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

Another sad customer adding their story to the pile. I have a recently purchased new MBA, 13inch. Plugging in using the same cables and the same monitor my older MBP (bought in about febuary 2012 I think) looks immediately fine without any need for adjustment. The Air looked hideous at first. I've run the calibration utility to improve things slightly, but light greys in particular go a kind of yellowy colour or pinkish. Not good enough for a unit I intended to do some graphics work on. I'm breaking down and getting a MDP to DVI cable as some have said that solves their problems. It's stupid but I'll live with that if I have to.

Hi everybody!

I have the same problem.

I have a Macbook Pro i7 13'' connected to a Samsung SyncMaster S24B350 (HDMI to thunderbolt)

At the firt glance, all colors look good. However, especially lite gray colors are completely white. Also, if I compare the other colors with my Macbook display, you can see big differences!!!!

Tried several display profiles, hasn't really improved!!!

Any new insights, suggestions, or help is greatly appreciated!!!!

I have the same problem. Colors are good, but text and grey is crap.

Have a new macbook air 2012 with mountain lion.
I use the mini display port to HDMI adapter (moshi)

And I use a Samsung S23B550.

Everything brandnew. I don't know what to do. I have contacted the after sales but I don't know if they will provide us with a solution. Since the Macbook air is mostly used with an external screen this is a huge problem.

Come on apple geniusses! This thread has more than 40.000 views and over 360 replies.

Waiting for the solution. I will try the mini display port to  DVI adapter ? Will this work?

Solution without sound:

I have tested the Mini display to DVI adapter this morning on my Macbook air. This is an older Sony screen but the colors and fonts looks great. Now what? I have to sell the brandnew monitor that has only VGA and HDMI, and buy the same with the DVI instead.

1 big thing: HDMI can carry sound while DVI cannot.

One more with the same problem.

I have a brand new 2012 Macbook Air 13" with 8 Gigs of RAM.

When connected to my external Philips Brilliance 248C display with MiniDisplayPort-HDMI adapter the colors are horrible (light grey colors don't show up at all!). I also tried with a MDP-DVI adapter and everything works just perfectly, so the problem clearly is with HDMI driver software.

Btw, I have 2 different brand MDP-HDMI adapters and both show exactly the same results.

Please Apple, fix this NOW!

Apple just released the EFI Firmware Update 2.6 for the mid-2012 MacBook Air and it should fix a color issue with HDMI displays connected to the MacBook Air.

MacBook Air EFI-Firmware-Update 2.6

 

This update fixes a color issue with HDMI displays connected to MacBook Air, resolves an issue with Windows which can prevent MacBook Air from booting properly, and also resolves an issue where unplugging a Thunderbolt device may cause the system to freeze when waking from standby.

Can anyone check if the update works? I sold my MiniDP to HDMI cable a while ago...

Just installed the EFI Firmware Update 2.6 for the mid-2012 MacBook Air.

Unfortunatly after restart still same problem with horrible collors and faded greys with my MDP to VGA (Samsung monitor) connection :-( 

I have the same problem with my end 2012 MacMini when connecting to the same monitor. No new firmware update has been released there yet.

(b.t.w. the same monitor works fine under Windows)

Dude its HDMI update not VGA and this topic is DP-HDMI issue for which firmware update was made. Do not mix VGA and HDMI.

@scorpz86 The fact that the firmware update is indicated to be for (MDP to) HDMI did not nececerilly mean it wouldn't work with exactly the same problem in the MDP to VGA. Well now I can conclude it doesn't work, which of course I find very disappointing but noteworthy for other users of MDP to VGA.

I'm on a 2012 MBP and don't see the Update available. Is this really only for Airs? I have the same issue on my macbook pro.

?_?

I have just checked with Samsung SyncMaster 24SA350 and it is still the same after applying the update.

After installing the new firmware i have tested my macbook air mid 2012  with a Samsung syncmaster S23B550.

Still same problem. Nothing changed. (using moshi minidp to hdmi) . For now I use the minidp to dvi, this works just fine, but there is no audio.

Confirming NON-SOLUTION.

Applied the EFI update and no solution to garbage HDMI performance. Running MBA mid-2012 to BenQ GL2440 HDMI screen, OS X 10.8.2 with 8GB RAM, 128GB Flash. Six months and this is the first sign from Apple that the issue exists and their solution doesn't work!!!

needless to say, NOT impressed with NON-SOLUTION!!!

@frisbee1 I had exactly the same problems with MDP to VGA. I used an Apple Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter cable. After replacing this with one from another manufacturer the problems where solved. Hope this helps.

@enumans

That's interesting! I tried the original Apple adapter and one with no brand name. Both gave same (bad) result. What brand or type do you use that resolved your problem?