Beamer issue - wrong colors using sony beamer

Several times I´ve experienced severe color issues sending my keynote presentation via beamer: red color was missing. The beamer was recognized without any issue dialoge.
This unstandable situation occured several times and was very embarresing for me as a speaker on scientific congresses. MS Powerpoint presentation via PC LapTop didn`t have any problems at the same time !!!!
Any comment appreciated.

iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.9), 3 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Posted on Dec 9, 2007 10:49 AM

Reply
5 replies

Dec 9, 2007 5:31 PM in response to Sebastian Streckbein

Since you are inviting comments I will offer some for whatever it is worth.
The first thing that came to mind was "you never do a professional presentation on equipment you have not checked out first". (it could have been a setting that was overlooked)
I am sorry things did not work as you intended, but this is hardly the software fault. I still think that KN is superior to PPT and I have always had fewer problems than my colleagues who used PCs. Several years ago a microsoft crash killed several months of work and I swore that day that I would never go back, I have never regreted it, in spite of the bugs that we are encountering today as we just upgraded to a new OS. Again I chose to accept a less tested OS and I cannot blame apple for my impatience, I could have waited a few months and use a more mature version.
Sorry this was not much solace, things will be better the next time.
Mireille

Dec 9, 2007 9:44 PM in response to Sebastian Streckbein

"Red colo{u}r missing"* really suggests a hardware problem. Especially if one or more colors is totally missing. That usually means the problem is somewhere between the computer and the projector.

In my facility, we have a projector in each of about 60 classrooms, each room equipped with a computer, a VCR, a switch, and a dangling cable suitable for connecting a laptop computer. The most frequent problem I have to deal with is colors missing from the projected display...most often green, resulting in a pink cast to everything. The problem is almost always the 4-way VGA switch, and manhandling the knob on the switch usually fixes it.

In the absence of a switch, your setup may include...

• Projector
• Cable from projector to amplifier
• VGA amplifier/splitter
• Cable from amplifier to adapter dogbone
• Dogbone adapter from VGA cable to computer

If the Windows computer worked OK and you're using the same cable as the Windows machine, then I'd suspect the dogbone adapter (assuming you've got one...and you probably do) or perhaps suspect that something isn't plugged in securely. Again, check both ends of the dogbone.

I'm reasonably certain you have a dogbone because Apple doesn't build a laptop with a standard VGA connector on it, and most projector installations are not going to use DVI. That means you have a mini-DVI to VGA dogbone, a mini-VGA to VGA dogbone, or a DVI to VGA dogbone between your computer and the projector cable.

Do you have a monitor available? Try connecting the monitor using the same cable as the projector and see if that also fails. Perhaps you can isolate the trouble to a particular adapter or cable.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

* Experience dictates that the people who refer to a projector as a "beamer" are usually the same people who often spell words ending in "or" with an extra "u"... 🙂
--DCAjr

Dec 10, 2007 6:24 AM in response to Mireille Green1

Thank you for repeating basic rules of doing computer assisted presentations. I usually do test the hardware equipment beforehand of course. Unfortunately this isn´t always possible and I then have to run a presentation WITHOUT having tested the hardware compatibility. It then is embarrassing if other speakers using MS Powerpoint and notebook (not having tested their systems neither) DO NOT encounter this type of problems. Since this issue has occurred with 3 different Power/MacBooks and various projectors I assume it has to do with some settings of Keynote or connector-issue of the Mac-Books.

Dec 10, 2007 6:50 AM in response to Dave Althoff

Thank you for the helpful ideas. Indeed, I´ve been using various "dogbones" / connectors since this issue has occurred using 3 different Mac machines ... The underlying problem is the "missing time for hardware check" and the "heterogeneous hardware situation" you frequently encounter in the settings of scientific meetings/congresses. Some of my colleagues that use Mac/keynote encounter the same problems and have adapted to the issue by wasting their time in putting together the same presentation a second time: in Powerpoint - just in case. I´m sorry. This can´t be a definite solution.
PS: I´m sorry for the possible "hurt the feelings" the british-speaking members of the forum might suffer from reading my american interpretation of the language. Language-wise I´ve been socializ/ced in the US - sorry for that 😉

Dec 10, 2007 1:24 PM in response to Sebastian Streckbein

Well, in the absence of time to check with the projector, have you been able to check with a regular desktop monitor? I still say the adapter is the first place I'd want to check because that's the one thing the Windows people don't have to bother with.

That said, now that I think about it, there is something very strange about the graphics coming off of the Intel Mac laptops. We had someone visiting in one of our classrooms who had a first-generation MacBook Pro who *could not* get a signal on the projector until we bypassed the amplifier and connected the projector directly to the computer. But that was a 'no signal at all' problem. You're describing a missing colo{u}r problem. That would have me checking adapters and cables using a desktop monitor.

(No offense taken or intended; I'm just trying to tailo{u}r 🙂 my delivery to my audience!)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Beamer issue - wrong colors using sony beamer

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.