Connecting rMBP to HDTV/monitor - poor quality

[Rugie]

Hi there,

I'm just wondering whether anyone has any advice or tips when connecting a late 2013 rMBP to a HDTV/monitor(with HDMI port).

I run my Mac Bootcamped and when in Windows I like to take advantage of using two screens, when I connect it via the HDMI cable the quality just doesn't seem that great (I've connected it both to a 32" TV and a 22" monitor).

I've had a play around with the settings but to no avail the quality just doesn't seem to improve, also on the second monitor, 1920x1080 seems very zoomed, I don't know whether this is standard when using the HDMI cable?

I've tried Googling around but nothing really answered my questions, so I'm just wondering whether anyone has had similar issues or has fixed these issues?

Many thanks

P.S Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

Edit: Forgot to mention, both the TV and monitor are LG make.

 

[SVTmaniac]

I can't comment on the quality loss you are seeing other than that TV's typically don't have the same quality as a monitor due to their large size and how close you are to them compared to the monitors. As for the zooming it sounds like overscan to me. Depending on what video card your macbook has you can adjust the overscan in the video card settings.

 

[Rugie]

I can't comment on the quality loss you are seeing other than that TV's typically don't have the same quality as a monitor due to their large size and how close you are to them compared to the monitors. As for the zooming it sounds like overscan to me. Depending on what video card your macbook has you can adjust the overscan in the video card settings.

Thanks for the reply

As its the standard rMBP I only have the onboard graphics but I'll have a look into overscan and see if that changes anything.

 

[SVTmaniac]

Thanks for the reply

As its the standard rMBP I only have the onboard graphics but I'll have a look into overscan and see if that changes anything.

I've never connected my rMBP to my TV under windows, but I have in OSX and it's simple to do in OSX. I'm guessing the Bootcamp drivers have the option in there somewhere it just may be harder to find.

 

[Rugie]

I've never connected my rMBP to my TV under widows, but I have in OSX and it's simple to do in OSX. I'm guessing the Bootcamp drivers have the option in there somewhere it just may be harder to find.

iirc under the intel driver options (in Windows) there's options to configure the screens I believe.

 

[Rugie]

I've tried the overscan issue and that doesn't seem to make a difference in Windows, so I'm confused as to what the problem is now.

 

[Trvlngnrs]

Can you try another HDMI cable?

 

[Rugie]

Can you try another HDMI cable?

Sorry about the late reply.

I've tried a gold plated HDMI cable and the quality improved somewhat, I'm just unsure how to unzoom in Windows, need to try Googling around again I think.

 

[takeshi74]

I've had a play around with the settings but to no avail the quality just doesn't seem to improve, also on the second monitor, 1920x1080 seems very zoomed, I don't know whether this is standard when using the HDMI cable?

You can only use resolutions that the TV supports -- i.e. 1080 or less. Any photos? "Zoomed" doesn't really explain very well.

 

[Rugie]

You can only use resolutions that the TV supports -- i.e. 1080 or less. Any photos? "Zoomed" doesn't really explain very well.

Yeah, the monitor I tried it with had a max res of 1920x1080 which I set it to and the quality was fine, it just felt like it wasn't at the standard 1920x1080 which you usually get from linking it from a PC for example.