Connecting MacBook Pro to Dell 24' wide screen

Alright, I've found a way to sorta fix the issue. Not really a fix per se, but if you set it up under arrangement tab and NOT check on Mirror Display and move the topbar/taskbar to use the 2407WFP as the main display, the picture is perfect and beautiful. The only downside to this is that the MBP display is used as a secondary display. When you check mirror display is goes back to the the fuzzy, blurry image.

This is sorta of a fix, but my intention of using the dell display is to have the MBP display completely off and disabled so that I can reduce wear on it. Anyone have a solution to this?

I've found two links that shows how to disable the the MBP display and use the Dell at it's full resolution. Here they are:

http://www.livingdigitally.net/2006/10/using_an_extern.html

http://forums.macnn.com/69/macbook-pro-and-powerbook/335483/how-disable-mbp-screen-while-using/

I have not yet confirmed either, simple cause I have to speak with the adviser at school. I'll try it out when I get back. Hope it helps some of you out.

Well, it's a good thing I called the campus to confirm my appointment, it turns out the adviser I was going to see is not in today. Her assistant said she was just about to call me to let me know, she should really consider calling well over an hour before the apointment!

Anyways, I can confirm that if you plug in the external display to the MBP and then turn the system on and quickly shut the lid, the external display does work @ its full resolution. I'm typing this now using my MBP and the display on the MBP is completely inactive and disabled. You can still use the keyboard(Obviously) and the touchpad.

There have been some word that using the MBP with the lid closed can ruin the display because of the trapped heat between the keyboard and the display. I do not want to be the guinea pig to test that out, so Ill be keeping the lid open.

Hope this has helped some of you guys out.

Thanks!

SoundsGood said:

xstep, do you have a new Macbook Pro (with the new LED screen) or an older MBP?

Click to expand...

As it says under my username to the left, I have an original MBP Core Duo. ;D

kman79 said:

Alright, I've found a way to sorta fix the issue. Not really a fix per se, but if you set it up under arrangement tab and NOT check on Mirror Display and move the topbar/taskbar to use the 2407WFP as the main display, the picture is perfect and beautiful. The only downside to this is that the MBP display is used as a secondary display. When you check mirror display is goes back to the the fuzzy, blurry image.

Click to expand...

If you're mirroring your laptop display on a different resolution external monitor, then of course the image will not be to its potental. In your case you are taking a smaller image and scaling it up, 30% from 15" MBP, 14% from the standard 17" MBP.

The only MBP that shouldn't display that effect with your monitor is the new MBP 17" with the optional 1920x1200 screen.

So, which laptop do you have?

I'm also interesting in knowing if the original posters with the blury 'problem' have tried my suggestion. I'm really wondering if what they are seeing is the difference in font rendering techniques between Apple and Microsoft. Perhaps their silence says it is?

Your probably right, in my hurry to get it working with just the External display alone, I just quickly assumed that "Mirroring" simply meant duplicate the image shown on the MBP screen onto the external display. Didn't consider it would actually try to match the resolution. Excuse my ignorance

It looks great for now, just waiting for DHL to drop off my KVM switch. Oh and in my case, everything was blurry, both icons and text. What i did notice by messing with the settings is that there is a Mac Setting on the 2407WFP, but it simply just changed the color settings/temperature

i have a 3 year old 20" dell ultrasharp and a 22" westinghouse and my new mbp works fine on both

mine works fine

I have my new 15 inch 2.2 ghz connected to my 37 inch Sharp T.V and I haven't had any problems.

I have a Dell 2007WFP and even using the technique described above and the monitor running at it's full resolution the picture is still not "great".
by this I mean the colors a not that bright, the text and graphics are blurry, and it generally does not look the best it could be,
I know there isn't something wrong with the display because I also have a PC hooked up to it and the picture is crystal clear

Does anybody know what could be causing this?
Thanks

BTW: I am using a DVI cable

I ran into the same problem when I tried to connect my macbook pro to my 32" widescreen tv. I first used a DVI to HDMI cable and the picture was blurry...then I used the converter that came with my computer and a VGA cable and had the same problem...but you can adjust the resolution of the second monitor once you dectect new monitors just click the icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen and just match the resolution to the dell monitor...you might have restart your computer after you connect the monitor for it to recognize the new display....sorry if this isn't clear....but i did it a while ago and kind of stumbled into the solution...

well, glad to know I'm not alone as well. I thought about installing windows just to check if this was just a case of underpowered video output. But apparently is not. I have the same problem. The resolution is set fine at 1900x1200 but there's something not right with the display. the text seems slightly unfocused and the whole thing causes fatigue after a while.

I tried messing around with the color config but I couldn't make it that much better.

any other ideas?

-deleted-

no sorry, no other bright ideas. I've actually had a lot of trouble with external monitors and the macbook pro...i don't know what the deal was...i'll post something if I come across a solution...

Well i have a sony 46" hdtv and i run my mbp, in my sig, and i use vga with the convertor from apple and the picture is fine...i don't know why it should be blurry.

it's not slurry by any means. It's just a matter of a slight "unfocusness" in the text and backgrounds. This is perfectly fine for a temporary solution or a presentation of some sorts but it's definitely unusable as a permanent workstation. I'm considering trading the MBP for one of the new 24" imacs of this is a general problem.

i know that PC laptops have underpowered VGA outputs but I thought that DVI would solve that problem. Apparently not.

oh sorry i remember what i did now...i could never get it to work with mac os but i run parallels so i just made windows full screen on the second monitor (my tv) and adjusted the the windows screen resolution in the control panel until it looked right, but I never could get the mac side to show up right....this probably doesn't help you but at least i don't feel like i'm losing my mind!

I'm trying to view a MBP on a 60" Sony via DVI-HDMI.
I get a splendid image of my MBP background, but nothing else that I bring up on the laptop will display on the tv.

Suggestions?