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VGA vs HDMI Quality

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Hi there everyone.

I've always used a VGA cable and miniDP adapter to show the screen of my mid 2011 15" MBP on my Samsung LCD series 6 tv and the picture quality was amazing. The resolution could be set to 1920x1080 and would chow a colour profile very similar to the screen of the MacBook.

Recently i have misplaced the VGA cable/adapter combo, so bought a miniDP to HDMI cable. The quality by contrast is crap. Though the display settings are all configured (have tried all combinations: 1080p/1080i/scaled to other resolutions etc.) the text is fuzzy and ill defined and the colour is horrible (i have somewhat managed to rectify this using the calibration settings on the mac and the tv)

Really, im just curios as to why this might be. I will probably switch back to the VGA cable solution as some point, but id love to hear any ideas people have

Ollie
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Actually, the opposite effect should occur. VGA is analogue only and is inferior to a digital signal which both DVI and HDMI provide. Something else is going on with your connection. However, you did not provide us with enough detail about your Mac (year and model) and which version of OS X you're currently using.

We also have a very informative Sticky thread posted in our "Other Hardware" forum at the top that you might want to read through. The subject is about connecting your Mac to a TV. LINK
 
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Well this is the case. I fully expected the quality to be superior due to the digital nature of HDMI. Im normally fairly savvy about these things which is why I was surprised.

Mi only theory is that the signal from HDMI is undergoing some sort of scaling either on the TV end or the mac end, whereas the VGA signal is not.

The difference is remarkable, I would love to be able to show you. If i find the cable/when i buy another, i will try and do a comparative test.

My Mac specs are 15-inch, Early 2011 (apologies, I had this one wrong)
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Running OSX 10.8.2
 
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have tried all combinations: 1080p/1080i/scaled to other resolutions etc.

I see that you have tried different combinations. In case you have not tried it, I would offer the following:

1. Find your TV's maximum resolution (1920x1080, or whatever it is) & match the MacBook's resolution.
and/or:
2. Try a different cable.
 

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