Poor resolution when plugged into 1080p 32" TV

Hi all I've a Mac Mini (end 2010) connected HDMI / HDMI to Sony Bravia KDL-40NX710. Images are ok but text has poor resolution. Anyone has good news to solve the problem in a better way than to act on sharpness? I've already changed the name of the HDMI adding a PC label .. thanks

Hi there

After long time using laptop as mediaplayer hooking to the tv I decided to look for the

ultimate mediaplayer watching movies, listen to music, browsing, watching photo's etc,

I made my mind up to buy either the HDI DUNE MAX or the mini.

And......yes ....the mac mini won!

I have a 2010 edition 2,4 Ghz, 2GB DDR3 Ram with HDMI .

I am very pleased with it.

It plays all my MKV, HD contents wonderfully.

Running through HDMI only.Video as sound as well.

Must say had to adjust settings on my Sony lcd as well in the mini's configuration.

If you have sound problems: check sound/midi in the mini as well the programm you use, like plex or xbmc and

also to the tv.

Same for picture.

Some inconvience but after everything is set you would be glad you had done it.

Some problems could be due to bugs and fixed with updates.

I am glad with my new mini and also a great design

At a Mac User Group meeting two weekends ago I found the clarity on a Plasma TV which is used in the meeting room as an external display was unacceptable and no amount of adjustment would restore it to how it had been the prevoius month.

The only difference was the OS being used by the computer. It was the same TV, same MiniDisplay/VGA adaptor, same computer (2011 MacBook Pro) and the same VGA cable. Previously, I had been running OS 10.6.7. Now with OS 10.7, the clarity on the plasma TV was so poor that detail & text were unreadable.

The subjects being covered were iTunes, Mail and Safari under Lion. I even swithched to using a 2011 MacBook Air which came with 10.7 pre-installed, but it was no better.

I can only conclude that Lion does not address the video out aspect in the same manner as Snow Leopard.

Same problem here.

Mac Mini i5 8GB, mid 2011
OS 10.7.2, All Apple updates, including firmware

New Vizio 40" 1080p LCD

Dispite _thinking_ it is 1080p, the mac _appears_ to be in 720p mode upscanned, but not scaled, to 1080p-- So pixelated. I also see scan lines in white areas of screen. Like the old days of low refresh rates. No options to change anything in Pref:Display but resolution.

Same display looks great on Windows machone in 1080p.

Something is wrong with Lion here, I say, based on other's posts. I hope they fix it soon. Seems like they have their plates full with other bugs from what I hear though.

Steve is gone and Apple is already falling apart :/

Same Problem Here too..

MacBook Pro 15" i7 8GB Late 2011

OS 10.7.2

Panasonic Viera

at first i got the worst looking font...
so i try to reduce the sharpness to 0..

by then the font are kindda.. okay...

but still not as perfect as connecting my pc with dvi cable.

So I have 2 Samsungs, a T240HD (much older, but does perfect 1:1 1920x1200, 1080p with black bars), and a 'new' Samsung B2430HD. The B2430HD unlike the older one shows a 1080p mode as many have been discussing.

So after lots of trial and error, I have done the following:

1. Put the disc for the monitor in your Mac, copy the correct ICM file from the disc to somewhere you will keep it

2. Set the Mac to '1080p' resolution with Overscan enabled

3. Run ColorSync and install the new profile, override Apple's

4. LCD smoothing hack (defaults command, look it up)

5. Set these picture settings with the monitor:

Mode: Standard

MagicAngle: Off

Backlight: 17

Contrast: 88

Brightness: 60

Sharpness: 0

Color: 42

Tint: G40/R60

Advanced Settings ->

Black Tone: Dark

Dynamic Contrast: Off

Shadow Detail: -1

Gamma: -2

RGB Only Mode: Off

Color Space: Auto

White Balance: default

Flesh Tone: 0

Edge Enhancement: Off

Picture Options ->

Color Tone: Normal

Size: Screen Fit

Digital Noise Filter: Auto

MPEG Noise Filter: Auto

HDMI Black Level: Auto

This is about as good as I can get it in comparison to my old Samsung which via DVI and HDMI showed almost exactly the same as the MacBook's screen. I find it extremely unfortunate that new monitors are around the same price as old ones but are way worst. No 1:1 native 1080p? What a joke.

Yeah....same issue here too. I'm running a new 2.5 Mini via HDMI to a new Samsung UN22D5003BF 22" LED. While the general picture is great, its nothing to write home about. Not as nice as on a Mac Cinema or Thunderbolt display. Text has the slightest ghosting making it unsharp. I've done the whole sharpness thing and attempted the recommendations left by Audare above with some improvement.

To be honest, I can live with it but it is a dispointment.

I did however plan to eventually get a Thunderbolt display anyway in the near future. Now if I were to get the same problem then, I will be insanely ******.

Sincere sympathy to all. I hope some OS update will soon correct this.

Can I recommend that you turn of any overscanning features on you TVs as this is another process that detracts from the picture quality. Mike

Thanks Johnny. This confirms my suspicion. I connected a Macbook Air via Displayport (Thunderbolt) to the HDMI input on an Insignia 1080P 22" LED HDTV. The fonts/text were fuzzy at 1080P. Confirmed displayport was outputting 1080P. Then connected a Samsung Laptop Running Windows 7 via its HDMI port to 2nd HDMI port on the Insignia HDTV. Presto! Crisp and clear as a set of good optics. Used TV remote to switch back and forth between HDMI Port 1 & 2 on the TV with the same information input from both computers. Confirmed repeatedly that MAcBook Air was not outputting a crisp HDMI signal. Setting the sharpness to zero helped a little but not near enough. Agree this will require a Mac O/S upgrade and/or firmware/driver to work correctly. Have not had a chance to try the MacBook Displayport to VGA adaptor. I have a feeling it will look much better than HDMI.

Stay Thirsty My Friends And Stay With Gator

I was having the same problems:

- New MacMini

- Vizio TV that is documented to support native 1080p (1920x1080)

- Incredibly fuzzy text when connected via HDMI

- Incredibly clear text when the same TV and cable are connected to my MacBook Air.

And then I had an epiphany:

I unplugged the HDMI cable from the back of the MacMini, plugged onto the end of it a mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter (the same one I used to connect my MacBook air), and voila. Crystal clear text.

The problem is with the HDMI out port on the back of the mini. Use the Thunderbolt/DisplayPort out port instead and everything works great.

Hope it works great for all of you as well.

df

***** solved *****

....... for me anyway.

OK. I had the same problem; 2011 macbook hooked up to HD 40inch LED tv, poor picture (blocky, grainy etc).

I tried all the things listed here, to no avail.

Then, I read elsewhere that some tvs with multiple HDMI inputs only have one that is supposed to accept a PC input. I changed my HDMI input from slot 2 to slot 1......... and it worked. Not claiming this will work for everyone, but probably worth a try.

Thank you!

You seemed to solve my issue.

I was running a Ipad 2 in to my Sharp 46" LCD with a Digital AV Adapter and it wouldn't register an image.

Turned the Sharpeness down to the most negative setting and - BINGO!

Weird or what.

I thought I had to downgrade the 1080i to 720p, but that wasn't possible.