Desktop and fonts not as clear as Windows

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2012 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM
Okay, so here's my first disappoint with my Mac Mini. I have a Windows 7 PC connected to the same monitor (PC via DVI and Mac Mini via HDMI). Both displaying at 1080p resolution.

The Windows 7 desktop looks crisp and clear. The fonts are ultrasharp and neat. The Mac Mini desktop looks a but bland and out-of-date. The display is a little rough and blurry on shape edges and the fonts don't look clear. Even as i'm typing this post into Firefox on my Mac Mini, the text is not sharp and clear.

I really was under the impression that the Mac interface was all about the graphics! Any ideas on whether this is just something I have to live with or whether it can be improved?
 
C

chas_m

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You can certainly adjust the font crispness in the appearance control panel.

You may want to also adjust the gamma on the Mac mini -- Macs have a higher (superior) gamma to PCs and since you're used to the darker PC standard it may not "look right" to you until you adjust this, which you do under "displays" in System Preferences.
 
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1.8 GHz i7 MBA 11" OSX 10.8.2
What type of monitor is it? I've had a blurry font problem when using HP monitors (and I believe there was someone else on this forum that had a similar blurry font problem on another HP monitor)
Mac Screen Looking Blurry? Optimize & Troubleshoot Font Smoothing in Mac OS X
I tried everything on that page and the monitor still looked horrible. The only reason I know that it was the monitor was because I hooked the same computer to a Dell monitor and everything looked fine.
 
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It's a Dell 2709W connected at 1920x1200 (via HDMI for the Mac Mini).
 
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A quick update: i've actually turned OFF LCD font smoothing and it is a little better, but still a far cry in terms of clarity from my Windows 7 desktop.
 
M

MacInWin

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Have you tried the mac into the DVI port? That is the real way to compare apples and apples. Not saying it will be the fix, but just thought that maybe the port is somehow contributing.
 
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Have you tried the mac into the DVI port? That is the real way to compare apples and apples. Not saying it will be the fix, but just thought that maybe the port is somehow contributing.

No, I have not yet. I'm not sure how i'd connect it to my second DVI-D inout on my monitor. I have an HDMI to DVI adapter in the box that the Mac mini came in. I guess I would still use the HDMI out and then the adaper and then a DVI cable to the monitor?

In the meantime I have done a quick calibration of the display and the colours and contrast have vastly improved. But I guess I should try DVI-D.
 
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21" iMac * 2.8 Ghz Intel Core i7 * 16GB 1333 Mhz DDR3 * 1TB HD *AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
Also, what is the screen resolution coming from your Mac Mini? You can change it in System Settings under Displays.
 
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^ It's 1920 x 1200 which is native resolution of the my monitor.
 
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[SOLVED] I finally resolved my font clarity issue. I used the supplied HDMI to DVI-D lead and used the DVI-D input on my monitor. The difference was remarkable. The display is very sharp and clear now, It does seem that HDMI to HDMI is really only useful for video. DVI-D works very well for text.
 

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