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Horrible colors on external monitor using macbook air(2012) with mini dp to hdmi

I have one of the new macbook airs (2012) hooked up to an external monitor (Dell SR2320L) using a mini display port to hdmi adapter.


The dsiplay shows up fine on the external monitor, except for the colors and contrast being terrible. Any color grey on a white background doesnt even seem to render. However if I look at that same image on the airs screen, I can see all of the grey colors perfectly. I have tested the hdmi cable and monitor on different computers and they work perfectly. I have tried three different adapters all with the same problems, leaving me to believe that there is something wrong with the macbook air itself and its ability to output a mini display port signal.


Does anyone know why I would be having a problem like this?

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 4, 2012 1:55 PM

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Posted on Jul 5, 2012 1:15 AM

I have exactly the same problem:


Laptop: MacBook Pro 13", Mid 2012


External Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster SA550 (HDMI input)


Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter: Moshi Mini DP to HDMI Adapter with Audio Support (H1824ZM in the Apple Store)


Colors are generally washed out, very low contrast, very high brightness, some fonts are distorted.

438 replies

Sep 26, 2012 4:11 PM in response to pdashko

@pdashko


I can't imagine the male / female position of the DVI should matter.


Re: Parallels, this won't help as OSX is still the underlying operating system.


But log out of OSX and log into Windows using bootcamp and it should work fine. Not that this is necessarily much help of course as I'm sure using OSX was the objective having made a mac purcahse..

Sep 27, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Biggles Smith

Hi,


I bought a mini display port to DVI adapter, then connected this to a DVI to HDMI adapter and then HDMI cable to my screen and guess what... it doesn't work. The Macbook does not see the external screen at all with this set up. I need to test the adapters with a PC at work to establish whether they are working all right, but I am really becoming pessimistic about all this. Has anyone got an idea how to make this work using the adapters and cables mentioned above? (I don't care about the sound coming through to the screen)


Thank you in advance.

Sep 29, 2012 1:17 PM in response to jtehlert

I've got good colors using mini display port to DVI adaptor.


However, here's the kicker. If you ever want to watch HD movies or TV on your external monitor, it won't work, because DVI doesn't support HDCP which is the content protection built into HDMI and that all computers are required to support. PS: I haven't tried this but have seen it happen in other situations.

Oct 3, 2012 12:41 AM in response to marcinetti

Update:

At home I tried connect the Macbook via mini display port to DVI adapter --> DVI to HDMI adapter --> HDMI cable connected to my monitor which only has HDMI inputs. No signal, the monitor was not detected. Then I tested the DVI adapter at work with two different monitors (Dell and Samsung) connecting it to them with a simple DVI cable. It didn't work - no signal in both cases. Now the really frustrating part - my colleague connected his older white Macbook 13" to those monitors using the same adapter and cable and it worked perfectly. Therefore, my adapter works, it is just the Macbook that has a problem. It is really annoying because it worked via DVI before when I brought my Macbook to an Apple Service Provider and we tested it - I suspect that it is the result of the update to 10.8.2 which I did in between those two tests.


I was hoping that since via HDMI the colours are terrible and some of you reported that connecting through DVI works fine, I could use DVI instead and in the worst case scenario just buy a screen that has DVI input, but now for some reason the Macbook does not detect any screens via DVI.


Would you have any suggestions on how to get the Macbook to detect an external screen via DVI adapter? I would really appreciate if someone could give me a solution to this.


I tried pressing alt/option key in 'Displays' to make the Detect displays button visible. Pressed it, the screen on the macbook went blue for a second, but then nothing happens, the external screen gets no signal. I also tried numerous times unplugging the screen from the power supply, from macbook, then replugging all in. None of that helped.


I should add that:

- the Macbook also stopped detecting external displays via mini display port to VGA adapter (it worked before the update);

- detection of my screen still works using my previous mini display port to HDMI adapter, but, obviously with the same washed out colours.


In sum, three months of battle to get the Macbook to work correctly with an external screen - still no luck. What a piece of junk!


Thanks.

Oct 3, 2012 8:47 AM in response to jtehlert

A further observation...


The MBA I purchased in early July has this problem.


However, a brand new MBA I purchased last week does not. It works fine on the same monitor with the same config - MiniDisplayport to DVI adaptor connected to a Male DVI to Male HDMI cable.


(For the record, these are corporate purchases, so no, I do not carry TWO Airs around with me...)


Consequently, this appears to be a hardware issue with a particular vintage of system. Recall anyone?

Horrible colors on external monitor using macbook air(2012) with mini dp to hdmi

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