Second Display Problems

I have a 24" Imac Intel 2.16Ghz, it has a mini-DVI port on the back. I bought the mini-DVI to Video Adapter to plug into my TV. The Imac recognised it straight away but I need to mirror the display and this is where I have a problem... Once i choose mirror the resolution on my Imac screen changes also... Anyway, I bring up the display preferences and I get two boxes come up, one for the Imac and one for the second display. I set the second display to its max setting which works great (1024x768) and in the other box I can choose my Imac setting and I choose its usual setting (1920x1200) except that what I get is a small screen in the middle of my 24" Screen with Black Bars all around it?!?!? How can i get it to fill the screen? Why WHY is it doing this!!

Please Help!
Thanks,
Yianni1066

Is Apple Crap?

How is it that no-one has answered this question?? I wonder... I found another post dating a few years ago on here with an extremely similar question and again, no answers!

I must assume that there are no answers because no one knows how or why. An EXTREMELY simple thing to do on a PC isn't possible on a Mac! What a load of FLUFFY AND MOIST BLUEBERRY FLAPJACKS!!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! MY 10yr old PC could do this. I just feel STUPID now spending £1700 on this (Gorgeous) Imac when I could have had a (Practical) PC for £700 and I could do what I need to do on it!!!!

I WANT MY £1000 back.

I'd imagine it's because your TV is not capable of the same resolution as your monitor, so it's switching the monitor to the nearest resolution that is compatible. If this is the case then it's probably because the internal graphics card on the iMac doesn't have the same output capabilities as the card on your vastly superior 10 year old PC.

Judging by your outburst, perhaps you might be better off with your PC. And given that this is an international board, where some people are not even up yet, you should give people a little more time before ranting about not getting a reply.

Good luck with that PC.

Finally got a response from Apple. Basically, because Apple have the automatic detect ability there is no way as far as they know how u can get the graphics card to chuck out a signal only. The mac needs to determine the monitor and selects suitable resolutions. If the resolution is high the card does not have genuine and seperate 2 monitor outputs, they are all driven by one so you must sacrifice resolution on your primary screen!!!!

The graphics card on my PC may not be superior but it can drive 2 monitors independantly of the other without sacrificing the other, the Imac CANNOT do this.

THIS IS LAME!!

I used to plug in a tv distribution amp into my PC and all i did was tell the PC what resolution to pump out. The PC didnt care whether I had a monitor that could handle it it just did what it was told. The Imac on the other hand WILL NOT do this, as the amp will not be recognised by the Imac it will do NOTHING! Where is the manual OVERIDE SWITCH.

This gives PC users better use, connectivity and more control.

Yianni1066 said:

Finally got a response from Apple. Basically, because Apple have the automatic detect ability there is no way as far as they know how u can get the graphics card to chuck out a signal only. The mac needs to determine the monitor and selects suitable resolutions. If the resolution is high the card does not have genuine and seperate 2 monitor outputs, they are all driven by one so you must sacrifice resolution on your primary screen!!!!

The graphics card on my PC may not be superior

Click to expand...

By the sounds of it, it is. The iMac has a laptop-class graphics card.

but it can drive 2 monitors independantly of the other without sacrificing the other, the Imac CANNOT do this.

Click to expand...

Utterly and completely wrong. My iMac is driving two monitors with different resolutions even as I type. What you mean is that the iMac cannot mirror one monitor to a second one with a different resolution. My PC (and very probably yours too) can't do that either, the picture is presented at a different, and almost unreadable resolution on the TV as the TV is not capable of displaying the resolution of my monitor. The PC graphics card has a TV encoder for doing this. When I did what you are trying, it gave me a headache from an unviewable display.

Please check your facts before coming in here and ranting.

THIS IS LAME!!

*blah blah blah*

This gives PC users better use, connectivity and more control.

Click to expand...

Good for them - perhaps you should stick with your PC? Or would you like a long list of the things my iMac can do which my PC can't?

LOL!! who's ranting?? I know how good Apple are, all i did was ask the question and got a response saying I couldnt do it, something which is simple on the PC, it is beyond belief!! You obviously took it quite badly you must be somekind of Apple fanatic who will defend them no matter what they do even when what they do is LAME!

Yeah, you're right the problem is with the mirror mode and maybe what I want is an unreadable resolution, the point is that on the PC I HAVE THAT OPTION!! I do not have that option on the mac. What I want is not to use the TV as a monitor for surfing the web etc... Im just going to play movies on it and I have found that no matter how bad the resolution to the TV, movies ALWAYS LOOK GREAT!! But on the MAC the moment I plug in the TV it messes my primary screen and I can not have the standard 1920x1200 res. WHY?!? My PC drives my primary monitor at its normal resolution and when I plug in a second screen my primary monitor stays the same, it doesnt change at all and I have arrange to choose from for the second screen, no matter HOW BAD the res is I CAN DO IT!!

Also, I have been an apple user for years, I own a 17" PB, 24" Imac, my wife has a MB all over an AEBS and I have an Iphone, so you dont need to tell me how good they are, all im saying is that the above is... and it is... LAME!

Yianni1066 said:

LOL!! who's ranting?? I know how good Apple are, all i did was ask the question and got a response saying I couldnt do it, something which is simple on the PC, it is beyond belief!! You obviously took it quite badly you must be somekind of Apple fanatic who will defend them no matter what they do even when what they do is LAME!

Click to expand...

Nope. I don't (and didn't) defend them no matter what they do, and I am not a fanatic, thank you. I pointed out that one part of your post was factually inaccurate, and I explained why you couldn't do what you wanted in the way you wanted.

As I said, it is "simple" depending on the capabilities of your graphics card; your PC graphics card has a better TV output that your iMac - this isn't "lame", it's just the way it is.

Yianni1066 said:

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! MY 10yr old PC could do this.

Click to expand...

10 years ago, very few video cards were capable of running a 1920x1200 resolution. The ones that did were expensive and certainly not standard.

Yianni1066 said:

The PC didnt care whether I had a monitor that could handle it it ...The Imac on the other hand WILL NOT do this

Click to expand...

Windows may have more "control", but allowing software to override hardware's limitations isn't always a good thing. Personally, I would rather have the software make the appropriate judgement and maintain the integrity of the hardware's ability, rather than risk damage or a shortened lifespan.

no matter how bad the resolution to the TV, movies ALWAYS LOOK GREAT!

Click to expand...

... Ever wonder why?
Televisions and computer monitors are very different.
Computer monitors and TVs differ in the following very important ways:

Color: Computer monitors and television screens generate colors differently. This means that colors that look fine on your computer may not look so hot when viewed on a TV.

Pixel shape: Pixels on computer monitors are square, but the pixels in TV images are slightly rectangular. Basically this means that some images that look okay on your computer may appear slightly stretched or squeezed on a TV. (this is why the resolution is lowered when using the TV with a computer in a mirrored mode. The computer attempts to compensate for the inconsistency in an effort to make the picture "work" for both screens.)

Interlacing: TV video images are usually interlaced, whereas computer monitors draw images by using progressive scanning. (With progressive scan, an image is captured, transmitted and displayed in a path similar to text on a page: line by line, from top to bottom. The interlaced scan pattern in a TV display completes such a scan too, but only for every second line.
Side by Side Comparison Example

So, forcing a TV to act like a monitor (which is what happens when you hook it up to your computer) isn't the best thing to do. Sure Windows may let you do this, but that doesn't mean it is the best thing for it or even the "right" thing to do.

If you only intend to use the second display to view movies, then you are better off using a monitor since this will allow you to use the higher resolution.
Better yet, just move the video app's viewer window to the second display and then fullscreen it. This is what I do with VLC when I watch movies with my computer. I just move the app to the 24" WS display and fullscreen it... works fine for me.