New NEC Monitor - Clarity Issue?

[CarolynC]

I received my brand new NEC Monitor... PA241W.  I'm working on calibrating it with my Eye One Display 2 and SpectraView.  One thing that's strange to me about this monitor is the clarity of my images is not there.  My prints look very crystal clear and so do my images on my MacBook screen but not on this new monitor.  It's a pretty big difference.  Anyone know why?  I tried adjusting the sharpness option on the monitor but it didn't help much and just brought out a bunch of noise.  Hoping someone can help.  Isn't this type of monitor supposed to show clarity in images?  They look unclear and a bit "fuzzier" for lack of a better word.

[CarolynC]

First off do you have the monitor on a DVI to DVI cable? and if so, is it a long cable more than 6 feet?

Yep, I have it on a DVI to DVI cable.  I just measured the cable and it's exactly 6 feet.  You think that could be the problem?

As far as the graphics card, wouldn't my Macbook Pro have a pretty good one or no?

Thanks for replying!  I might have to post this somewhere else to get some more help.  I probably didn't post it in the best forum.

[Roy]

The MacBook Pro should give you a sharp image.

Are you driving the display at its native resolution? You must NOT have the MacBook set to display mirroring or the NEC display will look awful. You must drive the display at 1920 x 1200 pixels.

[CarolynC]

Are you driving the display at its native resolution? You must NOT have the MacBook set to display mirroring or the NEC display will look awful. You must drive the display at 1920 x 1200 pixels.

Oh my goodness, that was the problem...I had it set to mirroring.  It looks SO much better now!  I did have it set to it's native resolution, 1920 x 1200 but for some reason with the mirroring, it wasn't looking like 1920 x 1200.  Thank you sooooooo much for replying to me, I'm thrilled!  My images look clear now!  I just have to get the hang of using it without mirroring.  I noticed the dock isn't on the big monitor display without mirroring, I liked the dock there but if I have to, I can live without it.  Does it always disappear when you turn  mirroring off? 

Thanks again!   

[Roy]

OK, now you have it working, you have some options.

With display mirroring off, you are running an extended desktop with both monitors active. Your macbook display is still the main monitor and that is where the dock lives. You can move the dock over to the other monitor. Go to System Preferences>Displays.

But before you do that, if you have an external keyboard and mouse, you can turn the MacBook display off and  put the MacBook out of the way with the cover closed. To do this, with the NEC monitor as well as your external keyboard and mouse connected, close the cover to put the mac to sleep. Now wake it by pressing a key on the keyboard. The mac wakes up, sees the cover is closed and that an external monitor is connected, and uses that monitor at full resolution as the main monitor.

See this apple tech note for more detail: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3131

[CarolynC]

You can move the dock over to the other monitor. Go to System Preferences>Displays.

Thanks for the help Roy.  I put my dock on the new monitor and am just using the keyboard and mouse on the laptop for now.  I might take your advice on closing the laptop in the future.