Great outcome Neil. Good old fashioned persistence eh ! > On 26 Mar 2022, at 1:02 pm, Neil Houghton <n...@possumology.com> wrote: > > Hi Peter, > > No, only newer machine is a Macbook Air which, aside from being with Georgie > in Perth at the moment, only has USB3 ports. So no other way to test the same > monitor/lead setup. > > But, I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be the older OSX since the machine, as > bought, supposedly supported video output up to 2560x1600 through the mini > display port and it came with SL 10.6! > > > However, since Officeworks is a 15 minute walk, and since I value my ever > diminishing time on this earth, I may pass on saving a few dollars waiting > for Amazon and just buy the lead and see if it works! > > Sometime later …… Well, that DID work!! > > Both iMac and external monitor are now set at 2560x1440 and, interestingly, > the monitor display also seems much crisper and cleaner with the new cable. > > Also, a quick systems report now shows that the iMac recognises the display > as: > LEN D32qc-20: > Resolution: 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz > Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888) > Mirror: Off > Online: Yes > Rotation: Supported > Connection Type: DisplayPort > Television: Yes > > So, now I’m a happy camper and, even though the monitor only has the same > resolution as the iMac screen, the larger physical size means I don’t need > the same zoom level on Excel spreadsheets and so see more of each worksheet. > > The lesson learned is: > If you want to drive an external monitor from an older Mac with a mini > display port output you will get MUCH better results with a mini display > port to display port cable than with a mini display port to HDMI cable. > > > > Cheers > > > > > Neil > > From: <wamug.org.au-wamug-boun...@lists.wamug.org.au > <mailto:wamug.org.au-wamug-boun...@lists.wamug.org.au>> on behalf of Peter > Crisp <petercr...@westnet.com.au <mailto:petercr...@westnet.com.au>> > Reply-To: WAMUG <wamug@wamug.org.au <mailto:wamug@wamug.org.au>> > Date: Friday, 25 March 2022 at 14:26 > To: WAMUG <wamug@wamug.org.au <mailto:wamug@wamug.org.au>> > Subject: Re: [WAMUG] Cannot get external monitor to display full resolution > > Hi Neil, I read this with interest as I too have found the adaption of > external monitors with Mac’s a bit hit and miss. > > As a test, do you have on hand a late model Mac/Macbook you could see if the > later OSX is smarter in this sense and how it recognises the external monitor > when you plug it in using the leads you currently have and get the quick > systems report for the connected monitor. Your 2009 Mac is certainly high > spec but by being 2009, it is held back to older OSX versions and perhaps > this may be the issue. You may have to get yourself a late model iMac but I > wouldn’t resort to that yet. > > Pete. > > >> On 25 Mar 2022, at 1:48 pm, Neil Houghton <n...@possumology.com >> <mailto:n...@possumology.com>> wrote: >> >> OK, here is the iMac setup: >> >> Late 2009 27” iMac – top configuration, 2.8 GHz core i7, Graphics ATI Radeon >> HD 4850 512 MB >> iMac has been reconfigured with 250 GB SSD, 3TB internal drive and currently >> 20GB RAM >> Currently running El Capitan OSX 10.11.6 >> >> With the SSD and RAM upgrade this is still pretty snappy and I am frequently >> running multiple Excel spreadsheets and/or multiple browser windows with >> many tabs in each – which took me to a second monitor. >> >> For a while I had a 27” full HD 1920x1080 monitor running, which all worked >> fine but I found the discontinuity of tracking from the 2560x1440 iMac >> screen to the 1920x1080 monitor screen sufficiently annoying that I ended up >> reducing the iMac resolution to 1920x1080 to match the monitor – which I >> found much more useable. >> >> However it seemed a shame to have to resort to downgrading the iMac >> resolution – so, given that the iMac can support video output up to >> 2560x1600 - I decided to upgrade the monitor! >> >> I found a good deal on a 31.5” monitor with 2560x1440 resolution – the same >> as the iMac native resolution this was the product (though it was only $355 >> when I bought it) >> https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08J3S6BT4 >> <https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08J3S6BT4> >> >> I was pretty happy when after promising delivery by March 30 to April 11 >> they actually delivered it yesterday – 2 days after I ordered it! >> >> So all setup and ready to go – and it is all working fine EXCEPT, despite >> the monitor having 2560x1440 resolution, the maximum resolution offered in >> the OSX display preferences is 1080i, ie 1920x1080 and a quick systems >> report shows that the iMac recognises the display as: >> LEN D32qc-20: >> Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz (1080i) >> Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888) >> Mirror: Off >> Online: Yes >> Rotation: Supported >> Interlaced: Yes >> Television: Yes >> >> In my setup the monitor connection is by a direct mini display port to hdmi >> cable (no adaptors) as this was readily available when I bought my previous >> monitor. >> >> I have googled this and find that this is not an uncommon problem and not >> specific to any particular monitor but seems to be a problem with the Mac >> recognising the availability of the higher resolution of an attached >> monitor. People seem to have mixed success in resolving this problem but >> some seem to have more luck with Display port connections, rather than hdmi, >> recognising higher resolutions and this monitor does have a display port >> input as well as hdmi. >> >> So, I guess, the question is – does anyone have any experience of driving >> higher resolution monitors from older imacs? Is buying a new cable such as >> this: >> https://www.amazon.com.au/Rankie-DisplayPort-Cable-Resolution-Ready/dp/B00YOQYQWY >> >> <https://www.amazon.com.au/Rankie-DisplayPort-Cable-Resolution-Ready/dp/B00YOQYQWY> >> or this: >> https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-displayport-to-mini-displayport-4k-cable-2m-comdpdp020 >> >> <https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-displayport-to-mini-displayport-4k-cable-2m-comdpdp020> >> >> likely to solve my problem? >> >> Any feedback gratefully received! >> >> Cheers >> >> >> Neil >> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml >> <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml>> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml >> <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml>> >> Settings & Unsubscribe - >> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug >> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>> > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - Guidelines - > Settings & Unsubscribe - > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
Regards Stephen Chape Mac by choice Windows because my employer knew no better
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