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Need someone to answer a (hopefully) simple question

grantwolsey

grantwolsey

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 14, 2010
48
0
(And be nice, please. I woefully admit that I am not as knowledgable as many of you, and I immensely appreciate any sincere help)

I have a MacBook Pro with Retina Display (15 inch, early 2013 model) and I am hoping to get a Seiki SE50UY04, which everyone probably knows as the least expensive 4K TV currently available. My question is simply this:

If I plug in a HDMI cable to my MacBook Pro and enable clamshell mode, am I able to plug the other end into the Seiki 4K TV and use it as an external monitor?

I've searched a great deal on this and a few other forums on this subject, and as far as I can tell, the OPs were straight out asking if FULL 4k resolution was available in this scenario, which I don't need and frankly have gathered is technically impossible. All I need to know is can I get a resolution on my Seiki that is between MacBook Pro with Retina Display resolution and full 4K resolution, with no black bars, parts of the picture missing, etc.?

I've read that I may need to employ the use of SwitchResX or some similar utility, which I am of course willing to do. I just want an awesome display for my already-awesome rMBP
 
Well yes, but I'm hoping that someone will know if I can get MORE than just 1080p resolution in the scenario I described (which I'm hoping is a given with the Seiki being a 4K display) and also if the setup to do so is as simple as I'm hoping (we are Apple people after all; simple is always the word of the day)
 
grantwolsey said:
Well yes, but I'm hoping that someone will know if I can get MORE than just 1080p resolution in the scenario I described (which I'm hoping is a given with the Seiki being a 4K display) and also if the setup to do so is as simple as I'm hoping (we are Apple people after all; simple is always the word of the day)
Click to expand...

I can't see you getting more....Not unless the TV itself has some form of built in upscaling?
 
Okay, this isn't good; I'm confused already... You say it wouldn't be more than 1080p resolution, but isn't the rMBP ALREADY at more than that, hence hopefully making the display on the Seiki 4K TV at LEAST 2880 by 1800 (the "Retina Display" resolution touted by Apple), because 2880 by 1800 pixels (rMBP) is far under the resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels (4K TV)?
 
grantwolsey said:
Okay, this isn't good; I'm confused already... You say it wouldn't be more than 1080p resolution, but isn't the rMBP ALREADY at more than that, hence hopefully making the display on the Seiki 4K TV at LEAST 2880 by 1800 (the "Retina Display" resolution touted by Apple), because 2880 by 1800 pixels (rMBP) is far under the resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels (4K TV)?
Click to expand...

I'd need a peek at the TV's manual and specs....do you have a link to a PDF?
 
Why don't you take your rMBP and an HDMI cable to a store which sells the Seiki SE50UY04 and ask to check that it works before buying? The guys who work there will probably be interested to see the result.
 
The rMBP HDMI port and GPU only officially support a maximum of 2560x1600 at this time. There are many reports that OS X only supports 1920x1080 over HDMI on many monitors. Either or both of these limitations may change in the future or they may not. Then, of course, many TV monitors don't support 2560x1600/1440 in the first place, including this one if I'm not mistaken.

So you'll get 1080p, and maybe 1440p, but you won't be able to get 2880x1800 over HDMI.

There's no relationship between the built-in display and what's supported by an external display.
 
So I guess I'll have to just wait until the Thunderbolt Display with Retina Display comes out I guess. Huh. Thanks for your help guys
 
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