iPad showing small on external FHD monitor

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iPad showing small on external FHD monitor

I have an iPad Pro 2017 11”, plus and adapter with UHD 4K HDMI output capability. ( see screenshot)

I recently bought a FHD 1080 DELL monitor and expected at least the screen to be filled top and bottom with no spaces, obviously sides would have spaces due to aspect ratio.

But for some reason the iPad mirrored image is smaller than expect with spaces ALL round! (See screenshot).

Im sure the iPad Pro 2017 can output 1080 if not a lot more through a 4K adapter, and should be at least be able to fill the FHD screen top and bottom, shouldn’t it? Or am I doing something wrong or is there something I’m getting wrong from the output info?

TIA

iPad Pro, iPadOS 13

Posted on Jul 18, 2020 2:19 AM

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Answer 1

RazorRob101 Author

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Jul 19, 2020 8:14 AM in response to RazorRob101

Thing is I spent most the day going round making tests ... I tried various adapters and various monitors, even within the Apple store itself, and still not one of the 1080 monitors or adapters showed it top to bottom. This is very odd and disappointing, especially reading also that the iPad Pro displays its OS and apps at 1080 when connected to an external.

What was also odd, was 2 different other Brand adapters I tried, display an error on screen saying that the signal was analog.

For an iPad Pro one would expect a lot better for the price when it comes to something as simple as projecting onto another monitor. All other tablets, including a number of phones I tested today, projected perfectly onto these external monitors, even using Apples own adapter, the iPad fails! Real disappointing.

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Answer 2

QuickPost

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Jul 18, 2020 6:50 PM in response to RazorRob101

Hello,

This is expected behavior. All software on iPad, including the system software, is designed to work on iPad's display which has a 4:3 aspect ratio. Most external displays that you connect to iPad use an aspect ratio of 16:9. All of iPad's software would have to be completely rewritten to support 16:9. The few exceptions are iMovie and LumaFusion as they allow for the editor's viewer window to scale to full size on an external display. Media applications such as TV also will display a video in its full resolution on an external display.

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Answer 3

RazorRob101 Author

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Jul 19, 2020 1:08 AM in response to QuickPost

No this is NOT expected behavior. If you noticed from my original post, I’m well aware of aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is as expected, BUT this size is not. Again as per post and image, there is empty space above and below the iPad mirrored image. There should only be space on the sides with respect to aspect ratio.

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Answer 4

Jul 19, 2020 7:35 AM in response to RazorRob101

As you are aware of aspect ratio, you might also therefore understand that the iPad will not necessarily re-scale it’s output to match the native vertical resolution of the attached monitor.

If the Monitor is itself unable to rescale the input to match its vertical screen resolution, then you will see borders on all sides.

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iPad showing small on external FHD monitor

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