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

andresh99, i can confirm that the problem only exists when using hdmi (then also the resolution is "1080p" instead of "1920x1080"), the mini-dp to dvi option worked well for me, as well as using mini-dp to mini-dp on my imac.

seeing i loaded the so far only graphics related update for the 2012 mba right when i got it (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1551) i dont know if there are additional issues for those who dont have this update.

ze_adl, thanks for the heads up. i just performed the same update and still get the color problems. i'm going to try mini display port to dvi adapter tomorrow and will report back with results.

Hey all... got back from the Apple Store. The Apple monitor worked. So I connected to a Sony Bravia in the store used for their Apple TV using MD to HDMI adapter. Also worked. They did not have a VGA adapter on hand, so I couldn't test that.I am now wondering if this issue is monitor-specific; not what I originally thought. Except that many of you contradict that hypothesis.

Next steps? Get a VGA adapter and try with various monitors and projectors at work. If I can't duplicate the problem I will conclude that in my case it was the monitor or the specific adapter, in which case I will shop for a monitor with adapter and MBA in hand.

If I can duplicate the problem, I will bring the whole mess back to the Apple store.

Just to add myself to the list of frustrated users - already tried 2 Mini Displayport to HDMI cables with no luck. The colours (especially the light shades of grey) are washed out. No intention to buy another cable, I thought that's the cause but it's just wires.. and I guess the problem is in the driver?!

Anyone else with any new information?

Cheers,

Nikolay

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MacBook Pro 13" Mid 2012

@LT Mac User: Thanks for the infos. BUT: The fact that this issue only concerns HDMI and not DVI shows that this is not a monitor specific problem but an HDMI specific Apple problem. Also, I tested several monitors with my Macbook Air (using HDMI). None of them worked properly on the MBA but all of them worked on my Asus laptop.

God, I hate Apple in so many ways, but love it in so many ways too. What I hate most is their arrogance. They innovate themselves but don't let innovation from outside into Apple. Best example is HDMI. They only just introduced it in the new MB Pro retina laptops because HDMI just dominates (*** is display port anyways?!?) after ignoring it for like 5 years.

If Apple was a family in The Game Of Thrones, it would be the Lannisters. Thumbs down for Apple.

cracky_aces,

This is clearly NOT isolated to HDMI; I had the exact issue using VGA. I don't know about DVI because I have no use for it. The fact that I could get it working (HDMI) on a Sony Bravia at the Apple Store suggests that it can't be ONLY the HDMI since it works on some monitors. I find all of this highly frustrating.

So I went to Best Buy and picked up the MDP to DVI adapter and hooked up my 27inch ASUS LED via DVI. The bright colors/grey shading problems are now gone. I am using my ASUS' sRGB color preset and it looks way better. Looks like DVI is the way to go until they fix the HDMI drivers.

I hope everyone finds some kind of solution.

I have the same issue. Just bought a new 13" MBA and the resoulution with a new 24" Viewsonic monitor is terrible. The new MBA replaced a 6 month old MBA which worked perfectly with the same monitor. I went to the local Apple Retail store and they confirmed the problem but had no answer. We tried every monitor in the store and all had similar issues. The Apple Cinama display looked slightly better but not great. We also tried the MB Pro and Pro Retina and they also exhibited the same fuzzy resolution and washed out colors. The Genius Bar rep was as surprised as I was and extended the return policy for the MBA. I have communicated several times to a rep from Cupertino and he says they are diagnosing the problem. Hopefully they will have a solution soon.

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I think I had the same problem with both my mid-2010 13" MBP and my new mid-2012 11" MBA. Images look somewhat posterized, light grays appear white or off-color, and everything looks washed-out, right? I went through this in 2010 and again recently using the moshi MDP to HDMI adapter connected to my Samsung UN55D6300 55" TV. At first I thought it was the TV, but, after a lot of head scratching, it turned out to be an OS X color matching problem. After ****ing around with the Display Preferences | Color tab trying to use the calibration wizard and getting nowhere, I ended up just choosing a profile simply called "Display", which I swear was not present when I started, and it worked. Choosing it for the TV fixed the problem 100% for me. I didn't think I'd have any problems with my new MBA, but the same scenario popped up. The same solution worked again. Now that it works, I don't mess with color matching or anything related.

I'm no expert in digital video signaling, but the GPU attaches a color matching profile to the frames going to the frame buffer. The moshi adapter converts that color matching profile to the HDMI color matching standard, and I don't think some combinations of GPU, moshi adapter, and external display work very well. Manufacturers interpret these standards, and even though two manufacturers' products may comply with the abstract or reference standard, they may not be compatible with each other. Networking products are notorious for this type of interoperability problem. There's generally little motivation for a manufacturer to address these problems because these inter-manufacturer incompatibilies are an incentive for consumers to select a single manufacturer for all of their products. Businesses no longer compete within markets, they compete for entire market sectors.

That's a nice update. Thanks !

I don't have a profile called "Display", and I can't find it in Display Preferences or the color tab. How do you get it?

For Mountain Lion (and probably several older versions), the file is located in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays/ and mine is named Display-FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF003F003C.icc. The ColorSync Utility "Profiles" tab shows it was created by Apple and probably included as a default profile. Check your OS X installation disc if your Displays folder is lacking it, and copy the file into the Displays folder.

i tried the mdp-to-hdmi adapter on my (unfortunately not full-hd, only hd-ready) tv set at home, and the colors there seemed ok (with a little tweaking on the tv).

however, the issue with regular pc displays connected via the mdp-to-hdmi still stands (working around it using mdp-to-dvi), and is definitely not related to color profiles (tried several different profiles, also the one that shipped with the windows driver and the one that is used when the display is connected via dvi, and spent about half a day twaeking with the colorsync util without ever getting close to what it should be).

I only found the .icc file for my mac air LCD screen in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays/. I recently upgraded to mountain lion, so I don't have a OSX installation disc. Is there another way of getting this Display .icc file? Can you upload it somewhere and share the link with us?

I don't think any .icc file would help. These colour profiles could be achieved by manually calibrating the monitor. If you can't do it manually, you would not be able to fix anything with a .icc file either.