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Tg716

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
16
1
Ive been searching for a straightforward answer to this and haven't found one.

Was going to wait for new iMac but news shows its going to be longer wait than expected. Thought is to buy a Mac Mini and HDMI to my insignia 42" plasma as display. Has anyone done this type of display use and is it a liable use of display for use with occasional photoshop and Lightroom but more word processing and basic Internet usage. No gaming.

This option as opposed to refurb may 2011 iMac when available.

Thanks in advance.
 

Snowcake

macrumors regular
May 18, 2010
187
0
Ive been searching for a straightforward answer to this and haven't found one.

Was going to wait for new iMac but news shows its going to be longer wait than expected. Thought is to buy a Mac Mini and HDMI to my insignia 42" plasma as display. Has anyone done this type of display use and is it a liable use of display for use with occasional photoshop and Lightroom but more word processing and basic Internet usage. No gaming.

This option as opposed to refurb may 2011 iMac when available.

Thanks in advance.

HDMI you going to use? Well i tell you something about the problems involving the 2012 Mac Mini when using the hdmi port.

Blinking black screens. Your screen turns black multiple times a day/hour.
It can also be snow and keeps like snow or black, won't go to normal screen.

Washed out colors, very ugly bad image.

You can't see light tints/shades anymore, for example in finder you can't see the light colors in finder anymore on the lines. (photoshop is a non-go with this issue)

Sorry, but there is more...

1 The Intel HD3000 and HD4000 have a 23.976fps and a 23.976HZ bug.

2 A issue with creating/saving/maintaining the correct brightness levels (0-255 vs. 16-235) and or EDID overrides.

3 And of course the biggest new bug introduced in Ivy Bridge is the failure with certain 1080i50 streams (look in the graphics area). Especially the last one makes it currently unusable for users having the appropriate kind of premium content (mostly live-TV).

Some links:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1484169/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1478837/

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20323966#20323966

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20322920#20322920

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20322874#20322874

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20322233#20322233

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20321879#20321879

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20325444#20325444

(There are much, much more threads)

Oh, and this problem is known since 7 months...
 

Tg716

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
16
1
So, as per this, skip Out on mini and F5 on refurb store to snag 21.5 Fall '11 iMac? My MacBook is on last days and as journalism student I can not afford academically to be with ability to word process for extended period.
 

Snowcake

macrumors regular
May 18, 2010
187
0
So, as per this, skip Out on mini and F5 on refurb store to snag 21.5 Fall '11 iMac? My MacBook is on last days and as journalism student I can not afford academically to be with ability to word process for extended period.

You could use the Thunderbolt port on your Mac Mini, that way you have no issues. The issues are only related to hdmi involvement. Edit: big chance you have no problem using the TB-hdmi adapter but i have read that some people had the hdmi problem when using the TB-hdmi adapter.

Though not everyone has the hdmi issue, you could take a chance.

Or: Windows.
 
Last edited:

Rhinoevans

macrumors 6502
Oct 5, 2012
408
63
Las Vegas, NV
So, as per this, skip Out on mini and F5 on refurb store to snag 21.5 Fall '11 iMac? My MacBook is on last days and as journalism student I can not afford academically to be with ability to word process for extended period.

Don't skip out on the 2012, like the post above said, use TB, till Apple fixes the HDMI problem. It is not stopping me from buying a 2012!
 

Ifti

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2010
3,909
2,406
UK
Im using my server with HDMI to a Samsung 46" HDTV just fine - havent had any problems at all.
 

anvikapur

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2012
54
0
I use mac mini's with HDTV's for digital signage, I have no issues with picture quality at all
 

xyion1

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2007
140
47
Washed out colors, very ugly bad image.

You can't see light tints/shades anymore, for example in finder you can't see the light colors in finder anymore on the lines. (photoshop is a non-go with this issue)

I was able to correct the washed out colors using advanced color profiles (and basically cranking the gamma all the way down). The TV is on Dynamic picture mode, and I can confirm that using the HDMI port looks absolutely horrible.

I am using a Mini Diplayport -> HDMI cable to connect to my 46" samsung ($10 shipped on monoprice) and don't have any issues with snow or black screens or things like that.
 

TravelJunkie

macrumors newbie
Nov 19, 2012
1
0
As a further note of encouragement, I'm using a 42" LG LED TV as a monitor for my new i7 2.6 mac mini, upped to 16GB RAM, and connected HDMI to HDMI, and I'm very happy with the result.

No "black screen" issue yet (after 2 weeks use).

The colours were horrible until I set the HDMI port on the TV to "PC" (using the TV menu) - but, with that done, it's fine.

My heaviest task for the new mini is video editing using Premiere Elements 11 and it handles timeline preview of AVCHD 1080i50 with great fluidity. It just flies compared with the elderly PC it has replaced!
 

Metsfan7450

macrumors regular
Jun 2, 2008
249
0
I've been using my mac mini with hdmi connection to an HDTV for a couple of weeks now, as well, with no issues.
 

k.alexander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2010
502
264
I've also posted before, I've had a mini for 20 days now. HDMI to a SONY 46" TV. Upped RAM to 16GB. I have not used it for more than a couple of hours at a time, and not every day, but I've yet to have a black screen/snow issue.

I am convinced that the black screen is an HDCP handshake issue and if that's the case, then judging by my prior experience with Apple TV 2nd gen, Apple will release a software update for it. Also, may explain why some TVs do better than others when it comes to HDCP handshaking.

The colors were washed out via HDMI, I tweaked the built-in ColorSync utility in Expert Mode and they're fine now.
 

poloponies

Suspended
May 3, 2010
2,661
1,366
As I've posted before I'm running 2 Minis on 2 different HDTVs (one 2012 model, one 2010 model) - both work flawlessly. Have watched various movies ripped from DVD and Blu-Ray and used Photoshop (and numerous other apps) with no issues whatsoever.

On the new TV picked the Mini found an optimal resolution instantly, on the older one I had to set it myself.
 

pollaxe

macrumors 6502
Aug 13, 2010
271
61
West of England
I'm encouraged to read that not everyone seems to be having the issue.

I did; I was using mine connected via HDMI to HDMI into a Samsung LED HDTV. I didn't get the issue until I was about ten to eleven days into using the Mini but once they started, they seemed to get much more frequent and eventually needed a complete restart to clear (powering off the TV or swapping inputs didn't always work.)

I too had the issues with the picture but Expert Calibration got it looking gorgeous. I was more than happy with the image quality but the black screens/snow issues got very bad indeed, so I returned my Mini.

I can't prove it, but the issues seemed to occur once I began sleeping and waking the Mini. Prior to that, I'd had it running constantly without seeing any black screens/snow.
 

iMas70

macrumors 65816
Sep 4, 2012
1,434
205
MA
I've been using the HDMI-HDMI connection from the Mac Mini to a Dell monitor since last Thursday. No issues at all.

I'm still thinking about going to an HDTV for the later display.
 

k.alexander

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2010
502
264
I can't prove it, but the issues seemed to occur once I began sleeping and waking the Mini. Prior to that, I'd had it running constantly without seeing any black screens/snow.

That's very interesting. Because it potentially goes a way to prove my theory that this is an HDCP handshake issue, as those usually appear when one of the devices is turned of and then on, or sleeps and then wakes up.
 

PaulKemp

macrumors 6502a
Jun 2, 2009
568
124
Norway
My mac mini is black until i turn on the tv to the HDMI channel where the mini is connected. So when i use screen sharing, i get a black screen just after a reboot. Not good at all. It seems like the mini isnt outputting anything before it gets the handshake from the hdmi.

Nobody else having this issue? It seems to be worse now than when i installed it (this weekend).
 

BingClawsby

macrumors regular
Mar 2, 2010
123
3
I bought a cheap pc laptop a few years ago with an HDMI just so I can hook it up to my tv as a media player.

Just mirrored the laptop display and it works, and I'm no geek with this A/V stuff.
Don't know why this tech should be an issue really for apple... or any manufacturer already
 

Tg716

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
16
1
Well, I am picking up my mini today. We will see what the display holds once I am home. If it becomes an issue, I'll likely take it back and wait for my turn at a new iMac.
 

Westyfield2

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2009
606
0
Bath, UK.
I am convinced that the black screen is an HDCP handshake issue and if that's the case, then judging by my prior experience with Apple TV 2nd gen, Apple will release a software update for it. Also, may explain why some TVs do better than others when it comes to HDCP handshaking.

That's my guess too, that it's HDCP/EDID handshake. It's a fault with all 2012 Mac Minis, but only some TVs/Screens reveal the problem.
 

Tg716

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
16
1
No problems as of yet on the HDTV. I am going to be purchasing a monitor today though because the eye strain to see the screen from my couch is too much.
 
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