External Monitor with Late 2007 Macbook

Question

External Monitor with Late 2007 Macbook

I purchased a Viewsonic VX2245wm monitor today, and although OS X detected the monitor just fine, the display is quite "foggy" and not sharp at all, in fact it is noticeably less sharp than the display on the macbook itself. The best resolution I could get is 1680x1050. All the text is blurry (though readable) and I am finding myself wanting to not look at the monitor at all.

Is this at all normal for external 22" monitors? I would seriously wonder why anyone would get an external monitor with this kind of quality.

Can anyone tell me their experiences with external monitors?

Macbook (Santa Rosa), Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Feb 25, 2008 6:01 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 25, 2008 6:23 PM in response to Bryan Rowsell

1680x1050 is the native resolution for that screen - it's the best you can do. I've never seen one, so I don't know what the quality should be like. The only onlne review I saw said 'image quality was excellent'.

Make sure you're using extended desktop mode, and NOT mirror display mode.

I've used 17, 20, 22, and 24" Dells with a bunch of Macs, and they were all clear and crisp at their native resolution.

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Answer 2

First Magus

Level 7

21,299 points

Feb 25, 2008 6:30 PM in response to Bryan Rowsell

Are you using the VGA or DVI input?

My 19 inch wide screen SamSung monitor looks much better using the DVI input.

The VGA is good just not as crisp and clear.

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Answer 3

Feb 25, 2008 6:35 PM in response to First Magus

I am using the mini-DVI port, if that helps!

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Answer 4

Feb 25, 2008 6:37 PM in response to tele_player

Wow, turning off the mirroring made a big difference. It's still not as good as I would have thought, but it's waaaaay better.

Any other tips for the external monitor novice?

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Answer 5

First Magus

Level 7

21,299 points

Feb 25, 2008 6:39 PM in response to Bryan Rowsell

Are you using a mini dvi to vga adapter or mini dvi to dvi adapter and are they Apple brand adapters? There are some third party adapters that are out now.

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Answer 6

Feb 25, 2008 7:08 PM in response to Bryan Rowsell

If you're using DVI, that's the best you can do, and it should be pretty good. If you're using a mini-DVI to VGA cable, DVI would be better.

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Answer 7

Feb 25, 2008 7:46 PM in response to First Magus

I'm using the apple mini-DVI to DVI connection.

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Answer 8

Feb 25, 2008 8:03 PM in response to Bryan Rowsell

The default color calibration might not be the best, you can do a re-calibration with System Prefereces: Displays: Color: Calibrate... use the advanced option. Also, you may have some additional settings on the monitor itself. There are also hardware devices that can provide more accurate color calibrations that don't rely on your visual perception. That might help a little, to get the correct brightness, contrast, and color settings, (but not so much as having the correct resolution which sounds like you have worked that part worked out already.)

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Answer 9

Feb 25, 2008 8:57 PM in response to Glen Doggett

Thanks a lot everyone, for all your help. I think I've hashed it out...the Extended Desktop option helped a lot.

Cheers, Everyone!

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