Macmini Late 2012

Snodge · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:04

I've recently purchased a Macmini late 2012 with the following specs:
I7 3615QM,
4GB
1TB

I've purchased this to use as a media machine however I've plugged it into my 1080p capable television and it looks extremely blurry? Text isn't formatting correctly. Not sure whether it's just because it's 42 inches however the text just looks awful. When streaming something from netflix the quality does still look pretty decent however the text does slightly put me off? Is there any application that will sharpen the picture or is the television at fault or the macmini?

Just curious whether there is a fix or not ?

Any help is appreciated

Alpherah · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:14

Make sure the input on the TV is set to 'just scan'

Snodge · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:15

Not sure that's even an option on this television let me check

Snodge · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:17

Panasonic TX-P42X50B

Snodge · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:32

"HD Ready 1024 x 768" Might be the problem?

Illusion · 15 Jan 2015 at 12:02

I had a Panasonic TV like that a few years ago it can display 720P despite having that resolution you have to mess with an overscan setting it definitely exists in the options menus if you look around.

I'd tell you exactly how but I no longer have the TV set unfortunately. I used mine with a HTPC outputting 720P for years

Snodge · 15 Jan 2015 at 16:18

I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find it at all

Text is all broken up etc 1080p and 720p just look awful.

metachi · 16 Jan 2015 at 02:19

get a better TV?

wengole · 16 Jan 2015 at 05:34

You've plugged it into a monitor just to make sure the mac is all good?

Snodge · 16 Jan 2015 at 21:16

I've plugged into my brothers 1080p screen 42 inch, as well as the family television which is 46 inch 1080p Samsung smart telly same result with all three. Mac looks fine when plugged into a monitor need to find a way to make it look acceptable on a telly

MagicBoy · 17 Jan 2015 at 18:12

I'm using a 2009 mini as an HTPC with my 42" full 1080p Panasonic plasma and it's excellent.

I'll assume your using HDMI as you've been sparse with the information. Put it in Cinema mode and ensure sure overscan is off on the TV - Menu, Picture, Advanced menu on my set and enabled on the Mac - Sys Prefs, Displays.

Other than that it's likely to be scaling issues with it resampling the picture to the old 1024x768 panel. No point running 1080p on that set, 720p would be a better option.

Snodge · 17 Jan 2015 at 18:47

Using HDMI yes, Overscan isn't an option on my televisions?

Gone onto mac and changed the display to 1080p still looks dreadful.

MagicBoy · 17 Jan 2015 at 18:59

Don't use 1080p - it's not the native resolution of the TV! It'll have to scale it down from 1920x1080 to 1024x768, change the aspect ratio and throw half the detail away. You'll get away with it watching TV content but a typical computer UI, webpages etc will look bad.

Overscan - quite likely it doesn't have the advanced options my TV has.