Samsung plasma and a intel core duo mac mini vga problems

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Level 1

9 points

Samsung plasma and a intel core duo mac mini vga problems

Yesterday I hooked up my new mac mini to my 50" Samsung plasma using the supplied dvi to vga adapter and then plugged into the vga port on the back of the tv. The display was changed on its own to 1368x720 resolution. I have two problems...first the screen has a small grey line going down either side of the edge of the TV no matter what I change the resolution to. The other is the picture does not seem to be very sharp looking on the TV. I was hoping to use this as my media center but the picture quality was better on my DVD player than on the new mac. Would buying a DVI-HDMI cable give me a better look or is this just the way a computer looks hooked up to a TV?

Thanks for any help in advance

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Nov 27, 2006 3:09 AM

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Answer 1

Boece

Level 5

6,264 points

Nov 27, 2006 6:46 AM in response to Colin Hinkle

Since no experts have jumped in ... I'd say get a dvi-hdmi cable and give it a try -- especially if you can buy it from a store which will let you return it.

In general, VGA produces a less sharp image than DVI, so that could be the issue.

If you give us the model number of your Samsung, we might be able to google for answers elsewhere.

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Answer 2

Colin Hinkle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 27, 2006 7:01 AM in response to Boece

Thanks for the reply. I am considering going and buying a DVI-HDMI cable just for kicks but just in case here is my TV model number. Samsung HP-S5053 50" Plasma. I just wanted to know if anyone has noticed that the TV does not provide as sharp as a picture as a imac display. Thank you

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Answer 3

Tom964

Level 1

63 points

Nov 27, 2006 2:44 PM in response to Colin Hinkle

Do NOT buy a DVI-HDMI cable. I did that on my Samsung TV and it reduces the resolution from the Mac Mini to below the screen resolution of the TV, so you will have a black bar all the way around the picture.

I have a Samsung and I mistakenly bought the HDMI cable at the same time I bought the TV. After not being able to get the right resolution, I switched to the VGA input and it looks fantastic. Not sure what is causing your problem, but I don't think switching cables is the answer. Maybe there is a problem with your VGA cable or adapter?

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Answer 4

Colin Hinkle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 28, 2006 3:18 AM in response to Tom964

Well I went out yesterday and bought a DVI-HDMI cable and your right the screen shrunk with black all around the screen. Although I do think it looks much sharper now. Maybe I'm picky because I work in television but I think with the VGA even though it fits the screen perfectly it looks much worse. It's just not near as sharp as with the DVI cable.

I did try using some of the programs suggested for changing to your own resolution but I ended up screwing up the output and I could not see anything on the screen...even if I tried booting in safe mode. I had to erase and install the system all over again just to get my picture back. If anyone out there has a suggestion on how they may have gotten there Samsung 50' Plasma to work with DVI please reply to this post. I am going crazy and think about returning the whole lot.

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Answer 5

Tom964

Level 1

63 points

Nov 28, 2006 10:02 AM in response to Colin Hinkle

To satisfy my own further curiosity, I went onto the Samsung website, and several of the FAQs confirm that the HDMI or combined HDMI/DVI inputs on Samsung TVs are not compatible with computer output. They recommend using the VGI input.

Still not sure why yours does not look sharp. Mine does. In fact, when looking at the OSX screen, with lots of text (i.e., an iTunes song list), it looks much sharper than when I had the HDMI cable attached, which makes sense with the higher resolution.

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Answer 6

Colin Hinkle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 28, 2006 1:07 PM in response to Tom964

I guess I thought VGA was a analog signal and is therefore a lower quality signal type. Maybe I am wrong...but what brand of VGA cable are you using and what is your resolution set to?

I will most likely return the DVI cable but I want to clear this up first and make sure what is wrong. By the way the VGA cable is from best buy and is a Dynex 6ft cable and my resolution through VGA is set to auto 1366x768 which leaves 2 small grey lines down the side of the edges of the TV.

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Answer 7

Tom964

Level 1

63 points

Nov 28, 2006 7:49 PM in response to Colin Hinkle

Well, I took a closer look this evening and sure enough you are right. I have a thin line on each side of my picture. I didn't notice it before because on mine the lines are black, not gray, and my frame is black. They are so thin that they appear to be part of the frame. So it is not noticable enough to be a bother in my case, but I can see where it would be in yours.

I could not eliminate them using the TV adjustments.

But I compared the VGA and HDMI in inputs using a DVD, and, while I am not exactly a videophile, I don't see any significant difference in detail. When looking at an OSX screen, fonts look better with the higher resolution VGA input.

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Answer 8

Colin Hinkle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 28, 2006 7:57 PM in response to Tom964

Thank you for looking into that. I guess maybe my VGA cable is no good or the DVI-VGA adapter is not working like it should. Your right though that it should look fine because I for a short time had a Samsung LCD TV and when hooked up to that the picture was as clear as on the imac monitor. I may try and return the cable and see if a different brand makes a difference. Thank you again for your help. If anyone else has a suggestion on how to make the sharpness better on a samsung 50' plamsa please reply to this post.

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