Connecting a MBP to a Samsung 32" HDTV

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Connecting a MBP to a Samsung 32" HDTV

Hey guys,

I've been trying to connect my MacBook Pro to my Samsung LN-S3251D LCD. I am currently going through a DVI to HDMI cable. When I connect laptop and TV, my desktop mirrors on both, which is fine...

However, I am not using all the real estate on my TV. When I set the display preferences on my MacBook Pro to 1280x720p (the native resolution of my TV) for the Samsung, it expands the image too much. That is, the finder bar at the top is off the screen, the dock is partially cut off on the bottom, and some of my icons on my desktop don't show up. I thought it could be a problem with overscanning, so I shut off overscanning in the Samsung options in Display Preferences. When I did that, though, it started boxing my picture (putting black bars on all four sides of the desktop image.

So, to wrap up this really long winded question: How do I get my MacBook Pro to display a FULL 1280x720 image on my TV, AND a 1440x900 picture on my actual laptop screen?

Thanks a bunch ahead of time!

15" MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz, 4GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 9, 2007 9:03 PM

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Answer 1

BSteely

Level 5

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Oct 9, 2007 9:46 PM in response to Kyle Blohn

Page 12 of the Samsung's user guide indicates that a PC should be connected up to the D-Sub connector. Furthermore, it goes on to say, "The HDMI/DVI jacks do not support PC connection."

I am guessing that a scaler is always active on the HDMI ports of this TV and there is no way to bypass it. That means there is no way to map one-for-one between screen pixles and pixels in video memory and the TV will be stuck with either being overscanned or boxed when trying to use it with a PC over HDMI.

Is there some reason you don't want to use VGA as the connection method?

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Answer 2

Kyle Blohn Author

Level 1

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Oct 9, 2007 10:52 PM in response to BSteely

Wow...what a rookie mistake. I just pulled out my owner's manual and noticed that little disclaimer.

I have always liked DVI's picture a little better ( I do a lot of HD stuff on my MBP), so I guess I was just getting a little greedy.

Building on my question, though, is there a way to have both my MacBook Pro and my Samsung display my desktop in their full resolution? As in have my MBP show my desktop and applications in 1440x900 and the TV show the same thing in 1280x720?

By the way, thanks for the advice BSteely...I just hooked up a spare VGA cable using the DVI to VGA connector and everything is scaled perfectly.

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Answer 3

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Oct 10, 2007 8:00 PM in response to Kyle Blohn

You are correct that, ideally, the HDMI interface would be the one to use. But it sounds like it's not gonna work with your Samsung.

As for your other question, when two displays are mirrored, it is a necessary limitation that they must be at the same resolution. So in this case, both displays will be at 1280 x 720.

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