01-03-2011, 02:05 PM

Hello everyone

I recently purchased a Sony Bravia and I'm having trouble connecting my macbook to it.

The cables I am trying to use are a mini-DVI to HDMI and a HDMI to HDMI for extra length. When I got into Displays in System Preferences, a number of things happen depending on the resolution I choose.

1. if I choose 1920 x 1080 which is my TV s display resolution and the one I'd like to use - if I pick the 60Hz or the 50Hz versions, the TV screen is black as if there is nothing plugged into the HDMI port. If i choose the 24Hz version, it works for a second, then goes black again, the I can see the desktop for another second and then it goes black again and so on. All this is a sort of flickering between those different states.

2. If I choose other interlaced resolutions (I can tell because I installed SwitchResX), it flickers as described above.

3. The only resolutions that are actually working are 720x480 and 720x something else - so very low resolutions. As soon as I try to go above, the screen either flickers between the correct image and a black screen or is just black throughout.

Can anyone please help? This is driving me nuts...

Just so you know - I have tried mirroring on and off on different settings, and I have also switched between overscan and non-overscan..

Thank you!

01-03-2011, 08:45 PM

Welcome to the Mac Forums.

As a new member, I want to direct your attention to looking at the Sticky posts at the beginning or top of the forum. Please read the LINK that talks about hooking up your Mac to a TV.

01-04-2011, 06:01 AM

Hi chscag, thank you for you reply. Upon reading the sticky in more detail I realize I should have posted this there in the first place - apologies for that.

Just to provide some extra detail, my macbook is a unibody 2.4 GhZ MacBook (not MBP) from around 2 years ago running Leopard.

My TV is a Sony Bravia KDL-32EX403U.(User manual: Televisions and Projectors*|* KDL-32EX403*|*Sony Support Europe )

I have indeed tried replugging the cables, switching to different ports etc. The thing that really gets me is that the TV does display my desktop but only intermittently. The only exceptions to this are the 2 resolutions mentioned in my original post, which are too low to work with. This makes me wonder whether this can be purely a cable or adapter issue (as in they cannot 'carry' the required resolution), although the mini-DVI to HDMI adapter I have is 1080p compatible. Could this be a HDMI cable problem?

I'm not sure whether this will help but let me describe what I see on the TV screen when i try different resolutions:

1. the 2 low ones I mentioned simply work

2. when I go higher, from 800x600 up to 1920x1080@ 24Hz, I see the computer desktop as expected but with some flickering horizontal lines in the middle. Then it goes black. Then after 2 seconds it all happens ll over again.

3. when i go 1920x1080 @ 50Hz or 60Hz interlaced, the screen is black, with the HDMI2 (or whatever the port I'm using) logo displayed a the top, as if nothing is plugged in.

4. when i go 1920x1080 @50Hz or 60Hz non-interlaced, the process described at nr. 2 happens.

Hope you guys are able to help - please let me know what other detail, if any, you need.

01-04-2011, 06:13 AM

Ah - apologies for the confusion but my MB has a mini display port, not a mini-DVI it seems. In any case I had the correct cable so I dont think this changes much..

01-04-2011, 03:08 PM

Anyone? Please let me know if I should re-post this in the sticky, or someone who is able to do so please move it if this is the case...

01-04-2011, 08:04 PM

Just hang on for a bit. If moderator bobtomay sees your post, he'll try to answer your questions. In the meantime, make sure you've read through the sticky and the replies.

01-06-2011, 05:46 AM

Very happy to say my issue is now resolved - I read through the whole sticky and then thought I'd try changing the cable as I thought it was the number one suspect. I bought one from the Apple store and it works impeccably! Sorry to cause a lot of fuss but I guess there's a lesson to be learned here - don't try saving a few pounds/ dollars on the HDMI cable..

Even though bobtomay never got around to this one I have to finish by saying that just like many others who posted here I am in complete awe of his problem-solving skills in this area!

Best of luck everyone and see you on the forums

01-06-2011, 06:24 AM

Sorry I missed yours, it happens around here. But, glad you got it solved.

If others happen to run into this post and are experiencing similar issues, make sure any HDMI cable you purchase is labeled as "High Speed HDMI". They don't have to be expensive. If you're in the U.S., I highly recommend sticking with Amazon or monoprice.com if you're ordering online.