My 1st gen. imac dims slightly? like I have hit the dim button once.

[zayco]

okay so I have a 1st gen imac... at least I think it's 1st gen. Either way it's 20 inches, the one without the webcam built in, from like 3 or 4 years ago.

Anyway about 3 years ago I had a problem where the screen sort've just suddenly dimmed slightly. Almost as though I had hit the 'dim' button a few times. I tried pressing the lighten button to make it lighter but nothing happened. back then I sort've shrugged it off... and one day it fixed itself and never did it again.

now, like 2 - 3 years later, it just did the same thing last night, where the screen sort've 'clicked' into a dimmer state.. really confusing.. Could it be because I leave it on 24/7?

any ideas?

Clay

 

[johto]

okay so I have a 1st gen imac... at least I think it's 1st gen. Either way it's 20 inches, the one without the webcam built in, from like 3 or 4 years ago.

Anyway about 3 years ago I had a problem where the screen sort've just suddenly dimmed slightly. Almost as though I had hit the 'dim' button a few times. I tried pressing the lighten button to make it lighter but nothing happened. back then I sort've shrugged it off... and one day it fixed itself and never did it again.

now, like 2 - 3 years later, it just did the same thing last night, where the screen sort've 'clicked' into a dimmer state.. really confusing.. Could it be because I leave it on 24/7?

any ideas?

Clay

Do you mean you keep the screen lit up 24/7 ? Why? It would be good to put
screen to sleep after hour or two idle...saves the light behind the lcd screen. Of course everything wears down eventually, maybe its nearing its destination to lcd graveyard?

 

[zayco]

nono

nonono... The screen goes to sleep, so it's asleep most of the time... but the actual computer is still running.

and I dont think it'd be anywhere near its graveyard.. as it happened in the past, and fixed itself... I dont want it to die *cries*

 

[TEG]

It is just likely the energy setting that tells the screen to dim before sleep.

Also, is this the iMac G5 or iMac Intel?

Technically the first generation iMac was the Blue one in 1998.

TEG

 

[zayco]

this is the imac G5.... before mac went intel.

and it does look like the dimming before it goes to sleep, except for the fact that I'm still on the computer, operating it, on the internet, etc etc whilst it does it... so?

 

[Acornz]

From what you are saying it seems that it is the normal "pre-sleep" routine all macs do. You can make it not do that (I think) in system preferences.

 

[chaos86]

Are you guys reading the OP's posts? It's obviously not the automatic dimming, because pressing the increase brightness key doesn't do anything.

It sounds to me like what I once witnessed on a standalone LCD I had. It would do exactly what you're describing. The backlights behind those LCDs are miniature flourescent tubes, and like full size ones, these tubes have obvious symptoms of production faults or imminent failure: flickering, intermittent dimming, taking a long time to "warm up", etc.

Mine continued to do this for a while until one day I turned it on, it fired up, and immediately died. I took it apart, found one of the fluro tubes actually burst (making the other one get too much power and trip a fail-safe), and built a projector out of it, lumenlab style. I hope your all-in-one mac doesn't suffer the same fate. That's why I wouldn't suggest buying an all-in-one to most people (I'd get one but I know I could fix things like that).