jtehlert

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

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  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 21, 2012 6:14 AM in response to red.radar
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 21, 2012 6:14 AM in response to red.radar

    red.radar,

     

    You are not right - solving this issue is only up to Apple! There was similar thread, but essentially, Apple write the drivers for Mac OS. I would say that if it was up to Intel they would have fixed it already! You know that under Windows 7 (Bootcamp) MiniDP to HDMI works perfectly fine (with Intel drivers)..

  • by Calreth,

    Calreth Calreth Aug 21, 2012 6:55 AM in response to gubble
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 6:55 AM in response to gubble

    Regardless if the problem lies with bad code written by Intel or Apple's engineers, or the extend of collaboration between their engineers in deveopment process, I do believe it is Apple's responsibilty to address the issue.

     

    Besides, surely someone at Apple must feel even a tiny little wee bit embarassed that their competitor's product (Windows 7) seems to be running better on their own device.

  • by Biggles Smith,

    Biggles Smith Biggles Smith Aug 21, 2012 7:07 AM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 7:07 AM in response to Calreth

    I should add I am using the Windows 8 release preview and, as with Windows 7, the HDMI output is also as crisp as you like.

  • by NCUK,

    NCUK NCUK Aug 21, 2012 8:01 AM in response to Calreth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 8:01 AM in response to Calreth

    You're probably right about the audio, only because I don't have any sort of external of remote screen speakers in my set-up.

     

    Not sure if its been covered before, but I'm running parrallels rather than boot camp and whether in OSX or Parrallels/Windows7, with just the HDMI comnnection (ie not subdevided via DVI), I had washed out colours on both.

     

    Would be nice of apple to fix for the MBA and as nice a 13" pro or pro with retina is or will be, the MBA, for me, wins on weight.

     

    N

  • by Biggles Smith,

    Biggles Smith Biggles Smith Aug 21, 2012 8:19 AM in response to NCUK
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 8:19 AM in response to NCUK

    Yup, the windows fix only works in Bootcamp rather than a VM prgram.

     

    And agree, would rather a fixed Air than anything else - the form factor, and native resolution is perfect.

  • by jaimeeee,

    jaimeeee jaimeeee Aug 21, 2012 12:10 PM in response to red.radar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 12:10 PM in response to red.radar

    Intel HD3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6770M (Macbook Pro 15") and I'm having exactly the same issue. Definitely not Intel's fault.

  • by emmfc8,

    emmfc8 emmfc8 Aug 21, 2012 4:34 PM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2012 4:34 PM in response to jtehlert

    @gubble and @Calreth

     

    Mini displayport to displayport will not work with my HP monitor.  I've just ordered a mini displayport to DVI as a workaround.

     

    My monitor: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6115/hp-2311xi-ips-monitor

     

    So, I'm sure the issue will be fixed on a DVI connection. My main complaint is that I now have to buy two adapters (one for TV, one for monitor). I also saw there is only a 14 day return window. That's pretty shady!

  • by aaron.rodrigue,

    aaron.rodrigue aaron.rodrigue Aug 22, 2012 6:33 PM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2012 6:33 PM in response to jtehlert

    I've got the same issue. MBA-mid-2012 MiniDP to HDMI on Samsung. Washed out colors. Light greys become white, etc. I'm following up with support currently. Will update if I get anywhere.

  • by jtehlert,

    jtehlert jtehlert Aug 22, 2012 7:24 PM in response to aaron.rodrigue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2012 7:24 PM in response to aaron.rodrigue

    Hey guys, I went ahead and posted an articly about this on my site:
    http://solidpixeltech.com/macbook-mini-dp-issues/

  • by emmfc8,

    emmfc8 emmfc8 Aug 22, 2012 9:22 PM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2012 9:22 PM in response to jtehlert

    DVI adadpter arrived today. Plugged it in and all is right in the world. Come on Apple, I just blew $30 on a worthless HDMI adapter

  • by aaron.rodrigue,

    aaron.rodrigue aaron.rodrigue Aug 22, 2012 9:50 PM in response to emmfc8
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2012 9:50 PM in response to emmfc8

    You think thats bad. I bought a new monitor and external mouse and keyboard to use with it, and the monitor only has HDMI, so buying another adapter isn't even an option

  • by gubble,

    gubble gubble Aug 23, 2012 2:14 AM in response to aaron.rodrigue
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 23, 2012 2:14 AM in response to aaron.rodrigue

    aaron.rodrigue, I'm in a similar situation, although I have a VGA port on my monitor which saves me, kind of...

    The worst thing is that probably at Apple they are just saying "Huh, whatever! They can live with this for a while. Most of our profits are not coming from people who hook up their Macbooks to HDMI monitors"

  • by jtehlert,

    jtehlert jtehlert Aug 23, 2012 9:45 AM in response to gubble
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 23, 2012 9:45 AM in response to gubble

    Hey guys, 10.8.1 got released today

     

    Can someone test this to see if it fixed the issue? I cant check it right now

  • by zukefresh,

    zukefresh zukefresh Aug 23, 2012 10:58 AM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Aug 23, 2012 10:58 AM in response to jtehlert

    As far as I can tell, 10.8.1 has made no difference on a mid 2012 11" MBA using HDMI output to a Samsung S23B550. The color gamut is still tiny.

     

    Here's a gamut comparison against a profile generated using a Mid 2009 13" MBP (NVIDIA GeForce 9400M) on the same display:

    2009 MBP vs. 2011 MBA.png

  • by nicholasjfromca,

    nicholasjfromca nicholasjfromca Aug 23, 2012 11:24 AM in response to jtehlert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 23, 2012 11:24 AM in response to jtehlert

    I can confirm that 10.8.1 makes no difference.

     

    I'd urge anyone with this problem to create a support case - the more of us that let them know there is an issue the more chance it will get fixed!

     

    If you point out the existence of this thread to the front-line support engineer, and refuse to do any of the 'suggestions that might fix it' you will, after a short wait (10min!) be put through to a supervisor. The supervisor agreed to log the issue and asked me to run a data-gathering piece of software and email him the results, which I did. The case is now shows as active but unresolved

     

    I was not given a resolution time, or a confirmation that it is a known driver issue.

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