MacBook Pro HDTV Underscan

D

darkew

Registered
Hi everyone,

I just got myself the Kanex Live HDMI with digital audio mini displayport adapter.

When I hook the Macbook Pro to my HDTV, the screen does not take up the entire size of the TV. It is set to 1080p.

This TV, a Samsung FullHD 32" LCD, can only have computers at the HDMI2 port. When I plug in my PC, it works flawlessly. This leaves me thinking that the problem is not with the TV itself, but rather with the OS.

Samsung tech support did nothing to help.

Any ideas?

Thank you!
 
Hi, Diablo. I'm not sure I know exactly what that means.

The resolution is set to "1080p (Television)". Is that right?

EDIT: If the question is, "Is your television 1080p as you configured it", the answer is yes it is :)

Thanks!
 
Ah, yes, everything seems correct to me... what happens if you select 720p on the Mac?

There was once a utility that provided a more advanced set of options for configuring resolutions, which seemed to help with overscan and the like (although your problem probably isn't overscan). I think it was called "DisplayConfigX" -- it may be worth checking out. I haven't heard about any updates to it since 2006 or before, so it may be dead, but it may be worth research.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Ah, yes, everything seems correct to me... what happens if you select 720p on the Mac?

There was once a utility that provided a more advanced set of options for configuring resolutions, which seemed to help with overscan and the like (although your problem probably isn't overscan). I think it was called "DisplayConfigX" -- it may be worth checking out. I haven't heard about any updates to it since 2006 or before, so it may be dead, but it may be worth research.
Click to expand...

Hey, Diablo!

Hm, settting it to 720p actually makes the screen larger on the TV!! It is still not full screen, but much bigger, which is better.

Except that I lose a lot of sharpness. The image is much clearer with 1080p, but maybe we're getting somewhere?

I tried DisplayConfigX once, but was unable to make it work...

More ideas?

Thanks a lot mate!
 
Heck. Finally, I did it.

The secret was setting up the TV as the primary monitor. As a new Mac user, I didn't know how to do that.

What I did was:

Turn Off image mirror;
In the monitor settings, I rearragened the windows so that the external monitor was the primary monitor;
Under options, there's a check option - my Mac is in Portuguese, but in English it should probably be Zooming or maybe Overscan? I checked this, and voila, full screen on my TV!

That leaves me with another problem though: now I have set up two monitors. That means that, when I scroll the mouse all the way left, my mouse will crossover to the MacBook monitor. Sometimes Windows will open there instead of the large screen. Is there a way to "shut down" the Macbook display and use only the external?

Thanks again guys!
 
I know of no way to "shut down" one of the monitors. You could arrange the unwanted monitor diagonal to the primary, mostly solving your mouse cross over.
 
Yes, there is a way.

Attach a USB mouse and/or keyboard to the MacBook. Close the MacBook's lid, and wait for it to sleep. Press a key or click a mouse button to wake it up -- voila, computer is closed, and only the TV is the monitor.
 
Hi guys,

Ex2Bot: your method helps, but one problem sticks: I just clickened on this folder on the desktop. It opened on the macbook monitor, meaning I have to crossover the mouse. Still helpful though.

I'm going to try and plug another device into the Mac and try Diablo's method (I need to get myself a mouse anyways) and give it a shot. I'll post results.

In the meantime, thanks a lot both of you!
 
I still haven't got a keyboard or mouse, but, question: when I close the lid, will I still be able to reopen without the monitor in order to use the keyboard? Because having the single large screen monitor working but not being able to use the MacBook doesn't help a lot :)

Thanks again!
 
When you open the MacBook, the internal display will again activate, leaving you with a dual-monitor setup again.

It sounds like maybe you had the dual-displays configured in "mirrored" mode. You can change this by visiting the "Displays" pane of the System Preferences and selecting "extended desktop" mode. This will allow you to configure the resolutions of the screens independently, and you should be able to get a full-screen view on your HDTV.
 
darkew said:
I still haven't got a keyboard or mouse, but, question: when I close the lid, will I still be able to reopen without the monitor in order to use the keyboard? Because having the single large screen monitor working but not being able to use the MacBook doesn't help a lot :)

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
you can toggle your notebook on in clamshell mode by inserting a USB pen drive, it does not have to be a keyboard or mouse, any activity at the USB port will fire up your closed notebook.
 
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