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I have a problem with a DVI-I Adapter to DVI-D connection.

I bought an adapter for my MacBook Pro. It's a Mini DisplayPort to DVI-I adapter.

My display is NEC P221W which has a DVI-I input. The cable it came with was a DVI-D adapter, which was fine with a PC.

When I connected my display with a DVI-D cable and a DVI-I adapter to my MacBook, all I can see is 90% noise and only a bit of my desktop on the top. This happened on the native resolution and proper refreshing rate. When i change the resolution to 800x600 there is no such problem, except after a minute the screen is flickering with the same noise pattern...

image of problem

Is this adapter faulty or my cable wrong with the adapter?

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  • if you google this, there are several links with people having this problem. You will have to use another resolution that is supported by both: nec-display.com/ap/en_display/p221w
    – Logman
    Sep 7, 2013 at 16:01
  • can't find anything related to this actual problem. the adapter and the display both support resolution of 1680x1050@60Hz.
    – dyb
    Sep 7, 2013 at 18:42
  • discussions.apple.com/…
    – Logman
    Sep 7, 2013 at 22:49

1 Answer 1

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You have bad cable or connection somewhere.
Or too much signal loss because of the conversions.
Or you have set the computer to a resolution that is higher than the monitor supports. (1680x1050 is the maximum for this monitor according to Google. That is definitively not the native resolution of your Mac.)

Technically there should be no issue.
DVI cables are always compatible as long as the connectors fit. The number of pins are different between various DVI cables, but as long as the connectors fit it should be compatible.

2 exceptions to this:

  • If you have a analogue device sometimes it will have a DVI-A+D input. In that case you can supply a DVI-D (digital only) signal to it. That will obviously not work.
  • In some cases when using converter cables/plugs the computer will not properly identify the capabilites of the monitor and will attempt to use a too high resolution/frequency (my best guess is you have run into this issue.)

I would suggest you try with a different cable. Or converter.

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  • as far as i recon, there is no such thing as native resolution of a computer. despite that i realize that my display resolution is 1680x1050 and that's what i set up trying to connect this display to my mac. i guess it's a faulty adapter then. i'll try it on a different display and update with results.
    – dyb
    Sep 7, 2013 at 16:29
  • If it is a computer with a buildin screen (laptop or all-in-one) it has a native resolution. And that may propagate to the external screen if you set the display to duplicate in-stead of extend to the external display.
    – Tonny
    Sep 7, 2013 at 21:42
  • ahh yes, you are right. i forgot about that little detail because i'm not using it as a mirrored display. it's in extended display mode so it should work in 1680x1050.
    – dyb
    Sep 8, 2013 at 9:27
  • There is something you could try... 60 Hz refresh isn't always exactly 60 Hz. Could be 59.5 or 60.5... Sometimes a monitor is happier if you forcibly set the refresh to 59 Hz or 61 Hz (if possible). Each monitor and each video-card has some margin here. You might have a combo that just doesn't quite match up.
    – Tonny
    Sep 8, 2013 at 10:37

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