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Help with Blurry External Monitor

I

ividify

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 27, 2011
25
0
I've got a 2010 13" MacBook Pro here with 4GB of RAM, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2-Duo Processor and I have it hooked-up to an HDTV.

The problem im experiencing is that no matter what the resolution is set to, everything on screen appears blurry and is bloated of of proportion.

Resolutions Mac will let me choose:
-1080i
-720p
-480p
-1360 x 768
-1024 x 768
-1024 x 578
-800 x 600
-800 x 600 (stretched)
-640 x 480
-640 x 480 (stretched)

Here's what it looks like. You can kind of tell its blurry and you can see the dock doesn't fit properly and the top menu bar isn't even visible.
6750141407


It appears Flickr isn't working for the photo. Any other ideas so you can see what im talking about?
 
ividify said:
I've got a 2010 13" MacBook Pro here with 4GB of RAM, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2-Duo Processor and I have it hooked-up to an HDTV.

The problem im experiencing is that no matter what the resolution is set to, everything on screen appears blurry and is bloated of of proportion.

Resolutions Mac will let me choose:
-1080i
-720p
-480p
-1360 x 768
-1024 x 768
-1024 x 578
-800 x 600
-800 x 600 (stretched)
-640 x 480
-640 x 480 (stretched)

Here's what it looks like. You can kind of tell its blurry and you can see the dock doesn't fit properly and the top menu bar isn't even visible.
Image

It appears Flickr isn't working for the photo. Any other ideas so you can see what im talking about?
Click to expand...

what resolution is the monitor?
 
ividify said:
It's 1360 x 768, but when I choose that option, I still experience the same problems.
Click to expand...

What size is the TV?
Anyway, a TV, with whatever resolution and size, is not a good computer display, due to different display methods, as the TV is made for moving images and a computer display does display more static content.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
What size is the TV?
Anyway, a TV, with whatever resolution and size, is not a good computer display, due to different display methods, as the TV is made for moving images and a computer display does display more static content.
Click to expand...

The TV is 32" but I believe I have found the issue. When I go to the Display tab under System Preferences. The Underscan/Overscan bar is grayed -out so I can't select it at all. Anyway to get this working again?

----------
Menge said:
Also important: how are you connecting it to your TV? HDMI, DVI or VGA?
Click to expand...

Im connecting via HDMI through an adapter to the Mini-Display port.
 
Using a 32" TV as a monitor with a resolution of 1360 x 768 is inherently going to be blurry - the pixels are huge!

Think about it - that's the same resolution as a lot of 13" laptop screens. Can you imagine blowing that up to 32"? You won't have a crisp image.
 
Tomorrow said:
Using a 32" TV as a monitor with a resolution of 1360 x 768 is inherently going to be blurry - the pixels are huge!

Think about it - that's the same resolution as a lot of 13" laptop screens. Can you imagine blowing that up to 32"? You won't have a crisp image.
Click to expand...


so based on that when choosing an external display what resolution should the external have for a 15' 1440x900?
 
Tomorrow said:
Using a 32" TV as a monitor with a resolution of 1360 x 768 is inherently going to be blurry - the pixels are huge!

Think about it - that's the same resolution as a lot of 13" laptop screens. Can you imagine blowing that up to 32"? You won't have a crisp image.
Click to expand...

That's not true because I tried it on another television, same size and about the same resolution and it looked perfect. The problem is the underscan bar is grayed-out so I can't adjust how much the TV is bloating-up the desktop.
 
So is there anyone that knows how to fix the underscan/overscan issue at all?
 
Its always going to look bad on a screen of that size and resolution. I don't know where you saw it on another tv that made it look good, but in my experience Ive never seen any MBP or any computer for that matter hooked up to a tv and looking good. I use my 55" to watch movies, but never for anything else.
 
JamesGorman said:
Its always going to look bad on a screen of that size and resolution. I don't know where you saw it on another tv that made it look good, but in my experience Ive never seen any MBP or any computer for that matter hooked up to a tv and looking good. I use my 55" to watch movies, but never for anything else.
Click to expand...

My Rev 1.1 2006 MBP always looked pretty bad on my 42" plasma (DVI-->VGA), even movies were super dark. My (new) late 2011 i7 does a lot better through Thunderbolt-->HDMI, but there's still clear differences between the images on my MBP display and the TV.
 
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