42 inch Plasma to macbook, Looks like crap, DVI - HDMI cable.

Is your resolution 1280x720? i'm assuming so. I have a panasonic 42 also, but i don't have it hooked up to my macbook, i have it hooked up over dvi-hdmi from a desktop pc and i have the same problem you're having. The only solution i've found is to use the catalyst control centre program on my pc. I'm not sure if there's an image scaling program like it for OSX, but if there is it might solve your problem.

try setting it to 1280 x 768 (that is probably the real native res of your tv. The image, in my experience, is a bit softer on my TV as well - but not horrible by any means - you may also try setting it to 1280 x 1080 (if your tv will take the input) - this way your TV will downscale instead of up scale - this may improve it.

also make sure the aspect of the TV is set to a 1 to 1 ratio seting (on Samsung its called "just scan") - odds are you do not want it set to widescreen or full screen

you will never have a crisp image on a tv monitor when compared to a computer screen. the pixle density just isnt near the same

If the colors suck, calibrate the plasma TV as a monitor just as you would the LCD panel.

You're painting the same number of pixels across a much larger canvas. What'd you expect?

MacBook = 96 ppi
42" TV = 80 ppi

Play with display settings but even my 1080p leaves a little to be desired.

Is the picture 1080i or 1080p? I had my MacBook hooked up to my 40" LCD TV, and the picture was quite crappy. Couldn't even see the menu bar. Found out that was caused by the overscan 'feature' on the TV. But only through the menu icon for Displays, I could get the correct 1080p picture to my TV.

EDIT: Sorry, I misread your question. Well, then it's what the above posters all say. On a 13,3" screen a resolution of 1280x800 pixels looks beautiful. On a 42" screen, however, a resolution of 1280x720 pixels looks crappy. The pixels are huge, and it's a good possibility that the screen is actually 1366x768 pixels. That means, that the picture is always scaled if set to 720p. Screens with that resolution suck big time. Haven't got a single clue as to why TV manufacturers made TVs with them to begin with. Had they just gone with 1280x720 pixels screens, everything would have been fine.

To the OP and other posters.

Since the OP says he has a 42" 720p Panny, the resolution is 1024x768 with rectangular pixels. Panny has never made a 1366x768 42" plasma.

Here's my recommendations.

1. Adjust your TV to get the colors you want. The plasma should be able to display the entire color palate that the Macbook is sending.

2. Make sure you play with the overscan settings on both the Mac and the Panny. This will allow you to see the entire desktop and not have sections cut-off.

3. I would suspect that the best looking resolution to set the Mac would be 1366x768, but I'm not sure if it would be selectable. If not, then try 1280x720.

mine looks great on my 37" hdtv

You'll never be able to use the TV for web surfing or anything that has a text display - but video will look as good as it normally does.

My dad has an older 42" Sony Wega Plasma and hooking up a Mac Mini through Dvi-HDMI looked awful too. Fuzzy letters. You could play a movie from iTunes or quicktime, but browsing was crap.

Recently hooked up the same Mini for him to a 53" Samsung LCD and it looks fantastic, but I had to find the right resolution - 1366x768. Most LCDs and Plasmas seem to have that 768 res. Overscan can affect it too, but mostly I think it is the age of it, as older models don't do well, but newer ones seem to be designed to accommodate PC inputs.

Everything looks great on his Samsung, and text is really clear.

LCDs are generally better for using as computer screens, that's why I always go with LCDs

roland.g said:

Recently hooked up the same Mini for him to a 53" Samsung LCD and it looks fantastic, but I had to find the right resolution - 1366x768. Most LCDs and Plasmas seem to have that 768 res.

Click to expand...

Wait... let me get this straight. A 53" TV with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels? Is that wasted space or what? Such a big screen, and it's still only got this crappy resolution? Really, any LCD or plasma TV that's 37" or larger should be Full HD (1920x1080 pixels) by now. Thinking about that... this particular 53" TV has some huge pixels!

Bengt77 said:

Wait... let me get this straight. A 53" TV with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels? Is that wasted space or what? Such a big screen, and it's still only got this crappy resolution? Really, any LCD or plasma TV that's 37" or larger should be Full HD (1920x1080 pixels) by now. Thinking about that... this particular 53" TV has some huge pixels!

Click to expand...

It's actually got 1080p, and it's Samsung's top of the line LCD. The picture on it is phenomenal and I thought I had seen some amazing TVs before. However, in order to keep the menu bar from being chopped off, etc, I set the res to 1366x768. At all other resolutions it looked pretty much as good, but would change how much of the desktop was on the screen. At that res. I didn't lose any of the Apple desktop, menu bar, or dock and all mail, finder, address bar and browsing was very easy to read at 6-10 feet.

You are not using the right resolution, thus the image is being modified by the TV.

ftaok said:

To the OP and other posters.

Since the OP says he has a 42" 720p Panny, the resolution is 1024x768 with rectangular pixels.

Click to expand...

720p has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, a vertical resolution of 720 pixels and a horizontal resolution of 1280 pixels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p

That's why it's call 720

roland.g said:

It's actually got 1080p, and it's Samsung's top of the line LCD. The picture on it is phenomenal and I thought I had seen some amazing TVs before. However, in order to keep the menu bar from being chopped off, etc, I set the res to 1366x768. At all other resolutions it looked pretty much as good, but would change how much of the desktop was on the screen. At that res. I didn't lose any of the Apple desktop, menu bar, or dock and all mail, finder, address bar and browsing was very easy to read at 6-10 feet.

Click to expand...

Then you done something strange, the MB wont have any problem displaying it at the screens native res.

Consultant said:

You are not using the right resolution, thus the image is being modified by the TV.

720p has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, a vertical resolution of 720 pixels and a horizontal resolution of 1280 pixels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p

That's why it's call 720

Click to expand...

I understand what 720p is. But before you start correcting people, do some research and you'll see that every 42" Panasonic 720p plasma has a resolution of 1024x768. The only Panny plasma that has a 720 horizontal lines was the 37" plasma, and even that was 1024x720.

Just because the spec for 720p is 1280x720, doesn't mean the display device has to have that exact resolution. The TV scales the 720p signal from 1280x720 to 1024x768. It's not rocket science. There are many many many 1024x768 42" plasmas out there ... not just limited to Panasonic. They are all 16:9 panels because they use rectangular pixels that have a 16:9 ratio.

You're comparing apples to oranges with regard to 720p. The definition that you're quoting is the spec for a 720p broadcast signal. I'm refering to the spec for a 720p display device (as defined by the CEA) ... which is along the lines of any display that has a physical screen ratio of 16:9 and has at least 720 horizontal lines.

The OP is having problems with overscan which may or may not be correctable.

ft

I have a 42" pany plasma, with native of 1024x768, im currently using the vga adaptor ( due to me needing to use old monitors aswell occasionally), and the results are amazing.