I only get limited RGB signal over HDMI when connected to Sony TV from my Mini M2 Pro.
When I set my TV to full RGB I get washed out colors and too much brightness. If I set my TV to limited RGB colors are acceptable, but picture is a bit too dark and lacks details.
I use same cable which I used for my PC with Nvidia card, which showed perfect picture with full RGB setting.
What can be a fix here?
Mac mini
pauldeg wrote:
Using a 4K 65" LCD TV should be just fine for watching movies on Mac Mini, it's no worse than any other LCD display out there.
I just don't get why Mac treats my 4K LCD TV as a CRT TV from last century? Likely simply a bug.
Well, there is a problem of some kind here. We just haven't identified exactly what it is yet.
I have used my Mac Mini & MacBook Pros with 3 different Sony Bravia TVs over the years - one 1080p the others 4K - and in every case the video quality has been excellent ... streaming from Netflix, Prime, Apple, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC, Disney+ and more; local MP4 videos and DVDs. So I am reluctant to accuse a Mini of being the problem per se.
And while HDMI is a spec it is not just a "physical interface," there are optional items and wiggle room in the specs for vendors to customize their implementations to some degree. That's why there could be an interaction problem between certain pairs of devices, unlikely to be predictable in advance. There are also exogenous factors and the settings in both the Mac and the Bravia TV that can affect the video quality.
Have you tried resetting your Sony TV to "Auto" instead of RGB or YCbCr ... and then in your Mini, for Display Profile/Color Profile select your Sony TV?
Further, other settings in your TV affect the picture quality ... Sony recommends the following:
pauldeg wrote:
Using a 4K 65" LCD TV should be just fine for watching movies on Mac Mini, it's no worse than any other LCD display out there.
I just don't get why Mac treats my 4K LCD TV as a CRT TV from last century? Likely simply a bug.
Well, there is a problem of some kind here. We just haven't identified exactly what it is yet.
I have used my Mac Mini & MacBook Pros with 3 different Sony Bravia TVs over the years - one 1080p the others 4K - and in every case the video quality has been excellent ... streaming from Netflix, Prime, Apple, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC, Disney+ and more; local MP4 videos and DVDs. So I am reluctant to accuse a Mini of being the problem per se.
And while HDMI is a spec it is not just a "physical interface," there are optional items and wiggle room in the specs for vendors to customize their implementations to some degree. That's why there could be an interaction problem between certain pairs of devices, unlikely to be predictable in advance. There are also exogenous factors and the settings in both the Mac and the Bravia TV that can affect the video quality.
Have you tried resetting your Sony TV to "Auto" instead of RGB or YCbCr ... and then in your Mini, for Display Profile/Color Profile select your Sony TV?
Further, other settings in your TV affect the picture quality ... Sony recommends the following:
No it's fine, nothing special about Mini in this area.
Apparently this issue with RGB signal not being sent to external monitors is well known for Macs, there's a workaround by modifying a display config file, worked for me:
https://gist.github.com/GetVladimir/c89a26df1806001543bef4c8d90cc2f8
1) Mac's cable are picky. Test a 1m high speed premium certified HDMI cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Highwings-48Gbps-Braided-Cable-4K/dp/B08NX5CZTF/ref=sr_1_3?
2) Test some different color profiles in the Mac mini's Display Settings.
Because it is a TV and not a computer Display and because long cheap HDMI cables are last century.
Again, you need to test a 1m high speed premium certified HDMI cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Highwings-48Gbps-Braided-Cable-4K/dp/B08NX5CZTF/ref=sr_1_3?
If your cable is longer than 3’/1m, swap with shorter, might fix.
6’ is too long for the mini, it’s literally inviting trouble. Who cares where else it works? Try 3 feet or less, should improve/fix.
Almost every different model of every pc or Mac that I have encountered has different video specs, capabilities & limitations. It depends on the video processor, system design & the LUTs it uses to translate the video color space for different types of displays.
The M2Pro Mini does support Displayport video out; I suspect it uses a different set of LUTs vs. HDMI and I have always found Displayport video to be much more natural & pleasing than HDMI. (ps. I, too, use Sony TVs.)
pauldeg wrote:
I see, but this really is just a matter of sending proper HDMI signal to TV, from device which costs over $1K. Cannot be that complicated, can it?
I don't think it's a matter of being complicated, just the result of different choices in the design process and capabilities of the hardware. It's not "just HDMI" - there can be all sorts of variables from one computer to another, the TV, settings, the cable and maybe more.
It could even be a unique interaction between these two specific devices - if it were a different TV perhaps HDMI would look perfect. First time I bought a Mini, I connected it to my Sony Bravia TV via HDMI and didn't like the results. Grainy, off color, high contrast. Maybe there's a unique issue when using a Mac with a Sony TV, who knows?
I switched to using the DisplayPort video out and the video is perfect. (At least in my opinion.) It was further revealing when Verizon installed my FiOS DVR; the technician recommended connecting via the component video out rather than HDMI. When I asked him why, he said the color would be better. And it was. Interesting, right?
Not really, HDMI is just a physical interface, nothing special about it, not many "variables" there, all stadartized. It should be a matter of user choice to select do I want to send RGB or ycbcr to my display to get what I need, like this is done on every Nvidia and Radeon card.
Why Apple is forcing ycbcr to every display is likely just poor engineering.
I did try displayport to hdmi adapter, same problem, picture quality is clearly inferior to $120 Nvidia card, likely due to forced use of ycbcr which then somehow converted by TV to limited RGB.
I see, but this really is just a matter of sending proper HDMI signal to TV, from device which costs over $1K. Cannot be that complicated, can it?
Are there any low level configurations on Mac which allow selecting output signal type for HDMI? Most PCs have these as part of display settings UI.
Using a TV, is like running a 200 mph Infinity Cup Car on a ¼ mile Dirt Track.
What you really need, is a better Display to run the Mac mini M2 Pro on.
Dude, as den.thed pointed out, the mini isn’t for connecting to TVs - you need the 240 mph Formula 1 Apple TV 4K for that (it can do Xfinity Nascar tracks too).
FWIW, I too sometimes wonder why KFC won’t offer a hot and sour soup side to go with the colonel’s wings, but unlike Apple Feedback - Mac mini - Apple, KFC don’t have a feedback form to vent. I’d post your Mac mini grievances there.
Good luck 👋
Using a 4K 65" LCD TV should be just fine for watching movies on Mac Mini, it's no worse than any other LCD display out there.
I just don't get why Mac treats my 4K LCD TV as a CRT TV from last century? Likely simply a bug.
I don't have "long cheap" HDMI cables, mine is 6ft certified high speed, and as I said before it's working perfectly fine with my Nvdia cards.
You don’t have a clue..
Anyway, it looks like you’re not here to be helped but just make questionable points😬…do so here Feedback - Mac mini - Apple. 👋
Limited RGB signal over HDMI when connected to Sony TV
