A few questions about an external display

[mingspace]

I just got a big screen LCD to connect with the Macbook pro. A few questions.

1. It's a widescreen display which it means the picture is spread out. Is there a way to adjust the way it's displayed without stretching out on the mac or is this something I must do on the settings of the display unit?
2. The screen is above my macbook. So how do I make it where when I move the cursor ABOVE the screen on my macbook, it goes into the screen of the display unit? (currently, I have to move it to the right of the macbook display and it comes into the display unit on the left)
3. For some reason, the top bar shows up at the bottom of the display when I maximize a window. How do I fix this?
4. How do you implement the setting where you can close your laptop but the external screen still is on?

 

[deadpixels]

I just got a big screen LCD to connect with the Macbook pro. A few questions.

1. It's a widescreen display which it means the picture is spread out. Is there a way to adjust the way it's displayed without stretching out on the mac or is this something I must do on the settings of the display unit?
2. The screen is above my macbook. So how do I make it where when I move the cursor ABOVE the screen on my macbook, it goes into the screen of the display unit? (currently, I have to move it to the right of the macbook display and it comes into the display unit on the left)
3. For some reason, the top bar shows up at the bottom of the display when I maximize a window. How do I fix this?
4. How do you implement the setting where you can close your laptop but the external screen still is on?

1- i suppose you have to adjust the resolution on the external monitor to fix that.
2- i dont think you can change that, not sure though
3-
4- to use your laptop with closed id, you need external mouse and/or keyboard.

 

[Westside guy]

I just got a big screen LCD to connect with the Macbook pro. A few questions.

1. It's a widescreen display which it means the picture is spread out. Is there a way to adjust the way it's displayed without stretching out on the mac or is this something I must do on the settings of the display unit?
2. The screen is above my macbook. So how do I make it where when I move the cursor ABOVE the screen on my macbook, it goes into the screen of the display unit? (currently, I have to move it to the right of the macbook display and it comes into the display unit on the left)
3. For some reason, the top bar shows up at the bottom of the display when I maximize a window. How do I fix this?
4. How do you implement the setting where you can close your laptop but the external screen still is on?

1) That's odd. The external monitor is supposed to be reporting it's supported resolutions to the Mac, and the Mac should pick the right one automatically. It shouldn't be stretched out. Go to display preferences and see if the LCD's native resolution is listed.
2) Don't have an external display at home, so I can't try to answer this. Won't be back to work until Monday.
3) Like the first responder, I have no idea what you mean.
4) That should just happen, as long as you've got AC power connected anyway. Try putting your laptop to sleep first, then connecting the external display + keyboard + mouse and then waking it up. Alternatively, try hitting command+f2 after you're all set up - your display setup should get updated.

 

[mingspace]

Thanks guys. I actually resolved the issues by setting the external display resolution to 1280 x 768.

 

[mike5732]

2) You can set the position of your different displays in System Preferences under Displays. You should be able to drag the pictures of the two displays to match how they are physically arranged on your desk.

It sounds like you got all your other questions answered.

Just wondering which external display did you end up getting? Any of the black friday deals?

 

[Scottyk9]

2.

go into display preferences > Arrangement

move the screens around to the arrangement that you have
move the white bar to set the primary screen
make sure mirror displays is off (unless you have a specific reason to use this setting)

 

[mingspace]

2) You can set the position of your different displays in System Preferences under Displays. You should be able to drag the pictures of the two displays to match how they are physically arranged on your desk.

It sounds like you got all your other questions answered.

Just wondering which external display did you end up getting? Any of the black friday deals?

Olevia 26 inch LCD for 429 at compusa

 

[mingspace]

I just got a big screen LCD to connect with the Macbook pro. A few questions.

1. It's a widescreen display which it means the picture is spread out. Is there a way to adjust the way it's displayed without stretching out on the mac or is this something I must do on the settings of the display unit?
2. The screen is above my macbook. So how do I make it where when I move the cursor ABOVE the screen on my macbook, it goes into the screen of the display unit? (currently, I have to move it to the right of the macbook display and it comes into the display unit on the left)
3. For some reason, the top bar shows up at the bottom of the display when I maximize a window. How do I fix this?
4. How do you implement the setting where you can close your laptop but the external screen still is on?

I got a DVI cable for my mac and now number 1 needs to be answered again since setting it to 1280 x 768 no longer does the trick. Can anyone help?

 

[mingspace]

I got a DVI cable for my mac and now number 1 needs to be answered again since setting it to 1280 x 768 no longer does the trick. Can anyone help?

Here are the stats on my monitor. Help!!!


Physical Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (Widescreen)
Display Resolution: 1366 x 768
Contrast Ratio: 1600 :1