[gregpins]

When a PC laptop is hooked up to a projector and mirrors, it preserves the resolution on the laptop screen even if the resolution of the projector is different, i.e. the laptop stays at 1024x768 even if the projector can only do 800x600.

On the Mac, when I mirror, it knocks my Powerbook screen resolution down to whatever the projector is, so I go from 1280x854 to 800x600 with everything all screwed up and big on my screen.

Is there any way to get the Powerbook to keep its own resolution in mirroring mode regardless of what the projector is capable of?

And this only seems to be a problem if the resolution of the other device/screen is lower. When I hook my Powerbook up to my LCD TV, which is capable of a higher resolution, the Powerbook stays put at 1280x854. The TV displays at 1600x1200 or something.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[dagmar]

We used a Ti powerbook last weekend to mirror a DVD with a projector. In order to get it to work right, and the resolution maintained, we had to go to the "displays" pane and hit the "detect displays" button after hooking up the projector, before doing anything else. That seemed to resolve the resolution issue on the PB, which we were also having.

Hope this makes sense

[gregpins]

Thanks, will try that.

Originally posted by dagmar:
We used a Ti powerbook last weekend to mirror a DVD with a projector. In order to get it to work right, and the resolution maintained, we had to go to the "displays" pane and hit the "detect displays" button after hooking up the projector, before doing anything else. That seemed to resolve the resolution issue on the PB, which we were also having.

Hope this makes sense

[olePigeon]

When you "mirror" a display, it has to be the same resolution, otherwise it wouldn't be mirroring the display. If the projector has a higher resolution than the screen you're mirroring, it may do one of two things: put a black border to make up for the extra pixles, or, "stretch" the display to fit the remaining real estate. If the mirrored screen is a higher resolution than the projector, the projector will either crop the image (starting from the top left corner) or "shrink" it, losing detail and making it look terrible.

When you extend the desktop, either screen can be any resolution. That might be your best option as you can set PowerPoint, QuickTime, etc. to use the external display at an independent resolution from your own screen.

[gregpins]

I understand the concept. I guess what I'm saying is that Windows is apparently a little smarter when it comes to mirroring than the Mac. It should be possible to mirror the content without mirroring the resolution.

Originally posted by olePigeon:
When you "mirror" a display, it has to be the same resolution, otherwise it wouldn't be mirroring the display. If the projector has a higher resolution than the screen you're mirroring, it may do one of two things: put a black border to make up for the extra pixles, or, "stretch" the display to fit the remaining real estate. If the mirrored screen is a higher resolution than the projector, the projector will either crop the image (starting from the top left corner) or "shrink" it, losing detail and making it look terrible.

When you extend the desktop, either screen can be any resolution. That might be your best option as you can set PowerPoint, QuickTime, etc. to use the external display at an independent resolution from your own screen.

[CubeWannaB]

Originally posted by gregpins:
I understand the concept. I guess what I'm saying is that Windows is apparently a little smarter when it comes to mirroring than the Mac. It should be possible to mirror the content without mirroring the resolution.

Actually, you don't understand the concept.

Windows does not do what you think it is doing. That is impossible. It is stretching the lower resolution to fill your laptop screen. Mac OS can do this too: just select a "stretched" resolution and it will do as Windows does.

[gregpins]

Actually, I think I do. Have you used both PC laptops and PowerBooks with various projectors in real world settings for about 5 years, as I have?

Again, when you hook up a PC laptop (and I've seen this with Dells, Toshibas and HPs) with native resolution of 1024x768 up to projector with native resolution of 800x600, the PC laptop is not in stretched mode (I do know what stretched mode is). Nothing changes in terms of the PC display. Try it if you don't believe me.

On the Mac, when you enter mirror mode, it switches the Powerbook's display to 800x600, which is the native resolution of most projectors, unless they are brand new or high end. The PowerBook screen is filled, just at a lower resolution.

Originally posted by CubeWannaB:
Actually, you don't understand the concept.

Windows does not do what you think it is doing. That is impossible. It is stretching the lower resolution to fill your laptop screen. Mac OS can do this too: just select a "stretched" resolution and it will do as Windows does.

[Gig103]

Just FYI, a stretched resolution is when 800x600 is shown on the screen, but you can use the mouse to scroll around and see the rest of your 1024x768 desktop

It does sound like you have the whole desktop visible at once but I was wondering when you do that how Windows knows what is going to the projector?

[willab]

IIRC the projector scales the resolution down.