Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter and Widescreen (FullHD) Monitor

displayvga-adapter

Just got myself Apple Mini DisplayPort to VGA to connect my early 2011 (pre Sandybridge/Thunderbolt) 15" MacBook Pro to Samsung SyncMaster 2494HM monitor.

The monitor is currently connected to my PC via DVI, so I wanted to use its VGA port to connect my MBP as I frequently need to use them both at the same time and want to avoid shuffling cables.

Anyway, I have a problem with making it work in FullHD (1920×1080 Widescreen, monitor's native resolution).
The widescreen part in particular.
Basically if I choose its native resolution it doesn't fill the whole width of the screen. When I selected it for the first time it was on full width until I clicked Refresh Rate dropdown menu – no changing involved as was only able to use 60Hz anyway). Then, oddly enough, it switched to something between 4:3 and 16:9. So everything is a bit… too narrow.

Interestingly full width widescreen works perfectly on other 16:9 resolutions, but the res is basically too low for the 24" screen.

Anyone has any idea why's that and how to fix it?

Best Answer

The solution for me was to hold down the Option key while clicking on the "Scaled" radio button in Display Preferences. That offered many more display resolutions, including widescreen ones.