External LCD Display Resolution Problem

gooshy · May 26, 2007

I have my ViewSonic 20.1" display hooked up via vga - mini dvi connector to my 1.86Ghz macbook. I can get the laptop display to run normally and the external lcd to display 1600x1200. The native res for the external display is 1680x1050 but I cannot get this to happen. I have tried detecting displays etc but the resolution is not available to select. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

EDIT-XTREEM · May 26, 2007

Gooshy,
The macbook can only run an external monitor at its internal res with out a hack. The internal res of a macbook is 1280 by 800, so you will only be able to get the external res to 1280 by 800.

walkerj · May 26, 2007

EDIT-XTREEM said:
Gooshy,
The macbook can only run an external monitor at its internal res with out a hack. The internal res of a macbook is 1280 by 800, so you will only be able to get the external res to 1280 by 800.

That is incorrect. I routinely run a 4:3 external 20" CRT at 1600 x 1200 simultaneously with my internal Macbook display at 1280 x 800. I also on occasion drive a 37" HDTV at 1443 x 768 (those numbers may be slightly wrong, but that's about what they are.) Heck, even my wife's old Mac Mini will drive the TV at that resolution.

No hacks, just plug in the Mini DVI - VGA dongle and it figures out to do the right thing. As for getting that extra 50 pixels and the proper widescreen aspect ratio for the external monitor I'm not sure. I don't have a widescreen monitor with which to test. Perhaps the monitor isn't reporting it's capabilities properly to the Mac? A Macbook should be able to drive an external monitor up to something on the order of 19XX x something much bigger according to specs I've read and promptly forgotten.

kgeier82 · May 26, 2007

EDIT-XTREEM said:
Gooshy,
The macbook can only run an external monitor at its internal res with out a hack. The internal res of a macbook is 1280 by 800, so you will only be able to get the external res to 1280 by 800.

plain wrong...

my internal runs at 1280x800, and my external at 1680x1050

kgeier82 · May 26, 2007

gooshy said:
I have my ViewSonic 20.1" display hooked up via vga - mini dvi connector to my 1.86Ghz macbook. I can get the laptop display to run normally and the external lcd to display 1600x1200. The native res for the external display is 1680x1050 but I cannot get this to happen. I have tried detecting displays etc but the resolution is not available to select. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

if its a 1680x1050 display, it shouldnt be able to run 1600x1200. thats 150pixels too tall!

have u tried to unplug replug it during boot?

gooshy · May 26, 2007

kgeier82 said:
if its a 1680x1050 display, it shouldnt be able to run 1600x1200. thats 150pixels too tall!

have u tried to unplug replug it during boot?

I have tried unplugging and replugging the display but it isnt detecting the display is widescreen. The display is correctly detected in windows and I have had it working on Ubuntu/kubuntu.

Does mac os have the equivalent of an Xconf.org where the settings can be manualy setup?

Thanks for the help so far.

Aptmunich · May 26, 2007

EDIT-XTREEM said:
Gooshy,
The macbook can only run an external monitor at its internal res with out a hack. The internal res of a macbook is 1280 by 800, so you will only be able to get the external res to 1280 by 800.

That used to be the case with iBooks, they could only use "mirror" mode unless you applied a patch.

Does mac os have the equivalent of an Xconf.org where the settings can be manualy setup?

You might need to use a 3rd party utility to get your resolution to show up:

http://www.3dexpress.de/index.html

There's another one out there as well, I can't think of the name at the moment though...

bobtomay · May 26, 2007

That 3rd party app Aptmunich has above may do it.

The MB should support this resolution though, especially since this is the native resolution of Apple's 20" display also.

Must be something to do with the way the EFI is translating the info being reported by the monitor. You could try 1280 x 800 and see how that works for you. This is the next size down that will give you the same aspect.

gooshy · May 26, 2007

Aptmunich said:
You might need to use a 3rd party utility to get your resolution to show up:

http://www.3dexpress.de/index.html

There's another one out there as well, I can't think of the name at the moment though...

Thanks I'll have a look and see if it helps. It looks a lot more detailed than the default mac version.

kgeier82 · May 26, 2007

i would think maybe a problem with the monitor telling the laptop what it "should" run at. im not sure how it all works, but ive never had a problem with a mb/mbp and a 1680x1050 lcd

greensun · Oct 31, 2011

I have the same issue. 1920x1080 monitor only displaying 1600x900.

DisplayConfigX
doesn't work on 10.7.

RustProofCorn · Oct 31, 2011

greensun said:
I have the same issue. 1920x1080 monitor only displaying 1600x900.

DisplayConfigX
doesn't work on 10.7.

Try running in clamshell mode to see if you get the correct res on your monitor

Lampghost · Nov 6, 2011

greensun said:
I have the same issue. 1920x1080 monitor only displaying 1600x900.

DisplayConfigX
doesn't work on 10.7.

You are probably using a vga cable? These dont support resolutions higher than that, use a dvi cable and it will work on full hd res.

joinedtothanku · May 28, 2015

Thank you

RustProofCorn said:
Try running in clamshell mode to see if you get the correct res on your monitor

OMG this worked immediately thank you so much, if only all of life's problems had solutions this simple!!!!

THANK YOU!!!