jtehlert

Q: Horrible colors on external monitor using macbook air(2012) with mini dp to hdmi

I have one of the new macbook airs (2012) hooked up to an external monitor (Dell SR2320L) using a mini display port to hdmi adapter.

 

The dsiplay shows up fine on the external monitor, except for the colors and contrast being terrible. Any color grey on a white background doesnt even seem to render. However if I look at that same image on the airs screen, I can see all of the grey colors perfectly. I have tested the hdmi cable and monitor on different computers and they work perfectly. I have tried three different adapters all with the same problems, leaving me to believe that there is something wrong with the macbook air itself and its ability to output a mini display port signal.

 

Does anyone know why I would be having a problem like this?

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 4, 2012 1:55 PM

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Q: Horrible colors on external monitor using macbook air(2012) with mini dp to hdmi

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  • by nicholasjfromca,

    nicholasjfromca nicholasjfromca Aug 10, 2012 11:54 AM in response to orcoonx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2012 11:54 AM in response to orcoonx

    I have tried closing my MBA 2012 lid and although it does move the main desktop onto the single external monitor it DOES NOT improve the colors. Its as though the display loses its dynamic range. The test page I use is this one from the Apple Store:

     

    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/cables

     

    On a 'horrible colors' monitor you can't actually see the MiniDP to HDMI Moshi adapter (or any other MiniDP adapters) - the colors are so washed out that they're practically invisible.

     

    I find it ironic that using one of those adapters renders them invisible

     

    Now I'm new to these boards, though not new to Apple Macs and I'd like to know just how we can actually get an official response to this issue. It's clearly a hardware/software defect and I expect Apple to acknowledge this and promise a fix sometime. I bought my MBA in Hong Kong so taking it back is difficult. Can I return it to a local Apple Store? How long do I have for this? Any pointers would be welcome - I love Apple products but I've paid a premium price for this product and expect it to be usable in an external display situation.

  • by marcinetti,

    marcinetti marcinetti Aug 10, 2012 12:32 PM in response to marcinetti
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2012 12:32 PM in response to marcinetti

    Hi everyone,

     

    I have been in touch with a senior advisor at Apple. We have tried a couple of more things to make my Macbook pro (mid 2012) work properly with an external screen via HDMI. We tried doing a clean install of the OS via internet recovery and then an update. It didn't help - the colours are still washed out.

     

    The advisor claims that it must be a software issue and has contacted the engineers team. I am supposed to get in touch with them again in a few days and try a few more things with the engineers. I will report back.

     

    Should this not work, I have been told that I can request a replacement of the Macbook.

     

    By the way, the advisor told me that he has the very same Macbook Pro from mid 2012 and it works fine with a Samsung TV via HDMI, so the problem does not affect all Macbooks.

  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 10, 2012 12:56 PM in response to marcinetti
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 10, 2012 12:56 PM in response to marcinetti

    marcinetti,

     

    I was really frustrated as well but decided to wait for a while and not return it at this point (I have MBP Mid 2012 too).

    I just started using MDP to VGA, it's not perfect but it is much better than HDMI.

     

    It is definitely driver issue, so it is not a hardware deffect or something, which means there should a solution (hopefully sooner than later).

     

    Cheers

  • by marcinetti,

    marcinetti marcinetti Aug 10, 2012 1:00 PM in response to gubble
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2012 1:00 PM in response to gubble

    Hi gubble,

     

    I am not very keen to return my MBP neither. I still hope that Apple engineers will figure something out or at least that I will get a promise that an update will sort this issue out soon.

  • by red.radar,

    red.radar red.radar Aug 10, 2012 4:10 PM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2012 4:10 PM in response to jtehlert

    I just want to sound off and say I have the very same issue.  Brand new MBA 2012.  Pulled it out and hooked it up to my external display using a mini display port to HDMI cable.  Brand new, less than 4 hours old.  I get poor resolution and really saturated colors.  I am going to mono price.com and buy a mini display port to display port cable.  I have a Dell U2410 and it has VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and Hdmi.  I am wondiering if the external connection is display port if the situation will improve.

     

    My guess is no.  This is most likely a problem with a driver.  Espeically since Windows appears to be just fine.  I guess we need to wait for Mountain Lion 10.8.1 and get the driver fix. 

  • by Calreth,

    Calreth Calreth Aug 13, 2012 2:57 AM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2012 2:57 AM in response to jtehlert

    I just recieved my MBA about an hour ago, and was deeply disappointed to find out about this issue. Same problem as the OP - washed out colors when connected to an external Samsung display via the moshi mini-DP to HDMI adapter.

  • by Calreth,

    Calreth Calreth Aug 13, 2012 3:47 AM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2012 3:47 AM in response to Calreth

    I've just boughted and tested a miniDP to VGA cable and have no issues. There's definitely an issue with the HDMI out that needs to be looked into.

  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 13, 2012 3:57 AM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 13, 2012 3:57 AM in response to Calreth

    Calreth, you are absolutely right!

     

    And also, I was wondering if anyone here know a person in the media, that doesn't work for Apple, so they can spread the word about this issue?

     

    I know a guy in UK and I will try to contact him and see what he can do about it

  • by Biggles Smith,

    Biggles Smith Biggles Smith Aug 13, 2012 4:39 AM in response to gubble
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2012 4:39 AM in response to gubble

    Gubble,

     

    I had been thinking this would be good idea as well. I don't know, but I would imagine that most of the main tech websites would have some kind of "editorial" contact where you can get in touch with them to raise possible stories / issues that they might like to cover. They must always be looking for new stories to write about. Getting this problem discussed in the media must surely only help to get it recognised as an official problem by Apple (I think we can unfortunately be quite sure that it is indeed a problem).

     

    As with others who have posted on this forum I am still is discussions with Apple Care who are, full credit to them, taking it very seriously and running through a range of solutions / information gathering exercises to try and pin it down. Obviously this takes time though, and the sooner it is recognised as a problem that is not just isolated to a few cases, the sooner they will hopefully start to look at solutions seriously.

     

    If I have a moment later I may fire off some emails (and will refer to this discssion thread) to see if there are any favourable responses....

  • by red.radar,

    red.radar red.radar Aug 13, 2012 5:46 AM in response to Biggles Smith
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2012 5:46 AM in response to Biggles Smith

    Considering that Mountain Lion is still on the intial release I doubt it will be news worthy.  Now if the first update doesn't fix it, I would be willing to scream to the press.  I am sure the Intell 4000HD driver is going to be updated to fix the problem.  Patience.  I am more inclined to be patient as this problem has been reported to customer service and they have acknowleged that engineering has been notified (whatever that means). 

     

     

    Apple has never released an update outside of their normal cadence.  Running to the press isn't going to change that now.  Besides the press is enjoying the Samsung Vs Apple trial too much to have any resources to spend on us poor people who cant hook up our hdmi displays to our displayport macs.

     

    This is one of the problems with macs when it doesn't "just work"  you are at apple's mercy to fix it.  You cant go to intel (in this case) and download the latest driver. 

  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 13, 2012 5:53 AM in response to red.radar
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 13, 2012 5:53 AM in response to red.radar

    red.radar,

     

    You have some gooid points there, but the one that we have to be left at Apple's mercy is not.

    We have paid them a premium price for premium quality and service. Saying this again, but this is my first Mac and I don't want to be (too) disappointed with it..

     

    Also, the problem was present in Lion as well and I think it's not the OS version but as you said - just the driver.

  • by Calreth,

    Calreth Calreth Aug 13, 2012 5:57 AM in response to red.radar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2012 5:57 AM in response to red.radar

    I don't think many of us are screaming for a fix right this second, but more so of an official acknowledgement about this being an issue and that it would be fixed in say, OS X 10.8.1. It'd let us have a peace of mind rather than be left wondering if we have defective hardware or not.

     

    This is also my first Apple computer, and I'd hate to be disappointed.

  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 13, 2012 6:01 AM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 13, 2012 6:01 AM in response to Calreth

    Totally agree with Calreth!

  • by jaimeeee,

    jaimeeee jaimeeee Aug 14, 2012 4:08 PM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2012 4:08 PM in response to Calreth

    I have the Apple's MiniDP to VGA adapter on a Macbook Pro (Late 2011, Mountain Lion) with a Samsung monitor and I think I have this exact same issue.

     

    Took a picture with my phone on how the colors look like in the external monitor:

    /___sbsstatic___/migration-images/192/19271206-1.jpg

     

    And in the built-in monitor:

    /___sbsstatic___/migration-images/192/19271206-2.jpg

     

    Changing the color profile doesn't help much.

     

    My temporary fix was to change the monitor's "Color Tone" to Warm or using the "MagicColor" setting on my SyncMaster 2333. What it does when using the Warm Color Tone is change the RGB to 39, 31 and 18. Using the normal color tone (50, 50, 50) makes it look like the first picture.

     

    However it used to work perfectly on my Late 2007 Macbook Pro with the DVI to VGA adaptor.

  • by jtehlert,

    jtehlert jtehlert Aug 14, 2012 4:03 PM in response to jaimeeee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2012 4:03 PM in response to jaimeeee

    That would be the problem exactly

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