Fix overscan or underscan on your TV or projector – Apple Support (UK) (2024)

FAQs

How do I fix overscan on Apple TV? ›

Underscan – The image rendered on the display is smaller than the physical area of the screen. This creates a black border around the image, as shown in the picture below. Overscan – The image rendered on the display expands beyond the physical area of the screen.

The displayed image ratio shrinks because the projector adjusts the displayed image ratio based on a received resolution which does not match the output resolutions the projector is designed for.

Click Display in the left navigational menu. Select the monitor that is showing the overscan issue. In the General tab, locate the Scale setting and click Custom in the dropdown menu. Adjust the two sliders until the the screen fits.

A signal that reaches beyond the viewing area of a display screen.

Underscan: The full image area to the electronic edge of the signal with additional black borders which weren't part of the original image. Fullscan: The full image area to the electronic edge of the signal (with the black borders of the image if they exist).

Overscan is not required by any modern “fixed-pixel” high-definition televisions, like LCDs. In fact, the crop-and-zoom method of overscan often reduces picture quality, making it something that is not only unrequired, but undesirable.

To assist, on your Apple TV go to Settings - Audio & Video - Video - Calibrate - Zoom & Overscan and display the image shown. Adjust your TV's zoom or overscan settings to adjust the image so that you can see the "Full Screen" Area.

How do I reset my HDMI resolution? ›

Depending on your operating system, you can access the display settings from the control panel, the system preferences, or the settings app. Here, you can change the resolution, the scaling, the orientation, the brightness, the contrast, and the color profile of your output.

Right-click anywhere on the desktop, and then click Screen resolution. 2. In the Resolution box, move the slider to the resolution you want, and then click Apply.

Go to System Preferences > Displays. Make sure projector or external display is selected. Use the Use as: drop down menu to select Extended display. You can leave the resolution of your laptop display at its default setting.

You can use any of the choices in Settings > Video and Audio > Resolution. Beyond that, you cannot change the aspect ratio like you can on a TV.

On the AppleTV, go to Settings -> Video and Audio -> Calibrate -> Zoom and Overscan. Then adjust your TV's overscan/zoom settings until you see the reference image as Full Screen.

Press and hold the menu and the volume down button simultaneously on the remote for six seconds, the Apple TV should then begin to cycle through the various resolutions available to it at 20 second intervals. If you see a picture appear up on your screen, use the remote to scroll down to the OK option and select it.