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silvarios wrote:
[quote=srf1957]
According to the specs online for use as monitor resolution is 1360 x 768. lt also says has a vga port so probably will not take a computer thru hdmi my plasma won't.
Weird, ViewSonic's basic specs page for this product shows 1920x1080 for Macs and PCs.
From a Newegg review, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6889107061:
"If you've purchased this monitor to use with a computer and the hdmi input,
and your image looks fuzzy or jagged, try dialing the sharpness way down - I found it greatly improved the graphics appearance."
1) Neither of those resolutions (1360 x 768 or 1920 x 1080) is an option in the Displays preferences
2) I tried adjusting the sharpness, it unfortunately just made stuff even more fuzzy!
kj4btkljv wrote:
Can you run a VGA cable out of your Mac Mini?
I know it's not a native port on the back, but if you've got DVI on the Mini, there's a converter to go to VGA. Then connect a VGA cable to the TV from the Mini.
Jeff
Yes, I could use either an HDMI to VGA or Lightning to VGA, but I'd assume that both of those would give poorer quality video than what HDMI is supposed to be capable of. Also, it's kind of ridiculous to be doing that, when there are HDMI ports on both the Mini and the TV...
Edit: could this be an OS problem? I found this old post of Black's...: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...msg-750190
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The tv might not accept comp signals from hdmi. There used to be a program that let you make a custom 1920 x 1080 signal that people used when they couldn't get hdmi to work right.
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PeterB wrote:
1) Neither of those resolutions (1360 x 768 or 1920 x 1080) is an option in the Displays preferences
2) I tried adjusting the sharpness, it unfortunately just made stuff even more fuzzy!
As mentioned by srf1957, your display is showing up as a TV, not a monitor. Does your TV have a setting for changing modes? If I select PC on my Samsung TV/monitor, suddenly the Mac knows how to communicate properly.
PeterB wrote: Yes, I could use either an HDMI to VGA or Lightning to VGA, but I'd assume that both of those would give poorer quality video than what HDMI is supposed to be capable of. Also, it's kind of ridiculous to be doing that, when there are HDMI ports on both the Mini and the TV...
You can't use a passive cable for HDMI to VGA. Thunderbolt to VGA is the other cable option.
PeterB wrote: Edit: could this be an OS problem? I found this old post of Black's...: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...msg-750190
Could be. I don't run Mountain Lion. I though Apple had fixed the problem with 10.6.8, but who knows?
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silvarios wrote:
[quote=PeterB]
1) Neither of those resolutions (1360 x 768 or 1920 x 1080) is an option in the Displays preferences
2) I tried adjusting the sharpness, it unfortunately just made stuff even more fuzzy!
As mentioned by srf1957, your display is showing up as a TV, not a monitor. Does your TV have a setting for changing modes? If I select PC on my Samsung TV/monitor, suddenly the Mac knows how to communicate properly.
Good thought ... I'll try that next. (It'd not have occurred to me to set it for "PC", for obvious reasons...) When everyone was mentioning "mode", I was more thinking aspect ratio... changing that, has not helped. Also, I'd had it set for "HDMI", since the Mini is connecting by HDMI... I would have assumed that "PC" is for the VGA port.
silvarios wrote: [quote=PeterB]Yes, I could use either an HDMI to VGA or Lightning to VGA, but I'd assume that both of those would give poorer quality video than what HDMI is supposed to be capable of. Also, it's kind of ridiculous to be doing that, when there are HDMI ports on both the Mini and the TV...
You can't use a passive cable for HDMI to VGA. Thunderbolt to VGA is the other cable option.
Yes, and that's how I currently have a second monitor attached to the Mini (for which the picture is fine).
PeterB wrote: Edit: could this be an OS problem? I found this old post of Black's...: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...msg-750190
Could be. I don't run Mountain Lion. I though Apple had fixed the problem with 10.6.8, but who knows?
I mentioned the OS issue because in the previous thread, you'd mentioned that Apple had messed up HDMI with an OS update. That's a little disturbing...
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Yeah, it was an annoying "fix" when Apple broke HDMI output. I should have said fixed with 10.5.8, not 10.6.8. My how time flies, that was back in the Leopard days, not even Snow leopard. Wow!
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Looking on viewsonics sight specs say it is compatible with G/3 G/4 G/5 intel macs not listed.
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srf1957 wrote:
Looking on viewsonics sight specs say it is compatible with G/3 G/4 G/5 intel macs not listed.
Yeah, I saw that too, which scared me a bit... on the other hand, you'd think that it should be able to handle HDMI input...
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PeterB wrote:
[quote=srf1957]
Looking on viewsonics sight specs say it is compatible with G/3 G/4 G/5 intel macs not listed.
Yeah, I saw that too, which scared me a bit... on the other hand, you'd think that it should be able to handle HDMI input...
HDCP you can,t play some Dvd's on some blu-ray players because of changing standards without a firmware update. My old Hitachi plasma says in owners manual will not connect to computer from any of 3 HDMI ports.
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All I can add is I feel your pain. I ran my TV as a 2nd monitor for a couple of years in order to play content there, mostly using plex. It was always a mess. There is a utility (system monitor or something like that) that let me configure custom display resolutions, but basically, I could never get it right. Plus, the TV may very well periodically forget those settings, through a power failure or otherwise, so even if I had it working for a few months, it would stop, and I never managed to write down exactly how I had set it up.
In any case, that was the main reason I bought an ATV, and that works perfectly for media content without any of the 2nd monitor headaches. Your usage though is probably as a monitor in some way.
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OK guys, an update of sorts...
Switching the TV to "PC" doesn't do anything, I get a blank screen. If I use a Thunderbolt to VGA (as silvarios was suggesting), it works great under the PC setting, and I get 1920 x 1280 with a perfect picture.
The problem is, how do I now attach a second monitor, where the second monitor is VGA-only? I understand that you can't go HDMI -> VGA without a converter, but there's gotta be some other way to do this...
Thanks for all the help!
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