Using LCD Tv as main display

I am running my macbook in lid closed mode and have it connected to a 22" LCD tv via a VGA cable, I am using the maximum resolution (1680x1050) and the display is very clear and sharp but is offset to the left. There is a 1" black strip down the right hand side of the display and the far left side is not visible. I have used the horizontal positioning setting on the tv but it does not let me move the image enough. I was wondering if there is anyway to get around this so that my screen is central on the tv ?
Thanks

Inverting the polarity of horizontal sync might work, but that requires a program like SwtichResX.

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Using LCD HDTV as a display Buyer Beware!

DO NOT BUY A SAMSUNG TO USE WITH A MAC
I just purchased a G5 and wanted a screen larger (an less espensive) than what they sell at the apple store. I bought a 23" high def at Best Buy at the suggestion of the sales guy. The HDMI output to the PC does not work. There is a 1" border around the edge of the display where your pointer gets "lost" ( you cannot see the top and only a portion of the bottom bar) I went to return the monitor and Best Buy informed me that they would charge a restocking fee which I feel is very unfair as they were the ones that suggested the monitor. I highly recommend that you take your mac to your retailer (and I would stongly advise aginst Best Buy) to test the display before you purchase.
Good luck all!

Composite Video (the yellow RCA-style jack) has NO provision for Audio. It is used in conjunction with Stereo Audio, generally supplied on two additional RCA jacks, Red for Right and White for left.
There are a number of non-interchangeable schemes that combine composite Video and Right and left Audio onto a multi-jack. The issue is which ring the Ground (for everything) is on -- that cannot be re-arranged easily. Your SONY TV may be using one of these:
http://pinouts.ru/Home/avjackpinout.shtml
Clamshell iBooks use yet another different non-compatible pin assignment that puts the ground on 4, Video on 3, R_Audio on 2 and L_Audio on 1. That cable is often still available from Apple retail stores.
Sometimes you can get those signals to "play through" another device in your collection, such as a VCR that has the correct jacks.

Using second screen as main display? (I have no main screen)

Hi,
I have a 15" PowerBook 1.25 which has no screen (my mate dropped it, off it came), its out of warrenty and replacing the screen's gonna cost £800... I have a proview 15" screen which is plugged in to the 2nd screen output. How do I get the powerbook to default to this screen as its still going to the (non-existent) 1st screen? Is there a key command? All im getting is a blue screen! I need to know as I'm trying to upgrade it to 10.4. (currently 10.3)
Many thanks..
Ben Collier

This can be rather tricky without a functioning PowerBook display given you cannot actually tell Mac OS X to ignore the display. It very much assumes you have a functioning primary display.
Now, if you have another PowerBook with which to boot your PowerBook from (via FireWire Target Disk mode) then I think it is possible to get it to default to the external display. If you connect your display to the other PowerBook, connect and start your PowerBook in FW target Disk mode. Then boot the other PowerBook from your hard drive by holding down the Option key and selecting your drive.
Once started, open the Displays System Preference and set the external display as the primary display by dragging the Menu Bar to it in the Arrangement tab.
Shutdown, disconnect your PowerBook and connect the external display back to your PowerBook and see what happens. Hopefully it will default to the external display.

ACD as main display under Windows/BootCamp while in clamshell possible?

Is there any way to run a BootCamp Windows XP Pro installation on an MBP using the ACD as main display while in clamshell mode? Currently the system refuses to wake up after I close the lid. I use a BT mouse/KB, but even with a USB mouse connected it wouldn't wake up. It seems like it would be possible, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Correct, there was no Gather Windows button.
I do have multiple adapters, but one is an Apple adapter which is, apparently, "passive" whilst the other is active. The passive adapter never works at all under MacOS X, but I haven't tried it under Windows. The "active" adapter works under Windows, but only shows the apple bootup logo under MacOS X, and then turns the display off.
I don't think that the mini displayport is faulty, because the second display plugged into it works perfectly through BootCamp.
I'll try thoroughly testing out all adapters tonight, and then try a different brand of display. I've seen a lot of posts about ViewSonics being flakey under MacOS X, so it's possible it could be on the display driver side of things. Maybe ViewSonic does something screwy signal-wise in their displays, and Windows is willing to deal with it but MacOS X isn't.
Oddly enough, the ViewSonic display I have was shipped with a single-link DVI cable, and it's always worked without a problem, even when plugged into the dual-link DVI port on the Mac Pro. So I don't believe that the display *itself* requires a complete dual-link connection to the computer.
I have much appreciation for all the help and suggestions. Thanks again.

Using external display as main display-how?

My subject line says it all. I want to use an external LCD display as my main display while keeping my MacBook Pro closed w/o powering down to sleep. I know this can be done because I've seen posts where other users do it, but I've never learned how it's done. Please let me know what needs to be done in order to use an external display as the main display with the MacBook Pro closed and still running. Thanks so much!
Stoneman

I know you can do it, but do you really want to do it... the heat from the lack of ventilation will ruin the macbook's display... or so I'm told.

Using LCD TV as Display

I have a 12-inch iBook G4, and I wanted to use my LCD screen as my display. I bought a Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter, when I connected it up the picture looked grainy. It looks like it wasn't scaled up just blown up (if you understand that). I can understand this because the computer isn't really sending a digital signal, just a video output signal (i don't think that makes any sense either). Is there any adapter that will make it look just as good as on my computer, or a setting i can change. Thanks in advance!

The problem is the way the iBooks are designed to output a secondary video signal. In most computers, attaching a secondary monitor gives you the option to either mirror your first display (ie, a copy) or extend your desktop (giving you twice the space for, say, icons).
iBooks, on the other hand, only have the ability to mirror. The ability to extend your desktop to the external monitor has been disabled in the firmware. This means that your iBook, essentially, sends the *exact same* video signal to both screens. What you see on your laptop screen is what you get on the LCD. Including resolution.
If I recall correctly, you can scale that image down, but not up. The grainy image your describing is the signal being, as you said, blown up by the monitor itself.
Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about this. There are ways of hacking this problem, but none of them are supported by Apple.

Using my iMac as a main display for a MacBook

I'm thinking about getting myself a MacBook Pro to replace my iMac, which I got in 2008.
My question is, would it be possible to keep my current iMac and connect a MacBook to it, so that the screen of the iMac can be used as a main display for the MacBook?
Thanks for your time

Hi and welcome to Discussions,
only the latest 27" iMacs have a video-in port.
All iMacs prior the these, as your own iMac, only have a video-out port and therefor cannot be used for what you have in mind.
However you might wanna have a look at ScreenRecycler http://www.screenrecycler.com/ScreenRecycler.html which, depending on your useage, may be sufficient.
Regards
Stefan

ITunes Visualizer on External Display Blacks Out Main Display

Is it possible to have the iTunes Visualizer full screen on an external display while keeping the main display active?
In other words, I'd like to have my 2nd monitor display the iTunes Visualizer in full screen while I do work on my main screen. Every time I try this it forces the main screen to go black.
Does anyone have a solution, or is this just the limitations of iTunes and/or the Mac?
(By the way, the closest I've come is to put the iTunes window on the 2nd display, start the visualizer, and make its window as large as it will go. But, you still see the top of the iTunes chrome above and below the visualizer.)

I realise this is an old post, but have not yet seen an explanation of how I have solved this problem.
Its not a complete solution as it only works if you want to use iTunes, and does require an iPad or an iPhone.
First configure the Apple remote App on your iPhone, or iPad, or both iPad is best, but iPhone works almost as well.
Check that you can control the music from your i'Device'
Drag the iTunes window onto the external screen/projector. I am assuming external monitor with a different screen geometry to main screen, but if you can handle some gaps, you can mirror displays just as well.
Turn on the Visualiser - and put it into full screen.
If you can't see the external screen the following short cuts are useful.
⌘T - turn on Visualizer
^⌘F - turn on Full Screen
Your main screen will blank out, but you will still have full control of your music from the Remote App.
Very cool if you are having a party, and want the visualiser on the large LCD TV, or on a projector.
Steve

Main display blank after sleep under Mavericks

I use a NEC Multisync LCD 2690 as my main display, and a small Hansol H550 as a secondary one; when waking up from sleep, the NEC is blank and everything is crammed up on the Hansol. Under Lion, I could go to the System Preferences, choose Monitors and Detect Monitors to force the displays to correct themselves but this feature is absent under Mavericks; any idea how I could correct this without having to perform a complete restart each time the Mac Pro goes to sleep?

Found the so-called missing feature: in System Preferences, choose Monitors and hold down the Option key to get the Dectect Monitors button. Still, loosing the main display after sleep is a BIG bug...
P.S. I’m working with a French system, the naming of the features might be slightly off.

Main display simply lost after a sleep

Hi,
Since few days, I have a strange problem with a new macbook (a macbook 5.1, with a GeForce 9400M video card).
From Mac OS (the last up to date version 10.5.6), after a sleep asked from the menu, the monitor simply stopped working, black screen. Even after reboots, I am not able anymore to retrieve the main display.
But it is not an hardware problem with the monitor or the video card I guess,
because :
1/ If I plug an external monitor via the mini display port, that external
monitor works fine.
2/ I have a Linux installed on this computer. The dual boot is supported by
refit, and linux boots by default. When I turn on the computer, during
the refit boot process, the monitor does not work. After few seconds, refit
boots on Linux, and then the LCD monitor works fine just when the grub
boot process is launched !
Just to give more insight about the problem:
- When I plug an external monitor, I can boot on Mac OS from the refit
boot menu.
- Then, using mac os from the external monitor, I see that the main monitor is
not anymore recognized, I can see only the external monitor from the
"monitor preferences". Moreover, from the detailed devices list, for the
"Video Card/monitor" section it is said for the laptop monitor "Status: no display connected" for the NVIDIA (whereas the video card is well recognized).
- It is really strange, but even if the LCD monitor works well on Linux,
the window manager can not find a proper display configuration for the monitor
using the nvidia driver. The latter is thus unloaded and I launch my window
manager in a low-resolution mode with a generic video driver. It became
impossible to load nvidia driver. I do not know if these problems are connected...
I tried several things :
- mac os is completly up to date (I even tried a reinstallation), efi firmware and so on
- resetting the nvram from the mac boot process
- resetting the system management controller (SMC) of the macbook
- from Linux, I recompiled the last official nvidia drivers...
- try to see from an efi shell if it was possible to do something, without success (I am able to launch an efi shell from the external monitor).
- Even if I run Mac OS with the black screen, it boots properly (e.g. I can change from the keyboard the sound volume)
I have no more idea now.
If someone from the list has an idea, or event just an other direction to investigate, thanks a lot in advance.
deffre

Sounds equal to my problem - LCD of my Unibody MacBook stays black since this morning.
My MacBook was working and I went away. When coming back the display was black. No mousemove, shutdown or restart or PRAM/SMC reset helped.
External display works fine. The system recognizes the "internal" display. Backlight is working - so I can set the brightness. But that's all.
I can remember that I had such black drops right after I bought that MacBook (October 15 2008). But after some software updates I never saw this happen again.
I also tried with a totally clean Mac OS X install (have another harddisk) - nothing.

Using Apple remote with macbook display closed

Hi ,
I have a macbook connected to LCD TV with HDMI connection .
Is there a way to use Apple remote with display closed .
examples of using apple remote with display closed would be
(1) waking the macbook with apple remote
(2) putting the macbook to sleep with apple remote
(3) Shutting down the macbook with apple remote
(4) accessing front row (using LCD TV as Display )
while doing this should I connect the macbook to power source.
please point me to any documentation / solutions available .
I don't have any external keyboard or mouse connected to macbook . I just want to use Apple remote to do the above functions .
Thanks
Suresh
macbook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi suresh,
as mentioned here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86286
and
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300562
you must have to have a keyboard or mouse to trigger the macbook wake up from sleep when you close the lid.
usb mouse is not that expensive and you can start with that.
Good Luck

I have two monitors on my Mac. Running FF3.6.16 new windows now want to open on the wrong monitor. How do I get FF to open on the main display?

I have an eMac with a second display. I am running OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) and Firefox 3.6.16. Everything was working fine until the other day I opened a second window in Firefox and dragged it to my secnd monitor. I later closed it. Since then all New Window requests, including when starting Firefox always open on the second monitor. How do I tell Firefox I want my main monitor has the primary monitor?

It has nothing to do with the Mac, but more with the software exporting the displays on the PC. A typical VNC server will generally only export the primary monitor.
What PC software are you using to export the display(s), and what Mac software are you using to view the PC displays? That may help someone come up with a workable solution for you (or not ).

MacBook Pro using an HDTV as External Display

I come to you again with another quandary im sure youll be able to help me with. I have a MacBook Pro 15'. a few years old. Recently bought a 42" LCD HDTV and hooked it up using it as an extra display. Video works perfectly for what im using it for, an extra BIG display. however, the audio is still coming from my MacBook. Is there a way to make the audio come from my LG TV speakers and not my MBP. Thanks for your help

Yes you need a lead from the small phono headphone out socket into the HDTV - depends what Inputs it has to determine the exact cable needed - possibly 2 phono jacks ? possibly a TosLink (Digital Audio) cable ?

Using 2011 iMac as external display for new Retina macbook / port sharing question

I'd like to see if there is a way to use the firewire port on the back my 2011 iMac 27" when it's connected to my 2014 15" Retina Macbook.
The two work fine right now - the iMac is the main display for the macbook, but I wanted to know if there is a way to utilize the extra ports - namely the firewire port on the iMac through the Macbook. I've created aggregate devices before - would this be the way to go?
Thanks!

Hello gstern1994,
Yes you can. Form the article below you should be able to do that, just make sure that you plug in those devices when you have already set up the Target Display Mode on the iMac.
Target Display Mode: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht3924
Regards,
-Norm G.

Viewer on second display, but also on main display?

Hi!
I use a MacBook Pro as second display for my iMac.
I know that it's possible to show the viewer on a second display but
I was asking myself if it is possible to show the viewer on my second display,
but also keep the viewer on my main display?
So I have a normal window with viewer, event, timeline etc. and, on the second display just a viewer.
I searched for that but I didn't find anything about that on the internet.
Would be nice if someone had that problem to and knows how to solve it!
Thank you!

I asked this same question on here a while ago and never got a response: https://discussions.apple.com/message/20987858#20987858
So it looks like nobody on here knows a way to have it set up this way, and it may not be possible until more updates come out, but I would like to know if there's a way to ask Apple/Final Cut developers or technicians themselves instead of on a public forum. Then maybe we might get an answer.

Using LCD Tv as main display

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