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Question

Mac Mini > Samsung HDTV colors washed out

Mar 24, 2012 3:23AM PDT

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Just upgraded from a 2009 Mac Mini to a new one. Using HDMI, the colors are washed out and off (greenish purplish) at the default 1360 x 1768. If I pick one of the other (like 720p) the colors are right but resolution is screwy. Any thoughts.

And... Thank You.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I hope you mean
Mar 24, 2012 4:47AM PDT

I hope you mean 1360x768, but let's basically put it this way. TVs basically have three resolutions. Sometimes you'll find lower end models that have an actual resolution different from 408p, 720p, or 1080p, and they will use scaling techniques to "adjust" the image as necessary. If you have a set like that, then this will likely be a problem in the future, and there's nothing you're going to do about it short of get a new TV.

That all said, have you tried the color calibration tool in OS X? Also couldn't hurt to try a different HDMI cable. It's digital, so it shouldn't make a difference, but there's like 10 different versions of HDMI now, so if you've had the cable for a long time, it might not be up to the required spec that the Mini is going to be expecting.

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Thanks
Mar 24, 2012 8:10AM PDT

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Here's the thing - my TV works fine with my other Mac Mini. With the new one, it doesn't - either with the hdmi cable, or the hdmi to dvi adapter, and then the dvi to hdmi cable I used with the old Mac Mini (I used the MDP to DVI adapter on that one). It's perplexing that the color is good at other resolutions. No apparent settings on the TV. Brand new hdmi cable.

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Pure speculation
Mar 24, 2012 9:30AM PDT

Pure speculation here, but I would guess that somewhere in the GPU logic it is programmed to think certain resolutions are going to be for TVs, and then odd resolutions somewhere in between will be for monitors. The older Mini largely predates this sort of thing, so probably just treats all resolutions the same.

Again, that's just pure speculation, and I've got nothing to back it up. It is entirely possible that the fault is with the TV's control logic as well. The behind the scenes magic it does to try and scale images to that resolution might be messing with things. Could even be some combination of the two. If the color calibration thing doesn't help, then you may have to accept the fact that you'll either have to deal with off colors or a funky resolution. That or you get yourself a new, proper 720p or 1080p TV, not some low end faux 1080i thing.