Mac and the projector would not speak to each other

[TamlynUK]

Hi All,

I have a strange problem I do not understand. I hope someone will put me right.

I took a MacBook Air running Snowleopard to Bulgaria for a presentaion, and linked it to a borrowed video projector. The first day went fine, but on the second the Mac and the projector would not speak to each other, except in the strangest way!

With the screen size setting on the Mac the projector showed a similar screen setting page, but with less options and no pointer.

With any other screen on the Mac the projector showed the basic Mac desk top, even when the mac was showing the nice new Snow Leopard!

I had to complete the presentation using a borrowed Windows machine which worked perfectly with the projector - which did not please me

I do not remember altering anything significant between the first day when all was well and the second when it all went pear-shaped.

Help please - what can I do before next time so I can show off my nice Snow Leopard and not have to seek PC help

Regards

Tam

 

[chscag]

Setting up a projector is the same as setting up an external monitor. The projector has to be first "detected" (detect displays). Once detected, the correct native resolution of the projector should be set. Most projectors - unless very expensive, will specify a range of usable resolutions.

The next step is to set the MacBook Air to output video to the projector in "Mirror" mode. If you don't use mirror mode you'll wind up with a confusing picture of part of your desktop. Sounds like that's what happened to you.

And yes, some Windows notebooks handle external displays better than a Mac.

Regards.