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Mac Mini Late 2009 -> 2048x1152 Monitor?

S

s4yunkim

macrumors regular
Original poster
I have a Mac Mini, Late 2009 (2.26ghz, Geforce 9400M) and I'm thinking about buying a very very high res monitor to go with it...

The monitor's resolution is 2048x1152, and I'm a bit worried that the Mac Mini might not be able to output at that resolution so I've been digging around and have found myself even more confused. 😕


The monitor itself has component, VGA, DVI-I, and HDMI inputs,
and the mac has a Mini-DVI and a Mini-Displayport. It was my understanding that I could just plug the monitor in through one of these with the proper adapter, but is this not the case? Everymac says:

Display Support: Dual Displays
2nd Display Support: Dual/Mirroring*

Resolution Support: 1920x1200*
2nd Max. Resolution: 2560x1600*

Details: *This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on a DVI or VGA display using the Mini-DVI port and 2560x1600 on a dual-link DVI display using the Mini DisplayPort (with an optional Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter).

I looked up the adapter on the Apple Store website and it's $99! Is this a must have or can I just use a Mini DisplayPort -> HDMI adapter to plug the monitor in by HDMI and get the full 2048x1152 resolution?

Thanks in advance!
 
Pretty sure the standard DVI port works on that monitor.

That's just the 16:9 but higher res display right? People have used Samsung versions of that display here, should be some discussion in the forums but I remember it working with just the standard DVI connector.
 
I'm not actually 100% on this one, but it seems like you should be able to do full res from MDP-> HDMI. I'd buy a cheap adapter and cable from monoprice.com to check it out. I bought the adapter with a 6ft cable for about $16
 
s4yunkim said:
I just got off the phone with apple and they said that I need to have a Mini Displayport to Dual Link DVI no matter what... 😡

Is this cable available for a reasonable price? Unless there is some serious circuitry inside that cable I highly doubt it costs $100...

I do have a Mini-DP to DVI adapter, will this not work? 🙁

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5106&seq=1&format=2
Click to expand...

They might just be trying to upsell you. Try the adapter you already have, if that doesn't work, I'd try a miniDVI -> DVI adapter, which actually may work if MDP doesn't
 
Is there any way to be sure?

The reason I ask is that I currently have a 1920x1080 HDTV hooked up to it that someone wants to buy off me tonight. I figure I'd sell it to him and use that money to get a cheap 2048x1152 monitor for around the same price, minus the TV tuner, extra ports, etc.

I dont want to sell it off and buy a new monitor, just to find that the new monitor doesnt work 🙁

I've read some places that there is technically no max resolution via VGA, since it's analog... would it be possible to run this monitor over a VGA cable? or would the resulting quality be unusable?
 
s4yunkim said:
Is there any way to be sure?

The reason I ask is that I currently have a 1920x1080 HDTV hooked up to it that someone wants to buy off me tonight. I figure I'd sell it to him and use that money to get a cheap 2048x1152 monitor for around the same price, minus the TV tuner, extra ports, etc.

I dont want to sell it off and buy a new monitor, just to find that the new monitor doesnt work 🙁

I've read some places that there is technically no max resolution via VGA, since it's analog... would it be possible to run this monitor over a VGA cable? or would the resulting quality be unusable?
Click to expand...

The only real way to be 100% sure is to give it a try, but I'm fairly certain that it should work out fine. As for VGA, yes, the resulting picture would be a lousy mess. If you're using any LCD, do yourself a favor and run it over DVI.
 
s4yunkim said:
I just got off the phone with apple and they said that I need to have a Mini Displayport to Dual Link DVI no matter what... 😡
Click to expand...

Usually, the people doing phone support for Apple have no idea what they are talking about. In this case, this gets proven once again.

2048x1152 does NOT require a DualLink DVI connection, therefore the miniDP - dualLink DVI adapter is not needed and a waste of money.

The standard miniDP - DVI adapter or any other miniDP to whatever single link input your monitor offers will do just fine.

Resolutions that require a DualLink DVI connection have resolutions of 2560x1440 or 1600, everything (common) below that works just fine with single link.
 
Transporteur said:
Usually, the people doing phone support for Apple have no idea what they are talking about. In this case, this gets proven once again.

2048x1152 does NOT require a DualLink DVI connection, therefore the miniDP - dualLink DVI adapter is not needed and a waste of money.

The standard miniDP - DVI adapter or any other miniDP to whatever single link input your monitor offers will do just fine.

Resolutions that require a DualLink DVI connection have resolutions of 2560x1440 or 1600, everything (common) below that works just fine with single link.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I did some more scouring around on the internet last night and found that although the stated maximum is 1920x1200 (=2,304,000 pixels), that 2048x1152 (=2,359,296 pixels) is not actually that much more, and is still within the bandwidth that single link DVI supports. I've seen a few posts on Apple Support forums saying that people have gotten 2048x1152 monitors to work on 2009 Mac Minis, so I decided to go ahead with the sale of my old 1080p monitor and ordered my new one. I'll be testing it out tonight and I will be sure to post back on the results. Thanks!
 
Just wanted to pop in and report that my 2048x1152 monitor is working just fine with my miniDVI -> DVI adapter. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
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