Macbook pro display question & wrong choice?

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 01:04

Hey folks,

I currently have a Macbook Pro 13.3" version, 2.26ghz C2D with 4GB / 320GB drive. It's a 2009/early 2010 version.

I use it for iPhone application development mainly, and have recently discovered the screen is too small, and I should look to either use my PC monitor, buy a 2nd monitor for it or buy a 15" MBP.

Just a few questions.

1) The display quality on my MBP was terrible when put next to a Dell XPS M1730 laptop! I couldn't believe the difference, the Dell was so much sharper and clearer! I though the MBP was meant to have a decent display, does the 15" version have a better panel?

2) What's the best way to connect it to an external monitor? I bought a mini-dvi to HDMI convertor, and connected it to my 22" Dell (1920x1080) monitor and the quality was awful even running at native resolution.

Thanks

Fr0dders · 16 Jan 2011 at 01:08

not sure why you got awful quality on your dell

I used mini displayport to VGA on my macbook to connect it to my monitor and it looked pin sharp, VGA and all.

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 01:15

Honest, it was terrible, perhaps I could blame the adaptor, but I don't just mean terrible , it was literally unuseable (think runnin 800x600 on a large widescreen monitor) thats what it was like!

Spyhop · 16 Jan 2011 at 01:37

Pulsedriver said:
1) The display quality on my MBP was terrible when put next to a Dell XPS M1730 laptop! I couldn't believe the difference, the Dell was so much sharper and clearer! I though the MBP was meant to have a decent display, does the 15" version have a better panel?

I assume this is simply down to the physical size of each pixel rather than panel quality. The M1730 is ~38% higher density than the MBP13, as is the MBP17.

Pulsedriver said:
2) What's the best way to connect it to an external monitor? I bought a mini-dvi to HDMI convertor, and connected it to my 22" Dell (1920x1080) monitor and the quality was awful even running at native resolution.

Maybe your monitor treats HDMI as if it's a game console / disc player and does overscan compensation. Look through the monitor's OSD or try a normal DVI connection.

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 02:04

I now feel quite silly...

My monitor is a Dell SP2309W for some reason I thought 1920x1080 was it's native resolution.

It's actually a bizarred 2048x1152, and indeed when I change the PC setting to 1080p, its blurry like mad! Just like the MBP was sending the signal!

Time for a monitor change I think!!! Suspect getting a HD resolution monitor will solve this?

Hades · 16 Jan 2011 at 03:02

Sounds like you've got it sorted. But the internal display and also the external display resolution was one of the reasons I got an MBP 13. I love the quality of the onboard screen and it's one of the very few laptops that will drive a 30" 2560x1200 display. It's incredible to think that somethign barely larger than a netbook can run something this large.

Blackhawk47 · 16 Jan 2011 at 09:41

Pulsedriver said:
I now feel quite silly...

My monitor is a Dell SP2309W for some reason I thought 1920x1080 was it's native resolution.

It's actually a bizarred 2048x1152, and indeed when I change the PC setting to 1080p, its blurry like mad! Just like the MBP was sending the signal!

Time for a monitor change I think!!! Suspect getting a HD resolution monitor will solve this?

When you connected the MBP,did you have it set to mirror or extended desktop? With mirror selected I used to have it come out blurry on my monitor because I think it mirrors the resolution of the MBP.

Fr0dders · 16 Jan 2011 at 10:26

Pulsedriver said:
I now feel quite silly...

My monitor is a Dell SP2309W for some reason I thought 1920x1080 was it's native resolution.

It's actually a bizarred 2048x1152, and indeed when I change the PC setting to 1080p, its blurry like mad! Just like the MBP was sending the signal!

Time for a monitor change I think!!! Suspect getting a HD resolution monitor will solve this?

I connected my macbook to a 20" 1680 x 1050 monitor.

They detected each other perfectly once i got it to extend my desktop rather than mirror the macs resolution.

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 13:14

Hi all,

Thank you for the helpful replies here, I had indeed had it set to mirror the displays! I changed it just now, it is great, however I did notice the resolutions did not go as high as this monitor can handle, for example, there was not even a 1680x1050 option... Perhaps something I can change in the MBP settings for the monitor?

Fr0dders · 16 Jan 2011 at 13:48

that will be because you're using HDMI.

To get full resolution range you'll need to use DVI or VGA.

Blackhawk47 · 16 Jan 2011 at 14:21

Pulsedriver said:
Hi all,

Thank you for the helpful replies here, I had indeed had it set to mirror the displays! I changed it just now, it is great, however I did notice the resolutions did not go as high as this monitor can handle, for example, there was not even a 1680x1050 option... Perhaps something I can change in the MBP settings for the monitor?

Hmm not sure why that is. Is your Pc monitor 16:9 or 16:10?

Remember as well, if you want to make the PC monitor the main display, ie have the dock/menu bar on it you drag the white bar from one screen to another in the display options.

artaxerxes · 16 Jan 2011 at 15:48

Secondbar will give you a menu on the second.

neo2210 · 16 Jan 2011 at 17:18

MrLOL said:
that will be because you're using HDMI.

To get full resolution range you'll need to use DVI or VGA.

Why wouldn't HDMI doing the max res?

Blackhawk47 · 16 Jan 2011 at 18:33

neo2210 said:
Why wouldn't HDMI doing the max res?

Because it will be capped at 1080p? :confused:

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 19:23

My monitor only has 1 DVI port (being used by PC) would VGA still look ok at high resolution?

neo2210 · 16 Jan 2011 at 20:04

Blackhawk47 said:
Because it will be capped at 1080p?

I never knew HDMI has a limit that's so low. :confused:

Spyhop · 16 Jan 2011 at 20:09

It's probably a software cap when the computer thinks it's connected to a TV rather than a monitor.

Pulsedriver said:
My monitor only has 1 DVI port (being used by PC) would VGA still look ok at high resolution?

Normally you can't tell the difference between digital and a decent VGA connection, but I've never seen/tried 2048x1152!

Blackhawk47 · 16 Jan 2011 at 21:00

neo2210 said:
I never knew HDMI has a limit that's so low.

I am not entirely sure as I haven't tried it out myself but it wouldn't surprise me. Maybe someone can clarify?

Pulsedriver said:
My monitor only has 1 DVI port (being used by PC) would VGA still look ok at high resolution?

This is exactly what i did on my 24" samsung monitor and now on a smaller 19" monitor. Works absolutely fine and the difference between DVI/VGA is negligible.

Pulsedriver · 16 Jan 2011 at 22:01

Thanks guys! I'll get a miniport to VGA adaptor

Thanks again!

Fr0dders · 16 Jan 2011 at 22:20

The original spec 1.0 of HDMI could do up to 1920 x 1200

HDMI 1.3 and above can reach 2560×1600 and HDMI 1.4 can reach 4096×2160p24

Its possibly that one of the links in the chain (either your monitor or macbook) only supports the 1.0 / 1.2 specification of HDMI and thus limits itself to 1920 x 1080.