Mini Displayport to HDMI resulting in cropped picture

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Mini Displayport to HDMI resulting in cropped picture

Morning all,

I just purchased a Mini Displayport to HDMI adapter to go with my new 15" MBP and have discovered an issue with it. Picture worked immediately upon hooking everything up, but I've noticed that it is cropping the edges of the screen off (maybe 5 to 10 percent of total picture on all four sides). Normally this wouldn't bother me too much, except that I both game and watch a lot of subtitled movies online, and that cropping is very much being noticed on my 42" HD LCD television.

Being fairly new to the MBP (and OSX) might someone know of a buried display setting that needs adjusting, or such?

MacBook Pro 15" i7, Mac OS X (10.6.3), Adapter purchased from CE Compass

Posted on May 25, 2010 9:01 AM

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Answer 1

BSteely

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May 25, 2010 6:30 PM in response to Gorstavich

If there is a buried setting somewhere, it's going to be in the TV's menu system, not the menus within OS X. A Mac can't cause overscan to happen. It has everything to do with how the TV receives and processes the incoming signal for display.

Check the TV's user manual for information about making computer connections. If it is a higher end model of TV, it should be computer savy and have a setting that allows computer output to exactly fill the screen, just as is the case with a computer monitor.

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Answer 2

Gorstavich Author

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May 26, 2010 1:43 AM in response to Gorstavich

I've gone and tried to play with the TV picture settings, which I do believe is the right track now, but hit another stumbling block. The following picture options are listed on my TV...

Automatic
Super zoom
4:3
Movie expand 14:9
Movie expand 16:9
16:9 subtitle
Wide screen

...however, Automatic and Wide screen are the only two I can actually select (the other options are grayed out). It's set to automatic by default, and switching to wide screen certainly makes the cropping worse. I take it I am S.O.L. (so outa luck) ?

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Answer 3

BSteely

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May 26, 2010 2:04 PM in response to Gorstavich

Does the TV have a VGA input? It might work better from a computer over that interface, assuming the TV has VGA. Otherwise, yeah, probably SOL. Some people claim SwitchResX has helped to solve overscan problems, but I think that can be pretty hit-and-miss as a solution. There's no real science to it.

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Answer 4

Gorstavich Author

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Jun 1, 2010 10:16 PM in response to Gorstavich

Issue has been temporarily resolved.

Due to work I have run Boot Camp on my system and installed Windows 7, and interestingly enough the NVIDIA drivers/options under Windows includes the ability to adjust the external HDMI monitor X-axis and Y-axis, which has solved my issue. I find it both amusing and annoying that these options, and MANY others, are available while running my MacBook Pro under Windows, when they aren't while running Snow Leopard.

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Answer 5

Jun 8, 2010 10:01 AM in response to Gorstavich

you can also adjust the overscan setting for your external monitor in osx when it is connected, it is somewhat like zooming the whole picture in and out, and will allow you to set it up to see everything on the screen.

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Answer 6

BSteely

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Jun 9, 2010 12:43 AM in response to Digital Kurtz

Digital Kurtz, are you saying the adjustment is in the external monitor or within OS X? If the latter, can you explain? You say it is "like zooming." Did you mean like zooming or it is zooming? Where is the control you are talking about? How do you access it?

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Answer 7

Jun 9, 2010 10:34 AM in response to BSteely

This feature is found in the OSX display preferences window, specifically on the one that appears on the secondary display. I believe the slider is called overscan or something similar and it should scale down the entire picture evenly until you can see the parts you wish without them being cut off

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Answer 8

Jun 9, 2010 4:06 PM in response to Gorstavich

Hey Gorstavich,

What brand connector did you buy, what macbook pro do you own, and does it carry audio though it?

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Answer 9

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Jun 9, 2010 8:35 PM in response to Digital Kurtz

Digital Kurtz, I am familiar with an Overscan check box but not a slider. Is that new? I am running 10.6.2 so I'm not up to date. Can you confirm the slider (not the checkbox) on your system and what OS version you are running?

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Answer 10

Jun 10, 2010 11:26 AM in response to BSteely

BSteely,
Yeah i just connected my computer to the tv to check it. I'm running 10.6.3 and i get a slider bar for "under scan" which allows me to scale down the entire picture at once allowing me to make sure nothing is being chopped off at the side of the monitor.
Hopefully this link to my screenshot works.

http://localhostr.com/files/24f61d/Screen%20shot%202010-06-10%20at%202.22.33%20P M%202.png

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Answer 11

BSteely

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Jun 10, 2010 1:36 PM in response to Digital Kurtz

Cool! New feature. Thanks for pointing this out.

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Answer 12

Jun 17, 2010 9:19 AM in response to Digital Kurtz

This option is dimmed out for me.

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Answer 13

BSteely

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Jun 19, 2010 2:13 AM in response to Vince Loden

This option is dimmed out for me.

That means the Mac isn't detecting the display as a TV.

Is it a TV? Or is it a computer monitor?

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Answer 14

Jun 19, 2010 9:31 PM in response to BSteely

Most definitely a Samsung 37" LCD TV

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Answer 15

BSteely

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Jun 19, 2010 10:44 PM in response to Vince Loden

Strange. I wonder why that is (dimmed out)?

So is the TV in question suffering from an overscan condition? Or is it already pixel perfect, so there is no need of the new control in OS X?

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