Very old monitors with my Mac Mini M1

[Loyola]

I have just recently completed my transition from my old 2010 iMac. Everything is up and running on my Mac Mini. I have my two really old Dell monitors connected. So far the monitors seem to work ok for my needs however one of them has really odd scaling no matter what I do. The 2nd monitor is working as expected.

1909W is connected HDMI to DVI-D cable. This works and i have no issues.

IN2010N is connected USB-C to VGA. The scaling is very odd. It looks like it is stretched too much. If that makes any sense. The monitor was good when it was connected to my iMac. Could it be the adapter? Is there some way to fix it? I have tried adjusting the scaling but that doesn't seem to help too much.

Thanks.

 

[JustAnExpat]

have you read this?

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-mini/connect-a-display-apd8e4fbbb97/mac

You might be pushing up against the limit of what the Mac mini can output.

 

[EugW]

IN2010N is connected USB-C to VGA. The scaling is very odd. It looks like it is stretched too much. If that makes any sense. The monitor was good when it was connected to my iMac. Could it be the adapter? Is there some way to fix it? I have tried adjusting the scaling but that doesn't seem to help too much.

That is a 1600x900 widescreen TN monitor. What resolution are you using? It sounds like you may be getting a 4:3 resolution stretched sideways to fit that screen or something like that. Check your Displays Preferences for the resolution displayed.

 

[Loyola]

That is a 1600x900 widescreen TN monitor. What resolution are you using? It sounds like you may be getting a 4:3 resolution stretched sideways to fit that screen or something like that. Check your Displays Preferences for the resolution displayed.

I am using the 1600x900. I have tried others but the stretch or don't fit the screen.

 

[Amethyst1]

I am using the 1600x900. I have tried others but the stretch or don't fit the screen.

What resolution does the monitor’s menu report?

 

[Loyola]

What resolution does the monitor’s menu report?

1280x960 It was hard to find but I did. I would have never looked there. It was at the very bottom.

 

[Loyola]

have you read this?

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-mini/connect-a-display-apd8e4fbbb97/mac

You might be pushing up against the limit of what the Mac mini can output.

I did but I thought I would be fine since these are really old monitors.

 

[EugW]

1280x960 It was hard to find but I did. I would have never looked there. It was at the very bottom.

Yup. That's a 4:3 resolution. If you can't select 1600:900 at the monitor, then you could try a different adapter, but at this point I'd consider getting yourself a modern 24" 1920x1080p IPS monitor, which isn't expensive.

That Dell IN2010N is 20" so that works out to a pixel density of 91.8 ppi.
A 24" 1080p monitor would be a pixel density of 91.8 ppi, so EXACTLY the same.

Pixels Per Inch PPI Calculator

PPI Calculator finds pixels per inch (PPI) and pixels per square inch (PPI^2). Calculate screen resolution and pixel density using width and height of display screen in pixels. Also find dot pitch and diagonal in pixels. Enter screen diagonal in inches or cm.

www.calculatorsoup.com

 

[Loyola]

Yup. That's a 4:3 resolution. If you can't select 1600:900 at the monitor, then you could try a different adapter, but at this point I'd consider getting yourself a modern 24" 1920x1080p IPS monitor, which isn't expensive.

That Dell IN2010N is 20" so that works out to a pixel density of 91.8 ppi.
A 24" 1080p monitor would be a pixel density of 91.8 ppi, so EXACTLY the same.

Pixels Per Inch PPI Calculator

PPI Calculator finds pixels per inch (PPI) and pixels per square inch (PPI^2). Calculate screen resolution and pixel density using width and height of display screen in pixels. Also find dot pitch and diagonal in pixels. Enter screen diagonal in inches or cm.

www.calculatorsoup.com

Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. It makes sense now. I was trying to use what I had for now but I might have to get something else as you mentioned.

When I set to 1280 x 960, the screen is justified right so part of the screen is cut off. I was able to set to 1280 x 1024 which is better but not ideal.

I am using the J5create USB 3.1. Type C 3 port HUB with VGA (JCH411). I also have their USB to VGA (JUA214) but I cannot get that to work after installing the needed driver from the website. I used this on my iMac until I updated to 10.13.6 and that was not supported.

 

[Amethyst1]

I also have their USB to VGA (JUA214) but I cannot get that to work after installing the needed driver from the website. I used this on my iMac until I updated to 10.13.6 and that was not supported.

This sounds like it’s a DisplayLink device. These work… but have caveats like that.

When I set to 1280 x 960, the screen is justified right so part of the screen is cut off. I was able to set to 1280 x 1024 which is better but not ideal.

If the monitor reports 1280×960 while macOS simultaneously reports 1600×900 this might suggest 1600×900 is just a scaled resolution macOS forces onto a 1280×960 output.
In other words, something’s not quite right. The issue could be with the particular combination of monitor and Mac/OS or the adapter.

 

[Loyola]

This morning it tried the 1909W monitor with the J5create USB 3.1. Type C 3 port HUB with VGA (JCH411) adapter. The screen was fine. It looks like it is an issue with IN2010N and the computer or it doesn't work well with the adapter.

 

[Loyola]

I tried a different USB 3.1. Type C to VGA adapter and same scaling issue. It looks like the monitor doesn't play well with this macOS/computer.

 

[Amethyst1]

I tried a different USB 3.1. Type C to VGA adapter and same scaling issue. It looks like the monitor doesn't play well with this macOS/computer.

Thanks for reporting your findings. You could try a HDMI-to-VGA adapter and see if the IN2010N works using that, and if so, hook up the 1909W to the USB-C adapter instead.

 

[Loyola]

Thanks for reporting your findings. You could try a HDMI-to-VGA adapter and see if the IN2010N works using that, and if so, hook up the 1909W to the USB-C adapter instead.

When I first got the mini I tried a HDMI to VGA adapter but it didn't work. A member our forum pointed out that this was not supported. This is why I purchased the HDMI to DVI-D cable and the USB-C to VGA adapter.

 

[Amethyst1]

When I first got the mini I tried a HDMI to VGA adapter but it didn't work. A member our forum pointed out that this was not supported. This is why I purchased the HDMI to DVI-D cable and the USB-C to VGA adapter.

Ah, ok. Would you be willing to do some more testing to hopefully get a clue on what’s going on with the IN2010N monitor? That would involve installing a piece of software called SwitchResX.

 

[Loyola]

Ah, ok. Would you be willing to do some more testing to hopefully get a clue on what’s going on with the IN2010N monitor? That would involve installing a piece of software called SwitchResX.

I will take a look at SwitchResX.

At some point I will look for new monitors but when I bought this last year it was bought just in case my 2010 iMac died and I was trying to do it as cheaply as possible (Amazon plus Discover made it a good deal). The iMac appears to be dying and I think the HD is failing.

 

[Loyola]

I tried SwitchResX and it really did not do anything for me. It wouldn't let me use a custom resolution unless I was doing something wrong. Documentation stated that not all features are available. I figured this was one of the items not available.

 

[robotica]

I think it's the cable or adapter. Can you try the VGA cable in the other monitor? Might be a good idea just to bite the bullet and buy a newer monitor.

 

[Loyola]

I think it's the cable or adapter. Can you try the VGA cable in the other monitor? Might be a good idea just to bite the bullet and buy a newer monitor.

I have tried a couple of different adapters but didn't think to try a different VGA cable. Using a different VGA cable didn't change anything. It has be that this monitor doesn't play nice with the computer.

 

[Amethyst1]

I tried SwitchResX and it really did not do anything for me. It wouldn't let me use a custom resolution unless I was doing something wrong.

Yeah, adding custom resolutions doesn’t (yet) work on Apple Silicon. But you can use it to find out what’s going on. Open the “Current Resolutions” tab after selecting the IN2010N, look for the currently active mode (that has the radio button checked next to it), double click on it and post a screenshot of the pop-up window that appears here.

 

[Loyola]

Yeah, adding custom resolutions doesn’t (yet) work on Apple Silicon. But you can use it to find out what’s going on. Open the “Current Resolutions” tab after selecting the IN2010N, look for the currently active mode (that has the radio button checked next to it), double click on it and post a screenshot of the pop-up window that appears here.

I clicked on option to get the additional resolution options. It took two screenshots to get all of the resolutions. I am using 1280 x 1024.



Below is the original.

 

[Amethyst1]

Wait a minute. Using 1280×1024 on a 1600×900 monitor is going to result in a weirdly stretched picture. That's normal.

What happens if you select 1600×900, i.e. the native resolution of the monitor?

And I meant a screenshot of SwitchResX. Open SwitchResX, select the IN2010N monitor on the left. Open the “Current Resolutions” tab , look for the currently active mode (that has the radio button checked next to it), double click on it and post a screenshot of the pop-up window that appears here. The pop-up window will have lots of numbers in it.

 

[EugW]

Wait a minute. Using 1280×1024 on a 1600×900 monitor is going to result in a weirdly stretched picture. That's normal.

What happens if you select 1600×900, i.e. the native resolution of the monitor?

And I meant a screenshot of SwitchResX. Open SwitchResX, select the IN2010N monitor on the left. Open the “Current Resolutions” tab , look for the currently active mode (that has the radio button checked next to it), double click on it and post a screenshot of the pop-up window that appears here. The pop-up window will have lots of numbers in it.

She was initially using 1600x900.

 

[Loyola]

Wait a minute. Using 1280×1024 on a 1600×900 monitor is going to result in a weirdly stretched picture. That's normal.

What happens if you select 1600×900, i.e. the native resolution of the monitor?

And I meant a screenshot of SwitchResX. Open SwitchResX, select the IN2010N monitor on the left. Open the “Current Resolutions” tab , look for the currently active mode (that has the radio button checked next to it), double click on it and post a screenshot of the pop-up window that appears here. The pop-up window will have lots of numbers in it.

The native resolution goes off the screen. I had to select something else so the screen was usable. This was the best of the resolutions there were listed.

Sorry I misunderstood. I need to reinstall the program and check. Since it wasn't any better I installed.

 

[Amethyst1]

I need to reinstall the program and check. Since it wasn't any better I installed.

No, it's my bad. I should have explained what to do with SwitchResX right after I mentioned it. Basically, I'd like to find out what's going on "behind the scenes" when you select 1600×900. Since the IN2010N isn't usable then, it's best to make the other monitor the main screen or move the SwitchResX window to it.