Intermittent Dual Display Issue - Random "Detect Displays"?

Have an MBP w/ Samsung SyncMaster T220, attached via DVI. In recent week, or so, the two monitors will 'fade to blue' (like it will if you attach another display while the MBP is already up an running) then return back to 'normal' as if nothing has happened. When this happens it may stay on the 'blue background' for a split second, or for up to five seconds.
It is as if it 'looses' the dual display then gains it back. And the 'blue screen' seems the equivalent of "Detect Displays" being randomly instantiated.
[NOTE: the 'blue screen' is not the screen of death nor does the MBP lock up. In fact, as I've typed in this posting, it has happened approx. six times, I can keep typing and when the screen returns the stuff I typed in while the screen is blue is all there.)
I've checked the cables, the connectors, the power sources, etc.
Thoughts?

This has been happening to me regularly since buying one of the new mid-2009 MacBook Pros. It had never happened with my previous early-2008 MacBook Pro.
Additionally, the detect displays functionality is not triggered as it should be by dis/connecting the display. I have to manually “detect displays“ every time. Very frustrating, and pretty weird.

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Dual display color and other related issues...

I have posted this on painter forums, though some of the issues coming together here are directly related to issues w/ Snow Leopard and dual displays. Thought I would try here....
This is so bizarre. When I ever I run P11(I think this is going on in P10 too?) w/ the OS X (snow leopard, 10.6.2 on quad core Intel Xeon Mac Pro, 10 GB of RAM) menu bar on my Eizo(making it the main display), and the Apple Cinema display left as the #2 monitor, I get very annoying brush cursor artifcats left randomly on the Eizo screen after strokes. One cannot predict when the cursor will leave it's gray "marks", but it will do it, sometimes 5 strokes in a row, sometimes after 15 strokes or so? If I move my brush back over them, or change the image percantage view, they vanish, obviously new ones coming back, as I work.
However I put the OS menu bar on the AC display, yet work back on the Eizo, this does NOT happen. No cursor artifacts. Well, at least I can summon the issue
The reason I am doing this is Snow Leopard has bad color issues w/ dual displays (well documented, much to Photoshop CS4 users frustrations, and mine). Apple needs to fix it... but for me to see the right color on the Eizo(this is my main color and superior display), it needs to be the main monitor(menu bar) in 10.6.2.
So, you can see my trap - Accurate color, or annoying cursor artifacts left on the screen (sorry, it really bugs me as I work) as I work in Painter.
Attempted fixes: Trashed all of Painter's prefs, all of Wacom's Intuos 4(latest driver) prefs and software, switched plug ins on the back of the mac for the displays(lots of restarts), ran cache cleaning Cocktail and DiskWarrior, etc. -- no change, as I can duplicate the issue w/ the above set up. A sidebar or maybe be very related note: I have an iMac w/ max amount of ram (model not very old -- maybe 1 or 2 old) and I have had a long standing issue working on the iMacs we have had w/ this brush cursor artifact problem (in Leopard and Snow Leopard). I am on one monitor w/ the iMac, so you know here the menu bar is...hmmmmmmmm.....?
Thanks!, T

I have posted this on painter forums, though some of the issues coming together here are directly related to issues w/ Snow Leopard and dual displays. Thought I would try here....
This is so bizarre. When I ever I run P11(I think this is going on in P10 too?) w/ the OS X (snow leopard, 10.6.2 on quad core Intel Xeon Mac Pro, 10 GB of RAM) menu bar on my Eizo(making it the main display), and the Apple Cinema display left as the #2 monitor, I get very annoying brush cursor artifcats left randomly on the Eizo screen after strokes. One cannot predict when the cursor will leave it's gray "marks", but it will do it, sometimes 5 strokes in a row, sometimes after 15 strokes or so? If I move my brush back over them, or change the image percantage view, they vanish, obviously new ones coming back, as I work.
However I put the OS menu bar on the AC display, yet work back on the Eizo, this does NOT happen. No cursor artifacts. Well, at least I can summon the issue
The reason I am doing this is Snow Leopard has bad color issues w/ dual displays (well documented, much to Photoshop CS4 users frustrations, and mine). Apple needs to fix it... but for me to see the right color on the Eizo(this is my main color and superior display), it needs to be the main monitor(menu bar) in 10.6.2.
So, you can see my trap - Accurate color, or annoying cursor artifacts left on the screen (sorry, it really bugs me as I work) as I work in Painter.
Attempted fixes: Trashed all of Painter's prefs, all of Wacom's Intuos 4(latest driver) prefs and software, switched plug ins on the back of the mac for the displays(lots of restarts), ran cache cleaning Cocktail and DiskWarrior, etc. -- no change, as I can duplicate the issue w/ the above set up. A sidebar or maybe be very related note: I have an iMac w/ max amount of ram (model not very old -- maybe 1 or 2 old) and I have had a long standing issue working on the iMacs we have had w/ this brush cursor artifact problem (in Leopard and Snow Leopard). I am on one monitor w/ the iMac, so you know here the menu bar is...hmmmmmmmm.....?
Thanks!, T

Dual Display - help with Cinema Display for MacBook Pro where MB won't detect displays.

I just got a Cinema Display (a1081 20") ("CD") off eBay to use as a dual screen with my Macbook Pro OS X 10.6.8 ("MB"). However, I can't get MB to recognize CD! I've tried power cycling both the MB and the CD with and without USB cord connected. MB won't recognize CD display in any situation. However, it is recognized in some capacity although I can't use dual display because the CD power button triggers MB to ask me if I want to restart, shutdown, or cancel.
Any help is appreciated!!

Have you tried smc and pram resets?
Try Detect Displays in the Displays preference pane.
Does the Displays preference pane Arrangement show two screens? If so do click gather windows and check the resolution setting of the new screen.

Are there any issues with MacPros+Dual Displays and FCP?

I have a MacPro (2.1) with an ATI X1900XT graphics card (2 DVI ports). It is currently hooked up to a single 24". My usage is mostly Browsing, Final Cut Suite and Video. I am planning on upgrading to Dual Displays (2*24" or 2*27") but read about some vague issues the ATI might have when using dual displays and FCP (Color more specifically). Are there any specific issues I should be aware of before getting a second display?
Many thanks in advance

One graphics card? Two displays? ZERO ISSUES! Not sure what "vague issue the ATI" cards have, but I have that exact card, and run two 24" displays with no problems. I have run dual displays for years. I find working with one very...cramped.
Shane

Setting Photoshop monitor profiles when using dual displays?

I'm using a Macbook Pro connected to an Apple Cinema Display under OS 10.5.8. Both monitors are calibrated and I export from Lightroom to Photoshop in ProPhoto. The Photoshop working colour space is also ProPhoto so there is no mismatch there.
When in dual display mode I like to have my Photoshop application on the Macbook screen and the photo I'm working on shown on the Cinema Display. In fact, I couldn't work any other way because the laptop's screen is not at all suitable for precision work.
I noticed that when I send an image from Lightroom to Photoshop CS4 for further editing the colours were off in Photoshop. This lead me to check the monitor profile used by Photoshop and I saw it was using the Macbook Pro .icc profile. This seems to be used even if the image is displayed in the external display. Selecting the Cinema Display as "default" in ColorSync doesn't change the situation. As a result, the colours as displayed by Photoshop are incorrect.
The only "solution" I have found is to either go to System Preferences > Displays and select the external monitor as the principal one (which is inconvenient because it negates many of the advantages of using dual monitors) or setting the Cinema Display's .icc profile for the Macbook Pro as well (which makes it the one chosen by Photoshop but means I'm only working wiht one correctly calibrated monitor).
Is there a solution to this problem? Ideally I want to have both my monitors calibrated and Photoshop detect which one I'm using to view my photo. Failing that, I would like to have both monitors calibrated and "tell" Photoshop to use the Cinema Display as the principal monitor.I don't want .
Many thanks!

Thanks for your reply!
I'm not too worried about 10.6 because I'm not using it ( I reverted to 10.5.8 precisely because of the colour issues).
I don't really understand your reply. My problem is that if Photoshop uses my Mabook Pro profile as the "monitor profile" my pictures - as displayed on the Cinema Display - look different in Lightroom and in Photoshop. It's as if Lightroom is "aware" of which of the two displays is being used whereas Photoshop can only deal with one at a time. I would like to know if this analysis is correct and what I can do so that Photoshop displays my photographs the same way as Lightroom does on each of my two displays.

Mac Pro 2009 with dual displays - not finding sync?

Hi - just bought a "new" previous generation Mac Pro 4,1 from MacMall... been having a lot of display issues and am looking for help. I run dual displays - one is connected via a MiniDisplay to HDMI cable (no adapter) and the other DVI to DVI. (NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics card is set up that way) My displays are both Dell ST2210's, bought about a year ago. Prior to this setup they were both working great on my old dual 2GHz G5 (over VGA). Now the DVI one works consistently on its own but the one setup on the MiniDisplay port is intermittent and can't seem to find sync. They worked fine for a couple of weeks but now when I boot up, they both flash until I unplug the MiniDisplay port one and then the DVI one finds sync. I can't do the opposite - if I unplug the DVI one, the MiniDisplay one still doesn't work. Major drag... this is a production computer and it's a major disruption and changes my work flow quite a bit. Any advice would be appreciated. Seems like a sync / power issue related to the MiniDisplay port on the GT120 but I could be missing something....

Native DisplayPort (and its Mini variant) is a completely different protocol from HDMI/DVI. To operate properly, your DisplayPort cable needs to assert a signal that tells the DisplayPort to go into "Dual Mode" and produce a DVI/HDMI signal instead.
One common problem of Mini DisplayPort is that the connector is so small, and has so many contacts, that users are hesitant to push it all the way into the socket. If it is not completely and utterly bottomed in the socket, it cannot assert the signal to change to dual mode, and nothing will work correctly.
If that is not your problem, you may have a cable issue, and should pursue a cable from a different manufacturer.

MSI GeForce 4 MX 440 with AGP 8X - No Dual Display?

Hello! I have just purchased the MSI MX440-VTD8X based on GeForce 4 MX 440 with AGP 8X. I have the latest drivers and everything but I’m unable to enable the clone option to have pictures on both my monitor and my TV. The option is grayed out. The TV connection is correctly connected. I can choose my TV as the primary display, it’s just that I cannot have dual display! Isn’t my card supposed to have this option? Here is a pic:

A previous poster (in a different thread) found that if the video card has both analog and digital monitor outputs, then for TV-out to function properly with the VIVO 4-port adapater, you need to connect your analog monitor to the digital output using the supplied digital-to-analog converter.
I have a new G4 MX440 VTD8X and had a similar issue to the one described here....the TV could not be detected by the video card when connected via RCA jacks (S-video worked, but could not CLONE the monitor). I moved my primary monitor from the analog to the digital port, and viola, the TV out functions perfectly now. :D

Geforce 4 mx 440 dual display - mandrake 9.0

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I am wanting to switch my workstation from Windows 2000 to Linux Mandrake 9.0. Anyone tell me if all of the TV in/out and dual display stuff will work under Mandrake 9? It is the GeForce 4 MX 440 with the dual VGA out and the s-video input/output connections. The main concern is the dual display. Let me know at [email protected] or post here. Thanks for the help!
Jason Douglas
http://scopicmedia.com/jasond/
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A previous poster (in a different thread) found that if the video card has both analog and digital monitor outputs, then for TV-out to function properly with the VIVO 4-port adapater, you need to connect your analog monitor to the digital output using the supplied digital-to-analog converter.
I have a new G4 MX440 VTD8X and had a similar issue to the one described here....the TV could not be detected by the video card when connected via RCA jacks (S-video worked, but could not CLONE the monitor). I moved my primary monitor from the analog to the digital port, and viola, the TV out functions perfectly now. :D

Dual Display Problem with new MacBook Pro

Hi All,
I just got a new MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo and a 30" Dell LCD Monitor. Both are AWESOME products, BTW. But I am having a weird issue with running both displays.
If I sleep/wake the computer so that I'm never running with dual displays, everything seems fine. However, no matter what I try, I eventually get a system hang if both displays are active at once.
For example, if I turn the MBP off, attach the monitor, and power up, the MBP will get to the login screen. As soon as it hits the logon screen, it hangs.
If I hot-plug the monitor while the system is running, it will detect the new display and activate it as a secondary desktop. But, in anywhere from 5 seconds to 15 minutes (varies each time) the MBP display will turn off and the system hangs.
To me, it seems like a video driver bug or something similar to that?
Thanks!

To those of you that inquired, NO, I have not yet resolved this problem.
I took the laptop into the Apple store, and they decided that it needed a new logic board. Then, once they received the part, and I took the laptop in for repair, they didn't replace the logic board. The guy on the bench reset the PRAM and decided that the problem was resolved. I took it home, and within about 20 minutes the same thing happened.
When I took it back to the store, I was unable to reproduce the problem for the mac Genius.
It still does it, I I just haven't had a chance to take it back to the store to try to reproduce the problem again.

How do I use dual displays to have a full screen app on one monitor and another full screen app or the desktop on the other?

How do I use dual displays to have a full screen app on one monitor and another full screen app or the desktop on the other?
I want to have my itunes visualizer on my TV which is connected via HDMI adapter, and still have access to full screen itunes and my desktop on the main display.
Any suggestions? App downloads that can do this? Please let me know.

You can't do it. This has been an issue since Lion.

Dual Display, 2 Monitors - Extended Desktop

Hello Everyone:
There isn't a clear cut answer or solution in connected a Macbook Air to 2 external monitors in an attempt to create an extended desktop. I have read older posts that it's either doable or not doable. My questions are the following:
-Is it possible to connect a new Macbook Air to 2 external monitors for extended desktop purposes?
-Some users have reported lag issues (mouse dragging , delays, etc.). Will this happen for sure with a Macbook Air or is it a monitor issue?
-What's the best non-Apple monitor brand that would work best with a Macbook Air for dual display purposes? I've read that Dells have a problem in this regard.
-What would be the advantage or disadvantage of using a dock station in setting up a dual display environment? Would this add to the lag, latency factor?
I'm thinking of investing in a new Macbook Air, but I want to make sure I dont end up with silly issues - such as latency, monitors, etc.
Thank you for all your help and advise.
Best,
G.

Yes, extended desktop works with monitors set to differant resoultions. the Monitors pref pane allows you to select relative arrangements and rez of all monitors composing the extended desktop.
personally I run a dell CRT at 2304 X 1728 @ 60Hz along with an NEC 6FG a 2048 X 1280 @ 60Hz off a radeon 9800pro on an MDD.

Dual display help for a recently converted mac user

I have a 24" Intel IMac and I wanted to set up dual displays. I may have jumped the gun a little because I didn't do much homework but I found a big cheap monitor at Best Buy which is an HP w2338. I bought that and the mini-DVI to VGA adapter. I hooked everything up and both monitors work but I have a couple small issues that I can't seem to find how to fix. First, I have about a 1.5 inch strip along the left side of my hp monitor that isn't used at all. It is just a black strip that taunts me. When I drag things from my IMac to my HP it drags fine, but it just acts like the monitor is smaller than it is. The resolution on my IMac is set to 1680x1050 and on my HP it is 1920x1080. Second, I have very faint vertical stripes in my new HP monitor. They can be seen the best in the grey parts of my windows. Any help with either issue would be greatly appreciated.

On your 24-inch iMac's screen, the native resolution is 1920x1200. You can use a lower resolution, but the display will seem a bit fuzzy (the pixels are being approximated). So you should use 1920x1200 on the iMac's screen, unless you have a good reason to use something else.
On the HP display, it sounds like the native resolution is 1920x1080. That's the resolution of an HDTV, so it should work. However, when you connect an HDTV, it connects with a digital connection, HDMI. So I think it will work if you connect it HDMI. If that monitor happens to have DVI, use DVI.
If it only has VGA and HDMI, there was a recent topic that was very similar (same display I think). Is your iMac the older model (not the brand new 2009 model) with a Mini-DVI port? If so, take a read there to see if the information is applicable to your situation.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9247482
Now, if that display you have is different, and it has a DVI connector, please post back.

Colour management warning for dual display users

For those of you who require a colour managed workflow and have more than one display, be very careful in Mountain Lion. It appears to have a bizarre bug where images loaded and shown on the primary display (e.g. in Preview) are initially rendered with the colour profile from the secondary display, or something along those lines. Dragging the display window to the secondary display and back again sorts things out. I've filed a bug report.
If your two (or more) monitors have the same colour profile, you won't have a problem. The only workaround I can see is to set your least important display(s) to all have the same profile as your (probably calibrated, if these things matter to you) primary display, at least until (if?) the bug gets fixed.
If you want to see it for yourself, set your two displays to differing profiles - e.g. NTSC (1953) on the primary and Wide Gamut RGB on the secondary. Then load an image into Preview - something with lots of shades of red "works" well for the colour profiles mentioned. Take a screenshot of the Preview window as a reference. Move the window to the secondary display; note the colour shift as it gets re-rendered. Now drag it back to the primary display. It'll look quite different compared to the screenshot you took earlier, despite the fact it's the same image being shown by the same application on the same display in the same window... All you did was drag the window between two monitors and back again.
It doesn't seem to matter if the image in question has a colour profile embedded in it or not. When comparing with your screenshot, feel free to drag the screenshot between the monitors too - after all, it'll be suffering the same rendering bug! You'll still see a different result; in fact it may even be magnified by the accumulated rendering errors.
Preview isn't the only application affected; I've seen identical issues under harder to replicate circumstances in Safari, for example.
Given this fault and others I've seen with colour rendering in Lion, plus several new bugs found in Mountain Lion, I'm afraid that if a colour managed workflow is important to you - well - Snow Leopard or Windows...?! Ugh, what a mess

I've encountered many of the same woes with color management being a graphic designer, but here's my issue:
Have a 15" (Early 2011) Macbook Pro. It is turned on with me hooked up to my Dell U2410 and display open for a dual display configuration. The Dell is my primary monitor.
I then unplug my MBP to use it around the house. I go to plug it back into the Dell for my dual monitor. I notice that the color on the Dell looks good, but now the MBP has a very blue color temperature. Like moving from the preconfigured 'Color LCD' profile to 'sRGB' which definitely shifts to a blue color on the MBP.
I check the color profiles in System Settings and the Color profiles are correct. 'Dell U2410' for my Dell and 'Color LCD' for my MBP. But as I said, it's much bluer than standard. I try to change the color profiles around on the MBP and no matter which I select it's always the same color with no shifts I would expect to see.
Only solution I have found is to restart my computer. Upon restarting all is well again in the world.
It's pretty annoying having to restart my computer everytime I plug it back into my workstation with Dell and keyboard.
Related note: USB does not work when I plug things back and again have to restart to fix this.

Dual displays problem

Hi,
I just bought two new displays (2x BenQ FP222, 22" widescreen) to use with my new Mac Pro 2.66 (GeForce 7300 GT), but here's the problem: When only the first display is turned on the computer is fine, but when both displays are switched on the picture on both displays goes black every few seconds and then comes back.
I have connected both displays to the computer via 5-metres DVI-cables, which my dealer said would be ok. I understand that I only have the standard graphics card, but as far as I know that shouldn't be a problem unless I try to use dual 30 inch displays.
It sounds to me like it could be a problem with the computer not having enough power to run the two displays (they both use 1680x1050)? Or could it be a faulty DVI-cable?
Has someone got any idea what might be the problem?
/Neworld
Mac Pro Dual 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Have you updated the firmware on the nvidia to the latest? Just a thought, but to your comment about powering all the cards...... the power supply will give only 5 volt for each PCI interface rail. The monitors get their power from the AC outlet. As robust of a machine the Mac Pro is, I doubt it will have any issues powerwise even if all of the slots are full. The ATI card requires an additional power cable because it is a much faster card and requires more power than the slot it is in can give it. The nvidia card is smaller and has no fan, only a heatsink. It isn't drawing near the current that the ATI card will, and I haven't seen many, if any posts about dual displays not working on the ATI. Flickering, yes...... but not that it doesn't work. I agree with the other folks that have posted, it's a hardware issue with your video card, or the cables used to hook up the monitors, or possibly the displays are not standard in the way they use the DVI signal.... You can troubleshoot by trying your known good Apple CD on each DVI output, then place it on one DVI and try the BenQ on the other DVI. Make sure you power down in between your tests. This is to make sure you don't blow something, and the video card can reset itself to which display is hooked up. Do either of the BenQ displays work with DVI on either output?..... once you layout your results, you may see a pattern that will help you explain the problem to Apple. I think they may need to send you a replacement video card, but I'm not there to see what is happening. Playing out the scenarios you tested usually makes them pay attention, instead of calling and saying it doesn't work. They put all these issues into a database that they search when customers call with issues. Wow, have I been long-winded!
Good luck
Michael

Dual displays ("extended desktop") on the iBook

This is in response to a previous query that was strangely archived despite the original poster receiving no definitive answer.
The iBook G4 (and various other iBooks) does not support "spanning" dual displays (I believe Apple calls this feature "extended desktop") with Leopard. Evidence of this is the missing "Arrangement" tab in the Display system preference pane.
The Tiger version of Spanning Screen Doctor (http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html) does, indeed, work correctly on an iBook G4 running 10.5.4. After rebooting, the "Arrangement" tab will now appear in the Display pane.
Hopefully this saves some iBook users some time and effort in resolving this issue.
--Brian

Thank you for yor help.
I have one more question to ask? If I use the LCD TV like Sony or Samsung with the New i-Mac will I loose deskspace on the LCD TV due to the low resolution on the LCD TV? I thought the LCD TV was a good idea since it has all the input for all my DVD player, TV box?, Nintendo, and the VHS?, but I was told that LCD TV might not be too compatible for use with a computer.
How do I put all my stuff on a Apple 23" LCD display I only can find adapters that can only take one peripheral at a time, and I don't want to re plug a TV box each time I want to watch TV. It looks like I need a box for use with Apple display with 3~4 input and S video, and HDMI input for the HD stuff?
Again thank you for all your help.
12" PowerBook G4 1.5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Intermittent Dual Display Issue - Random "Detect Displays"?

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