4k TV with 1080p input without scaling

[Costa99]

Thinking of getting a 2016 or 2017 Android based Bravia - not sure which model yet.

I have an old Mac computer that can only do 1080p over hdmi that I want to plug into the tv.

Is it possible to get the tv to display this without scaling - so I get a 1:1 pixel picture in the middle of the screen with a big black border around it?

[Kuschelmonschter]

If the panels have a 4K resolution, somebody will eventually have to upscale. If you feed 1080p, then the TV will do it. But there is nothing wrong about it. Take 2 TVs with the same size, one with 1080p and one with 4K resolution. The 1080p one has bigger pixels. On the 4K one, the upscaler can do some magic to make 1080p look better with the smaller pixels.

And the upscaler is one of the few highlights within Sony TV.

[Kuschelmonschter]

---

Is it possible to get the tv to display this without scaling - so I get a 1:1 pixel picture in the middle of the screen with a big black border around it?

---

Sorry, missed your actual question. Haven't yet found a way to do so...

[Jecht_Sin]

I doubt you can. I played with the resolution on my MacBook Pro while connected to my 4K Bravia, and setting the output to 1080p I get the full screen (and honestly it didn't look much upscaled to me. It gets quite blocky). As we are supposed to. Then it may change from display to display and their OSX/macOS drivers.

Just out of curiosity.. Why would you want the big black borders anyway?

[Costa99]

Thanks.

The reasoning was that for the times I'll be using the tv as a monitor I will be sitting quite close and 49-inches of 1080p will be quite big and blocky.

If I could get it to display 1:1 1080p in the middle
of the screen it would be equivalent to using a 24-inch 1080p monitor, which is what I'm used to.

The other option might be to use the side-by-side picture mode (do 2016 models have that?). I presume 1080p into both sides would render near 1:1 resolution?

[Jecht_Sin]

If I understood correctly what you're asking, the "Side by Side" mode is an Android 7 feature. It should be (conditional because.. well, you know.. ) supported in all Bravia 4K tvs since, at least the last time I checked, they were all supposed to get updated to Android 7.

But that's an Android feature, it may work only with the apps. Or maybe it is extended to the HDMI inputs as well, I really don't know. Still it seems to me you're looking more for something like a PIP (picture in picture), and about that I know nothing. But I am quite sure I have not seen any option for it in the settings. With my surprise.