2010 i5 MBP to Sony LCD = HORRIBLE PICTURE!

[olletsocmit]

Hey guys, I have my New 2010 i5 Macbook Pro connect to my 32inch Sony Bravia LCD TV (1080p). It is connected with a high quality HDMI cable and the Moshi "Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter" sold at the apple store. http://bit.ly/d1oXM3 I have the base model Macbook Pro (screen res= 1440x900). The picture on my TV is crap compared to the picture on my Mac. The TV resolution is 1920x1080.

Why is the picture poor?

 

[chrono1081]

Because its a TV and not a monitor and TVs have a much much lower pixel density.

Computers never look good hooked up to TVs.

 

[otis123]

Because its a TV and not a monitor and TVs have a much much lower pixel density.

Computers never look good hooked up to TVs.

False. My Win7 gaming rig looks flawless hooked up to my 1080p DLP. it might have something to do with OS X, have you changed the display to match the resolution of the TV?

 

[chrono1081]

False. My Win7 gaming rig looks flawless hooked up to my 1080p DLP. it might have something to do with OS X, have you changed the display to match the resolution of the TV?

True.

Please go to your local computer store and give it a whirl. Pixel density has everything to do with it. You will never get a picture as sharp as a monitor on a TV.

 

[otis123]

True.

Please go to your local computer store and give it a whirl. Pixel density has everything to do with it. You will never get a picture as sharp as a monitor on a TV.

When you sit 6-10ft away from a TV pixel density doesn't really matter, and a properly setup computer and TV will look good.

 

[iClique.com]

Because its a TV and not a monitor and TVs have a much much lower pixel density.

Computers never look good hooked up to TVs.

They look GREAT if you do it right! I've got my 2007 MacBook Pro hooked up to a Vizio 47" 1080p and it looks AMAZING and incredibly SHARP!!!

Make sure you close the MacBook so that it turns off it's own monitor and you're just running the TV and not two monitors. Set your preferences to mirror and it should fill up the entire tv screen. Definitely use a wireless keyboard and mouse and you're set!!!

 

[olletsocmit]

I have just set the res to 1344x840. This is the only way it fills the entire Sony TV right. Looks weird on the laptop monitor thou, but dont matter if im using to watch stuff then unplug the hmdi cable from my Mac when i want my mac screen resolution back.

When the Sony is plugged in i go to display settings n there is a calibrate option to calibrate the tv color. should i do this?

 

[sammich]

I think I see the problem here.

You have it on 'mirrored' mode. That means that the TV will match the resolution of your MBP. You need to put it on spanned mode by turning off mirrored mode by going into System Preferences, Displays, Arrangement, and unchecking the box near the bottom left.

Btw: picture on a TV monitor is subjectively worse, mostly because of the way the OS handles anti-aliasing. Different monitors, especially TVs don't have the same configuration of pixels, so any anti-aliasing may be off or messed up.

 

[olletsocmit]

THANK YOU soo much man. You were a huge help. The quality is amazing now! I have a big desk, my Sony TV is on the left of the desk so i can watch from bed and my Mac is on the right where i sit n work. I set the Sony TV to be on the left, so when im working on my Mac, i just drag any window to the left and it pops up on the Sony. It is literally like having dual monitors, except one is huge. haha. i just open a movie file on my mac then drag to TV n watch.

I wish it would look like mirrored displays thou. i would like to see exactly what i see on the Mac on the TV also, but this may be better. I will only have what i need on the TV (ex movies)

Thanks again!

 

[chrono1081]

When you sit 6-10ft away from a TV pixel density doesn't really matter, and a properly setup computer and TV will look good.

True I'm assuming the OP is sitting up close to it. If he's sitting on the couch and it looks bad something else is the issue. Possibly a resolution setting or a bad cable.

Nevermind I see the OP had it fixed.