Connecting the MBP's MDP -> HDMI (26" tv)

[bmh16]

Make of my tv is Sony Bravia KDL-26S2010 (http://www.sony.co.uk/product/t15-s-series/kdl-26s2010#pageType=TechnicalSpecs)

The Adaptor (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-Displ...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272558270&sr=8-1)

So i connect my new 15" MBP up to the MDP and Hdmi to the back of the TV. And the quality is awful, so bad, that i'm not using it, the quality is so rough and poor (Especially comparing it to my previous setup of a plastic macbook with a vga adaptor which gave a really nice picture). So i was expecting a picture a step up from this, instead i get the quality to be a major step down. So, i'm thinking am i doing something wrong?

I go to the System Preferences -> Displays and this appears (and i've screenshot it for you)







Am i doing anything wrong? I'm all a bit gutted if i can't get this to properly work But as i'm not very good with all this stuff hope i may have missed something so thanks in advance if you try to figure this out

 

[Garsun]

No problem here

After reading your post I connected my MBP to my Toshiba 52" TV via a no-name HDMI adapter. When using the Toshiba as a second monitor it connected at 1080P and I detected no loss of quality. When connected as a mirrored display it produced a letterbox effect with the corresponding loss of quality.
As a side note my no-name adapter did not transmit sound as the new MBP is rumored to be able to.
I hope this helps

 

[bmh16]

After reading your post I connected my MBP to my Toshiba 52" TV via a no-name HDMI adapter. When using the Toshiba as a second monitor it connected at 1080P and I detected no loss of quality. When connected as a mirrored display it produced a letterbox effect with the corresponding loss of quality.
As a side note my no-name adapter did not transmit sound as the new MBP is rumored to be able to.
I hope this helps

It's giving me the same results as mirrored and non mirrored. And as non mirrored it gives me a complete different display anyway. I tried it on a 32inch Samsung hdtv today with the exact same results so i'm a bit of a loss here what is going on.

 

[Garsun]

Perhaps native mode

This might be the issue.
When receiving broadcasting TV, flat screen TVs like to interpret the signal and do things like stretch to fit and overscan. You need to find a setting that turns off all this interpretation in order for a computer screen to look good at native resolution. In the case of Toshiba you find a setting under picture size and is called "native". I believe on Samsung's it's called "screen fit". I think I've seen it on other TVs called " game mode" or "just".
Your TV is capable of 720P resolution, unfortunately I cannot find a manual for it that would tell us how to set the TV to just pass through the HDMI 720P signal without interpretation.
This issue also affects people who plug in game consoles.
The interlacing of the 1080I mode is undesirable for computers or game consoles.
An easy way to tell if this is your problem is if the top menubar of OS X is not visible on the top of the screen.

 

[watchurbak21]

Hi I just got the new i7 macbook pro and wanted to connect it to my hitachi 48" 1080i TV. CNET has an article about using the Griffin Video Display converter. Its a mini displayport to hdmi/dvi dongle. It works great with my mac with a very minimal loss in quality due to the size of screen increase from the computer to tv. I would recommend trying this product. CNET walks you through the simple set up.
Hope that helps.

 

[bmh16]

This might be the issue.
When receiving broadcasting TV, flat screen TVs like to interpret the signal and do things like stretch to fit and overscan. You need to find a setting that turns off all this interpretation in order for a computer screen to look good at native resolution. In the case of Toshiba you find a setting under picture size and is called "native". I believe on Samsung's it's called "screen fit". I think I've seen it on other TVs called " game mode" or "just".
Your TV is capable of 720P resolution, unfortunately I cannot find a manual for it that would tell us how to set the TV to just pass through the HDMI 720P signal without interpretation.
This issue also affects people who plug in game consoles.
The interlacing of the 1080I mode is undesirable for computers or game consoles.
An easy way to tell if this is your problem is if the top menubar of OS X is not visible on the top of the screen.

I still haven't made any progress here and it's pissing me off slightly. I just have no idea what i'm doing wrong and i seem to be the only person with these issues which take the piss!

One thing i haven't said, i got a thing on my PC bit for the settings part but it says this whilst all greyed out (says it isn't in PC input as it is is taking my AV 4 slot):

Screen Format
Reset
Auto Adjustment
Phase
Pitch
Horizontal Shift
Vertical Shift
Power Management

Is anyone thing important there that might be an issue? My MBP is fine and looks the same as it does without the output on 1080i. However on any other setting including 720p it ****s up the image on my MBP itself whilst barely changing on the TV. It would be amazing if i could get this to work as i got my £450 sound setup all setup now so to have a HD display with fantastic sound would be amazing, just so close it seems! I just don't know where the problem is, the adaptor has such good reviews on the Amazon site i can't see how it is that but i've tried it on 2 tvs with different hdmi cables and the image has been the same so i have no idea! Would be so appreciative of more help

EDIT: Here's the manual for it if it changes anything. http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/2684953111.pdf

 

[tombilske]

I still haven't made any progress here and it's pissing me off slightly. I just have no idea what i'm doing wrong and i seem to be the only person with these issues which take the piss!

One thing i haven't said, i got a thing on my PC bit for the settings part but it says this whilst all greyed out (says it isn't in PC input as it is is taking my AV 4 slot):

Screen Format
Reset
Auto Adjustment
Phase
Pitch
Horizontal Shift
Vertical Shift
Power Management

Is anyone thing important there that might be an issue? My MBP is fine and looks the same as it does without the output on 1080i. However on any other setting including 720p it ****s up the image on my MBP itself whilst barely changing on the TV. It would be amazing if i could get this to work as i got my £450 sound setup all setup now so to have a HD display with fantastic sound would be amazing, just so close it seems! I just don't know where the problem is, the adaptor has such good reviews on the Amazon site i can't see how it is that but i've tried it on 2 tvs with different hdmi cables and the image has been the same so i have no idea! Would be so appreciative of more help

EDIT: Here's the manual for it if it changes anything. http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/2684953111.pdf

if there is an option to reset the display or whatever on your MBP then try that...it just might work

mine works fine, i connected it to the TV and it set it to the TVs native resolution and looked great.
if it helps, i just bought a $10AUD HDMI adapter from ebay, so maybe try one from there if you cant get the one you have to work properly. maybe there is a fault with the adapter? try returning it or exchanging it for a new one?

 

[bmh16]

if there is an option to reset the display or whatever on your MBP then try that...it just might work

mine works fine, i connected it to the TV and it set it to the TVs native resolution and looked great.
if it helps, i just bought a $10AUD HDMI adapter from ebay, so maybe try one from there if you cant get the one you have to work properly. maybe there is a fault with the adapter? try returning it or exchanging it for a new one?

Well my Dad just told me the tv works fine when he plugs his laptop in using HDMI, which means there is 2 possible reasons i've whittled this down to. Something to do with my MBP or the Adaptor. But no one else seems to have had the same issue so grrr!!!

 

[diablo2112]

My guess, you have a bad HDMI-miniDP dongle. Several of the lesser brands out there are dicey. Try another dongle. HDMI works flawlessly from my i7 MBP.

 

[bmh16]

My guess, you have a bad HDMI-miniDP dongle. Several of the lesser brands out there are dicey. Try another dongle. HDMI works flawlessly from my i7 MBP.

It is strange because 22 5 star reviews and 5 4 star reviews shows it has some great ratings and nothing below. Might well be a dodgy one, guess it's either that or my MBP messing up somewhere!

 

[runebinder]

Sounds like you need to do a process of elimination. You already know it's not the TV due to your dad's being fine, definitely try a different adapter next. If it's of any help I got this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/DisplayPort...-Unibody-MacBook/dp/B002WSM2N6/ref=pd_cp_ce_1 which works perfectly with my 15", have it hooked up through a Sony AV Reciever and the picture and sound is great.

 

[bmh16]

Sounds like you need to do a process of elimination. You already know it's not the TV due to your dad's being fine, definitely try a different adapter next. If it's of any help I got this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/DisplayPort...-Unibody-MacBook/dp/B002WSM2N6/ref=pd_cp_ce_1 which works perfectly with my 15", have it hooked up through a Sony AV Reciever and the picture and sound is great.

Well i just got sent a very informative email back from the manufacturer:

Hi Ben,

Sorry to hear that you have a problem there , I am happy to help.

I'm afraid you are right in the fact that we have not had anyone else have this issue with these adapters ... and that is from over 7000 sold. Several hundred or so with the new MacBook Pro of course ... we also have 2 of the new MacBooks here along with a wide range of TVs to test with of course. We can't emulate any kind of blur or PQ issue.

So it is a rather unusual case I'm afraid .... of course it could be a very unusual fault with the adapter but that would also be an odd one as it is very rare we get any faulty units and when we do it is more likely to be that it doesn't work... highly unusual that any fault would cause ' blur' or picture quality issues.

If needs be... we can of course send you out a replacement unit just so you can eliminate that though.

Firstly we should look at settings of course ... primarily the resolution and refresh rates that are on offer for the TVs.

If you haven't done already you need to open up the 'display' in system preferences and then select ' gather windows ' to see what is set up for the TV...

Assuming they are UK PAL TVs the refresh rates should be at 50hz.

Ideally the resolution should be set to the native resolution of the TV ... eg: If it is a 1080p TV then select 1080p ( I notice the Sony you mentioned is 1366 x 768 )

The other thing to look at is ' overscan ' on the TVs ... this can have a blur effect as it zooms but then if the de=sktop fits on the screen OK you do not have an overscan issue.

If you can get back to me confirming the settings and resolution etc then we can go from there .... and should you want to try another adapter (which I can test here to make sure its all good) then just say the word and we can get one straight out to you.

Hope this helps,

Kind regards,
Sean
Neet


I shall be seeing what they say, just this seems a real weird situation, why me ha! Must be a problem with the tv if 7000 if no reported faults! must be!