displaying on my TV

I have a 2.16 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac 24" running Lion with 4 GB Ram, and a Samsung LCD TV with a Samsung blu-ray disc player.

The back of the TV has a in for a mini-HDMI so I have hooked up a mini HDMI to HDMI jack converter from my iMac into the TV. I can bring up the computer on the TV but I just get the screen saver display of the universe that comes with Lion.

How do I bring up the desktop?

Are you seeing the screensaver or a desktop pattern? There's a difference. It might give us a clue to the solution. With the TV connected open the Displays [reference pane and click the "Arrangement" tab.

1. If you want to have the TV show the same thing that is on your screen click the "Mirror Displays" box.
2. If you want the TV to be used as extra screen space leave 'Mirror Displays" unchecked.
3. Now close the preference pane and try dragging a program window over to the TV screen.

Thanks Slydude,

To answer you question,
It is the desktop pattern.

Wow, I really appreciate the help. You made my day! Your instructions were excellent. I have been trying to do that for awhile.

You're welcome. Glad that helped sort things out.

Here's a tip that I forgot to put in that may come in handy. It only works if you have some type of external display (TV, monitor, etc) connected otherwise the "Arrangement" tab isn't there.

Let's assume for the moment that your TV screen is physically located to the left of your Mac and that when you drag windows from your Mac to the left they don't go to the TV. Click on one of the blue squares in the "Arrangement" tab and the border of one of the displays will turn red.

The icon you clicked on is the one representing the screen that turned red. By moving the boxes around you can tell the Mac where the TV is in relation to itself. You can rearrange the boxes so that the one representing the TV is in the correct location. Now when you want something on the TV drag the window in the direction of the TV.

If you stay connected to the TV you will discover that if you move a program's window to the TV and then close the program most programs remember that and go back to the TV when you re-open it.

Slydude said:

You're welcome. Glad that helped sort things out.

Here's a tip that I forgot to put in that may come in handy. It only works if you have some type of external display (TV, monitor, etc) connected otherwise the "Arrangement" tab isn't there.

Click to expand...

I noticed that.
Thanks for the detailed explanations.