Mac Mini does not display HDMI 1080i in full screen on TVs

Question

Mac Mini does not display HDMI 1080i in full screen on TVs

I have a 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac Mini that I am having problems getting video to display 1920 x 1080 @60hz in full screen on my Sony XBR 1080p HDTV. The Mac is connected to the TV via a DVI to HDMI cable. The Mac recognizes the display as a "Sony TV"

When the Mac first starts up the entire TV screen is filled with the grey Apple startup screen, but when the Mac fully boots and gets to the desktop, the screen has shrunk so that it is slightly off the screen on the left, and has about 80% of the screen filled horizontally and about 90% vertically. I have tried all combinations of the overscan selection on the Mac and on the TV, but they make the image about 120% of the size of the screen so the top, bottom and sides are cut off.

I have tried 2 different 1080p HDTVs with the Mac Mini and get the same results for both TVs.

Now here is the thing that makes me believe that there is something funky with the Mac Mini. If I take my 2.16 GHz Macbook Pro 15" Intel Core 2 Duo and plug its DVI display port into the Same DVI to HDMI cable that is connected to the same Sony TV, it displays full screen with no problems.

What can I do to make my Mac Mini display properly?

1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.5.4), DVI to HDMI cable connected to Sony 1080P TV

Posted on Jul 10, 2008 4:28 PM

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Answer 1

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Jul 11, 2008 8:48 AM in response to Gary J. Lieber

The difference could be that when the TV detects 1080i it assumes a consumer electronics box is attached and so it overscans. When it receives 1080p it assumes a computer or game console and turns overscan off. That would be my guess.

If the above is true, then you need to figure out how to get the mini to output 1080p. The following procedure might work as it has worked for others; go into Displays preferences and check the box labeled "Show displays in menu bar"
Click on the resulting display icon in the menu bar to drop down its menu
Scroll to "Number of Recent Items" and select 5 (or 10?)

You may have to restart after this. Not sure. For some people this has caused two 1920 x 1080 resolutions to show up under the display icon in the menu bar. The second one is 1080p.

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2008 11:30 AM in response to BSteely

Thanks for the ideas.

I did as you suggested, but the only 1920x1080 selection shown was one for "NTSC" which I would think is interlaced. This was after a reboot. All of available resolutions are labeled with "NTSC". When I look at the screen resolutions on my MacBook Pro when it is connected to the TV, they are labeled as "Interlaced". On both computers there are no progressive scan selections.

As an interesting note, regardless of what display resolution I select, the display area on the TV screen remains the same which is about 80% of the screen offset to the left. When "overscan" is selected, this mode enlarges to image to about 120% of the screen and cuts off the menu bar etc. However the MacBook fills about 98% of the screen in "normal" mode.

If there was a less aggressive Overscan mode or more aggressive normal mode, that would fix the issue.

Any other ideas on how to adjust this?

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2008 3:48 PM in response to Gary J. Lieber

if as a previous post suggests 1080p triggers a "dot by dot" mode on your Sony TV then you can enable this using SwitchResX (it costs about $15 - but you can test for free). I'd love to be able to configure the display overscan preference, but there seems to be very little info about it.

I can select dot by dot directly on my pioneer (and I use overscan in the display prefs) and this works perfectly for me, but many people get into the world of pain that is using SwitchResX/DisplayConfigX to adjust the front/back horizontal/vertical porch areas of the display in order to get a "fullscreen" view. The web would lead you to believe that if you are to persist with these tools you can usually achieve the desired results although you'll probably lose some hair in the process...

Hope some of this is useful!

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Answer 4

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Jul 13, 2008 8:02 AM in response to Gary J. Lieber

Exactly what kind of XBR Sony are we talking about? Is it a rear projection TV? Because it is well known at this point that RPTVs all do overscan the image to some extent and can never be made to be dot-for-dot or pixel perfect in the same way as a direct view LCD or plasma display. Maybe that is part of what you are up against.

As far as one Mac identifying the timings as interlaced and another as NTSC, that could be accounted for by the difference in the graphics board's drivers between the two. The timings may not be the same, which would explain the TV reacting to them differently.

miniman75's suggestion to resort to SwitchRes X is a good one. That may be your best shot at getting things working better than they are.

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Answer 5

Jul 13, 2008 8:22 AM in response to BSteely

The TV that I am working with is a Sony KDS-R60XBR1 SXRD Rear Projection TV.

I have a copy of SwitchRes X on the Mac mini that I am trying to adjust. The challenge there is that while it is a powerful tool for adjusting resolutions, I have been unable to make it work. Between its use of arcane terminology and acronyms to its obtuse interface, it is a challenge for a novice to master. A tutorial on its use would be great, or a template of what to adjust would be even better.

The TV has 2 overscan settings plus no overscan, but none of the settings, with or without the Mac's overscan setting allow a full screen result.

If I could just get the Mac's overscan to be about 15-20% less, that would be perfect. If anyone can provide the SwitchRes X settings for a custom configuration, I would be grateful.

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Answer 6

Jul 14, 2008 11:53 AM in response to Gary J. Lieber

If your goal is to get the Mini displaying properly on the Sony with HDMI, then I don't have an answer. If your goal is just to get the Mini displaying properly on the Sony by any method, then I can suggest using the included DVI to VGA adapter and run an appropriate cable to the VGA input on the Sony. This is working 100% full screen on my 1080P Sony.

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Answer 7

Jul 14, 2008 12:08 PM in response to macsince86

Yeah, you would think...

Unfortunately the best that this TV will do in VGA is 1280x1024 (SXGA).

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Answer 8

Frobro

Level 1

25 points

Aug 5, 2008 11:33 AM in response to Gary J. Lieber

I'm going through the same problem. I have a Phillips DLP TV with only DVI input. So I'm wondering how it would be possible to give my Mini a "full screen" effect. Do I use a DVI to VGA adapter to a receiver with VGA input and then output it from DVI to DVI to my TV? By the way, I had the same problem with my Mini hooking it up to my mom's new Sharp LCD. It's something to do with Mini settings not DLP TVs. I ended up using a DVI to VGA then VGA to VGA on the TV but since I don't have a VGA input on my TV, I'm kind of confused about what to do. Thanks.

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Answer 9

Sep 20, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Gary J. Lieber

Gary (or anyone else), I have the same problem with my Intel-based Mac Mini going through a DVI-to-HDMI converter to my Sony XBR 50" projection LCD TV. Specifically, no matter what display resolution I select, the display is offset perhaps 10% to the left and 5% down from the top. Any ideas on how to solve this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Andrew

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Answer 10

markdz

Level 1

0 points

Sep 21, 2008 7:05 AM in response to auzarowski

I just hooked my mini up to a Toshiba Regza 52" and I had off-set problems as well, and kept going into the OS to configure it, UNTIL i decided to go into the tv's control for screen size and clicked on use NATIVE source. That uses the native source of what your hooking into the tv. Other choses were theater wide, 4:3 aspect ratio HD, etc.
oh, and its DVI to HDMI i have set up.

Boom - worked. 1080i, perfectly centered and boy its beautiful.
not sure if you have that in your LCD's but its worth a try.
Mark dz-zynski

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Answer 11

towtruck

Level 1

0 points

Sep 22, 2008 5:12 AM in response to markdz

Similiar problem, i hope someone can help or explain.
I have 20" iMac and i am trying to output to a Panasonic plasma Res 1024 x 768.
I connect it via dv-hdmi. Though it will not fill my screen completly.

But when i restart in Vista i am able to get it to fill the screen(close enough).
Why is this?

And can i fix the leopard side without using switchresx, and display config as i haven't been able to get these to work.

Thanks

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Answer 12

Oct 29, 2008 6:11 PM in response to markdz

Bit of a side note - Did you have to do anything special to get a picture on the REGZA? I'm trying to hook up a Mac Mini to the HDMI-1 input of a 42" REGZA (42RV530U), but have only seen a black screen.

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Answer 13

Oct 30, 2008 8:03 AM in response to markdz

I was having the same problems with my new Samsung 52": too little of the screen used with overscan off and too much clipped off with overscan switched on. I found that by setting the Picture Options on the TV set to "Just Scan" I've got a nice full screen display with overscan switched on, Very nice.

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Answer 14

RyDawg78

Level 1

0 points

Jan 7, 2009 9:41 PM in response to Gary J. Lieber

Hi Gary, I am working with the exact same TV and I just go the mac mini and am encountering the same problems. Did you find a solution?

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Answer 15

Jan 14, 2009 6:56 AM in response to RyDawg78

I have same problem with Philips 42PFL3603D. Boots with full screen, but OS only fills screen about 90%.

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