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Amnesia180

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2017
37
2
Hi All,

I've got a late 27" 2009 iMac (2.66 Ghz i5). I am trying to play back GoPro footage - or even 1080p films. However, it just isn't very "sharp". It's almost like it isn't HD at all.

When I play back the same file from an external HDD through my Xbox One, or direct to my HDTV, the 1080p footage on the GoPro is crystal clear, and the films are very sharp.

Can anyone explain why it isn't so sharp/clear on my iMac? I've done a lot of reading reviews and research and they alls ay it is a HD screen and can handle 1080p no problem.

Cheers,
 
You do know that this iMac screen has a higher resolution than 1080p? So it’s clearly gonna look a bit more fuzzy than on a tv. That said, it should still have a good image quality.
 
You do know that this iMac screen has a higher resolution than 1080p? So it’s clearly gonna look a bit more fuzzy than on a tv. That said, it should still have a good image quality.

Yes, which is why I'm getting confused. The display is night and bright, colours very vibrant - all the apps look really smooth and as a whole it looks very high resolution.

But as soon as I play some HD YouTube, or a 1080p file from my Hard Drive or my 1080p GoPro footage (using QuickTime or VLC) it is just a bit fuzzy. Not fuzzy like it is overly sharp, but like the screen isn't capable of playing.

For instance, faces on my GoPro footage on the TV and on my phone are very clear, you can see the features of someones face. But if the screen is panning, or the people are moving, on the iMac the features of the face are lost, almost like it is catching up.

I doubt it is hardware related, as everything else displays correctly.

Not sure what I can do to check my system settings, and FPS playback etc?
 
Yes, which is why I'm getting confused. The display is night and bright, colours very vibrant - all the apps look really smooth and as a whole it looks very high resolution.

But as soon as I play some HD YouTube, or a 1080p file from my Hard Drive or my 1080p GoPro footage (using QuickTime or VLC) it is just a bit fuzzy. Not fuzzy like it is overly sharp, but like the screen isn't capable of playing.

For instance, faces on my GoPro footage on the TV and on my phone are very clear, you can see the features of someones face. But if the screen is panning, or the people are moving, on the iMac the features of the face are lost, almost like it is catching up.

I doubt it is hardware related, as everything else displays correctly.

Not sure what I can do to check my system settings, and FPS playback etc?

1080p is 25% lower resolution than a 2009 27" iMac (which is 1440p).
The TV you have is Full HD, which is 1080p. The problem is your iMac hardware is better than your 1080p footage.
 
1080p is 25% lower resolution than a 2009 27" iMac (which is 1440p).
The TV you have is Full HD, which is 1080p. The problem is your iMac hardware is better than your 1080p footage.

Right, I see.

So, I've dropped the resolution on the iMac and if doesn't seem to have made much of a difference either.

Am I missing a way of viewing the footage in better quality? I'm using iMovie to edit my footage, but can't get a proper feel for the video I'm creating if it isn't displaying my footage correctly.
 
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