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Let's solve this annoying 3GS "warmer screen" issue
- Thread starter bob vansteel
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kewl. I think I will hang on to mine then. I haven't noticed any other issues with it either. No sharp edges, bezel problems, etc. It does have the whining noise after lock though, which I never would have noticed if I wouldn't have read the thread! lol
I'd agree and disagree that the color accuracy isn't 100% important.
However, consider that some people who watch certain movies and music videos only watch them on their iPhone, so to them it is 100% important, especially if they are paying $300 for the phone and $1.00-$15 per music video / movie, etc. That's a lot of money to see things with a yellow tint.
I'd expect it to be 100% accurate.
It wouldn't surprise me if there is more than one source for the screens and Apple might be using a color profile for one screen vendor that doesn't look very good on other screens.
For what it's worth, I posted a similar problem with my 1st 3GS phone. It looked nothing like my 3G or the 3GS I got for my wife. The amount of hate I got from Apple Apologists here was disturbing, especially funny when people are viewing photos of messed up displays on crappy monitors or on a tiny phone screen and claiming they can't see the issue. Try viewing on a 24" calibrated ACD and then tell me you can't see the problem!!
I exchanged it at the Apple store last night and the new one looks much better, it is a week 24. Unfortunately I didn't record what week the previous one was.
I think the best option would be if Apple put a routine in the phone that probed the screen for model #, etc, and then set the color profile appropriately.
In my mind, Adobe RGB or D65 would be the acceptable color profiles to use.
If you guys really want to tick Apple off, then put a colorometer on the screen of the phone displaying a pure white background, find out what color temperature it is and post it here. If it's way off we can apply additional pressure on Apple to fix it, especially if large numbers of phones are affected.
For what it's worth, I posted a similar problem with my 1st 3GS phone. It looked nothing like my 3G or the 3GS I got for my wife. The amount of hate I got from Apple Apologists here was disturbing, especially funny when people are viewing photos of messed up displays on crappy monitors or on a tiny phone screen and claiming they can't see the issue. Try viewing on a 24" calibrated ACD and then tell me you can't see the problem!!
I exchanged it at the Apple store last night and the new one looks much better, it is a week 24. Unfortunately I didn't record what week the previous one was.
I think the best option would be if Apple put a routine in the phone that probed the screen for model #, etc, and then set the color profile appropriately.
In my mind, Adobe RGB or D65 would be the acceptable color profiles to use.
If you guys really want to tick Apple off, then put a colorometer on the screen of the phone displaying a pure white background, find out what color temperature it is and post it here. If it's way off we can apply additional pressure on Apple to fix it, especially if large numbers of phones are affected.
so i got lucky and was able to get an earlier genius bar appt for today instaed of tues
- took in my yellowed 3GS with the additonaly darker yellow at the bottom to the apple store this time at south coast plaza (did irvine spectrum the day before to compare, they didnt have any 16gb in stock and no genius bar appts)
-showed it to the guy at the genius bar and as expected - he couldnt see the difference; he took it to the back and apparetly had someone else look at it and was told it was "acceptable variation" by apple standards - took some gentle arguing but finally did get it swapped out - (new one came in a generic white box - ?refurb already - but at least it did not have as significant yellow color as my orig 3GS; there still is a little yellow bleed maybe1-2cm at the top and bottom, instead of 2-3" at the bottom
-while im not totally ecstatic about the quality of the screen its accpetable (my psp had the same effect) - probably has something to do with the backlighting
-at least in comparision to my 2G the colors are more accurate and vibrant on the 3GS, though the white is not as white
- took in my yellowed 3GS with the additonaly darker yellow at the bottom to the apple store this time at south coast plaza (did irvine spectrum the day before to compare, they didnt have any 16gb in stock and no genius bar appts)
-showed it to the guy at the genius bar and as expected - he couldnt see the difference; he took it to the back and apparetly had someone else look at it and was told it was "acceptable variation" by apple standards - took some gentle arguing but finally did get it swapped out - (new one came in a generic white box - ?refurb already - but at least it did not have as significant yellow color as my orig 3GS; there still is a little yellow bleed maybe1-2cm at the top and bottom, instead of 2-3" at the bottom
-while im not totally ecstatic about the quality of the screen its accpetable (my psp had the same effect) - probably has something to do with the backlighting
-at least in comparision to my 2G the colors are more accurate and vibrant on the 3GS, though the white is not as white
I think this yellow thing is unacceptable. Clearly there is a problem - especially when 1/4 of the screen exhibits even more variation than the rest of the screen.
My phone is going back to AT&T tomorrow and I will be waiting out the purchase of another from Apple. I want to see if this clears up. I am not going to be stuck with a POS device because some idiot of a Genius thinks it is acceptable. I swear, the people they have at the Genius bar must have a crappy life as they are always @sses.
My phone is going back to AT&T tomorrow and I will be waiting out the purchase of another from Apple. I want to see if this clears up. I am not going to be stuck with a POS device because some idiot of a Genius thinks it is acceptable. I swear, the people they have at the Genius bar must have a crappy life as they are always @sses.
Can someone tell me if my screen looks ok? Don't mind the crappy pics, my point and shoot is crappy.
I have also noticed this.
If you take a 3G and a 3GS side by side and go into the Brightness settings, you'll see they behave very differently when you turn Auto Brightness ON/OFF.
This is a pain because I find I have to turn the brightness on the 3GS up pretty high (say 60%) to equal about 40% on the 3G. This wouldn't be a huge problem if Auto worked, but at night the 3GS is too bright...
Hoping this is something that can be fixed in an update...
What's even weirder is that it's intermittent. My wife's 3GS phone almost never has the problem with the backlight, but both my 1st 3GS and my replacement have the problem. At least 50% of the time in low light the backlight is hardly on at all, you can barely see the screen.
Hopefully this is a firmware bug that will be fixed.
As to the yellow screens, I still suspect that Apple has a new supplier of screens and just didn't adjust the color profile in the software to account for it, resulting in the yellowish cast to the screen.
I hope you are right on both accounts.
I have the auto brightness issue as well. On medium it dims nearly all the way down and it's impossible to see during the evenings. You either need to turn auto bright off, or pump up the brightness to 60% or so to counter act and leave auto bright on (like someone else mentioned). It's annoying. I am not sure if that was done on purpose to boost battery or if it's a real fluke.
I have the yellow screen issue but not quite as bad as I have seen here. I am not too thrilled with it. I also am having a reception issue that is hard to duplicate (My cell and wifi is like 80% of what is was on my 3g which sucks because my house is in a 1-2 bar zone so I can barely ever get a signal on the 3GS).
I am terrible at going to the store, arguing, making my case, and getting results. I called yesterday on both issues and they shut me down pretty easy. If I buy applecare, will they be more responsive? Applecare will cost me the same as returning it to the AT&T store and paying 10% restock. Also, if I return it and wait a few weeks for a new batch, will I have a problem getting it at $499 again (early upgrade cost)?
I am terrible at going to the store, arguing, making my case, and getting results. I called yesterday on both issues and they shut me down pretty easy. If I buy applecare, will they be more responsive? Applecare will cost me the same as returning it to the AT&T store and paying 10% restock. Also, if I return it and wait a few weeks for a new batch, will I have a problem getting it at $499 again (early upgrade cost)?
Uggh
I just got back from the genius bar. I got a replacement for a bunch of bright pixels in the border, but this one is even worse with the yellow tint, much darker on the bottom of the screen. I will be replacing it, but I think I may wait till some new units come in before. The genius compared it to a bunch of other units and they all looked similar...
Definitely not right that it is darker on the bottom of the screen...
anyone make any headway?
I just got back from the genius bar. I got a replacement for a bunch of bright pixels in the border, but this one is even worse with the yellow tint, much darker on the bottom of the screen. I will be replacing it, but I think I may wait till some new units come in before. The genius compared it to a bunch of other units and they all looked similar...
Definitely not right that it is darker on the bottom of the screen...
anyone make any headway?
1. Nice, pleasant, normal, and new (since I had a 3G before) blue tint
2. shipped on the 18th from middletown, PA
3. White 32GB
4. 3-5#s on serial number: 923 (not a clue what this means)
I noticed that my screen was more warmer than my old phone but quickly got use to it. I would prefer a "whiter" screen but I don't think I will take it back.
I noticed that my screen was more warmer than my old phone but quickly got use to it. I would prefer a "whiter" screen but I don't think I will take it back.
Look how much darker the bottom is .
Thats how mine is. If it was uniform i could hold out hope for an update...
My 3gs is ever so slightly warmer than my Gf's 3g but what bothers me most is how it takes a lot more brightness to equal less brightness on her 3g.
I'm sure this is affecting battery life for me since i'm probably sending more juice to the backlight to compensate.
I'm sure this is affecting battery life for me since i'm probably sending more juice to the backlight to compensate.
IMO, the 3G looks less uniform in these samples than the 3GS.
In the end waiting a month before buying any new product (and a year+ with cars) would save a lot of angst on the part of the folks here.
Cheers!