Poor resolution when plugged into 1080p 32" TV

Turning Sharpness to zero (0) did help some to make text more legible. Tried all of the following connection configurations:

1. mini displayport-->HDMI: Garbage.

2. mini displayport-->DVI-->HDMI: Same garbage as 1.

3. mini displayport-->VGA: Far better than 1 or 2, closer to what I expect for picture quality. Still lots of artifacting around text, probably the monitor though.

Not being able to pass audio integrated with HD video to an HDTV FROM A MAC is RIDICULOUS.

System: 2011 Mac mini, 2.3ghz, 8GB ram, Intel Graphics 3000, Lion. Sceptre 32" LCD HDTV.

I'm going to keep the mac mini and the TV because I need them, but at this point I feed pretty cheated and would return the mini if I didn't need it. I'll hang on to the minidisplayport-->HDMI cable I bought in case there is an OS update that helps this out, but I feel like Apple owes me $10 for it.

I had a similar situation. My HDMI->DVI adapter gave a clear picture, but HDMI -> HDMI was horrible picture quality. The solution is this:

In my Samsung monitor's menu, there is a menu called "Setup" -> "AV Mode" (on 2nd page, just scroll down) ->Off

This helped for me at least.

When I originally had this problem with my mid-2011 Mini and an HP 2311x, I didn't have time to do a lot of troubleshooting, so I went with the DVI solution, using a DVI cable, the Apple DVI<->HDMI adapter, and the DVI port on the monitor. That worked perfectly, so I left it alone.

However, I recently did some more reading and checked the settings on the monitor, and discovered that the problem was all related to the OVERSCAN setting being set to AUTO or ON. Once I turned overscan off, the problem was fixed. The monitor now works perfectly with HDMI<->HDMI and the factory defaults save but that one. No need to adjust the sharpness or anything, it was all related to overscan.

On the HP 2311x or other HP monitors, follow these menus:

Image Control -> Custom Scaling -> Overscan -> Off

I believe that "AV Mode" on your Samsung may be the same as "Overscan" on my HP.

RedheadMacGuy, did you ever resolve this issue? I have an ASUS 1080p monitor (VE276Q) connected via DisplayPort that is incorrectly detected as a TV on a brand new rMBP! That seems to make the difference with the text. I've been bashing my head against the wall over this since I bought the computer.

If anyones wondering, this is a mac os x software issue, not your TV or any of it's settings. Has been for years and will never be fixed. How do I know? Because a i have a mac mini hooked to a 1080p tv through hdmi. Looked like garbage. This mac has bootcamp with windows 7 installed on the other partition. Exact same hardware and settings, looks beautiful. Only difference is the MAC JUST WORKS, remember. There is no fix, turning the sharpness down is a baindaid, if you see the difference with another oS, you will stay with that other OS.

I have the same problem.

Just bought a mac mini i5 2012, and have been trying to connect it to my samsung full hdtv, and my Samsung SA350 monitor using hdmi-hdmi, and the text is really bad. Full of artifacts and sometimes almost unreadable.

I have tried 1080p, i, and 50hz, 60hz, PAL, or NTSC. And no difference. The picture fits on the screen, but is somehow not crisp and clear. My almost 10 year old pc, which uses vga, produces a much sharper image on the same monitor and tv!

I have read all forums, tried every meny on the tv and monitor, and NOTHING works. Sharpness doesnt matter, in fact if I turn sharpness down it gets blurry.

Today I got so desperate I tried a display port-vga adaptor, but it didnt help either. It helped in getting more options to choose from on the monitor meny, and actually a little bit better than hdmi-hdmi. But still, this is totally unaccaptable.

Is something wrong with the hdmi output of the mac mini? Or doesnt Samsung and mac work together?

Its just insane that my stationary pc, my laptop pc, my ps3 and old bluray player, all produce crisp pixel per pixel sharpness throught hdmi, but mac 2012 does not!!?

I know the feeling Nesses, but I'm sure there is a cure for you - probably in this very thread!

Did you try what I did on my Samsung?

In my Samsung monitor's menu, there is a menu called "Setup" -> "AV Mode" (on 2nd page, just scroll down) ->Off

The mode you want is 1080p, not i for interlaced.

There is also an overscan slider in the mac monitor settings; that needs to be all the way down.

Nesses, I checked your monitor manual, and on page 3-16 (50th page in latest pdf manual) it explains the PC / AV mode, which can be found under the "setup &amp; reset" menu. Just set that to "PC" and you should see a good picture with mac os x monitor setting 1080p and overscan all the way down.

This might sound ridiculous but it worked for me on my Samsung tv. When I connected my MacBook via HDMI port 2 on my tv the picture was blurry etc. When I switched to HDMI port 1 it fixed the problem.

Im happy for any advice, thank you! But I have tried all my three hdmi inputs on my Samsung tv. Only difference is that I can choose different options in the menu, depending on which hdmi port Im using. But still not a solution. I have tried it all, it displays the same issues on the monitor and tv. For example the half-sized "l" in Sleep, in the osx menu that I posted a picture of.

I have also tried, on the Samsung tv, to rename the inputs to "PC" and "DVI PC" all of them. Nothing changes.

I have also tried my new analog solution, display port-vga adapter, but it shows the same error on both the monitor and tv. I tried messing with "course" and "fine" on the SA350 monitor, and was able to make the "l" in Sleep, twice as big (as I guess its supposed to be) but that approach is not correct and it doesnt put each pixel where they should be. I also noticed that other areas in the screen that went blurry instead.

I have the same picture quality issues with a new Samsung and Macmini (Late 2012) which is why I'm reading this thread. However, you can pass sound through via the HDMI cable. Got to System Preferences>Sound and change the output.

Same issue here. Bought today a 2012 mac mini to replace a late 2007 mac mini. I had the 2007 mac mini connected with a DVI-HDMI adapter like this http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/hdmi-to-dvi-adaptor/30hd-00200.htm, and the image was sharp. Connected the new mac mini to hdmi port and same issue with blurry/shadowed text.

Same issue with me. I have a late 2012 mac mini and a 24 inch HDTV(brand skyworth). After I look through this thread, I brought a DVI-HDMI cable and a Thunderbolt-HDMI cable, but the problem is still on, pretty sad. I also order a Thunderbolt/MiniDP-VGA, hope it can fix the problem.

Update: I solved my issue with a MDP-DVI adapter, and a DVI-HDMI cable. My monitor only has VGA and HDMI inputs. Ordered a couple of MDP adapters online, and the MDP-DVI adapter solved the issue; and the image is same or better as before with my 2007 Core 2 duo mini. Need to point out that I also ordered a MDP-HDMI adapter, and it did not work, same issues as the HDMI out. For some reason the HDMI-HDMI connection has issues. Now will wait to see if Apple fixes the issue.

Also: With the MDP-DVI adapter, I don't have to underscan. I use the 1920x1080 resolution with no underscan; with the HDMI-HDMI connection I have to underscan, which is part of the problem because creates blurry text.