Is the Dell UZ2215H multimedia monitor supported by the Mac Mini mid-2010 running OS X Mavericks?

Question

I have hooked up a new Dell UZ2215H multimedia monitor to my Mac mini which recognizes the Dell model but does not recognize the built-in HD webcam or allow control of the internal speakers for sound output on the Dell monitor.  I have used both an HDMI cable and a Displayport cable with the same results. I searched the Apple Support which does not indicate that a driver is required for the Dell monitor.  Dell Support has not been very useful in resolving the incompatibility of their multimedia monitor.

Answer 1

murraydav wrote:
I have hooked up a new Dell UZ2215H multimedia monitor to my Mac mini which recognizes the Dell model but does not recognize the built-in HD webcam or allow control of the internal speakers for sound output on the Dell monitor.  I have used both an HDMI cable and a Displayport cable with the same results. I searched the Apple Support which does not indicate that a driver is required for the Dell monitor.  Dell Support has not been very useful in resolving the incompatibility of their multimedia monitor.
I have used the UZ2715H which is part of the same family of monitors and the webcam and speakers work fine. You need to connect a USB cable between the screen and the Mac for the webcam to work. With regards to the speakers it is 'normal' for HDMI or Displayport connected speakers to not allow the Mac to control the volume. Apple take the point of view that the output device - in this case the display but for HDMI often a TV should be responsible for controlling the volume not the source device i.e. the Mac. If your using the built-in speaker on a Mac the Mac is both the source and the output device and therefore does let you control the volume.
If you do need to control the volume since you cannot do it on the Mac you will have to use the 'on screen display' on the Dell screen and the buttons on the bottom right part of the screen. This will tell the Dell screen itself to adjust the volume.
No driver was needed to use the webcam. I was using Mavericks.
PS. While I can understand and accept Apple's view that the output device should be responsible for controlling the volume (for HDMI and Displayport connections) it would be possible to have the output device do the volume adjustment but still allow the Mac to tell the output device to adjust the volume. There is a standard called CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) which allows sending commands down the HDMI cable to - in this case tell the output device to adjust the volume. Unfortunately Apple do not currently support CEC. I suggest people send requests to Apple for this feature to be added, also unfortunately this will require a new Mac with the facility it cannot be added be via a software change.