Trying to use external display looks terrible

[retta283]

I have a 27" Samsung LCD flat from 2014 that I want to use as a display with my MacBook. I have a 2008 so I purchased a mini-displayport to HDMI adapter. When I plug it in and close the lid, it goes to 1366x768. This looks fine, but is a huge waste of space. When I select any of the TV options (1080p, 1080i, 720p) it is zoomed in and very distorted. I have tried both HDMI ports. Anyone know what I can do to fix this?

Side note, I used a Windows 7 box with this same TV a few years back and it worked great, so I don't think it's an issue with the TV not liking the resolutions

 

[Stephen.R]

What is the native resolution of the LCD?

 

[retta283]

What is the native resolution of the LCD?

I'm honestly not sure... It's a 1080 TV, but not sure of anything further than that

 

[Moonjumper]

I'm honestly not sure... It's a 1080 TV, but not sure of anything further than that

1080p refers to the resolution: 1920x1080. I have connected to a Samsung TV before and it auto-detected the source as a computer and auto set the resolution to what you have seen. Several manufacturers OS settings think computers only exist at one resolution, 1366x768. Go into the settings and see if you can manually set the source to something else, a blu-ray player or anything the TV expects to have full resolution.

 

[retta283]

Of course the macbook keeps going to sleep while I am adjusting the settings... can't use it anymore, the sleep light freezes and I need to open it to fix, but when I close the lid it does it again
[doublepost=1554207426][/doublepost]After switching up some settings, the 1080p option works fine without black bars or discoloration. However text and icons are a bit blurry. I can't use it with the lid closed though so it's a moot point until I find a solution.
[doublepost=1554207705][/doublepost]Third update, I found out it needs to be on the charger for it to work in closed lid mode. Very tired right now so I'm not thinking straight

 

[Stephen.R]

However text and icons are a bit blurry

That's largely a factor of low resolution and relatively large physical size. For reference: your 27" display has the same resolution as an iPhone 7+, but is 5x bigger physically.

There is a reason TV's make **** monitors: they're designed to show a moving picture from a couple of meters away, not text at half a meter.