MBP Retina: Poor image quality from hdmi output

I have a brand new Macbook Pro 15" Retina that I hooked up to my Eizo Foris FS2331 screen vith a HDMI to HDMI cable. The quality was terrible as many others have stated in this forum. After a while I found a setting in the Eizo screen menues, "Changing the HDCP authentication from normal to extended" . I dont know what this meens but when I changed to extended, the picture quality is great.

Hello! I just want to share my experience with that issue. I have a Samsung 46B8000 led TV. After I upgrade my Mac with an SSD (I've done a fresh install of mountain lion) I experience bad quality on the TV (over MDP to DVI adaptor, and a DVI to HDMI cable) , it was working very well on Lion... At the same time I also upgraded my TV firmware. After lots of trial and error I finally found the solution. For my particular case, ML have nothing to do with that. It's an option on the TV, on the Sources menu, it is necessary to edit the name of hdmi1 to PC or PC DVI. Yes, the NAME, not some setting or picture option... How would've thought? And you have to set 1080p 60 Hz on the MAC, otherwise it will not have good quality. Final conclusion is that poorly designed software on the Samsung TV was the main problem! I hope this works for others too...

OK Apple. This is going on long enough. Anyone got any idea how to get their attention?

I buy mac and pay a premium because I expect it to work.

If this is some attempt to push us to buy cinema displays you've lost a loyal customer.

I have the same problem with Macbook Pro 13" Retina (Late 2012) and HP ZR2240w (HDMI to HDMI).

snapshot macbook pro retina: http://d.pr/i/NcmB

snapshot external monitor over hdmi: http://d.pr/i/U0W5

I'll lend my voice here. I just bought a 2012 retina MBP. I connected it to two HP w2207 22" monitors. One is connected via Mini DisplayPort to HDMI, while the other is connected HDMI to HDMI. I have used these monitors with my 13 MB for some time, so I know what they look like. WOW! Was I disappointed!!!

The rMBP does not configure the displays properly and the images and text are blurry and fuzzy. The brightness and contrast are way off. Being Apple, there's little I can do to improve the situation.

Just for kicks, I connected one of the monitors to a Plugable USB-to-HDMI converter. It made all the difference in the world! The HP monitor was looking like it is supposed to. But I didn't buy a new rMBP just to have to use an external converter.

I have had several conversations with Apple Support. They suggested I buy SwitchResX and change the configuration. Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want to have to buy somebody else software to fix Apple's screw up. And, I'm sorry if I'm an idiot, but SwitchResX isn't exactly the friendliest application around.

I have also learned that this rMBP has a hard time with external monitors when it comes to screen savers and putting displays to sleep.

I get the feeling that the rMBP isn't quite ready for prime time. I would prefer they fix the problems, but Apple doesn't want to admit there's a problem.

I've been a PC user since... ever. I bought a 13" retina MBP yesterday and overall it is a solid machine. I am experiencing the same issue with my display. I have a 27" LED and will test it tomorrow on my 27" ASUS display, but am not holding my breath.

I spend 90% of my computing time connected to an external monitor. I bought the retina version for re-sale purposes.

I have 14 days to return this new machine and am writing this in hopes Apple sees this thread/issue and that it cost them a sale.

Good luck to everyone else-

After too many hours and days spent trying to locate and fix this problem, I have come to the conclusion that Mountain Lion is to blame. Apple released it before they made sure they had the right drivers/profiles for external displays, and before they made sure that the OS sleep and wake functions would work properly with external displays.

A quick example. A new 15" retina MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion, with 2 22" external displays connected via HDMI. Boot the computer and walk away. Come back after a few minutes to log in, only to find that the OS put the external monitors to sleep. OK. Except that one of the external monitors was designated as the "main" display. So the log-in window is now on a display that is asleep. The rMBP screen wakes but is blank. The external displays don't wake. Have to hit Esc or Power keys to wake the monitor.

I spent 12 days trying to find a way to work around or fix Apple's mistakes. I was unable to get Mountain Lion to come even close to what Snow Leopard did right out of the box on an old 13 MacBook.

The new 15" retina MacBook Pro is beautiful, but on day 13 it went back to Apple for a refund. Why buy a brain-dead OS?

hello guys, th eproblem is that because the RMBP (retina macbook pro) mirrors the image and renders it from 1800p to the desired resoloution, it will litteraly zoom into the screen and then the image will look right on the retina screen but will look distorted on hdmi and the other problem is that apple will also need to fix this problem with a software update.

good luck!

This problem with Mountain Lion occurs on external displays, whether or not "mirroring" is on. Apple Support finally admitted that Mountain Lion needs more updates to address this problem.

For what it's worth, I was able to see a considerable difference when I used a monitor that has a 16:10 ratio vs 16:9. I am still hopeful there will be updated drivers, but if you have this problem you can solve it with a new monitor. I have an LG L24WP but ordered a Dell U2412M and there is also a Samsung 24" at 16:10.

EFI Update for MacBook Air:

This update fixes a color issue with HDMI displays connected to MacBook Air

EFI Update for MacBook Pro 13" Retina? 😟

Got similar problenm here but mine is an iMac

Hope applw will fix it soon

To add to this discussion, have just taken delivery of a new MBP 13" non retine. External Samsung SA350 monitor looks miserable and to compund the issue it also doesn't play nicely after being wokwn from sleep... very painful experience and here's to Apple pulling their finger out pronto to provide an update.

shamu1982,

Don't hold your breath for any quick fix of this problem. Apple has known about this for months and months. I was stunned when Apple Geniuses had the nerve to tell me that it was my eyes that had the problem because they were now "spoiled" from looking at the Retina display. Umm, excuse me?

Or then telling me that I should purchase different external displays. What?! And what do I do with the multiple external displays I already own? As if Apple products weren't pricey enough.

How hard can it be to get a MacBook to play nicely with external displays and be able to wake from "sleep" mode? The MacBooks of just a few years ago could do this with aplumb. Maybe Steve took this secret to his grave? Or maybe this OSX defect runs deeper than it might seem. All I know is, because of this ongoing problem and the way Apple is dealing with it, my Consumer Report survey rating for Apple is not down-graded to "Buyer Beware." I really hope they fix this long-standing problem and make efforts to repair their relationships with customers.