Cannot connect my M1 or M2 Mac mini to monitors with HDMI to HDMI

[hewhore]

I have two Mac minis, a base model M1, and a base model M2. I also have two Samsung monitors. I cannot get either monitor to work when connecting from either Mac's HDMI port. One shows only white noise when connected, the other appears to recognise that a cable is connected, but does not show any image at all.
Am I just misunderstanding something about how these Macs deliver HDMI?

 

[mystery hill]

Have you tried another HDMI cable?

 

[hewhore]

Yes.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

It’s as straightforward as it seems. I have a M1 and a M4 Pro mini, both connected via HDMI.

The only issue I’ve encountered- and it’s happened on both of them - is occasionally HDMI will turn to “snow” when the mini wakes from sleep. Putting the mini back to sleep or restarting it will typically take care of it. If the Mac is already powered on when you connect the display, perhaps that’s related.

 

[Fishrrman]

A suggestion, might help, then again might not...

Use the "factory reset" option in the monitors' built-in menus to reset them.
Then... try again.

 

[!!!]

I have issues with my 2018 mini and HDMI, something about the internal DP-to-HDMI converter does not work well with certain monitors. If the M1/2 minis have the same or similar (bad) chips, these suggestions might help.

Try restarting with the monitor connected. Try booting into Recovery with the monitor connected, then restarting back into normal.
Otherwise, look at buying an external USB-to-HDMI adapter.

 

[Basic75]

Have you tried another HDMI cable?

Are the HDMI cables not too long and not too cheap? What's the resolution of the monitors?

 

[bapegg]

Using quality cables will help. HDMI issues, mostly screens blanking out for a second or two, has been around since the 2018 Mac mini and still happens with the M4 Mac mini.

I have been running three monitors with my 2018 and M4 Mac minis and both monitors connected by HDMI -USBc cables work fine. The third monitor using a HDMI-HDMI cable will black out for a couple of seconds on a regular basis.

The 2018 was the worst where I would get the fuzzy screen on wake up.

I have always used either HP or Acer monitors with my Mac minis.

And it just isn't a Mac issue as the Acer and Dell monitors will black out for a couple of seconds on my Dell Optiplex 7010 MFF using HDMI-Display Port cables.