Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

connecting ibook to monitor = blah

M

mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
i connected my ibook to my gateway lcd 17" monitor, and it just doesn't look very nice at all.

i dont think it's the monitor, the gateway monitor looks good when its connected to the gateway tower.

my question is, could it be the monitor? the adapter that comes with apple ibooks to let u connect allows only 24-bit collor, is this the reason that the picture looks kina weak?


i was considering buying a imac17" maybe 20", but then i thought maybe i can just buy a 20" nice lcd display bc i dont run too many intensive app's, but now i'm reconsidering buying a display and having to buy an imac instead of a new display, bc the adapter only performs in 24-bit color and its crappy.

does anyone else see this?
 
plinden

plinden

macrumors 601
Apr 8, 2004
4,029
142
mac000 said:
i connected my ibook to my gateway lcd 17" monitor, and it just doesn't look very nice at all.

i dont think it's the monitor, the gateway monitor looks good when its connected to the gateway tower.

my question is, could it be the monitor? the adapter that comes with apple ibooks to let u connect allows only 24-bit collor, is this the reason that the picture looks kina weak?


i was considering buying a imac17" maybe 20", but then i thought maybe i can just buy a 20" nice lcd display bc i dont run too many intensive app's, but now i'm reconsidering the first idea--> an imac instead of a new display, bc the adapter only performs in 24-bit color and its crappy.
Click to expand...

The iBook only mirrors its display on external monitors, and its resolution is 1024x768. 17" LCD monitors are 1280x1024. Viewing any LCD monitor at other than its native resolution sucks.
 
M

mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
plinden said:
The iBook only mirrors its display on external monitors, and its resolution is 1024x768. 17" LCD monitors are 1280x1024. Viewing any LCD monitor at other than its native resolution sucks.
Click to expand...

i tried using the screen spanning doctor-increasing the resolution and all, but its just that the color and appearence on the external monitor dont look anything close to my ibook...
 
M

mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
do people just not want to admit to this, or doesn't anyone have a problem?
 
N

newmaccanada

macrumors member
Jul 19, 2005
40
0
mac000 said:
do people just not want to admit to this, or doesn't anyone have a problem?
Click to expand...

I have no probs. I use screen spanning dr. with ibook and samsumg syncmaster and it looks great. I love spanning and the ability to have 2 docs or programs active and open at the same time. :)
 
mikemodena

mikemodena

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2005
552
0
Connecticut
I tried that last summer with my first iBook (1.2GHz) and I never used the iBook display.. I essentially turned it into a desktop. The iBook display is too dim. I find that even now with my new iBook if I have it open on the desk next to my 17" lcds hooked up to my PowerMac it's very dim.
 
powerbook911

powerbook911

macrumors 68040
Mar 15, 2005
3,999
379
When I used a iBook with external display for several months, I never really liked it. I found it suffered from lack of VRAM.
 
L

lizard79

macrumors member
Jun 7, 2005
75
0
mac000 said:
do people just not want to admit to this, or doesn't anyone have a problem?
Click to expand...

I'm having the same problem and some friends of mine too. I don't know why, but the books (powerbooks are also effected) got a really poor colour output on external displays. We've tried several monitors and beamers and all showed the same problem - and sad but true: none of the windoof notebooks had this problem - even the cheapest ones..


bye, hans
 
J

jblock

macrumors regular
Jan 4, 2006
181
0
I tried using an external LCD monitor with my iBook G4 for a few days and didn't like it at all. Just couldn't get sharp enough and bugged my eyes out. Now I just have the iBook on an iCurve and that's good enough for me.
 
ITASOR

ITASOR

macrumors 601
Mar 20, 2005
4,398
3
I personally feel the same way...connecting my iBook to my 17" LCD (1280x1024) isn't the best experience. VRAM wise, it's fine. I can even play some higher-end games on the LCD while spanning. However, the color just stinks. Yeah, I know you can adjust it and blah blah, but you never get it right, the iBook always looks better.

I think the iBook just uses a pretty high quality, nice LCD. Everything looks so nice on it...<3
 
M

mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
hmm i see, my assumption is then it must be the adapter --> since it only allows 24bit color, am i correct?
 
M

mrweirdo

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2005
370
0
hrm now Im wondering if i should cop a 12" ibook which i will hook to my 170 samsumg syncmaster T*something series LCD. Im sure i would be using the mac more then my desktop pc ;) I was gona go with the mac mini at first but then decided it would be worth it to spend a couple hundred more for something portable for school, whatnot, which is what i realy wanted in the begining anyways.

* Wishes he could take his lcd into compusa, hook up to an ibook, apply the span hack, to see if it wont be bothersome :D
 
TBi

TBi

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2005
2,583
6
Ireland
mac000 said:
do people just not want to admit to this, or doesn't anyone have a problem?
Click to expand...

I used my iBook on 3 screens including a Samsung 173T 17" and my Dell 2005FPW with the screen spanning hack. The iBook has one of the best VGA outputs i've ever used and all my screens looked great with it. Your problem is either a bad iBook or something wrong with your monitor.
mac000 said:
hmm i see, my assumption is then it must be the adapter --> since it only allows 24bit color, am i correct?
Click to expand...

Windows uses 24bit colour just like OSX. Each RGB colour channel is 8bits which by 3 is 24bit. The extra 8bits are for alpha channels (making stuff see through). If you ever used Linux you'd note it uses a max of 24bit colour too. I never had a problem running 24-bit or 16bit colour with my converter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom