New Mini and Samsung LN40A650 1080p TV - How to get the best resolution?

My 40" Samsung (the 550 model) is set up with the Just Scan setting and Overscan enabled, and works fine. My difference is that the desktop is still set to 1920x1080. Although my TV seems to report it's using 1080p, the mini says it's doing 1080i - all I know is that it works regardless. The difference is if the image is interlaced (hence "i") or progressive scan. For most desktop purposes, it probably won't matter to you which it is truly using. My mini is an older model with the full sized DVI port, so I use a DVI to HDMI cable.

I do agree that the full resolution makes fonts a bit hard to read at normal seating distance. The real hurdle is that there is no way at this point to modify the font size on the Menu bar.

If you are planning to use the mini as a media center, Front Row and Quicktime should display content at the proper resolution, so if you have no issues displaying the full desktop at your desired resolution you shouldn't have issues with viewing media at it's highest quality. Keep in mind that the screen is 16:9 aspect ratio, so your display resolutions should follow this to provide the best results.

I have the LN40A550 with the Mac mini hooked up to it.

I too, have the TV set to "just scan" and overscan turned on. Anything else gives me black bars around the screen.

I'm running snow leopard and have the resolution set to 1080p. I agree that it is pretty hard to read the screen from sitting in my chair across the room. I've found that setting the resolution to 720p in Snow Leopard make the screen much easier to read and is still "high definition" (most HD TV is broadcast in 720p). On a 40" screen, I don't think the difference between 1080p and 720p is that noticeable when watching DVDs, especially when sitting across the room.

I'll switch the resolution back to 1080p when I want the full 1080p experience.

I have the 630 and I'm on Snow Leopard. I'm using a mini DisplayPort to HDMI then going into a DENON receiver and from there to the Samsung. With SL you get 4 choices in resolution which are 1080p24, 1080p30, 1080p60 and 1080i60. I found that the 60i worked the best. The others would work intermittently ie I'd get the black flickering screen after turning to different sources on the receiver. Thus, I've found out that it's a DENON issue which is blocking the EDID. The EDID tells the Mini what resolutions that the TV can handle. In fact when I restart and have 1080p24 or 1080p60 selected I will get a black screen. I usually have to remote desktop in and change the resolution. The mini is switching its available resolutions to PAL and NTSC. Weird huh? Anyways...

I found the best resolution to be 1600x900 60hz. It makes the icons and text large enough to read.

That's my .02
~SD