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Bringing Mac Mini 2012 GPU to display higher resolution than native

C

Cox Orange

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 1, 2010
1,814
241
Hello,

I have an old AMW x1900ds Monitor with 1280x1024 native resolution. When I hooked it up to my PowerMac G4 with a (flashed) ATI Radeon 9200 Pro 128MB (Mac OS X 10.4.), I was able to select a higher resolution than the native resolution. It was 16..x something.

Someone told me that this could be a case that is known as "downsampling" in the gaming world.

Why can't the Mini (2012) do this?

I know, I could just buy a bigger screen / with bigger resolution, but still the question remains.

Is there maybe a way to do it?
 
It is LCD.

opeter said:
Because on the LCD, you cannot select higher resolutions, than your native res.
Click to expand...
Then why was I able to select higher than native res. ob the same monitor connected to the Mac with ATI 9200 and I am not when connected to the Mini?
The answer in your link seems to indicate, that the res. is only shown in the list, becauseit is in the RAM, but the native res. is still displayed on the screen. Then why does it look different?
 
Cox Orange said:
It is LCD.


Then why was I able to select higher than native res. ob the same monitor connected to the Mac with ATI 9200 and I am not when connected to the Mini?
The answer in your link seems to indicate, that the res. is only shown in the list, becauseit is in the RAM, but the native res. is still displayed on the screen. Then why does it look different?
Click to expand...
It might be because the video card in your PowerMac could not recognise the monitor's supported resolutions correctly. When you set a resolution higher than native, it significantly impacts quality of image. It's not a good thing to do.
 
The supported resolutions offered are the same as in the manufacturer's document... despite the 1600x1024, which is only offered on the ATI 9200 in the PM G4.
 
PowerMac G4, ATI Radeon 9200 Pro 128MB, VGA+DVI. Connected via VGA to VGA.
Mac Mini 2012, Intel HD4000, hdmi+thunderbolt. Connected via Adapter hdmi to DVI.

Monitor has VGA and DVI.


In other words:

ATI VGA <----------------------> VGA Monitor
Mac Mini hdmi <--------adapter------> DVI Monitor.
 
Cox Orange said:
ATI VGA <----------------------> VGA Monitor
Mac Mini hdmi <--------adapter------> DVI Monitor.
Click to expand...

Well, there's your answer.

The analog interface (VGA) is allowing whatever your display card is capable of because it isn't sure of the capability of the monitor.

The digital interface (DVI) is limiting you to the maximum resolution of the monitor.
 
Ah, I see. OK.

I guess using a hdmi to VGA adapter wouldn't change anything, because the "source" is digital, right? I know, of course no one would do that.
 
Cox Orange said:
Someone told me that this could be a case that is known as "downsampling" in the gaming world.
Click to expand...

Set your resolution native to whatever the monitor is. "Downsampling" in the gaming world is about the internal game engine rendering, and it still results in the GPU outputting at a resolution native to the monitor. For example the game engine might render a scene at 4K, but it is also downsampling back to 1080P. So if you have a 1080P monitor the GPU is sending a 1080P signal, not a 4K signal.
 
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