External Monitor Advice

Will text, applications and videos moved over to a HDTV with 1920x1080 resolution, connected via MiniDisplay Port to HDMI, look the same if I used a Monitor that has the same 1920x1080 resolution and connected via the MiniDisplay Port?

My HDTV doesn't look as good as it should when using it as an external monitor with my 27" iMac

Similar Messages

Advice to external monitor for desktop usage of my MacBook (early 2008)

Hi,
I've a MacBook early 2008, and I'd like to use it at home "as a desktop". My idea is to close the macbook when I'm at home, plug an external monitor and use bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
What about external monitor? I don't want to extend desktop, but I want to replace, at home, macbook display with monitor.
Do you have any advice to give me?
Bye

You can use basically any monitor (short of a 30" LCD) with your MacBook. Common connectors are DVI, VGA, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Check what you have on your MacBook and buy a monitor that has that connector. (Most MacBooks came with a VGA or DVI adapter, I don't remember which.)
As for your computer going to sleep, it's not a bug, it's a feature. Press any key on an external keyboard while your computer is hooked up to an external monitor, and the laptop should wake back up, recognize the display, and be ready to use.

HT3964 connected new external monitor to macbook pro, was working but now have no power, black screen in laptop. monitor purchased with advice from tech and set up also. Worked fine for an hour and then quit

Have just connected a viewsonic external monitor to macbook pro 10.6.8, had everything up and running fine for about an hour then the macbook quit. No power (ws running off power source) Have I killed my macbook? Help!

Aha, all is good.
I went to Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays
and to home/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays
and deleted all SyncMaster.icc files. I did leave behind one SyncMaster file in the home/../Displays which had an old date and I new was ok.
Rebooted, plugged in SyncMaster, and a new icc file was automatically created in the /Library/../Displays folder.
My display works normally, now.

First external monitor purchase. Need advice.

I am considering buying an external monitor for my Macbook. The monitor in question has a VGA input and a DVI-D input.
1. Which is better: VGA or DVI-D ?
2. I found Macbook to DVI-D and Macbook to VGA adapters. Unfortunately, these adapters are only 6 inches long.
3. As I have never purchased a computer monitor before, I do not know if lcd monitors come with pc-to-monitors cables. In other words, are pc-to-monitor cables sold separately?
4. If pc-to-monitor cables are sold separately, could anybody recommend a good place to buy pc-to-monitor cables ?
Thanks in advance.

Your computer has mini-DVI then. MiniDisplayport is on the latest white MacBook.
The display port is to the right of the USB port in both images.
Here's a link for the mini-DVI:
Mini-DVI
and for MiniDisplayport:
MiniDisplayPort
~Lyssa

Problem with external monitor when using Windows XP on MBP

Hi All,
I just got a 15.4" MBP, and put Windows XP Home on it using BootCamp. Anyway, the monitor sits above the MBP's screen, as shown below (set up this way through display props, not sure if it matters):
[ ] External Monitor
[ ] MBP Screen
Anyway, some program windows won't drag to the external monitor (Dell 2007FP connected via DVI). An example is AIM. Any idea what it could be? The window shows for about 1/2" on the top monitor, and then it sticks, even though the cursor will continue to move upwards.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Mike

Hello Gray:
Welcome to Apple discussions.
It appears from this knowledge base article, that you need a USB keyboard to use Bootcamp:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572
Barry

Can't get external monitor to work

I've used a Mac laptop for the last 8 years, finally decided to get an external monitor for home use.
I purchased a 25" Hanns-G HZ251. It's not working as I would expect it to work. I've got a standard DVI connection on my older MacBook Pro so I'm connecting via a DVI to DVI cable.
The only way I can get the monitor to display what is actually on my laptop is to have my laptop open and mirroring turned on. I thought I could have my laptop shut and the monitor would still work when connected, but when I shut my laptop it just goes black.
If I leave my laptop open but turn mirroring off, I get the generic purple Mac desktop, not my desktop.
What am I doing wrong?
There's an install CD that comes with it, but that only runs on a Windows machine. I appreciate any advice, I'm fairly technically handy but this is my first foray into using external monitors, so I'm definitely struggling to figure this out. Thanks.

conejo61 wrote:
Yes, it's connected to the power adaptor and I have an external trackball and keyboard.
You will have to keep them both open and play around with monitor settings until you get them both working. Keep doing "Gather windows" in System Preferences to get the display preferences window for the 2nd monitor and change it each time it doesn't display anything.
I don't know what it means "you will have to set it".
You have to set the desktop for the additional screen. Once you get closed clamshell to work, the external monitor will be your primary screen and you won't have to worry about it.

I have connected my new Macbook Air to my existing Samsung large external monitor with a VGA adaptor but I can't get the full mac desktop to display. No icons but then websites are coming up. Help!

I have connected my new Macbook Air to my existing Samsung large external monitor with a VGA adaptor but I can't get the full mac desktop to display. No icons but then websites are coming up. Help! Further info: I am a complete newbie to Mac. Had three macs prior to 2000 then four PCs. Just come back and struggling a bit with the unfamiliarity. On my old PC laptop I could simply switch from the laptop screen to the large external monitor (and back) with the F4 function key. While I can get the background image from my MBA to display, that's it. Until I noticed on the far left of the external monitor, the very edge of one of the web pages I was on. So Idragged it over to display in the centre. But that's all that's there. And now I have gone out of those web pages but they are still displaying on the monitor. There is some wierd disconnect. I'm sure it is just a setting thing. Will keep searching for answer but any advice welcome!

Your dsplay is getting extended onto the external monitor. Chcnage the setting to duplicate it or only display on the external monitor and you should be fine,
Let me know if this worked for you.

Macbook Pro - Black screen and external monitor

Hi there,
I'm new here and it would be great if anybody could give me some advice about my Macbook Pro issue. First of all, I would like to thank all the contributors for your comments. I'll go to an Apple Store asap, but I'll really appreciate any of your comments so I'll know more about this issue and how to manage it.
My device details are:
Macbook Pro / 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 / 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 / Macintosh HD / Mac OS X 10.6.8
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
Other connected equipment:
HP Monitor Pavilion 22xi (with an official Apple adapter - projector's plug)
Wacom tablet Bamboo Fun (USB connection)
I usually work with graphics software (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.), since I bought my laptop (3-4 years ago) it has worked faultlessly. But I started to notice some problems about two weeks ago. The problem is basically always the same: After some hours of work, suddenly and randomly (it tends to happen when I click on a button) the screen turns off but the computer is still running (I can hear the fan and hard disk). As I said I use an external monitor, and it also turns off at the same time. That's why I thought it may not be a problem with the screen, it's probably related to the graphics card ?¿?
The troubleshooting steps that I've tried are:
After waiting several minutes and without any response, I have to restart my laptop. When it turns on a Panic Report message pops up. It says that a severe problem made me turn the laptop off suddenly (or something like that). The Panic Report says something about "kernel_task", I have no idea what it is, just in case it could help to clarify more (I've printed all these panic reports).
I also have to mention that this laptop gets really hot on the left side, which I reckon it's a very common thing in these devices. I have to use a desktop electric fan to provide relief to both of us
I've also disable the "Automatic graphics switching" tab in Energy Saver menu.
Despite all of this, the screen and the external monitor are still turning off.
Any idea?
Thanks a lot,
Clara

I would suggest that you run AHT using Using Apple Hardware Test. You can either reboot the machine and press the D key, or use your second Grey disk. This would potentially show you any HW problems.
Typically these older machines exhibit GPU issues. There is a third-party application called gfxCardStatus, that can provide some insight as well.
This may or may not help if there are GPU issues - About NVRAM and PRAM (reset NVRAM/PRAM/SMC).
It is possible to enable remote access (via SSH) and even if the screen is not working, the machine can be accessed remotely. Please see System Preferences -> Sharing.
Can you run a test with both the lid of the MBP and the external monitor plugged in. Does your external monitor disconnect, but the internal one still show a screen?

IMac 10.6.8 Build 10K549: Reinstalling OS or use as external monitor

I have an iMac 10.6.8 and I would like to reformat the harddrive and reinstall OS without the installation disk. I would like to do this, and use it as an external monitor so I have 2 issues.
1. I only have 1 GB of RAM, so I cannot upgrade to Mountain Lion 10.8. But if I could, can I open OS X Utilities by restarting the computer and holding option or Command & R. I'm not sure if this is possible.
2. To use it as an secondary monitor: Can I use Air Display after purchasing the client app on my iMac? I'm not sure if this can be done on devices besides iPads, iPhones, etc. Or is my best option to buy a mini display port to HDMI adaptor, HDMI cable, and a HDMI to thunderbolt adaptor?
Any advice or input would be greatly appreciate. Thank you in advance for your time!

1, You can reinstall without a disk if you first clone your entire system to an external drive using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper - you can then boot from the external and erase your internal and clone it back.
Command + R will not work on 10.6.8. That was introduced in Lion, but it only works with certain older machines because the needed firmware is only compatible with certain models.
EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs
You would also need to add RAM - 2 GB really is not enough, it will result in a sluggish performance; Lion and later should have a minimum of 4 GB.
2. Can't help with that except to say that an older machine will most likely not support Air Display.

How can I get an external monitor to work in OS 10.9.3

I installed OS 10.9.3. External Retina monitor still works fine. All other external monitors have ceased working. They were working poorly under 10.9.2, now dead. Advice other than giving up and fixing Apple issues by switching to Windows?

I was just assuming since it was 'universal' it would work. D'oh.
The "Universal" accouts for the differences in the architecture between PowerPC and Intel, but not for differences between 32 bit and 64 bit applications. And since MacOS 10.7 the operating system changed dramatically. The process system supports applications to use a sandbox for safe communication. Older code, not ready for sandboxing, cannot communicate with the new GarageBand.
GarageBand for Mac (v10.0): Unexpected behavior with Audio Units plug-ins

External monitor won't wake up

I've just installed 10.5.8, and can no longer wake up my external monitor from sleep with the clamshell closed by pressing a key on my external keyboard, meaning that I now have to have the clamshell open (and macbook display active) when I want to use my external screen. I installed 10.5.8 specifically to solve the sleep issue that many users have been experiencing. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

I have the new 15" Retina MacBook Pro connected to a Thunderbolt display using one of the TB ports. Earlier today, I discovered that I could connect a second older 24" Dell Monitor (2405FPW) I've been using for years by using the DisplayPort to DVI adapter I had on my old iMac, and plugging the Dell directly into the second Thunderbolt port on the MBP. All was well, until the displays went to sleep (I have my laptop configured to not sleep for 3 hours, but have the displays sleep after about 15 minutes). When I came back, moving the mouse and typing on the keyboard brought the Thunderbolt Display back to life, but the Dell monitor remained dark. Pressing buttons on the Dell had the message "In Power Save Mode - press key on the keyboard" appear. I tried turning the monitor off, back on, unplugging the DVI cable from the MBP, all sorts of things. It just would not wake up. When going to the System Preferences, the dell WAS recognized. As I plugged and unplugged the DVI cable from the second TB port, the "Arrangement" tab would appear and go away. So, it SEEMED like it was working.
Final solution for me: I selected "Sleep" from the Apple menu to actually put the entire machine to sleep. I then jiggled the mouse, and the machine woke up, along with BOTH monitors!
So, it appears that if just the monitors go to sleep, the "wake" signal is not making it to the Dell. If the ENTIRE MACHINE sleeps, they all wake together.
Hope that helps someone. I couldn't find an answer, so I found it trial-and-error.

How to turn off display while connected to external monitor??

I'm running my macbook into an external monitor, using wireless mouse and keyboard. I want to get full power from my graphics card so would like to know how to turn the macbook screen off while connected to the larger monitor. I have read that simply closing the lid and then waking it with the mouse will work, however wont this activate the screen as well while the lids closed? Any advice would be great!
Thanks
Phil

Hi Philip
here is the link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300562
And it won't turn the built screen on since macbook has sensor to prevent it turn on while it closed.
Good Luck.

External monitor for 12" iBook G4 800MHz

My iBook G4 800MHz has recently been promoted to being my main desktop computer. I am in the market for an external monitor that will work well with it. Does anyone who has direct experience with attaching external monitors to the iBook G4 have any advice?
So far, I have learned that it will not support any more than 1024x768. However, most of the monitors I've seen are listed at higher than that. Will these monitors work with it, albeit at the lower resolution? This ViewSonic, in particular, has caught my eye. I use a ViewSonic at work (with a Windows PC) and I'm very happy with it so I was leaning in that direction.
I also understand about the video mirroring issue, and have discovered that I could use ScreenSpanningDoctor to overcome it. But unless I get a monitor that works, I'm being premature to worry about that at this point.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mac OS X (10.3.9)

LCD screens have a "native" resolution. This is the resolution they're designed to run at. While you can usually lower the resolution of an LCD screen from its native resolution, the results will not be very good. You can see this if you change the resolution of your iBook's LCD screen to 800 x 600 for a little while. The display in your link has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024. So, it may be capable of stepping down to 1024 x 768, but the result may be a fuzzy image. Without the Screen Spanning Doctor, this display might not be a very good choice.
CRT screens are much more capable of changing resolutions. A 17" CRT screen might be a better choice whether you decide to use the SSD or not.
Someone else may have to comment on that screen's performance, though.
-Doug

Low external monitor resolution

Hallo, I've the Macbook AIr 13" (2012) with an external Samsung Synchmaster XL 2370 LED monitor. Unfortunately, the screen resolution of the 1920x1080 Samsung monitor is not at 1920x1080, but lower. The Mac OS 10.8.1 uses the profile HD 709-A. This cannot be the correkt profile. Does anyone have an advice?

Are you using mirrored or extended display mode. If mirrored then the resolution of the laptop will also be mirrored. If using extended mode you can set the resolution of the external monitor differently than the resolution of the laptop. And try to toggle the resolution in System Preferences>Displays.

External monitor not detected - Early 2015 MBA

I am the IT admin at my company here. Recently, one of the employees started having severe problems with his Mid-2012 MBA, which would only operate in Safe Mode. Because he needs his computer at all times, my initial "solution" was to give him a new MBA, then try to work on the old one. I gave him a brand new "Early 2015" MBA.
For one day, it worked without issue, but then this morning it stopped detecting the external monitor.
I have done the following:
1. Swapping hardware. I've tried this with a DVI to MDP cable, as well as an HDMI cable using an HDMI to MDP adapter and a DVI cable with a DVI to MDP adapter. I've also tries two different monitors, including a brand new one out of the box.
Note that ALL of these configurations work flawlessly with the 2012 MBA, but the 2015 one doesn't even detect that anything has been plugged in (it does not do the familiar "flash" on the laptop screen).
2. SMC Reset
3. "Detect Displays" from the Displays system preference panel.
4. Plugged another device (a hard drive) into the Thunderbolt/MDP. It works fine.
Both laptops have OS version 10.10.3
Any advice would be appreciated.

I am the IT admin at my company here. Recently, one of the employees started having severe problems with his Mid-2012 MBA, which would only operate in Safe Mode. Because he needs his computer at all times, my initial "solution" was to give him a new MBA, then try to work on the old one. I gave him a brand new "Early 2015" MBA.
For one day, it worked without issue, but then this morning it stopped detecting the external monitor.
I have done the following:
1. Swapping hardware. I've tried this with a DVI to MDP cable, as well as an HDMI cable using an HDMI to MDP adapter and a DVI cable with a DVI to MDP adapter. I've also tries two different monitors, including a brand new one out of the box.
Note that ALL of these configurations work flawlessly with the 2012 MBA, but the 2015 one doesn't even detect that anything has been plugged in (it does not do the familiar "flash" on the laptop screen).
2. SMC Reset
3. "Detect Displays" from the Displays system preference panel.
4. Plugged another device (a hard drive) into the Thunderbolt/MDP. It works fine.
Both laptops have OS version 10.10.3
Any advice would be appreciated.

External Monitor Advice

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