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iMac Pro iMac Pro image retention normal or not?

boto

boto

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 4, 2012
437
28
Is it an inherent flaw that all LG panels dating back from late 2012 iMacs to the new models including the iMac Pro all suffer image retention/persistence/ghosting? I noticed my late 2012 iMac 27", returned iMac Pro, and current iMac Pro with upgraded RAM seem to all be affected. I can easily reproduce small signs of this from normal usage from simply browsing the web for 5 minutes or more with my dock shown and shortly spot very subtle outlines of my dock icons at the bottom after opening Final Cut Pro in full screen mode.

I have found multiple users experiencing the same issue on other iMac models online and I just want to know if this is normal to have. I want to get a definitive answer as I keep finding mixed answers with some stating its normal and apart of the technology, while others reporting it a defect that shouldn't happen. I'm worried later down the line the ghosting effects will get worse and I would hate to have to visit the Apple Store for this issue so soon, especially after spending over $8,000.

Only had the machine for 1 week.
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That doesn't seem normal and as such, I'd take it back.

I've had my iMac since 2015 and I've not had any IR

It does seem that your iMac displays the logon screen for periods of time, is there anything you can do to mitigate the risk? I'm not blaming you, but if there are steps you can take to minimize the risk, then I recommend such actions.
 
I could hide the menu bar and dock to mitigate this issue, but I rather not as the animation delays would slow down my work.
 
boto said:
I could hide the menu bar and dock to mitigate this issue, but I rather not as the animation delays would slow down my work.
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I was thinking of that big spot in the middle that I presume is your login screen.
 
maflynn said:
I was thinking of that big spot in the middle that I presume is your login screen.
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That is actually the Final Cut Pro screen with the "New Project" box. The IR I'm referring to is the very very subtle blurs on the bottom of the gray screen when opening FCP.
 
You would probably be more likely to mitigate this in picture settings so playing with things like brightness or contrast could have a good impact on this. Like you said you already returned a iMac pro that had similar behavior. I do have a LG 5k that has some IR as well so I think this is just part of them cranking out so much brightness on these. The IR didn't really bug me all that much in normal usage but I did notice it from time to time on backgrounds. May not have to be huge differences either like if the contrast is pegged at max back it off a little bit and see if that helps any. A lot of times with TV's they put them into torch mode so they look good compared to everything else so you may have some room on the settings to adjust things.
 
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I have been worried about Image Retention on my iMac Pro too, however, so far I have not experienced it *knock on wood*.

I have three screens in operation and I have all three switch desktop images every five minutes. I also keep my brightness relatively low for photography and printing.

I’d complain to Apple if I were in your situation.
 
boto slightly off topic sorry. But what iMac Pro do you have and do you also have creative cloud? I’m trying to get to the bottom of something and you might be able to help.

As for image retention I haven’t noticed an issue myself. I will keep and eye out though!
 
My screensaver is set to 5 minutes and it does remove IR temporarily when away, but I'm baffled why its happening so quickly. I thought it would take several months of usage before showing signs.

Yes, I have creative cloud installed and I could help you figure out whatever you need.

I don't want to make another thread on this but does anyone else experience static noises when raising/lowering audio feedback with a headset plugged into the headphone jack? I tested on multiple headphones and I could reproduce the same sound effects on each of them and on very rare occasions the right earphones would output sound as if the balance slider was set all the way to the right.
 
boto said:
My screensaver is set to 5 minutes and it does remove IR temporarily when away, but I'm baffled why its happening so quickly. I thought it would take several months of usage before showing signs.

Yes, I have creative cloud installed and I could help you figure out whatever you need.

I don't want to make another thread on this but does anyone else experience static noises when raising/lowering audio feedback with a headset plugged into the headphone jack? I tested on multiple headphones and I could reproduce the same sound effects on each of them and on very rare occasions the right earphones would output sound as if the balance slider was set all the way to the right.
Click to expand...

I have not noticed the noise but I have noticed that in Win 10 my audio randomly cuts out for no reason. A restart is the only fix.

As for the creative cloud thing. Thank you! You help me out greatly. If you have premiere installed can you please download the motorbike file from RED here. It is the first video on the second row. Create a new timeline using the same resolution as the source file with 23.976fps. Jump down to 1/2 resolution and hit play. Do you get dropped frames on first playback? If so then my iMac is working the same as yours, but if not then I'm beginning to think something is wrong with my setup!

PS - To get the dropped frame symbol click on the spanner at the bottom right (or top depending on which version you're running) and select dropped frame indicator. If the symbol stays green you have no dropped frames, but if it goes yellow hover over it at the end and it will tell you how many you dropped.

Thanks!
 
spikerules said:
I have not noticed the noise but I have noticed that in Win 10 my audio randomly cuts out for no reason. A restart is the only fix.

As for the creative cloud thing. Thank you! You help me out greatly. If you have premiere installed can you please download the motorbike file from RED here. It is the first video on the second row. Create a new timeline using the same resolution as the source file with 23.976fps. Jump down to 1/2 resolution and hit play. Do you get dropped frames on first playback? If so then my iMac is working the same as yours, but if not then I'm beginning to think something is wrong with my setup!

PS - To get the dropped frame symbol click on the spanner at the bottom right (or top depending on which version you're running) and select dropped frame indicator. If the symbol stays green you have no dropped frames, but if it goes yellow hover over it at the end and it will tell you how many you dropped.

Thanks!
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I'm using a 10c/2TB/64GB RAM/64 Vega.

I tested the 8k footage in premiere and I'm experiencing the same yellow dropped frames on the first playback, while the 2nd playback and onwards appear to indicate green. Looks like you have nothing to worry about as it's normal.
 
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boto said:
I'm using a 10c/2TB/64GB RAM/64 Vega.

I tested the 8k footage in premiere and I'm experiencing the same yellow dropped frames on the first playback, while the 2nd playback and onwards appear to indicate green. Looks like you have nothing to worry about as it's normal.
Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks for helping me out! Much appreciated! Just to confirm that on 1/2 quality, right?
 
boto said:
My screensaver is set to 5 minutes and it does remove IR temporarily when away, but I'm baffled why its happening so quickly. I thought it would take several months of usage before showing signs.

Yes, I have creative cloud installed and I could help you figure out whatever you need.

I don't want to make another thread on this but does anyone else experience static noises when raising/lowering audio feedback with a headset plugged into the headphone jack? I tested on multiple headphones and I could reproduce the same sound effects on each of them and on very rare occasions the right earphones would output sound as if the balance slider was set all the way to the right.
Click to expand...

The static noise you are referring to also happens without headphones and is very evident when adjusting volume during a video. I had to return my IMac Pro for this and a bad screen. Got the new IMac Pro and the screen is almost perfect but the audio issue is still there. Must be a bug and Apple will have to address this hopefully sooner then later. Also to mitigate this you can turn off the volume feedback sound in system preferences.
 
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I haven't noticed any IR on my iMac Pro I exchanged (for backlight bleed) and my new one. I'll test it a little bit more.

I have the same exact build.
 
Boto have you got more examples of the IR and after how much time does it show up? Does it disappear quickly etc? You say 5 minutes, but is that universal?
 
floridaman said:
The static noise you are referring to also happens without headphones and is very evident when adjusting volume during a video. I had to return my IMac Pro for this and a bad screen. Got the new IMac Pro and the screen is almost perfect but the audio issue is still there. Must be a bug and Apple will have to address this hopefully sooner then later. Also to mitigate this you can turn off the volume feedback sound in system preferences.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this info, I really thought this was a defect on both my returned and current units. Hopefully Apple pushes out a software update to resolve this.
spikerules said:
Boto have you got more examples of the IR and after how much time does it show up? Does it disappear quickly etc? You say 5 minutes, but is that universal?
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The IR shows up for less than 5 minutes as long as a screensaver (I use animated art) or full screen video is being played to move the pixels around. I can only notice this at max brightness and the ghosting gradually becomes more apparent over time with very minimal marks starting at 3 minutes after bootup, but only at the bottom where the dock lies as well as a subtle apple logo on the top left corner of the menu bar. Other than those areas it doesn't get much worse than the images I posted above under normal use.
 
I had like 4 different 2014 iMacs with the image retention issue. Go here:

https://marco.org/rmbp-irtest.html

and do the test for 5 minutes. Put the screen at full brightness and do not look at the screen as the test is going or your eyes wont be able to tell the difference at the end between retention or not. Remember to turn your screensaver to 5 minutes so it doesnt interrupt the test.

After the end (set a timer for 5 min) click on the "switch to gray" button and look to see if you can still see the checkered pattern anywhere. IF YOU CAN then please post an image here.

I would not be surprised if the 2017 iMac Pro has image retention. The retention problem and the thermal problems with iMacs seem to have stayed around for years now. It would be tragic for customers if the iMac Pro suffers from these issues too so I look forward to seeing the results of your test.
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maflynn said:
That doesn't seem normal and as such, I'd take it back.

I've had my iMac since 2015 and I've not had any IR

It does seem that your iMac displays the logon screen for periods of time, is there anything you can do to mitigate the risk? I'm not blaming you, but if there are steps you can take to minimize the risk, then I recommend such actions.
Click to expand...

This looks like the classic image retention problem I've seen on nearly every iMac I've looked at since 2014.
 
In response to thefriendshipmachine's request, this is what my Late 2014 iMac 5K w/ Mojave looks like after 30 seconds of displaying the image on the screen. I had my screen at about 70% brightness.

That's 30 seconds of display! (The bright stripe is a reflection. Photographed with my phone, resized but not enhanced in Photoshop).

Echoing his comments, I'd love to see what 2017 iMacs or iMac Pros look like. I'm definitely getting AppleCare with my next computer — it is crazy to have to trade in a computer after 4 years because of an issue like this.
 
alanterra said:
In response to thefriendshipmachine's request, this is what my Late 2014 iMac 5K w/ Mojave looks like after 30 seconds of displaying the image on the screen. I had my screen at about 70% brightness.

That's 30 seconds of display! (The bright stripe is a reflection. Photographed with my phone, resized but not enhanced in Photoshop).

Echoing his comments, I'd love to see what 2017 iMacs or iMac Pros look like. I'm definitely getting AppleCare with my next computer — it is crazy to have to trade in a computer after 4 years because of an issue like this.
Click to expand...
Image retention is basically inevitable on the Late 2014 models, and even the Late 2015 models to a lesser extent. I've seen fewer complaints regarding the 2017 models.
 
T
boto said:
Is it an inherent flaw that all LG panels dating back from late 2012 iMacs to the new models including the iMac Pro all suffer image retention/persistence/ghosting? I noticed my late 2012 iMac 27", returned iMac Pro, and current iMac Pro with upgraded RAM seem to all be affected. I can easily reproduce small signs of this from normal usage from simply browsing the web for 5 minutes or more with my dock shown and shortly spot very subtle outlines of my dock icons at the bottom after opening Final Cut Pro in full screen mode.

I have found multiple users experiencing the same issue on other iMac models online and I just want to know if this is normal to have. I want to get a definitive answer as I keep finding mixed answers with some stating its normal and apart of the technology, while others reporting it a defect that shouldn't happen. I'm worried later down the line the ghosting effects will get worse and I would hate to have to visit the Apple Store for this issue so soon, especially after spending over $8,000.

Only had the machine for 1 week.View attachment 746496 View attachment 746497
Click to expand...
This is a known problem with all IPS panels, regardless of manufacturer. You can reduce the burn-in by creating a full-screen white image and letting it sit for a few hours.

Yeah I know... It feels so 1998.
 
ThatSandWyrm said:
T

This is a known problem with all IPS panels, regardless of manufacturer. You can reduce the burn-in by creating a full-screen white image and letting it sit for a few hours.

Yeah I know... It feels so 1998.
Click to expand...
you can still buy MVA/SPVA instead especially for a second monitor
 
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