Mac Mini and Display Problems

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Hi, I decided to go for it and get a Mac Mini. i already had a flat screen monitor and a mouse so, why not?!!

Apple were fantastic and sent it within two days! Plugged it all in but...


Apple's graphics and text appear slightly blurred! Now I don't mean awful but just enough to give me a head ache and then start wanting to use my MS laptop! I.e My Text on this post looks more grey than black (on this Mac.)

I have tried every concevable option from changing the screen size, letter smoothing refresh rate, brightness, contrast and phase (on monitor) even moving my monitor higher where it appears slightly better. All options don't improve it!

Again Apple have been great, they are sending me a new Mac Mini to try.

The monitor works fine with my Compaq laptop.

I'm wondering if it's just Apple's text and graphics or could it be the monitor (although that is fine with my MS laptop).

The text and graphics are just not sharp. I can't increase my brightness on my monitor very much, could it be down to that?

Please help cos right now being an Mac Man means I walk around with blurry eyes and a head-ache!

Tc

:blind:
 
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Are you running the monitor at the same resolution when you plug it into your laptop as you do when you plug it into the mini? If you aren't running at the monitors native resolution it will look like crap.

Also go to Preference > Appearance > Then Change the Font smoothing style, you might find one that looks better, I use Medium on my LCD.
 
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i dont have no mac's
did you go into system prefrences>displays and make sure that everything is set up correctly? unless i missed something it sounds like you only made changes that are on your monitor. make sure your resolution is correct and adjust the colors as well

--chris
 
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TangoCharlie
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Thanks guys but, yes, i tried those.

The non-smoothing helps on some text but not on, this this text, for example.

Can you tell me..the text on this post, should it be black becuse mine looks a kind of bluey grey (any a tad blurry)?


If I look at my monitor for a lower position it looks a bit better, more defined shading. I have basically stuck my monitor on the Mac Mini box and elavated it where it looks a little better.

Could it be the Mac Mini?

Tc
 
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Your Mac's Specs
14" iBook G3 900/640/40 _ _ Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One 315/768/20 _ _ 20 GB iPod
Have you tried calibrating the display via OS X? You should be able to adjust gamma and white point to make it more "PC-like" in appearance.

However, the text on Mac-Forums is grey on my machine, as well as on my brother's PC.
 
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Ex_PC_Puke

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Not a flat panel expert - but most of the time this type of problem is a analog - digital conversion issue between the monitor and the video HW and or video drivers --- bottom line is some older / cheaper flat panels have a sweet spot ( resolution and refresh rate) and if your PC - mac or what ever can't hit that --- things look like crap

Bottom line here for your is that most likley the flat panel you have is not compatible with the mac-mini --- this may be especially true since the mini's native output is pure digital not vga which is probably what your PC is putting out.

The other ultimate test is to hook up your mini to a decent monitor --- if the display is crisp -- you've got resolution / sweet spot issues between your flat panel and the mini




I've got a new Samsung SyncMaster 730n 17" that runs and looks awesome on my mini -- running DVI. $299 with rebate at Best Buy

In my previous life at Intel I led a team building the very first DVI ready PC motherboards as the DVI spec was being written -- once we got everything working - with DVI prototype monitors -- I can recall people just coming by and staring at the screens (for a long time) just blown away by how they looked
 
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Kokopelli

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TangoCharlie said:
Can you tell me..the text on this post, should it be black becuse mine looks a kind of bluey grey (any a tad blurry)?

Yes, the text is supposed to be grey (#555555 to be precise). The text in the hover over for reputation is black (#000000) if you want to see what black text looks like on your display.
 
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Ex_PC_Puke

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One more comment on the flat panel "sweet spot" issue is that if the flat panel in question is able to display a picture "ok" but text in on desttop icons - menus looks like crap --- again you are fighting a "conversion" issue between the flat panel and the computer
 
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TangoCharlie
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PC_Puke said:
One more comment on the flat panel "sweet spot" issue is that if the flat panel in question is able to display a picture "ok" but text in on desttop icons - menus looks like crap --- again you are fighting a "conversion" issue between the flat panel and the computer
You maybe right there. My flat screen is at least 5 years old and is going through a converter. A refresh rate of 75 Hertz looks awful, I have to set it to 60 or 67Hz.

Anyone know of a cheap monitor that has a digital input fit for the Mac Mini? Someone told me there was a brand available for about £140 but he forgot the brand name.

Tc
 
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Ex_PC_Puke

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TC

Most any "newer" monitor should handle the mac out put as they have really perfected the sync and refresh stuff -- you might buy a used or floor demo "newer" monitor for the short term while you save up for a newer flat panel -- I say newer because the OS does go out and "talk" to the monitor (thru the vga or dvi cable) or flat panel during boot up to determine manuacturer and capability --- and these newer (2-3yrs old) devices are typically included in the builtin drivers sections of OS's.

good luck -- you might try www.zdnet.com and look at the editors picks for monitors
 
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TangoCharlie
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...Thanx, I got myself a 17" VideoSeven monitor for a measly £150. Whilst it is infinatly brighter, the focas still isnt spot on. Maybe its just the Mac style. I'm sort of getting used to it.

BTW...It is a recognised problem forthe Mac Mini and monitors appearing far too dim. Apple are aware. Some folks think its the AVI adaptor, some the power supply.
Check this out...
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000760034794


Tc
 
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TangoCharlie
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djlee12 said:
What kind of connection is there btwn your mini and your TV?

Tv?

My monotior uses the coverter block that Apple give with the Mini. I've heard it's pretty crap so have ordered a conversion lead that they use with another model. Tht may help.

Tc
 
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TangoCharlie
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Am I the only person who finds the text from the Mini blurred and not sharp?

I have tried :
a new Mac Mini
a new psu and Mac DVI/VGI converter
a new, bright good quality flat monitor
a new DVI/VGI converter cable (on with a 3 inch cable between)
No change with either!

It leads me to believe that unless you have a DVI monitor the display will be very poor! I think its somthing to do with the analogue/digital/analogue conversion process!

New Mac Mini buyers please beware!

Tc
 
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Ex_PC_Puke

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TangoCharlie said:
Am I the only person who finds the text from the Mini blurred and not sharp?

I have tried :
a new Mac Mini
a new psu and Mac DVI/VGI converter
a new, bright good quality flat monitor
a new DVI/VGI converter cable (on with a 3 inch cable between)
No change with either!

It leads me to believe that unless you have a DVI monitor the display will be very poor! I think its somthing to do with the analogue/digital/analogue conversion process!

New Mac Mini buyers please beware!

Tc


Well I agree and disagree --- its definetly a analog to digital conversion - and as I mentioned in previous posts depending on the quality of the LCD panel it will may have "sweet spots" (or native resolution(s) ) and if you deviate from those then text AND only text will be blurred or chopped or fragmented.

I bought a brand new Samsung SyncMaster 730b 17" flat panel when I bought the mini. For 2 weeks I had to run it through the DVI to VGA converter from Apple - no problem - display very crisp (at least as good as a monitor) -- switched to DVI and its just a tad crisper.

Sorry to hear your having problems --- have you worked thru all the combinations of refresh and resolution ?? I would think that any newer monitor should easily handle 640x480 thru 1024x768 -- as should any decent quality LCD dicplay

But here again I'll just warn you that a lot of the older panels are being dumped at very low prices and offer low performance - BUT even a good panel put at wrong resolution / refresh will look like crap.

I was shown a nice 19" AOC panel that looked like crap on the XP desktop (text was fragmented / chopped) but looked ok when a jpeg was displayed.

Hope you can get things worked out - if you live in decent sized city you should be able to go "buy" a nice 17" monitor or LCD - take it home try it - then return it ( places like Best Buy etc. have a easy return policy)
 
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TangoCharlie
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PC_Puke said:
Well I agree and disagree --- its definetly a analog to digital conversion - and as I mentioned in previous posts depending on the quality of the LCD panel it will may have "sweet spots" (or native resolution(s) ) and if you deviate from those then text AND only text will be blurred or chopped or fragmented.

I bought a brand new Samsung SyncMaster 730b 17" flat panel when I bought the mini. For 2 weeks I had to run it through the DVI to VGA converter from Apple - no problem - display very crisp (at least as good as a monitor) -- switched to DVI and its just a tad crisper.

Sorry to hear your having problems --- have you worked thru all the combinations of refresh and resolution ?? I would think that any newer monitor should easily handle 640x480 thru 1024x768 -- as should any decent quality LCD dicplay

But here again I'll just warn you that a lot of the older panels are being dumped at very low prices and offer low performance - BUT even a good panel put at wrong resolution / refresh will look like crap.

I was shown a nice 19" AOC panel that looked like crap on the XP desktop (text was fragmented / chopped) but looked ok when a jpeg was displayed.

Hope you can get things worked out - if you live in decent sized city you should be able to go "buy" a nice 17" monitor or LCD - take it home try it - then return it ( places like Best Buy etc. have a easy return policy)

Thanks for your informed reply.

I have my new monitor( a 17") set to 1152x864 and a refresh of 75Hz. This seems the best setting but text still appears blurry (not sharp). The clock and phase adjustment seem to have a dramatic effect but only by making it poorer!

I am now after a DVI monitor! I have seen a BenQ 737 monitor which is both DVI and VGI. It's a good price, any opinions on that?

Does anyone know the cheapest DVI 17" out there (in the UK)?

Tc
 
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TangoCharlie
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Here's a little tweak i found...
Enhancing screen contrast
If you have difficulty seeing objects on your computer screen, you can choose different screen contrasts to make the screen easier to view. Choose a screen contrast effect in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Universal Access. Then click Seeing.
To remove colors from the screen, click "Set Display to Grayscale."
To make the computer screen appear as a photonegative (with white text on a black background), click "Switch to White on Black."
Drag the "Enhance contrast" slider to the right to increase the contrast.


Im gonna give it a go.

Tc
 
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Ex_PC_Puke

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Try looking at ZD net -- mainly PC based - but they review alot of stuff -- its what I used to pick my monitor - they had some good things to say about a couple of BenQ panels

Is there any way you can do a few screen shots - ok - bad - worse - so we can see what you're seeing ???


http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/
 

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