External display not working at native resolution

kungfusnwbrdr · Jun 24, 2009

Hello! Recently bought a new MacBook Pro 17" and ran into a problem when trying to get my 24" Hyundai (W240D) display working. It is recognized by my Mac but the display properties does not give me the option of choosing the native resolution of the monitor, which is 1920x1200. Wondering if anybody has any suggestions. I've tried making the external display my main display and closing my MBP screen, but that did not make any difference. Thanks.

bobtomay · Jun 24, 2009

Need more info - specifically what connection are you using? What resolution options is it providing?

Likely if you are going in through HDMI, the highest available is going to be 1920x1080 and maybe not even that as some manufacturers EDID info from HDMI does not report the proper info to computers.

If you're going in via VGA, you'll need to check the manual. Most decent manufacturers will provide a detail page of the resolutions accepted through the VGA port.

Would think if you're going from mini-display port to DVI it should be working.

edit: Found the owner's manual - this set should support 1920x1200 via both VGA and DVI. It will not accept that resolution via HDMI.
If you are using either of the first 2, I'd give Hyundai IT support a call or try SwitchResX. The manual does provide very good detail of resolution and frequency settings. Hyundai is providing separate drivers for the monitor for Windows only - which leads me to believe that it is not transmitting the proper EDID info.

kungfusnwbrdr · Jun 24, 2009

Thanks for the reply. I am using a MiniDisplay to DVI. This works just fine with my $1000 PC laptop, but is not working with my new $2700 MBP. :Grimmace:

I'm on the phone with Apple Support and they are gathering log information for backline engineers. I've never had to call tech support before on a display issue on my PCs. This is very frustrating, especially to a new MacBook owner. :Shouting:

I will try giving Hyundai tech support a call, but I've been around computers long enough to know that they are just going to blame the MacBook just as the first Apple representative tried to blame the display. :Not-Amused:

I'm being told that in 10.5.7, which is what I'm running, that some display resolutions were removed. Why? He didn't know. But that I could try re-installing 10.5.6 to see if that fixes the issue. Wait? What? :Confused:

Re-install an operating system because of a display issue? :Angry-Tongue:

I think I'd rather take my MBP back before spending hours to re-install OS X, then Parallels and any other applications blown away by the re-install.

"...everything just works with a Mac..." ;D

Seems I'm putting that to the test here... :Not-Amused:

Well, I guess I'll wait 3-5 business days to see what their backline engineers have to say.

kungfusnwbrdr · Jun 24, 2009

Hi, so I installed SwitchResX and pulled the EDID info, here it is. No luck yet in playing with SwitchResX to get the display to work, I've tried setting a custom resolution but it never becomes available even after a restart. :Grimmace:

*I pulled out all the raw data blocks to keep my character count under the limit for posts.

Code:

DDC block report generated by SwitchResX version 3.8.7 for display
W240D DVI (2)


TRUNCATED...

-----------------------------------------------------
	Valid EDID block: checksum passed

-----------------------------------------------------
------------------- MAIN EDID BLOCK -----------------
-----------------------------------------------------

EDID Version........1.3
Manufacturer........HIT
Product Code........893 (037D) (7D03) 
Serial Number.......01324143

Manufactured........Week 30 of year 2007
Max H Size..........52 cm
Max V Size..........32 cm
Gamma...............2.20

Display Supported Features:
---------------------------


Display type:
------------- 
	RGB 4:4:4 & YCrCb 4:4:4 Color Encoding Formats
	Display is non continuous frequency
	Default color space is not sRGB standard
	Preferred timing mode includes Native Pixel Format


Input signal & sync:
-------------------- 
Digital Input
	Color Bit Depth is undefined 
	Digital Interface is not defined   


Color info:
----------- 
Red x = 0.640  Green x = 0.300  Blue x = 0.150  White x = 0.313
Red y = 0.330  Green y = 0.608  Blue y = 0.060  White y = 0.329

Established Timings:
-------------------- 
		720 x 400 @ 70Hz
		640 x 480 @ 60Hz
		640 x 480 @ 72Hz
		640 x 480 @ 75Hz
		800 x 600 @ 60Hz
		800 x 600 @ 72Hz
		800 x 600 @ 75Hz
		1024 x 768 @ 60Hz
		1024 x 768 @ 70Hz
		1024 x 768 @ 75Hz
		1280 x 1024 @ 75Hz

Manufacturer Reserved Timings:
------------------------------ 

Standard Timing Identification:
------------------------------- 
	#0:	1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz 	(D100)
	#1:	1600 x 1200 @ 60Hz 	(A940)
	#2:	1680 x 1050 @ 60Hz 	(B300)
	#3:	1280 x 1024 @ 60Hz 	(8180)

Monitor Description blocks:
--------------------------- 
	Descriptor #0 is Timing definition:
	Mode = 1920 x 1200 @ 59.950Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 154.00 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active.................. 1920 pixels		1200 lines
		Front Porch.............   48 pixels		   3 lines
		Sync Width..............   32 pixels		   6 lines
		Back Porch..............   80 pixels		  26 lines
		Blanking................  160 pixels		  35 lines
		Total................... 2080 pixels		1235 lines
		Scan Rate...............  74.038 kHz		 59.950 Hz

		Image Size..............  520 mm		 320 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Negative vertical polarity
				* Positive horizontal polarity

	Descriptor #1 is Timing definition:
	Mode = 1600 x 1200 @ 60.000Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 162.00 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active.................. 1600 pixels		1200 lines
		Front Porch.............   64 pixels		   1 lines
		Sync Width..............  192 pixels		   3 lines
		Back Porch..............  304 pixels		  46 lines
		Blanking................  560 pixels		  50 lines
		Total................... 2160 pixels		1250 lines
		Scan Rate...............  75.000 kHz		 60.000 Hz

		Image Size..............  520 mm		 320 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Positive vertical polarity
				* Positive horizontal polarity

	Descriptor #2 is Monitor limits:
		Horizontal frequency range.......30-83 kHz
		Vertical frequency range.........59-76 Hz
		Maximum bandwidth unspecified

	Descriptor #3 is Monitor name:
			W240D DVI


-----------------------------------------------------
------------ EXTENSION EDID BLOCK   1 ---------------
-----------------------------------------------------

CEA-EXT: CEA 861 Series Extension:
----------------------------------
	Revision:..............................3
	First DTD block at offset..............24
	Display Supports:
		basic audio
		YCbCr 4:4:4
		YCbCr 4:2:2

Data Block Collection:......1
	Video Type: standard CEA Timings
	#1: 1920 x 1080p @ 59.94/60Hz - 16:9 is native (16)
	#2: 1920 x 1080i @ 50Hz - 16:9 is not native (20)
	#3: 1280 x 720p @ 50Hz - 16:9 is not native (19)
	#4: 720 x 576p @ 50Hz - 16:9 is not native (18)
	#5: 1920 x 1080i @ 59.94/60Hz - 16:9 is not native (5)
	#6: 1280 x 720p @ 59.94/60Hz - 16:9 is not native (4)
	#7: 720 x 480p @ 59.94/60Hz - 16:9 is not native (3)
	#8: 720 x 480p @ 59.94/60Hz - 4:3 is not native (2)
	#9: 640 x 480p @ 59.94/60Hz - 4:3 is not native (1)

Data Block Collection:......2
	Audio Type - not interpreted

Data Block Collection:......3
	Speaker allocation - not interpreted

Data Block Collection:......4
	Vendor specific - not interpreted

Detailed Timing Blocks - 1 are native

	Detailed Timing Block #1 - Timing definition:
	Mode = 720 x 576 @ 50.000Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 27.00 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active..................  720 pixels		 576 lines
		Front Porch.............   12 pixels		   5 lines
		Sync Width..............   64 pixels		   5 lines
		Back Porch..............   68 pixels		  39 lines
		Blanking................  144 pixels		  49 lines
		Total...................  864 pixels		 625 lines
		Scan Rate...............  31.250 kHz		 50.000 Hz

		Image Size..............  531 mm		 398 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Negative vertical polarity
				* Negative horizontal polarity

	Detailed Timing Block #2 - Timing definition:
	Mode = 1920 x 540 @ 60.053Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 74.25 MHz		Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active.................. 1920 pixels		 540 lines
		Front Porch.............   88 pixels		   2 lines
		Sync Width..............   44 pixels		   5 lines
		Back Porch..............  148 pixels		  15 lines
		Blanking................  280 pixels		  22 lines
		Total................... 2200 pixels		 562 lines
		Scan Rate...............  33.750 kHz		 60.053 Hz

		Image Size..............  708 mm		 398 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Positive vertical polarity
				* Positive horizontal polarity

	Detailed Timing Block #3 - Timing definition:
	Mode = 1280 x 720 @ 60.000Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 74.25 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active.................. 1280 pixels		 720 lines
		Front Porch.............  110 pixels		   5 lines
		Sync Width..............   40 pixels		   5 lines
		Back Porch..............  220 pixels		  20 lines
		Blanking................  370 pixels		  30 lines
		Total................... 1650 pixels		 750 lines
		Scan Rate...............  45.000 kHz		 60.000 Hz

		Image Size..............  708 mm		 398 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Positive vertical polarity
				* Positive horizontal polarity

	Detailed Timing Block #4 - Timing definition:
	Mode = 720 x 480 @ 59.940Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 27.00 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active..................  720 pixels		 480 lines
		Front Porch.............   16 pixels		   9 lines
		Sync Width..............   62 pixels		   6 lines
		Back Porch..............   60 pixels		  30 lines
		Blanking................  138 pixels		  45 lines
		Total...................  858 pixels		 525 lines
		Scan Rate...............  31.469 kHz		 59.940 Hz

		Image Size..............  708 mm		 398 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Negative vertical polarity
				* Negative horizontal polarity

	Detailed Timing Block #5 - Timing definition:
	Mode = 720 x 480 @ 59.940Hz
		Pixel Clock............. 27.00 MHz		Non-Interlaced

		                        Horizontal		Vertical
		Active..................  720 pixels		 480 lines
		Front Porch.............   16 pixels		   9 lines
		Sync Width..............   62 pixels		   6 lines
		Back Porch..............   60 pixels		  30 lines
		Blanking................  138 pixels		  45 lines
		Total...................  858 pixels		 525 lines
		Scan Rate...............  31.469 kHz		 59.940 Hz

		Image Size..............  531 mm		 398 mm
		Border..................    0 pixels		   0 lines

			Sync: Digital separate with
				* Negative vertical polarity
				* Negative horizontal polarity

kungfusnwbrdr · Jun 24, 2009

Ok, so my co-worker and also a long time Mac user, found a thread about this problem on Apple's forums. Apparently this has been an issue since early May. One of the users posted some nice directions on using SwitchResX and I followed them setting the Timing Parameters to match those as listed in my exported EDID information. I could get the new resolution to show up, but it would still not function correctly. If this is a known issue since early May, I'd like to know why Apple has still not provided a fix to this?!?!

I've called the Apple store and will be bringing my MBP and display into the store for them to look at, but I suspect I've gone deeper than they will so it might be a waste of time. I may see if we can get a 10.5.6 laptop to work properly, and if that works see if I can get them to give me a new laptop with 10.5.6 and just migrate my data and applications.

bobtomay · Jun 24, 2009

Wow, first I've heard of issues using DVI.

As much as I like my Mac, there are problems using one via HDMI and a HDTV without SwitchResX. Mine will not work with any HDTV that I've tried it on without having either black bars top and bottom or no access to the menu bar at the top of the screen. Meanwhile all my Win boxes work perfectly fine with them (and Linux also).

Via HDMI, this has been an issue for the 2 1/2 years I've had mine. Maybe if the problem is now affecting DVI, they'll do something to fix it.

After reading your link, Apple needs to start giving the SwitchResX folks some cash.

kungfusnwbrdr · Jun 25, 2009

I've managed to get it working with SwitchResX but it seems spotty. When I woke my MBP up after a while my external display was all messed up. I ended up having to switch the resolution down and then back again. Even still I'm seeing an occasional flash on my external display. I will keep working with it since SwitchResX is free for 10 days and hopefully Apple support with have some more news.