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Very disapointed (TV used as monitor)

deafgoose

deafgoose

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 20, 2011
232
4
I purchased a Mac Mini today and also got 2 brand new 22" Samsung LED 1080p displays to connect to the Mini.

The resolution is set at 1080p and it looks like absolute garbage compared to my 21.5" iMac. WTF?

Here is a link to the displays I purchased:
http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/...XZC/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

Is there a difference between a LED computer monitor that does 1920x1080 and a LED HDTV 1080p?

My understanding is both are monitors, but the HDTV simply has built-in speakers.
 
You bought a TV. TV's always look like garbage out of the box compared to monitors. With a monitor the colors won't be as off as an TV. Try the Lion color calibrator and see if you can get a better picture.
 
Are you using HDMI cable to connect the mini and the TVs?

Try use a mini displayport to VGA connector for one TV and HDMI for the other. I think you will find the VGA connection is much better suited for monitor use.

You should be able to get better quality by adjusting settings such as sharpness with HDMI connection.
 
Yes. I am using HDMI to connect the TV.

What exactly is the difference between a monitor and TV that both have the exact same resolution?
 
deafgoose said:
Yes. I am using HDMI to connect the TV.

What exactly is the difference between a monitor and TV that both have the exact same resolution?
Click to expand...

The way they are calibrated is the difference. TV's are always set to retina burn mode from the factory.

And if you use VGA to connect the TV if it even has a VGA port it will not output 1080p but 1024x768.
 
deafgoose said:
Yes. I am using HDMI to connect the TV.

What exactly is the difference between a monitor and TV that both have the exact same resolution?
Click to expand...

I think it is the processing chip inside the TV, also the TV is designed to function differently compared to a monitor. Therefore, the colour, contrast, brightness ect are setup to be viewed from feet away and not inches like a monitor.

You could play around with build in settings and colour calibration, but its more trouble then its worth. I'd suggest return them and get 2 monitors, they are around the same price or even cheaper unless you need the TV tuners.

gus6464 said:
And if you use VGA to connect the TV if it even has a VGA port it will not output 1080p but 1024x768.
Click to expand...

Might be a TV issue, but I never had any problems with 1080P output with VGA connections on mac or Windows machine.
 
This is a guess but I would say it may also be a Quality Control issue. It may be the same specs but not up to the performing standards of Apple monitors thus you notice a difference. Cheaper components may be a cause? Like I said just a guess.
 
I guess my next step is to return these tv's and get monitors instead.

Ugh...
 
Never had an issue

Bought a 37" LG LCD TV back in 2009. Always looked good and crisp on my mini, both my 2008 and 2011 model. I didn't even need to calibrate it. Used DVI-HDMI adapter for the 2008 mini and straight HDMI for the 2011. Colors always turned out great.
 
Keep in mind that I am directly comparing a TV to a iMac side-by-side.

I changed my mind about the dual 22" monitor setup.

I am gonna pickup a thunderbolt display instead.
 
There are much better resolutions for monitors then TVs have, Apple's Thunderbolt display is very high, while even many of Dells monitor are higher then 1080p
 
For the quick and easy explanation TV's have larger pixels than monitors. 1080p doesn't mean it'll look good, it just means thats what the TV will display. A monitor can display much higher resolution than a TV and the pixels are much smaller, hence why monitors always look better.

Monitors are also meant to be viewed up close, where TV's are meant to be viewed at a distance.
 
I have my 2007 mini connected to a 4 year old 40" Samsung 720P TV via the VGA input. From 10 feet away it looks pretty damn good. On the other hand, up close it looks like crap due to the large pixels. You should have purchased a monitor instead
 
Was in the same boat. Just bought a new mini and new LCD TV to go with it. Looked like crap so i returned the TV and got a LED monitor.

SIde note, first hooked up to the monitor through HDMI and while it looked better than the tv through HDMI, it still wasn't...completely there. Then switched to HDMI-DVI for the monitor and boom! beautiful and crisp new mini setup!
 
I returned the TV's and got the Thunderbolt display.

OMG it's gorgeous!

Very happy now! :D
 
I initially had an issue with the display quality on my Samsung 27" HDTV, but after choosing the right settings (thanks to Google), the display is crystal clear - and I already color calibrate my monitor anyway, so it always looks good :)
 
deafgoose said:
I purchased a Mac Mini today and also got 2 brand new 22" Samsung LED 1080p displays to connect to the Mini.

The resolution is set at 1080p and it looks like absolute garbage compared to my 21.5" iMac. WTF?

Here is a link to the displays I purchased:
http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/...XZC/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

Is there a difference between a LED computer monitor that does 1920x1080 and a LED HDTV 1080p?

My understanding is both are monitors, but the HDTV simply has built-in speakers.
Click to expand...

Make sure the resolution settings are set to the resolution of the TVs. In other words if the max res on the TV is 1920x1080 use that rather than 1080p.
 
rocknblogger said:
Make sure the resolution settings are set to the resolution of the TVs. In other words if the max res on the TV is 1920x1080 use that rather than 1080p.
Click to expand...

1920x1080 is the exact same thing as 1080p. If you're using HDMI, you will generally see 1080p in the settings, VGA/DVI will show up as 1920x1080
 
No amount of setting changes would have helped enough for me to be satisfied.

I guess I am just totally spoiled with Mac displays. :p
 
deafgoose said:
I purchased a Mac Mini today and also got 2 brand new 22" Samsung LED 1080p displays to connect to the Mini.

The resolution is set at 1080p and it looks like absolute garbage compared to my 21.5" iMac. WTF?

Here is a link to the displays I purchased:
http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/...XZC/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

Is there a difference between a LED computer monitor that does 1920x1080 and a LED HDTV 1080p?

My understanding is both are monitors, but the HDTV simply has built-in speakers.
Click to expand...

You do know a Tv and monitor are not the same thing right?

edit I seen you just got rid of it.... Basically a monitor has smaller pixels compared to a tv which has larger ones, this is the main reason why monitors are monitors..... Don't just go by the resolution.
 
I guess that is the part I don't understand.

If a TV has 1920x1080 of resolution, would that no mean it has 2,073,600 pixels?

If both the TV and monitor are the same size and same resolution, the pixels would be the same size, NO?
 
alust2013 said:
1920x1080 is the exact same thing as 1080p. If you're using HDMI, you will generally see 1080p in the settings, VGA/DVI will show up as 1920x1080
Click to expand...

I know it's the same but on my MBP if I set it 1080p it looks awful but when set to the specific resolution it looks perfect.
 
I'm curious; in what way did the TV look like crap compared to the monitor? Resolution? Colors? I haven't done any side by side comparisons myself. Just wondering.
 
warvanov said:
I'm curious; in what way did the TV look like crap compared to the monitor? Resolution? Colors? I haven't done any side by side comparisons myself. Just wondering.
Click to expand...

During bootup, the apple logo was all jagged. The text sharpness overall was terrible. The dock icons were blown out (too much bightness/contrast)

It was ugly. lol
 
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