monitor says "Unsupported Mode". How can I restore to 1080i resolution to at least see my Mac's video? I have a Time Machine stamp of the original clean install of my new Mac Mini.

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 1, 2011 4:09 AM in response to tlaci60
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 1, 2011 4:09 AM in response to tlaci60

    actually I am re-installing the OS, so I would have a clean isntall. I guess a one-directional DVI cable would be better to use, it seems the bi-dierctional HDMI cable sends information of my monitor not well understood by Mac Mini OS X..

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 2, 2011 12:18 PM in response to Matthew Yohe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 2, 2011 12:18 PM in response to Matthew Yohe

    Issue is solved. Instead of using HDMI-HDMI cable I am using the HDMI-DVI adapter from the box with a DVI-DVI cable and resolution is 1920x1200 finally. I uninstalled SRX, it is not necessary anymore. It showed Syncmaster display (Vendor ID: SAM-2C2D, Product ID: 2F5).

    Anyway I do not understand why HDMI-HDMI connection detects SAMSUNG as display and selects 1080i only.

  • by BSteely,

    BSteely BSteely May 2, 2011 7:46 PM in response to tlaci60
    Level 5 (7,635 points)
    May 2, 2011 7:46 PM in response to tlaci60

    "Anyway I do not understand why HDMI-HDMI connection detects SAMSUNG as display and selects 1080i only."

     

    It could be because Samsung only sends that resolution information from the EDID for the HDMI port. That's something else you can check using SRX. But I guess you don't need to now.

  • by tlaci60,

    tlaci60 tlaci60 May 2, 2011 8:57 PM in response to BSteely
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 2, 2011 8:57 PM in response to BSteely

    Yes, probably, my external monitor sends different Vendor and product IDs on HDMI and DVI . I will contact Samsung support, but the fast solution is buying a short HDMI-DVI cable..

    Thank you for your help!

  • by Juliator,

    Juliator Juliator Jun 20, 2011 11:19 PM in response to tlaci60
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jun 20, 2011 11:19 PM in response to tlaci60

    Hi tlaci60.

    I'm experiencing the very same issue you had with your monitor. Mine is a different brand (Westinghouse24" L2410NM), but the issue is the same. Not surprisingly, the resolution of this monitor is exactly the same as yours:1920x1200. Interesting…

     

    Basically,I connect my brand new Mac Mini to my 24" monitor, and it results in a fuzzy and grainy image, with washed-out colors, and text so blurry it's difficult

    to read. I'm sure you are familiar with what I describe.


    Anyway: I’m kind of desperate, because nothing seems to work .I have tried your suggestion, but it doesn't work for me. I tried other suggestions from other threads and forums... and nothing works either. I just get the same awful look,even though the Mac recognizes the monitor and applies the correct resolution(1920x1200). Nevertheless, it looks just horrible.


    Any suggestions?  Any ideas?  I'm just losing my mind with this, and I already bought every adapter and cable combination I could think of.


    Thank you

Page 1 of 4 last Next