Unusual colour settings in an external monitor connected to my MacBook Air ?

Is it possible for you to test the external monitor by connecting it directly to the MacBook Air without the adapter? I know you may not have the right cable to achieve that without the adapter however if you do then it is worth testing.

Axel F.

Hello,

I have a similar setup. I have a 2019 MacBook Air and a Samsung external monitor (Samsung SH850 Series 27) and I connect to it using direct USB-C to USB-C. Does your Samsung monitor have a USB-C input? If not then try using USB-C to HDMI direct connection cable. The other thing to check are the settings on the Samsung Monitor itself. There should be an internal menu of settings on the monitor. Try at different refreshing rates. Do you keep the lid of your MacBook Air closed when you use the external display? I do. OR Do you use the mirror mode?

You know, in the end, your 2020 MacBook Air is still under Apple's 1 Year Limited Warranty and I recommend that you also connect with Apple Support to get further guidance.

FYI: These are user-only forums. Just wanted you to know that this is not Apple Support. if you need to contact Apple Support, then contact product and tech support:  Contacting Apple for support and service including international calling numbers

Axel F.

Hi, I have similar issue.

Got a new 2020 MBA set up this week.

Configuration: 2020 MBA + external 24 inch Samsung screen + external HDMI adapter + Netflix video + Chrome browser

Symptoms:

• If I watch Netflix video on "full screen" on external monitor using Chrome browser, I will see intermittent Green color frequently. I have this greenish video recorded for reference.

Experiments and Comparison:

• If I try playing different videos on Netflix, it's same symptoms, as long as I use full screen.
• If I don't use full screen (use regular window size to watch video instead) on external display, the netflix video is fine.
• If I change to different adapter, the green color issue is the same, as long as I use full screen.
• If I watch Youtube or other video streaming (Viki, for example), full screen on external monitor is good and normal.
• If I watch Netflix video full screen on MBA own screen (not using external monitor), the video on MBA screen is good and normal.

So far I used two adapters to test - same issue for full screen. Do you want me to get a direct USBC-HMDI cable to test it out?

Pls help advise.

Jerry

Hi, Axel,

Good question:

1. Safari + Netflix + Full screen + External monitor: I cannot get Netflix to play - I only got black screen + some subtitles on my external monitor. I think it's because my Samsung monitor is a bit old, and there's DRM/HDCP issue, so it cannot display.
2. Safari + (youtube and Viki) + Full screen + External monitor: yes the Full screen looks normal and good. No color issues.
3. For 2), no matter I closed the MBA lid or kept it open, the external monitor + Full screen both look good. No color issues.

Thank you

Jerry

If you do not have the cable then do not go out and buy it just to test. I asked you to test with a direct connection, instead of the adapter, to ensure whether the issue is in the adapter or in the monitor.

Axel F.

Thanks Axel,

1) I use USB-C to HDMI adapter, to connect to Samsung HDMI monitor.

2) I tried different refresh rate (from MBA -> Preference -> Display). The issue is the same.

2) I tried different cases - closing the MBA lid or leaving lid open. The issue still happens on the external monitor, as long as I use full screen for video.

I just searched other websites. Someone suggested to go to Chrome Browser - > Setup -> Advanced to disable the "hardware acceleration". I tried and it did fix the intermittent color problem !!

Thanks for the suggestion and I will try to contact Apple support to check if this is a real H/W (GPU?) issue or just S/W issue.

Jerry

Then we can conclude that its Chrome and Hardware acceleration related along with your Samsung monitor specs.

When hardware acceleration is turned off and things are normal then I would go with that. One other thing to try just for the heck of it and to confirm our thoughts is to try the same (Netflix and YouTube) with FireFox. That should seal our conclusion.

Axel F.

Update: when I tried more videos on Youtube or Viki, some (not all) of the videos will also show this intermittent greenish thing at full screen.

Just confirm something real quick for me. Can you use Safari + Netflix + Full Screen successfully?

Axel F.

Thanks Axel for the suggestion.

I just tried FireFox + (Netflix and YouTube) + External monitor + Full screen - looks good !! No color issues !

Jerry

Jerry,

Looks like you are good to go then.

Axel F.

Sounds good. Thanks Axel !

You are welcome.

Axel F.