Mini and monitor display problems

Question

Level 1

5 points

Mini and monitor display problems

I recently bought a mac mini and I am very disappointed in the display quality. I have connected it to an Asus 24" monitor which is HDMI–HDMI and the quality of image is quite poor. The image is non-scalable, heavy color, dark shadows and not very crisp type. When I connect it to my older system, to a NEC Mulitsync 27 in. using a HDMI–DVI cable, the image is much too large, with no options to resize. In the settings I only have a 720 best for display option. My old Power Mac looks terrific on this large screen. I understand I cannot upgrade the video card...is that right? Have I made a mistake in buying a Mini?

imac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 20, 2014 9:43 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 9

76,882 points

Mar 20, 2014 4:21 PM in response to BoxerDesign

What other input does the Asus 24" have...?

If it also has DVI input.

Try the Apple supplied HDMI to DVI adapter and a good DVI cable or a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter and a good DVI cable in the Mini's Thunderbolt port.

If it also has DisplayPort input.

Try a good DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable in the Mini's Thunderbolt port.

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Answer 2

BoxerDesign Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 26, 2014 6:28 PM in response to BoxerDesign

Hi there... sorry for the very delayed response. The Asus has HDMI only, and the Mac Mini uses only HDMI or (I now see) Mini DisplayPort. THe most direct connection is HDMI to HDMI. However, it looks terrible.

What looks worse is the mini on the NEC which uses only DVI. I bought a new HDMI-DVI cable but it is really terrible with no options to rescale.

Could it be the video card? Is the mini capable of displaying a beautiful large screen image?

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,405 points

Mar 27, 2014 3:07 AM in response to BoxerDesign

What is the resolution of the 24 Asus monitor?

I have a 23" Asus monitor and it works fine with HDMI.

You can try:

http://www.madrau.com/srx_whatitis/whatitis.html

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Answer 4

BoxerDesign Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 27, 2014 7:58 AM in response to lllaass

The Asus monitor is the LCD 27 inch 2560 x 1440 HDMI

The NEC is Multisync 3090WQXi 30in, DVI only

The mini looks bad on the Asus. And is even worse on the NEC.

I will look into SwitchResX to see if that will help.

Do you know if the Mac mini video card can handle large monitors?

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Answer 5

lllaass

Level 10

210,405 points

Mar 27, 2014 8:17 AM in response to BoxerDesign

The reolution is the problem

Video Card:

HD Graphics 4000

VRAM Type:

Integrated

Details:

This model has an Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics processor that shares memory with the system.

Also see: What type of video system is provided by the Aluminum Mac mini models? Which are integrated and which are dedicated? Can the video be upgraded?

Standard VRAM:

512 MB*

Maximum VRAM:

768 MB*

Display Support:

Dual Displays

Resolution Support:

1920x1200*

2nd Display Support:

Dual/Mirroring*

2nd Max. Resolution:

2560x1600*

Details:

*This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI or a DVI display (using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter) and2560x1600 on a Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort display or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, which is compatible with the Thunderbolt port).

This adopter may work

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A/mini-displayport-to-dual-link-dvi-ada pter

See items 13, 14 and 15 of

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3382#6

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