Macbook Pro to HDTV Quality Help

[Status 1]

Hi everyone,

Long time stalker, first time poster. I know there are a TON of threads about connecting MBP's to HDTV's but I haven't found much on quality enhancing help. I successfully connect my 15" MBP to a 40" Samsung 540 LCD TV yesterday with audio and video working fine. However, I am wondering if the quality of the video on the TV is as good as it gets or if I'm missing something. I have the display icon on my MBP and set the TV to 1080p (switching between the two 1900x1080's) but the quality of the video isn't that great compared to what I'm seeing on my MBP at the same time. I'm wondering if I'm just being picky or if I should ACTUALLY be getting a DVD-like quality picture on my TV from this? Thanks!

Note: I bought my DVI to HDMI cable from the Apple Store, it's the Belkin 6ft.

 

[Peace]

It would help if you listed whether or not the video was compressed as 720P,1080i or if you had it compressed for Apple TV quality.

 

[iAlexG]

I may have the same problem when I get my cables I ordered a few days ago. I will post how it goes.

 

[bugout]

I think it's safe to say we're dealing with a quality of the content issue, and not the connection. If you have TV resolution downloads, that's the best picture you're going to get.

 

[iAlexG]

Ok great. Thanks I rip my dvds using the Universal setting on handbrake which is near DVD its almost lossless. so it still should look great? YAY

 

[Status 1]

I'm not sure what the video was compressed at but I have tried several different movies, all at a pretty high quality. So basically, should I assume that there will be some deterioration of the quality from MBP to TV?

 

[Onay]

I bought a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable from monoprice and it came a few days ago... the resolution automatically changes to 1080i for my tv (Sony SXRD XBR1) but its not perfect. Like the top and bottom of the screen are cut off even though my computer says it's displaying 1080. This may be a problem because I chose the option to "Mirror the Displays".

Anyway about the quality of the picture: I know the pixel density of my 17 uMPB is incredible in comparison to a 60 inch TV, but even viewing my TV from 14 feet away still makes the desktop and anything I run on it seem grainy. Like it down converted it to 720 or something even though it says its running at 1080.

I haven't found anyway to fix this/discover if this is just the way it is.

 

[midgetsanchez]

Try and lower the resolution of the display on the TV. Many TV's claim to support 1080p but actually have a lower native resolution and upscale or something. I have a 26" 720p TV, but I have to keep the resolution set to 1360 x 768 in order to get a clear image(since that's the TV's native resolution).

Find the native resolution of your TV and set it to that.

 

[fpnc]

You'll get better DVD quality using a good DVD player rather than ripping and then displaying same using your MacBook. The problem isn't the MacBook, it's just that purpose-built AV equipment will give a better result when using media that was designed for that very same AV equipment. That doesn't mean that you can't get good quality with the MacBook, it's just that DVDs are going to look better when played on a good DVD player and the best HD quality you're going to see is with Blu-ray and not with iTunes Store content or for that matter any online source.

 

[iAlexG]

I only want to connect my macbook to my HDTV because then I can watch a load of movies which I have on my laptop but I don't have on DVD and I can play COD4 and Quake Wars on a better clearer display. (I have also ordered a wireless keyboard so I don't have to burn my lap because the game obviously produce a lot of heat.