iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) Image Retention

[mikeboss]

I'm using a solid color as my desktop picture (Solid Gray Pro Dark). now after using the new iMac for about three weeks I can already see a slight image retention in the upper left corner of the screen where I usually place the Tweetbot window. unbelievable that this issue is sill not solved...

 

[makrom]

This is quite known with other display technologies (CRT, OLED, plasma), but shouldn't be significant with LCD. Do you leave your screen on for a very long time? But even then, it should disappear after a while. I heard of reported burn ins with LCDs but this has been a long time ago and even back then it seemed to be a very rare phenomenon. If it persists on your screen, I doubt that the panel is wirking within expected parameters.

 

[mikeboss]

nah, this is well known since Apple introduced the first MacBook Pros equipped with retina LCDisplays. search for "mac retina image retention" on Google. there's even a technote from Apple about this -> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202580

still, I was under the impression that this is an issue of the past...

 

[Naaaaak]

Post pictures. I want to see it. It will only get worse over time.

 

[makrom]

nah, this is well known since Apple introduced the first MacBook Pros equipped with retina LCDisplays. search for "mac retina image retention" on Google. there's even a technote from Apple about this -> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202580

still, I was under the impression that this is an issue of the past...

Ok I guess I was under the impression that you had a problem with permanent burn in, which would be a rare phenomenon with LCDs. But if this is what you mean by image retention, it should be easily reversible.
I wasn't aware that this is still a big deal these days, but from what I know, most LCDs are susceptible to it by varying degrees of severity, given the right amount of exposure.

 

[mikeboss]

up until this new iMac I owned an EIZO EV2736W. the Tweetbot window was at the same spot for over three years and there was not even the slightest hint of image retention.

I now configured the screensaver according to Apple's tech note and then went out of the office for a few hours. now the ghost image is gone. but I guess it will appear again...

 

[makrom]

up until this new iMac I owned an EIZO EV2736W. the Tweetbot window was at the same spot for over three years and there was not even the slightest hint of image retention.

I now configured the screensaver according to Apple's tech note and then went out of the office for a few hours. now the ghost image is gone. but I guess it will appear again...

Even though some panels don't, it's not uncommon to happen. But do you know how long it took in your case? Usually, this should happen after showing the same (partial) image for days rather than hours.

 

[Floris]

My 2009 iMac .. sometimes I wonder if I turn the machine off if it really is off.. I can still see so much - and in such details. Yes, I am ready for a new system.. But I was kinda hoping since 2009 this has been addressed. My system is on a loooooooooooot .. and I hate to spend 3000 euro to find out after a month that image retention is back.. I guess it's time for actually buying apple care this time around and just swap it the first time I notice it. I couldn't stand it, not with that much money involved.

 

[mikeboss]

I took delivery of my new iMac on october 23rd. I use my machines more or less every day for at least 8 hours, sometimes up to 12 or more hours. the Tweetbot window stays always on the upper left corner of my screen.

 

[redheeler]

Disappointing to see this issue is still unresolved on the latest 2015 iMacs. Since I started this thread I've had my late 2014 Retina iMac's display replaced twice, and both replacements have developed some kind of IR issue within a couple months of use. On my current one it's most visible in the bottom-right corner.

I recall people were worried about this when it was first revealed LG was supplying the 5K displays for the iMac, after the issues with the first-gen rMBP (also something I experienced). Now I can see why.

 

[makrom]

I took delivery of my new iMac on october 23rd. I use my machines more or less every day for at least 8 hours, sometimes up to 12 or more hours. the Tweetbot window stays always on the upper left corner of my screen.

So in other words, you give it a downtime of 12-16h every day? In that case, I'm a bit surprised that this happened already. It's not unheard of but I wouldn't have expected this from a current panel.
While I haven't used my 2015 iMac that much yet, I have several panels under a similar workload (exxcept weekends) that don't show this.

 

[mikeboss]

yes, the iMac is off (not in sleep-mode) during the night. imagine my surprise this morning when I noticed this issue for the first time. I never wanted an iMac, but the 5K LCDisplay was just too tempting. apart from the image retention issue, the display is gorgeous. I hope that EIZO will release a 5K display some day...

 

[Dualie11]

This is relatively trivial to fix, though annoying that you have to.

Make the desktop COMPLETELY 100% white ONLY. Hide or remove the menu bar and leave nothing on the desktop (no window, icons, files, nothing). Turn the brightness up to maximum and do not let it sleep, dim, or otherwise turn off the display. Leave it turned on like this for 8 hours minimum, probably a lot more. It could take several days if the burn-in is really bad, but it will eventually "un-stick" the pixels and the burn-in will vanish.

Using any screensaver, as Apple suggests, has never worked for me.

 

[steve62388]

This is relatively trivial to fix, though annoying that you have to.

Make the desktop COMPLETELY 100% white ONLY. Hide or remove the menu bar and leave nothing on the desktop (no window, icons, files, nothing). Turn the brightness up to maximum and do not let it sleep, dim, or otherwise turn off the display. Leave it turned on like this for 8 hours minimum, probably a lot more. It could take several days if the burn-in is really bad, but it will eventually "un-stick" the pixels and the burn-in will vanish.

Using any screensaver, as Apple suggests, has never worked for me.

I'm not sure this is advice I would follow. It sounds like this would just age your screen prematurely, which in turn would just introduce other different display problems.

 

[SoulOfUniverse]

You cannot fix this, and the one who sais its normal - no, its not normal. I have macbookPro for 2 years and no issues at all, just yesterday brought to Stratford Apple Store I have iMac 27 5k late 2014 and they admitted it will be a display replace, but I still wonder whether this issue will repeat again. There is no solution like screen savers - it is temporary, one day it will be so bad that you would want to throw it out.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

You cannot fix this, and the one who sais its normal - no, its not normal. I have macbookPro for 2 years and no issues at all, just yesterday brought to Stratford Apple Store I have iMac 27 5k late 2014 and they admitted it will be a display replace, but I still wonder whether this issue will repeat again. There is no solution like screen savers - it is temporary, one day it will be so bad that you would want to throw it out.

It is not 'normal' but it is a possibility with any lcd screen on any device.

Op take it back to Apple and get them to replace the screen.

 

[SoulOfUniverse]

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[doublepost=1468413835][/doublepost]

it is a possibility with any lcd screen on any device.

Typical mistake suggesting "possibility", you are wrong, it is not with any LCD display, this technology is fair old by our days and this deffect can only been seen on Apple products so far. The issue is in the process of itself producing their displays, whoever does it for them LG or Samsung, sure its not apple themselves.

 

[redheeler]

You cannot fix this, and the one who sais its normal - no, its not normal. I have macbookPro for 2 years and no issues at all, just yesterday brought to Stratford Apple Store I have iMac 27 5k late 2014 and they admitted it will be a display replace, but I still wonder whether this issue will repeat again. There is no solution like screen savers - it is temporary, one day it will be so bad that you would want to throw it out.

If my experience is any indication there's a definite possibility the problem will come back on the new display. But if it does you can keep taking it in until you luck out and get a good display or they replace the entire Mac (this usually happens after 4 times).

 

[Samuelsan2001]

test
[doublepost=1468413835][/doublepost]

Typical mistake suggesting "possibility", you are wrong, it is not with any LCD display, this technology is fair old by our days and this deffect can only been seen on Apple products so far. The issue is in the process of itself producing their displays, whoever does it for them LG or Samsung, sure its not apple themselves.

Nonsense do a Google search on image retention.

 

[maflynn]

test
[doublepost=1468413835][/doublepost]

Typical mistake suggesting "possibility", you are wrong, it is not with any LCD display, this technology is fair old by our days and this deffect can only been seen on Apple products so far. The issue is in the process of itself producing their displays, whoever does it for them LG or Samsung, sure its not apple themselves.

There's a lot of chatter that some (many?) iMac models are susceptible to IR, so what you're experience could very well be IR on the display.

Just a quick search here brings quite a number of threads, so it is something that many mac users are dealing with.

 

[accentaudio]

I just got my 5th brand new iMac in 3 years and it had image persistence since day one. Mind you this is a late 2015 5k model. So five years down the road and Appe STILL has not fixed this issue. BTW this is NOT normal behavior for an IPS display. Don't buy into that BS. I've owned many other IPS displays from other manufacturers and they don't do this. Apple is NOT listening anymore to their customers. God I miss Steve. He would NEVER have tolerated such horrible QC for so long. 5+ years.

 

[accentaudio]

I have a pending case with Apple regarding this ongoing plague. I will let everyone know what the outcome is.

 

[accentaudio]

Even though some panels don't, it's not uncommon to happen. But do you know how long it took in your case? Usually, this should happen after showing the same (partial) image for days rather than hours.

No no no. This happens in a matter of 10 minutes on my brand new late 2015 5k iMac.
[doublepost=1468730366][/doublepost]

Disappointing to see this issue is still unresolved on the latest 2015 iMacs. Since I started this thread I've had my late 2014 Retina iMac's display replaced twice, and both replacements have developed some kind of IR issue within a couple months of use. On my current one it's most visible in the bottom-right corner.

I recall people were worried about this when it was first revealed LG was supplying the 5K displays for the iMac, after the issues with the first-gen rMBP (also something I experienced). Now I can see why.

Mine is most prominent in the bottom right corner as well.

 

[AlexGraphicD]

Add me to the list of the dissapointed Apple customers as I bought a brand new iMac while living outside of the US 5 years ago and after some weeks some grey shadow smudges appeared on the upper left side of the screen.

While on warranty the authorized Apple service center replaced the screen three times but they refused to replace the whole machine as I was asking them to do, cause I was afraid that the problem would keep coming back as it was, the warranty ended and I couldn't take it again to the AASP to replace the screen for free. To this day I have to live with the disappointment every time I turn on my iMac and stare the screen.

I also don't understand when some people use the counter argument that I should have got AppleCare to extend my warranty for cases like this.
I'm sorry but where's the logic in paying extra money for extended warranty to repair a damage that is clearly a factory defect? If Apple puts on the market a defective product then it is its responsibility to be fair to the customers and replace the whole product with a new one regardless if one has paid for AppleCare or not.

 

[Dualie11]

I have always been able to resolve this issue by using a completely white desktop with no menu bar, windows, documents or icons present. Leave it like this for anywhere from a couple to several hours, depending on how bad the persistent image is.
My current Retna iMac doesn't appear to have this issue, but my older one (late 2012) occasionally does if I leave the display on for many hours at a time. Using the all-white desktop solves the issue completely, every time.