TV as Dual Monitor Resolution Question

[Swiss Miss]

Hey there. I was hoping that someone might be able to help me out with an issue I'm having. I have tried to Google this issue with no real success... so I turn to my forum friends for help before I give up and go out and buy a new TV/monitor (which I'm trying to avoid).

I have a Magnavox TV and when I connect it to my MacBook Pro it never gets the resolution right. If it's set to 1080i, the text is too tiny to use, at 720p, the screen is sized down, and if I let it choose the default settings, it shows up too big, blurry, or stretched. I want it to look like my MacBook, clearly, the right ratio, and with big enough text to read, but I can't seem to get the settings proper.

If what I want is not possible, then I am wondering how do I know for sure whether a TV is the right resolution to use as a monitor?

TV: Magnavox 26MF231D 26-Inch Widescreen LCD HDTV
DVI-out to HDMI-in connection
Mac: Macbook Pro 15" Intel Core 2 Duo

What am I doing wrong?

Let me know if I am leaving out any essential information.


Thanks for any guidance!

*edit - clarified the screen resolution problem*

 

[simsaladimbamba]

That TV has a native resolution of 1366x768, which is 14% more than 720p (1280x720). Have you tried the native resolution?

And as that is a 26" TV, the text shouldn't be small, especially with that small resolution, as proper computer displays in that size have 1920 x 1200 or more pixel.

 

[Swiss Miss]

That TV has a native resolution of 1366x768, which is 14% more than 720p (1280x720). Have you tried the native resolution?

And as that is a 26" TV, the text shouldn't be small, especially with that small resolution, as proper computer displays in that size have 1920 x 1200 or more pixel.

Well, that's another strange thing. The detected resolutions don't list that as an option. I've tried tinkering with a custom resolution (I had used a 3rd party app - I don't recall the name of it now though!), but it doesn't work. It just showed a black screen when I set it until it times out and reverts to what it was. Here's a screen shot of my 2nd monitor when I go to display preferences:
http://i56.tinypic.com/qx43z9.png

I should clarify: The small text only shows up in 1080i resolution. In 720p it shows fine, but it shrinks the overall display size, and when it's at the default resolution (1024x576) as shown in the screenshot above, it shows clearly, but all the window sizes are drastically bigger than how they are sized on my 15" MacBook screen. I basically want it to be the same window size when I drag it between displays. 720p so far has been my best bet, but I hate the fact that it sizes down the whole screen (leaving a black border in the excess space). Any way to avoid this, or get the native resolution to show up?

 

[MisterMe]

...

What am I doing wrong?

...

You are trying to use a TV set as computer monitor. TV sets do great jobs showing ball games and "American Idol" but they suck as computer monitors. There appears to be no doubt that your TV has native resolution of 1366x768. It can display 1280x720 images with a surrounding black border. You are not going to get better than 1366x768. Wishing will not make it so.

 

[Swiss Miss]

You are trying to use a TV set as computer monitor. TV sets do great jobs showing ball games and "American Idol" but they suck as computer monitors. There appears to be no doubt that your TV has native resolution of 1366x768. It can display 1280x720 images with a surrounding black border. You are not going to get better than 1366x768. Wishing will not make it so.

Hey, thanks for breaking it down for me.

Seriously.

I guess I simply prefer the dual purpose of a TV-as-2nd-display option, mostly due to limited space. But at the same time, I really hate to sacrifice the quality. So, you're right. I ought to face the cold hard truth, break down and get another monitor.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything else wrong before I did that.

 

[lixuelai]

Try to force the native resolution (1366x768). Swiftresx is what I can think of on top of my head.