Connecting a HDMI monitor to a 2011 iMac

Question

Level 1

2 points

Connecting a HDMI monitor to a 2011 iMac

Hi to everybody! This is my first post so I hope I am posting in the right section.

I am trying to connect a HDMI monitor to my iMac with an adapter from minidisplayport to HDMI, but the screen quality is very low, it is zommed and the picture is very bad.

The monitor is not the problem, because I tried to connect with the same HDMI cable my Playstation 3 and the quality is perfect, and I connected a windows PC with a VGA cable and the quality is also perfect.

I tried playing around with the monitor settings and I got it to zoom out, but the picture quallity is still very bad.

What should I do?

Thanks in advance for any answer.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 24, 2011 8:14 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 9, 2011 11:47 AM in response to marwandese

Hi! I'm having the exact same problem with Macbook Pro to HDMI. Very low quality, but my PC looks great. Very frustrating and no answers. Have you found a solution?

Thanks!

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Answer 2

M.B

Level 1

70 points

Aug 9, 2011 3:08 PM in response to marwandese

I'm connecting my 21.5" iMac to a 28" HDMI monitor and it looks great. Have you checked the display settings to make sure you have the correct resolution (i.e. 1920 x 1200)? Have you had the system detect the monitor, then run through the calibration routine? All of that is available under System Preferences - Displays.

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Answer 3

marwandese Author

Level 1

2 points

Aug 10, 2011 10:47 AM in response to marwandese

I went to the Apple store in Bergamo (Italy) last week.

I went there with my LED TV, HDMI wire, and HDMI to MiniDisplayport adapter.

We tried connecting one of their Macs to my TV using my wires, and the picture was the same. So I asked them to try to use one of their own wires, same result, horribile picture.

I suggested using a VGA wire, they kept telling me that VGA doesn't support FullHD, I told them this was nonsense since I connected my netbook with VGA and got a Full HD resolution, so we tried.

With a VGA adapter, and a VGA wire, I got a perfect picture.

So this is what the Apple store "genius" told me:

There are some TVs that are compatible with the Mac HDMI driver, some are not.

I have tried everything, from setting the proper resolution, to calibrating the mac, to calibrating the display, Autoadjust, just about everything you can try.

So anyways, in the meanwhile I found this discussion

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3037269

So this guy is saying that if you use this configuration (MiniDP to DVI ==> DVI to HDMI) then it works. I think I will buy an adapter and let you guys know.

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Answer 4

Aug 10, 2011 11:22 AM in response to marwandese

Please do let me know is the (MiniDP to DVI ==> DVI to HDMI) works better. I'm desperate to get this fixed, too.

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Answer 5

M.B

Level 1

70 points

Aug 10, 2011 12:49 PM in response to jdmangels

Interesting that this was mentioned. Although I am plugged in to the HDMI port on the back of my 28" monitor, the cable ends in a DVI connector. I had used this on a PC which only had DVI and not HDMI connectors on the video card. So I use a MiniDP to DVI adapter and connect it to the DVI connector on the cable, which plugs in the HDMI port on my monitor. Like I said in an earlier posting, the picture is fantastic on the 28" monitor. So using the adapter may well work for you too.

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Answer 6

marwandese Author

Level 1

2 points

Aug 10, 2011 12:54 PM in response to marwandese

I will order the cables tomorrow and let you know in a couple of weeks when i get back from vacation. ;-)

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Answer 7

Aug 10, 2011 3:28 PM in response to marwandese

M.B. - I'm so jealous that you have a beautiful picture without even trying. This is killing me.

Marwandese: I'm going to get the DVI adapter tomorrow and will let you know.

Thanks for your help!

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Answer 8

M.B

Level 1

70 points

Aug 11, 2011 1:06 PM in response to jdmangels

jdmangels - good luck with it - the MiniDP to DVI works for me!

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Answer 9

marwandese Author

Level 1

2 points

Aug 25, 2011 10:31 AM in response to marwandese

I finally received the wires. I bought a Kanex MiniDP==>DVI adapter, and I connected a DVI==>HDMI wire to the monitor, but i still have bad picture quality, a little better, but still not as good as windows with vga. I didn't but the VGA adapter because it costed 29 euro, instead I got this one at 4.90.

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Answer 10

Aug 25, 2011 1:19 PM in response to marwandese

Same thing here. Quality is a little better, but not acceptable. I meant to tell you but things have been crazy. I've abandoned this for now. I spent more time trying to fix it than actually working. I do hope someone can figure this out and let me know how to fix it. I don't want to have to buy a cinema display, but may have to.

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Answer 11

marwandese Author

Level 1

2 points

Jun 22, 2012 4:01 AM in response to jdmangels

Just an update, I finally bought the VGA adapter, and the picture quality in this case is ok, but I still can't use a HDMI or DVI cable, I have pretty much given up on the matter, I hope that maybe with Mountain Lion the bug will be resolved.

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