Poor resolution when plugged into 1080p 32" TV

Im using a 23" samsung tv. Its the same resolution that is used by the computer if I opt for the best for display option. I tried playing around with the resolution and the 1360 x 768 was the same as the best for display. I was only trying to point out that information.

I tried to edit my post but I was already way pass the time allowed where one can make a correction to his post.

I think that by default, the samsung tv software assumes that the hdmi connection will be used by a media player(blue-ray, dvd, etc...) and not by a computer. The samsung tv im using predates the use of hdmi as an added communication port in computers. But the good thing here is that they also anticipated that hdmi may also be made available in computers in the future hence they included that as an option that you could choose, albeit manually.

Oh, I see.

Yeah, it makes sence that HDMI would be preferable for media. Who would want to use HDMI for a monitor, given the problems users in this thread obviously are having? 😁

I wonder why OS X would fail to detect the display's native resolution (even if the HDMI port would be set to "media" type). It's not that blue-ray players and HDMI amps would output resolutions like 1360x768 to a 720p/1080p display.

(If they did the quality loss would be two-fold since the media would be resized from it's original format (let's say 1080p) to 1360x768, losing roughly 50% of the picture data, then letting the display scale ~1MP image to the actual ~2MP of display elements, blurring the picture.)

If the native resolution detection (best for display) was working as intended, why won't Apple just say it is - and explain what user error causes the phenomenon described in this and many other threads in just this forum - than just pretend that nobody is experiencing this issue?

Oh wait, let's pretend I'm a "Genious™"!
Solution: If you'd bought the incredible

Apple LED Cinema Display

this would never had happened! 😀
*ajusts beret, strokes hipster-mustache*

I think that Mac OS X could not possibly detect the native resolution of the TV because the software on the TV defines itself as such and Mac OS cannot override that.

Its a two way communication. Mac OS can only act on the information being provided by the connected device. Its like a mouse. By default, MAC OS will assume its a right hand mouse unless you change the setting to make it a left hand mouse and only then will the MAC OS adjust accordingly.

I would love to get the 27 inch iMac or even just the 21.

As described previously in this thread, it happens that OS X successfully detects the native resolution and after some time it fails to do so. Also, detecting maker and brand usually implies detecting supported (and thus native) resolutions.

I know, DDC has been around since 1994.

If that was the case, other OSes and devices would have the same problem, which they don't.

Your mouse analogy would be more fitting if OS X did not allow you to change the setting. (If you could select a resolution regardless of what supported modes have been detected by OS X this wouldn't be a issue, since you would simply choose the display's native resolution instead of having to rely on OS X to detect it. But like mentioned in prior posts: 'Use option (alt) while clicking "scaled" when selecting resolution in the display settings in OS X. Sometimes this doesn't show the desired (and sometimes previously working) resolution.')

I'm starting to think that this could be a DPCP/HDCP related issue, using mDP to HDMI cables and/or converters.

I was having ridiculous video scaling problems with XBMC. I just started using this fantastic, if hair-pullingly (is that a word? :)) user-hostile, poorly documented piece of software. My 13" late 2010 MBP was detecting my 52" Sony Bravia TV, connected with a miniport-to-HDMI cable, no problem, and was offering 3 possible resolutions: 1280x960 60Hz (NTSC), 1080p, and 1080p. I chose the intuitively obvious 1080p setting. Wrong choice! I could not, no matter how hard I tried, 'calibrate' the video to fit full-screen. One of the corner 'L's was always off-screen. I could find no good documentation about how to go about calibrating the video screen size. This is the only useful thread I found specific to the Mac. After reading a few pages of the thread, I decided to try just accepting the very odd 1280x960 size, which is the first choice anyway, and the only one that shows the 60Hz NTSC specification. After this leap of faith, and that's all I can call it because it is 100% counter-intuitive, everything fell into place. I could easily calibrate the full screen mode and it just filled the TV screen, except for a black border, which I still have to learn how to eliminate. I played a huge (18GB) 1080p MKV and got virtually BD quality at full 1080p resolution. Breathtaking. Apparently that crazy resolution is the native resolution of the TV, so just go with it and you will have no problems. So thanks for starting this thread. It served as an inspiration to me and helped solve a problem that I believe shouldn't exist. XBMC developers need to work on better documentation and easier-to-use UI. Other than that, it is a very powerful media center option.

Your Bravia is 1080p, having 1920x1080 pixels (thus 1920x1080 picture elements that make up your screen if you look very closely). This means that 1920x1080 / 1080p is the native resolution.

If you are using 1280x960 resolution output for 1920x1080 content means that the player is downscaling the content (from 1920x1080 to 1280x960) with a 41% loss in image data before it outputs it.

When received by the Bravia, these remaining 59% have to scale back up to 100% of the Bravia's pixels (otherwise the image would only occupy 59% of the screen, but at least be pixel-prefect) - causing 41% of the image composition to be interpolated by the Bravia, which makes the image less sharp. (Not pixel-perfect.)

How to solve this? If not mentioned in the previous posts, I don't know. But I'd guess that selecting input type on the Bravia could help. If not, does it have DVI input? Even though using VGA would feel slightly medieval it would at least provide your Bravia with the native resolution (that is 1080p).

Don't blame XBMC. Blame Apple for staying silent on (what is likely to be) DPCP/HDCP issues over mDP.

Don't settle for less!

1080p - beacuse you're worth it

You are absolutely correct. Thanks for the feedback. Here's an update:

I had display mirroring on because it was just easier to deal with. So many other issues that this was a minor one. So I turned mirroring off and selected 1080p for the TV output. BTW I mentioned that there were two 1080p options. In mirroring mode (only this mode shows the refresh rate for reasons beyond my comprehension--Apple silliness?), you can see that the first one is 24Hz and the second one is 60Hz. I tried both, in non-mirrored mode, but only 60Hz produces jitter-free (no frame dropping) motion. OK, so now on to calibration.

Display Mode: Full Screen #1

Display: 1920x1080

Video calibration:

Here's where it gets nasty. As I mentioned, I was not able to get the bloody ugly giant ("for dummies") XBMC cursor to the lower right corner so I could adjust the overscan. The upper left was just a matter of moving the cursor as far left and up as possible and then working the cursor (arrow) keys to get the 'L' in position. This strategy did not work for the lower right. I could not get the ****** cursor down there. After trying multiple resolutions, both higher and lower than 1920x1080, I was able to do the entire adjustment with lower resolutions but not higher. Then, out of frustration/anger/boredom, I decided to hit the ENTER key. ~*{LIGHTNING STRIKE!!!}*~ OMG, this toggles all the needed adjustments! Upper Left, Lower Right, Rectangle Aspect Ratio, Subtitle Position. So now that I discovered this closely guarded secret (I told you the XBMC documentation sucked, didn't I?), I was able to achieve perfect 1080p resolution.

Now it gets us into "uncertainty" territory. Although my 13" MBP screen only supports a maximum 1280x800 resolution, and apparently OS X chose 1280x960 for the TV output because it was what was closest to this, I am hoping that the video card is actually outputting a full 1920x1080 resolution. But wait. If I turn mirroring back on, I see that the maximum output I can set is a whopping 1600x900! BUT!!! At the bottom of the the resolution list it tells me "Usable resolution 1280x800." So now I'm not sure what I am really getting output to the TV when I switch mirroring off. It could be the actual 1920x1080, OR it could be the lousy 1280x800 upscaled to 1920x1080--UGGH! I looked up the specs for my model and found the following:

Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), ... and lower

Graphics and video support:

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

YES!!! So I am getting true 9120x1080 output. Fantastic. Thank you Apple. So that 1280x800 limitation only applies to mirroring. Whew! Never going back to mirroring...

OK so I started playing that 18GB movie and it looks good. I won't be able to tell for sure until tonight after dark but I think it looks a lot better now than before.

Problems solved.

One new annoying little problem. I closed XBMC and reopened it and now I can't get it onto the TV screen no matter what I try. I tried dragging it to the TV screen and it disappears from the MBP screen but does not show up on the TV. I opened/closed the lid, tried sleep/unsleep, toggled mirroring, all to no avail. Someone here MUST know how to do this. Please let me know. I refuse to go back to mirroring.

One other issue. I have XBMC set up in remote control server mode so I can access it from my iPhone. Every time I start it, I get an annoying pop-up asking me to allow/deny access to the internet. I can't click this from the iPhone remote app so I have to get up and do it manually. I tried a free keyboard app but it raced the CPU at 50+%. It is not Little Snitch that is doing this. It is the system. How do I allow permanent access to this app?

OK, I solved one of the new problems. I had set up the Full Screen #1 video calibration in XBMC, mostly because that was all that was available in mirroring mode, and that's what I became 'used to'. I realized the error of my ways and did the calibration for Full Screen #2. That solved it. I now get the full XBMC screen on the TV.

I watched the huge movie file at night and it was stunning. Full screen, no black bars, extraordinary sharpness, and fluid, blur-free motion. No frame drops. It was worth the struggle, though I feel it shouldn't have been that difficult.

I'm glad to hear you got it working! 🙂

I hope that you won't have to experience the full extent of the problem that people in this thread are having.

That is, that the OS one day will forget the native resolution of the external display and automatically select a lower resolution or underscan. This can usually be fixed by manually setting the resolution (Use option (alt) while clicking "scaled" when selecting resolution in the display settings in OS X) but unfortunately, sometimes this doesn't show the desired (and sometimes even previously working) resolution(s).

Enjoy your 1080p! 😎

Thanks. I haven't had exactly the problem you describe, but if the TV is not on with the HDMI channel selected, XBMC opens in Full Screen #1 mode, on the MBP screen. I then have to change the XBMC System settings to Full Screen #2 after I turn on the TV. Once I also had to recalibrate XBMC output after a crash of the program. I don't know what you mean by "Use option (alt) while clicking "scaled" when selecting resolution in the display settings in OS X." I couldn't find anything like that. One thing I ran into is, when I disable 'mirroring' mode, I see 2 1080p choices but no frame rates for either. If I enable mirroring, I see 24fps and 60fps. That's no help because I'm not sure of the order when I turn mirroring back off. I find 24fps to drop frames so I don't want it. My TV only supports 60fps.

As late as last summer I was still running Leopard on my old MBP, but had to upgrade due to the OS not being supported by several developers. I don't know how, but there is a similar way to list all resolutions on previous versions of OS X. I bet the official answer on how to solve it is "Upgrade!" 😝

I'm not sure if I follow. Which display is the primary? (The one with the OS X menu bar or whatever it's called.)

If you have XMBC full-screen on the external display everything else should use the (primary) MBP diaplay.

I don't know if it is, but it should be!

I suppose "It just works" at the expense of customisation / Job's way or the high way. 😉

The primary display is the one with 'Color LCD' in the title bar. If I open Display Preferences, I get the 'Color LCD' dialog box on the MBP and the 'Sony TV' one on the TV, which, as I mentioned, I didn't see before. If I click Gather Windows, the LCD one migrates over to the TV. That is, apparently, Stevie's idea of "just working", though illogical to an ordinary mortal like myself. 😉 BTW are you able to assign a monitor to an app in Lion?

HI All,

Just to throw in my two pennies worth .. I have just spent days try everything to get a crisp image on my Samsung TV 40" from my new Mini Mac via HDMI and it's been driving me mad.

Finally, after reading everyone's thoughts, stumbled across the solution for me (it's probably already been mentioned and I've missed it but just in case)

Leave the Mac set to 'Best for Display'

Then, in the picture options set to 16:9 and in the source settings assign a name to the HDMI port by selecting PC DVI.

Here's the key for me ... check the back of your TV. I have 4 HDMI ports and one of them is specifically marked DVI ... make sure you're using that port (thanks to 'someone' on here who mentioned that (sorry, forgotten who).

If you still have problems make sure you're using a decent cable and not a cheap one off ebay.

Happy days 🙂

Thanks to everyone on this forum how had input. I got there in the end 🙂

[SOLVED]

I had the same issue, just replied another thread, forgive me if you believe I should not multiple post.

Mac mini 2012 and SAMSUNG SyncMaster PX2370 display.

1. HDMI to HDMI, bad

2. HDMI to DVI adaptor to DVI on PX2370, good

The problem is that my Samsung display treated HDMI as TV input. Once I switch the HDMI input to PC mode from Samsung display. The problem is gone. Obversed no difference between method 1 and 2.

I don't disagree that you can fix it by using the stocked HDMI to DVI adaptor, the way I think is if it is designed as an output, it should work. so for my this is not a Mac mini problem, rather a setup issue. I don't know if the HDMI signal from Mac mini is capable or should tell my Samsung display, you should treat my like a PC not TV.

And Samsung display is configured to accept PC signal from its HDMI input, there is no need to configure the overscan (at least my case).