Using VGA with Mac Mini

[tboneh08]

Hey... I was just curious if using a VGA monitor on a Mac Mini made the display any less "clear" that just the fact that its not DVI... Sorry if that isnt clear... im in a loud room full of people...


Thanks!

 

[topgunn]

Hey... I was just curious if using a VGA monitor on a Mac Mini made the display any less "clear" that just the fact that its not DVI... Sorry if that isnt clear... im in a loud room full of people...


Thanks!

My mini looks much better on DVI than VGA using the same monitor. I am not sure if its the monitor or mini that suck at VGA. Maybe its both.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Speak up.... we can't hear you

Yes, the VGA output is noticeably dimmer and less sharp than DVI... this is partially inherent in the VGA format, and partly because the Mini doesn't seem to drive the analog signals to a high enough level for some monitors.

Choose a DVI-equipped LCD monitor if you can.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

DVI > VGA as far as picture quality goes (at the consumer level).

So yes, a VGA display is not as sharp as a DVI display. VGA is analog, and signal noise can cause distortion or artifacts.

EDIT: Beaten to the punch. And CanadaRAM is right - the Mini and VGA don't always play nice to gether. It's best to get a DVI flat panel display.

My brother has a 1.42GHz Mini connected to a cheap 19" LCD flat panel from Microcenter. It is VGA-only but seems to work fine with the Mini. However, many VGA displays don't work so well.

 

[tboneh08]

Oh...

I just wish there was some way of trying out a monitor to see if it would work... i dont want to have to shell out $250+ if i dont absolutely have too. I don't really do anything extravagant, and mainly just browse the web/check email/do schoolwork. I wonder why it is different than using a VGA monitor on my PC...

Thanks...

 

[NYmacAttack]

I just wish there was some way of trying out a monitor to see if it would work... i dont want to have to shell out $250+ if i dont absolutely have too. I don't really do anything extravagant, and mainly just browse the web/check email/do schoolwork. I wonder why it is different than using a VGA monitor on my PC...

Thanks...

For simple stuff like that you shouldn't see any major difference IMO

 

[G5Unit]

Yeh you can a see a lot of artifacts using VGA. I plugged my dad's laptop into my 2405fpw using vga and it went all jittery.

 

[tboneh08]

Artifact?

What's an artifact? lol... (I feel dumb... )

Well, im using a VGA monitor now, and i dont see anything wrong with it...

but i am on a Compaq PC w/ XP Home, soooo...

 

[Lord Blackadder]

What's an artifact? lol... (I feel dumb... )

Well, im using a VGA monitor now, and i dont see anything wrong with it...

but i am on a Compaq PC w/ XP Home, soooo...

If it doesn't bother you now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. The issue is (as CanadaRAM pointed out) that many VGA displays look dim when connected to the Mac Mini. I'm not sure if this problem is restricted to VGA CRTs or if analog flat panels are affected too.

Just something to think about.

A screen artifact is very loosley defined as something being displayed on the screen that shouldn't be there. Analog displays suffer artifacts if there is interference or noise in the signal - sort of like when you have a TV hooked up to antenna and it is getting bad reception. You get artifacts.

 

[tboneh08]

Ahhh... thanks!

Thanks.... i've seen a lot of talk about "artifacts" but i never knew what they were... so, again... thanks!

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I'm running my Mac Mini on my old 17" Mitsubitshi Total Flat Monitor (it's not that old but its such a good monitor) and all I can say is that the DVD playback and playing World of Warcraft looks better than running it on my other LCD Monitor.

Personally I think the picture quality, brightness, etc depends on the quality of the CRT or LCD in question, I have seen some great CRTs and some god awful LCD.

And final note I think it's down right stupid spending more on a display for a Mac Mini than the Mini is worth....

 

[mrichmon]

Hey... I was just curious if using a VGA monitor on a Mac Mini made the display any less "clear" that just the fact that its not DVI... Sorry if that isnt clear... im in a loud room full of people...

For what it's worth, I'm using the VGA connector MacMini to drive a 21" Sun CRT. I'm running the display at 1600x1200@75Hz but have had it as high as 2304x1728@60Hz.

I originally had some ghosting issues but that was because I was using a cheap VGA cable (this monitor does not have a built in cable). After replacing the cable with a high quality toroidal shieldedcable I've had a perfect picture with no ghosting or artifacts.

Recently I've added a Belkin KVM (VGA/USB/audio) into the video path and still have a clean display image.

 

[tboneh08]

Found this site interesting...

I just bumped into this site on the internet... though those people having trouble may have wanted to read it...

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/mac_mini_dim_video.html

 

[Morn]

Yes, I've noticed the mini has worse VGA quality than most other computers.