Trouble with fuzzy external display?

I have a 13" Late 2012 Macbook Pro, and a Samsung E2420L Monitor, which I have used in the past with no problem. But now, when I hook it up, the pixels on the screen are very jittery. When I change the display settings, the only one that doesn't make the pixels jitter is 720p, but it isn't very good quality. After hooking it up to a windows laptop, it worked fine in 1080p, so I know it's my mac. Any suggestions?

Could be the computer may need to be inspected and a full diagnostic run to see
if there may be an issue relating to the hardware inside. If there is no external
adapter in use between the computer and the display, and the other Mac tested
with the display does not exhibit similar issues, and is of similar build vintage, an
issue may exist and it could be a symptom of hardware failure.
An Apple specialist or perhaps Apple Store genius bar could run some testing to
see what is behind this matter; with an appointment one or another could help
at least to learn of a probable cause and a path to a cure.
Sorry to not have remote viewing capabilities!

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How can I disable the internal display on my MacBook Pro with connected external display?

I used this metod with the MagSafe power cable connected (see http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/15/yet-another-way-to-turn-off-internal-lcd-display- of-macbook-pro-with-lid-open/).
Open System Preferences and click “Mission Control”, then click on “Hot Corners”
Select a hot corner and pull down the menu to select “Put Display to Sleep”
Now connect the external display to the Mac and move the cursor to the newly created sleep corner to turn off the internal display
Close the MacBook lid and wait a few seconds before opening the lid again, the internal display should stay off while the external display will be powered on
This worked great under Mac OS X 10.7.4, but after the last update to 10.7.5 it doesn’t work more. The built-in display turns off really, but a few seconds after opening the lid it lights up again. Do you have any suggestions? Dimming the brightness or clamshell mode is not very useful.
MacBook Pro 13-inch,
2,7 GHz Intel Core i7,
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Thanks!

I have the same problem: not able to work with my external display mirroring the internal one - while shutting the internal display off.
I believe there is an issue with Mac OS X Lion 7.5 that Apple needs to solve, since apparently it does not happen with this version of the OS only...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4315808?start=45&tstart=0
Or any other way to solve it?
Mac Book Air, 13-inch Mid 2011
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Thank you!

MacBook Pro Retina 15" mid-2012 won't boot in clamshell mode with an external display attached

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

MBP in closed clamshell (display closed) mode with an external display

I want to use my Macbook Pro Unibody in closed clamshell (display closed) mode with an external display
And I want to know if, the heat will damage the lcd of m macbookpro.
I want to buy a holder
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookarc/
but i still have doubts about it the temperature and the Screen.
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Apple says closed clamshell mode is a valid way to operate a Mac notebook, so that should be assurance enough. I don't know where the notion comes from that non-operating LCD screens can be damaged by heat. It would take a lot of heat to do damage. Way more than can be supplied by the computer itself.

W510 with 2 external displays

Hi,
I am interested in buying a W510 with a NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M graphics card.
Is it possible to use it with 2 external displays (1920*1080 each)? I would not care if I would need to turn off the notebook display when doing so...
Best regards, Andi

Yes (and the laptop LCD will be disabled).

Does anyone get the mouse lag with an external display connected via the display port?

does anyone get the mouse lag with an external display connected via the display port?

You don't describe the problem in great detail. Is this the issue you are describing?
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4398076?start=0&tstart=0
If so, then, "Yes." I have the same problem. Note that this isn't a tracking speed problem for me, it's a lag between my hand moving and the pointer moving on the external display.
Andrew

HOT HOT HOT HOT!!! Mac Book Pro Retina, Mid 2012 with 2 external Displays HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!

Hi,
i think i have a serious heat problem and i am a bit afraid of melting the mac book (It happend before with an older mac book pro, graphic card melted...yes, it did...)
i own a Retina, Mid 2012
Processor 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)
in use with 2 external Monitors, one TB Display and one Eizo (27" same resolution as TB) via display port and doing lots of stats with Stata and R on it and it get hot like **** (temperature monitor says around 95-100° degrees on graphic processor diod and around 80° on the chip.
furthermore, it creates kind of random kernel tasks with % CPU usage up to 500% (i read somewhere it does it to keeps internal cooling up...(??) ) and it is getting really slow... almost unusable.
Is this still healthy and the way it should be when i use it with 2 monitors?
Will i ruin it by using it like this all day long?
Apple says it could handle two displays. I think it can`t without killing itself on the long run (if you still USE it)
any ideas what to do? i allready use a cooling pad for it (cheap revoltec) but it does not really help, the macs and the pads fans run like crazy, its pretty noisy and gets really hot anyway
Any experiences with 2 displays?
is there anything i can do about it?
Better cooling pad solutions???
Any other solutions??
Any ideas welcome
Thanks & Best
Franz

Hm, i cannot reproduce the kernel_task thing right now, but this is my temp after working with 2 screens for 10 minutes. is this normal?
100° cpu, 96° on the diode, and 78 on GPU chip? it even was 82 once.
when do i reach critical limits?
apple?

Using my Macbook with an external display

I would like to buy this 23" LED display:
http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/LG-E2360V-PN-23-inch-1080p-LED-Monitor-Refu rbished/5610316/product.html?TID=CartLayer
I currently have a Macbook 13" aluminum unibody with the Mini Display Port. I'm not sure what cable connector and adaptor I would need to use this monitor to its best potential. HDMI? DVI? DVI-D? VGA?? I have never set up an external display before.
I would also like to be able to use the wireless keyboard and magic mouse. I would like my Macbook to act as the brains and have it closed sitting under my desk connected to my display and wirelessly use my keyboard and mouse over bluetooth. Is this type of set up possible?

HDMI and DVI will give you the best picture. Here's the various types of Mini DisplayPort adapters on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=min i-dvi&x=9&y=13#/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_2_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini+ displayport&sprefix=mini+displayport&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amini+displayport
Yes you can use it in clamshell mode http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131
After you get your MacBook connected to the monitor and both screens working in System Preferences>Display there should be an Arrangement tab on the MacBook screen. Do you see two monitors side by side? One of them will have a Menu Bar at the top. Just click on the Menu Bar and drag it to the second monitor. That will make the second monitor your main screen. When you disconnect from the monitor your Menu Bar and Dock will automatically change back to the MacBook.

Can the lid be closed and still run the computer with an external display?

I purchased a 19" LCD display to hook to my G3, everything works fine but I cannot find any reference on whether the lid for the laptop can be closed while running the computer. Can anyone help answer this for me? Currently I am looking at my laptop with the lid half-closed, or is that open...Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
PowerBook G3 333MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9) The Lombard, 384MB RAM

Make sure the computer is plugged in on the AC power adapter. (this is because the power requirements are higher for an external display.)
- Close the PowerBook's display. The PowerBook will go to sleep.
- Connect the external monitor.
- Turn on the external monitor.
- Connect an external Apple USB keyboard and mouse.
- Now the PowerBook will wake from sleep.
Next time when you want your Powerbook to sleep use the "sleep" option from the Blue Apple menu (on the left top).
Hopefully this is helpfull or solved your problem. Consider rewarding some points!
Please see the "helpfull" and "solved" button's on top off this message! Apple: Why reward points?

Modify contrast with an external display

When my external display are connected, I can't modify contrast with shortcut F1 or F2.
Someboby have en issue ?
How I can switch off imac screen and use my external display ?
Regards,
Thanks
pepito

OK.
I found a way to fix that.
Command+Option+P+R while rebooting.
Thanks anyway.

Trouble with second monitor display?

I bought an external monitor for my mbp..
I do NOT have it on mirror display. However, I have my external monitor as my main monitor, with the dock dragged over to this screen as well. It's connected via HDMI. This is the problem I'm running into:
When I maximize a screen on the external monitor, it maximizes as it should. When that happens, my mbp screen turns to that thatched-looking grey screen. If I use my gestures on my wireless trackpad to swipe back, the external monitor will go back to it's desktop in order for the mbp screen to have a desktop photo on it. Basically, I can't see two different things at once with having dual monitors..
If I drag something over to my mbp screen, I have to be at the desktop on my external monitor in order to do so, and when I do, the external monitor goes to that thatched-looking grey screen. So again, I really can't look at two things at once when maximizing aplications.
the only pain in the arse temporary thing I'm doign right now is just draging the margins to fit the dimensions of the screen, and not the 'double arrow' icon in the top right to maximize it.. and try to juggle btwn different windows I open that way.
Huge pain.. not as efficient and I planned on.. Please help me with this issue!
Thanks in advance! Jon

Hi Joe,
In System Preferences, open the Display settings. Go to arrangement from the top of the little window. You will see the 2 small blue rectangles for your screens. You can arrange them to resemble your screen arrangement to - for example - move the mouse arrow from screen to screen in a straight line.
And you can also pick up the little white bar on top of the smaller screen and drag it over to the bigger blue rectangle.
This should move your main screen controls (menu bar and dock) over to the external display.
Alternatively - connect your external screen. Put your MacBook Pro to sleep. Close the lid and wake it up again. With the lid closed it should recognise the external display as the main screen.
hope this works for you.
Stefan.

T410s Optimus: Crashing/Freezing/Bugs in association with Minidock+External Displays

Hi There.
Because my new Thinkpad T410s 2912WA6 (Optimus) and it's Bugs Features are quite time-consuming while i would need a reliable system to get things done, (that is why i spent over 1800 Euros on dock+thinkpad), i have to make it short.
1) optimus driver (nvidia/intel) crashing freezing bluescreening while docked and full hd displays over dvi attached, even still in 8.17.12.6802/8.15.10.
8.17.12.5738/8.15.10.2154 or whatever C:/SWTOOLS contains and what was installed on delivery works fine. plz fix.
2) want to see boot screen of my t410s optimus while docked on dvi display attached to dock. not possible for now. plz fix.
3) i guess docking station is designed to free some space on my desk --> dock + thinkpad far away from desk --> want to wake thinkpad up by pressing a key on my usb wireless keyboard attached to dock --> does not work --> pain in my back, pain in my mind.
plz fix.
okay...maybe too short, here some more detailed information:
1) Most annoying bug is the new always everything crashing nvidia optimus driver. As discussed in many other threads, there are rough problems with high DPC, freezes, blue screens. For me, i could identify nvlddmkm.sys as source of high DPC, while i had no time or not the knowledge to investigate on freezes or bluescreens.
In Fact: My T410s, bought in november 2010 was working fine, and i had no problems aswell as i started using a mini dock plus series 3 in combination with 2 Full HD 24'' Displays on the 2 DVI Ports on the Minidock.
In March 2011, Lenovo Update Software installed an update on the Graphics Driver (this may not mean the Driver Update was released at this date, i just ran the Update Software for the first time) was installed, the corresponding line in the Installation Protocol is:
"Thinkpad Video Features[NVIDIA NVS 3100M Optimus] for Windows 7 64bit | 8.17.12.5738/8.15.10.2202"
Interestingly i think the Nvidia driver version-nr didnt change, while the intel hd driver-nr was 8.15.10.2154 before.
From that day on, with increasing frequency, win7 started to freeze, in random situations but almost always while using it docked with 1 or 2 24" displays attached on DVI, nearly never when undocked. Aswell i just saw a black screen when switching youtube videos to full screen, same issue described by other users. The Flash-fullscreen issue was fixed after installing 8.17.12.6802, inoffically posted by Jamez in another thread. However, the freezing continued and i got a blue screen everytime i sent my T410s to Standby Mode while docked, no problem undocked.
After that, i luckily found out that under C:\SWTOOLS all drivers thet were installed on delivery can be found. I installed the "old" nvidia and intel hd drivers, since that, THANK THE LORD, no freezing anymore, everything works fine.
What i want to tell here: For me its ok to use these old drivers for the rest of my life and i dont have any motivation to give any grahpics driver update another chance, but i guess there are other users out there, struggling with this issues so you might better send them working drivers for optimus/nvidia systems.
2) an annoying fact aswell, and after searching google and this forum for "t410(s) optimus boot display" i dont believe that this is an individual error for me that can be resolved by recovery or similiar suicide attempts. Short and crisp: it is impossible to see the boot screen on my external Displays when Thinkpad is docked and Optimus is activated.
Of course, there is a BIOS setting, allowing me to select the Boot Display, and it proudly tells me i can selected "Digital 1/Digital 2" for the Dock-DVI Ports, but when selecting this Option, i only have the choice between VGA, Internal, and HDMI (Digital on Thinkpad). No Digital 1, no Digital 2. As others told me, Digital 1/2 can be selected as soon as you switch from "optimus" to "descrete". But guess what, i bought a optimus system so i want to use it. I hope this can be fixed by a new BIOS-Version or any other kind of update.
3) obviously, it is not possible to wake up a sleeping and docked t410s remotely, especially by wireless keyboard. First thing is, of course, i DONT want to attach the usb keyboard receiver directly to the thinkpad/yellow usb port. If i do so, i dont need a docking station anymore because i have this docking station for fast undocking without removing extra cables. Second interesting thing: Despite of my wish to have no cables directly attached to my thinkpad, i tried it on the yellow usb slot. my usb receiver was working (blinking) while thinkpad was in standby mode, but nevertheless, it didnt wake up on pressing keyboard/mouse. i have set the right settings in device manager.
So, excuse my bad english, im from germany so it is quite hard for me to write down all this in english. I would appreciate comments from other users, experiencing the same problems/bugs, aswell as what lenovo staff has to say about it. thanks for your attention.

ThinkMIke/Lenovo staff:
Did you ever solve the problem? I am experiencing something similar. Somewhat similar hardware setup: T410 w/ optimus + Minidock 3 + two external monitors (using DVI and VGA ports); laptop closed. Long ago, I "bit the bullet" and plugged wireless keyboard/mouse dongle into laptop USB port to enable waking from sleep via keybaord/mouse...painful, but used to suffice; would not work with dongle plugged into Minidock. More recently, I have been fighting Optimus bugs that cause my system to freeze every ten minutes or so. Recently tried switching off Optimus in BIOS. This eliminates the freezes, but now my system cannot be woken from sleep at all, and once "sleeping" eventually shuts down. (In fact, the system doesn't seem to really sleep...the fan seems to continue to run.) This problem now persists even if I turn Optimus back on in BIOS...I seem to have moved the system to a new and different unstable state. Any insights?
Thanks!
Eric
Moderator edit: Removed unneccesary quote of previous post.

Unibody MBP owners with *working* external displays, please chime in.

I'm trying to determine if there's any use at this time to try to exchange the MBP (unibody) I have now with another unit in the hopes of getting proper external display support. (To be clear, I'm referring to the external display problems many of us are having, like in this thread, and this one, and others.)
I'm sure there are others suffering from this problem who are simply seeking another datapoint in determining whether or not exchanging one's unibody MBP for another are of any use at this time. So the question here is:
If you have a unibody MBP, and you are successfully driving an external monitor without issue (using the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter), can you kindly post the following information?
1) External display model (manufacturer and model)
2) External display screen resolution
3) Any information about DVI cable, length, brand if applicable, etc.
4) Have you confirmed proper operation in both 9400 and 9600 GPU modes?
5) If you know, is your MBP equipped with the 9c84 or 9c85 built-in display panel?
6) If your setup wasn't originally working, but now is working due to a unit swap or swapping out of the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter with a new one, can you kindly note that?
Please do not consider yourself representative of a properly working external display setup if yours looks mostly good, with just minor artifacting--that is, for the purpose of this thread, please consider "working" to mean only perfectly normal operation of an external monitor from your unibody MBP.
Are all of the above points necessarily relevant? I don't know yet, but I figured it's best to try to get as much information from those who have working units, to try to determine what's relevant and what isn't.
Why am I asking this? Because I've already wasted enough time with this unibody MacBook Pro, now on my third unit, and I do not want to waste time making trips to the store to exchange units (and the time necessary for restoring to the new unit, etc.) if it's not going to help things. (The previous two replacements had nothing to do with this particular problem, and I didn't have my external display until the third unit, so have no idea if the previous two suffered from this particular problem or not.) If it seems that an exchange from one unibody MBP to another isn't going to help, then those of us who need to resolve this might learn more information with which to make a decision. Right now, I'm seriously considering exchanging for the current 17" MBP with matte display, even though it's not the new unibody design, and doesn't quite match up in the specifications with the new 15" MBP--I just need to get my setup working, and figure the older style of the 17" might be more tested and worked out.
Thanks in advance to those of you who fit the bill and answer these questions.
NOTE: If you have more relevant information to ask of those with working setups, please do; but please avoid the discussion of your problems if you're among the ones (like me) with external display issues, as there are other threads for the discussion of that (like the ones linked above). Ideally, I envision this thread as more populated by the responses of those with working setups.
Message was edited by: isonoise
Message was edited by: isonoise

Mine works perfect.. This is AFTER a logic board replacement for the 9600's BSOD problem
1) Dell 2007WMP
2) 1680x1050
3) Cable that came with monitor
4) Post repair only really using 9600, though 9400 seemed fine too
5) LG (9C84)
6) Logic board replaced last week for BSOD problem. (That board had external monitor refusing to wake problem as well).
Message was edited by: Robert Derelanko

Fuzzy External Display

Hi all,
I just purchased a new 13" MBP and a 23" Dell display to go along with it. The display runs at HD resolution (1920x1080), and I have it connected to my computer via DVI. However, the image looks a little fuzzy, and fonts, especially small ones, in general, do not look good. I have calibrated the color, and adjusted settings on the display, and I got it to look slightly better, but it just is not up to par with the quality of the image on the computer itself, at least in terms of fineness of the fonts. I have tried to hook the display up to a friend's 15 inch MBP using the same Mini DisplayPort adapter and DVI cable, but the picture looked about the same as my computer.
I don't know where the weak link is. I don't know if it is the display, the Mini DisplayPort adapter, the cable, settings on the computer, or the display itself.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Are you mirroring? If so, you aren't running that display at full native resolution, but at the much lower resolution of the MBP's internal display.
Else, most likely the display itself if you are comparing to the internal. The internal will have smaller pixels, and so look 'sharper'.

Latest firmware update and more problems with 30" external displays?

Hello,
New macbook pro user since a few weeks, so first post here.
I'm aware of various issues with the displayport to dual-dvi adapter, especially with 30" 2560x1600 monitors. All threads I've found on are 1-3 years old though.
I got my 17" macbook pro a few weeks ago and I've had very few problems running my 30" dell 3008wfp as external screen. I had issues at times getting it to work after boot up, with blackout and various errors (problems I've read about in older threads), but once stable it would work without issues for days.
Yesterday the macbook found and installed a new firmware update, and wow, all **** broke lose. The external screen won't run at 2650x1600 for more than a minute before blacking out or suffering major graphical errors. Ironically one of the key points in the firmware update is better support for external monitors...
It will run nice and stable mirrored at 1920x1200, but not at 2650x1600.
Is anyone else in a similar situation after the latest update?

Hello,
New macbook pro user since a few weeks, so first post here.
I'm aware of various issues with the displayport to dual-dvi adapter, especially with 30" 2560x1600 monitors. All threads I've found on are 1-3 years old though.
I got my 17" macbook pro a few weeks ago and I've had very few problems running my 30" dell 3008wfp as external screen. I had issues at times getting it to work after boot up, with blackout and various errors (problems I've read about in older threads), but once stable it would work without issues for days.
Yesterday the macbook found and installed a new firmware update, and wow, all **** broke lose. The external screen won't run at 2650x1600 for more than a minute before blacking out or suffering major graphical errors. Ironically one of the key points in the firmware update is better support for external monitors...
It will run nice and stable mirrored at 1920x1200, but not at 2650x1600.
Is anyone else in a similar situation after the latest update?

Trouble with fuzzy external display?

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