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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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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

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

Mar 3, 2013 5:50 PM in response to heycoach

Thanks for posting that link. I had tried a similar hack on a 15" retina MBP in efforts to get Mountain Lion to handle two external HP displays. Apple warned that I might jeopardize the warranty. I just wanted a machine that worked!


I ran the script, but it made no difference. The displays were still sub par. There was little if any improvement. Certainly not something I could use daily for work.


Why is Apple taking so long to fix this problem? Until a new MBP works as intended, right out of the box, I don't want to be forced into hacking OS X. Aren't they supposed to work? Isn't that one reason we buy Apple?

Mar 3, 2013 10:46 PM in response to The King of Limbs

So tweacking the OS X did not solve the problem like written in previous threads? So what should I do? , try to tweak the OS X of my new machine. I don't think this is a good idea.

I have waited for a very long time now and apple did not come with a solution for this problem. Want to know why?


They have told me that I should buy an external apple cinema display instead of the thirth party screen and it should work flawlessly according to the Apple "genius".

But I don't have another 1000 euro to spend on a cinema display.

This is the exclusivity and policy of Apple. Just like the appstore. App's will only work on mac devices.

Waiting for the update could take a long time and would it be fixed after all?


So I will wait for another to test the tweak and when it works fine, I will have to do it myself on 2 macbook air we have when working with an external display of Samsung (150 euro)


Cheers.

Mar 4, 2013 1:37 PM in response to heycoach

Thank you very much! I've tried to solve this problem since September, when I just received my MacBookPro. Finally, I can reuse my Samsung monitor without washed colors and with a true and deep black! For your information I use an adapter Thunderbolt (Mini DisplayPort) – HDMI, and I'va backed up the folder replaced with the one created by the script, in order to test if OSX 10.8.3 fixes the problem.

Mar 15, 2013 12:12 PM in response to SMELTN

I just bought a MBA 11 a couple of weeks ago and struggled mightily with this problem. After a week of trial and error, for me the answer was to go the DVI / VGA route (instead of HDMI) connection into my LED TV monitor (1360 x 768). It is pretty much crystal clear now. I was on the verge of taking a full refund had i not resolved this issue. I was getting horrible headaces due to eye strain via HDMI. Not sure if 10.8.3 will solve the issue (can see it is available just today) for HDMI; will try that later.

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

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