HDMI problems with Mac Mini 2012.

Question

Level 1

4 points

HDMI problems with Mac Mini 2012.

Hi,

I have read the various posts concerning the ongoing HDMI issues with the 2012 Mac Mini when attached to various monitors.I'm using a HDMI to HDMI cable on a Mac Mini and the colors look white washed, example you open up a folder in list view you can not see the light blue colored rows that should appear. Text also looks very blurry / jagged.

After calibration or using a calibration file, setting the contrast, brightness and RGB the colors still look very poor. I have applied latest apple updates but does not fix color or text issues.

Has anyone's color problems been resolved when using:

Thunderbolt / Mini display to HDMI adapter ?
Thunderbolt / Mini display to VGA adapter?
Thunderbolt / Mini display to DVI adapter?

Does your color problems persist when using:

HDMI to HDMI ?
HDMI to DVI ?
HDMI to VGA ?

What monitor are you using, does the issue happen with an Apple Monitor when using HDMI to HDMI ?

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 9:51 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,477 points

Feb 1, 2013 1:11 PM in response to Glasgood

Hi, many have solved the problem using any of the thunderbolt adapters, but not all...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4472316?tstart=0

I can't find it now, but just read one that had to use TB->DVI->DVI->HDMI!???

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Answer 2

Feb 1, 2013 3:54 PM in response to Glasgood

I had better luck with a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter. The picture was much better, with HDMI it looks awful (this was before my 2012 mini died after 3 weeks). However, when I hooked my 2011 mini back up using MDP to DP I was shocked at how much better the picture quality is. The colors are sharper/brighter and the text is better. The people at the Apple Genius Bar I spoke to claim they've never heard of any issues with 2012 mini's and picture quality problems (c'mon).

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 9

77,368 points

Feb 1, 2013 4:26 PM in response to Glasgood

Glasgood wrote:

I have read the various posts concerning the ongoing HDMI issues with the 2012 Mac Mini when attached to various monitors.I'm using a HDMI to HDMI cable on a Mac Mini and the colors look white washed, example you open up a folder in list view you can not see the light blue colored rows that should appear. Text also looks very blurry / jagged.

Go the Apple > System Preferences > Accessibility > Display and make sure that Enhance Contrast: is set to Normal.

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Answer 4

heycoach

Level 1

1 points

Mar 3, 2013 5:36 PM in response to Glasgood

I had exactly the same problem, but with a MacBook Pro, and in my case it was an easy fix. OS X thinks my monitor is a TV, and is using the YCbCr colour space rather than RGB. I had to override an EDID setting to force the RGB colour space, and it is now working correctly.

Here's how to do it:

http://ireckon.net/2013/03/force-rgb-mode-in-mac-os-x-to-fix-the-picture-quality -of-an-external-monitor

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Answer 5

Benedikt

Level 1

10 points

Mar 8, 2013 1:43 AM in response to Glasgood

I'm using the included HDMI-DVI adapter to connect to to my old Samsung SyncMaster 244T and the ouput is fine - no crushed whites, fuzzy text, etc. My guess is that there are still some problems with 10.8.2 forcing the wrong profile/color space onto the monitor when using HDMI-only - hopefully 10.8.3 will fix that.

See also these threads about the profile/color space theory:

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