Mid 2012 MBP external display, 1080p?

[xmakeafistx]

Hi there guys. I'll be ordering a decent AOC monitor that supports 1080p, if I'm not mistaken a MacBook Pro is natively 720p. Somebody mentioned to me that my computer will only be able to upscale to 1080p therefore not looking as good as "native" 1080p. Is this a true statement? Is there not an option to run 1080p "natively" per say? I'm decently educated on computer related issues but I have never messed around with graphics and what-not.

I understand this is probably a ridiculous question but I can't find a straight answer anywhere. I appreciate your patience in advance!

 

[DeltaMac]

Hi there guys. I'll be ordering a decent AOC monitor that supports 1080p, if I'm not mistaken a MacBook Pro is natively 720p. Somebody mentioned to me that my computer will only be able to upscale to 1080p therefore not looking as good as "native" 1080p. Is this a true statement? Is there not an option to run 1080p "natively" per say? I'm decently educated on computer related issues but I have never messed around with graphics and what-not.

I understand this is probably a ridiculous question but I can't find a straight answer anywhere. I appreciate your patience in advance!

No - wrong.
A 13-inch MBPro internal screen is native at 1280 x 800 (not really 720p), but external video can output 2560 x 1600 (not upscaled!) - well beyond 1080p

 

[andeify]

If you are using screen mirroring it will only be 1280x800 if you set it to more space or extended whatever it's called then you can output up to 2560x1600

 

[xmakeafistx]

If you are using screen mirroring it will only be 1280x800 if you set it to more space or extended whatever it's called then you can output up to 2560x1600

ah, that kind of sucks! Because I wanted to use screen mirroring. Is there a technical reason for why it can't do that? I don't doubt you, i'm just curious. I suppose it couldn't hurt to do the more space/extended option.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[meson]

I just got an AOC i2267fw this week. They may not have the most robust design on the market, but the display is aesthetically pleasing and comes with a very good IPS panel at an affordable price.

I mirror displays during lectures from time to time, but have never given a whole lot of thought to the display resolutions, but I'm usually using a projector, and the room I was in this semester had an awful projector.

After a few minutes of tinkering this morning, here is what I found. Using Display Menu, a little app that brings back the menu bar item for displays preferences as well as a few other functions, you can choose the resolution you want to mirror. With mirroring turned on, the default is to have the MBP display at 1280x800 and the external display at 1440x900. Things naturally look great on the MBP, but not so great on the external. It allowed me to switch the external display to its native 1920x1080 resolution and showed a scaled 1920x1080 on the MBP, with proper aspect ratio, so the MBP had a black bar across the bottom. Naturally, in this configuration, things don't look great on the MBP.

I suppose it boils down to what you need to accomplish. Do you need to have both displays looking great, or just the external? For a quick presentation, Display Menu gives you the tools you need, but if you need to work in mirrored mode for an extended period of time, then it might not work out the best without a retina display in the MBP.

If you can give a few more details of what you need to accomplish, I can test a few things out for you and report back.

 

[xmakeafistx]

I just got an AOC i2267fw this week. They may not have the most robust design on the market, but the display is aesthetically pleasing and comes with a very good IPS panel at an affordable price.

I mirror displays during lectures from time to time, but have never given a whole lot of thought to the display resolutions, but I'm usually using a projector, and the room I was in this semester had an awful projector.

After a few minutes of tinkering this morning, here is what I found. Using Display Menu, a little app that brings back the menu bar item for displays preferences as well as a few other functions, you can choose the resolution you want to mirror. With mirroring turned on, the default is to have the MBP display at 1280x800 and the external display at 1440x900. Things naturally look great on the MBP, but not so great on the external. It allowed me to switch the external display to its native 1920x1080 resolution and showed a scaled 1920x1080 on the MBP, with proper aspect ratio, so the MBP had a black bar across the bottom. Naturally, in this configuration, things don't look great on the MBP.

I suppose it boils down to what you need to accomplish. Do you need to have both displays looking great, or just the external? For a quick presentation, Display Menu gives you the tools you need, but if you need to work in mirrored mode for an extended period of time, then it might not work out the best without a retina display in the MBP.

If you can give a few more details of what you need to accomplish, I can test a few things out for you and report back.

I appreciate your input! Very very helpful response. I think I may have understood the practice of "mirroring" the display. What I want to do is have my macbook closed, and use a separate keyboard/mouse/monitor. I think you would call that clamshell mode?

I would also use it to multi-task from time to time. So I can look at different things on two separate screens (the macbook display/AOC display), but I'd want the AOC to be at 1080p, and for the macbook to stay at the current resolution or 720p.

I'm sorry if my list of uses isn't that descriptive, Kind of hard to explain online. Once again thanks for your input! Seriously good response.

I'll be running an AOC i2769Vm, by the way.

 

[meson]

For what you want to do, it will work very well. In clamshell mode, you can have the AOC run at 1920x1080, and it will look great. When using it with the MBP open, the MBP will run at 1280x800, and the AOC will run at 1920x1080 giving you the two screen setup you want.

Enjoy your new display!

 

[xmakeafistx]

For what you want to do, it will work very well. In clamshell mode, you can have the AOC run at 1920x1080, and it will look great. When using it with the MBP open, the MBP will run at 1280x800, and the AOC will run at 1920x1080 giving you the two screen setup you want.

Enjoy your new display!

Nice! Thanks very much for all the the help. I'm very excited for the arrival of my AOC.