It's unlikely to be the screen pixels themselves. Most likely it is a problem with the back lighting, and could well be something that shows up on many (if not all) LED-lit screens.
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New Displays....Continue Issues (Gray Banding)
- Thread starter MT0227
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It's unlikely to be the screen pixels themselves. Most likely it is a problem with the back lighting, and could well be something that shows up on many (if not all) LED-lit screens.
No... I'm not here to complain about problems, but rather to surface and warn against one that appears to be new. I have no complaints at all as I have my money back with the opportunity to wait until Apple sorts this out.
Since your Mac is perfect, instead of posting here, why not post to this thread:
I Just Got a New iMac and It's PERFECT - thread
I think that I would not accept this. As has already been stated, we pay good money for a premium product, expect perfection, and generally settle for slightly less.
I hope you don't mind, but I took your image, dropped it into PhotoShop and applied the 'equalize' adjustment (normally used for showing up dust spots on digital images, amongst other things). The result is attached.
The grey bar is clearly visible and IMO there is no guarantee how this will play out during the expected longevity of your machine. Who's to say it won't become more pronounced, typically once the warranty has expired?
My advice .... send it back. My i7 arrives today and I won't be accepting it if it's anything like yours.
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Sadly, I now have my own iMac i7, delivered just minutes ago and here is the first screen I saw. This hasn't even been equalized, just resized ....
And to add to my misery, the stand was also scratched
Apple have been informed, collection is arranged and a full refund coming my way .... nuff said!
And to add to my misery, the stand was also scratched
Apple have been informed, collection is arranged and a full refund coming my way .... nuff said!
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Oh, this is just sad. HEY, JOBS!!! WTF, MAN? I'm not feeling very encouraged at this point. Trading one problem for another is no solution.
CXsjr, thank you for the reply. I am actually shocked by seeing the equalized picture you posted. As I said earlier, I have seen this on my previous i7s (my current one is the 2nd replacement). I don't know how wide spread this issue is however do not think Marc and me are the only unlucky ones here.
I am going to talk to apple today and see what they will say about this and keep everyone posted. Again, hope everyone get a perfect imac!
xingstar
I am going to talk to apple today and see what they will say about this and keep everyone posted. Again, hope everyone get a perfect imac!
xingstar
Thanks xingstar .... not sure if you saw my second post in which I show that I too have joined the grey bar club, my i7 was delivered after I'd posted your equalized screen - I didn't even have to adjust the shot on mine and the bar is blatantly visible.
I'm not messing with umpteen replacements, I'm getting a refund and waiting for the 6 core Mac Pro to launch (if that happens) which I will use with my 30" cinema screen. I only ordered the i7 for it's brighter screen and greater performance but if the i7 screens are duff, I'll live with the increased performance of the Mac Pro 6 core and stick with my existing screen.
Good luck in getting a perfect i7 ....
I have a very recent i7 as well, and it appears to have the exact same problems as yours, topic creator. With that said though, the subtle gray band at the bottom doesn't bother me at all, and is only noticeable on the screen when it's set to a solid color, and even then it's not very noticeable.
I even have the exact same little area on the middle right edge of the screen that's dimmer than the rest of the edge.
Now, since this issue appears to be universal, it clearly needs to be resolved; but at the same time I wouldn't fret over it and go through countless replacements like a helpless perfectionest-- at least not now. Wait until apple has 100% solved the problem.
Week 7 i7 iMac:
yellow tinge test:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050041.jpg
detail of color difference (the bottom is in fact not yellow, but the top is lacking yellow-- contrary to what most people on the forum believe. however, the bottom is noticeably more saturated than the top)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/yellowtinge-1.jpg
gray band test:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050084.jpg
gray band test filtered in photoshop (noticeable gray band at bottom and same spot on middle-right edge of screen that is dimmer than rest-- half oval shape; only yellow tinge on the screen is at very,very bottom, and doesn't even make its way up to bottom bars on yellow tinge test)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050084-1.jpg
I even have the exact same little area on the middle right edge of the screen that's dimmer than the rest of the edge.
Now, since this issue appears to be universal, it clearly needs to be resolved; but at the same time I wouldn't fret over it and go through countless replacements like a helpless perfectionest-- at least not now. Wait until apple has 100% solved the problem.
Week 7 i7 iMac:
yellow tinge test:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050041.jpg
detail of color difference (the bottom is in fact not yellow, but the top is lacking yellow-- contrary to what most people on the forum believe. however, the bottom is noticeably more saturated than the top)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/yellowtinge-1.jpg
gray band test:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050084.jpg
gray band test filtered in photoshop (noticeable gray band at bottom and same spot on middle-right edge of screen that is dimmer than rest-- half oval shape; only yellow tinge on the screen is at very,very bottom, and doesn't even make its way up to bottom bars on yellow tinge test)
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/twisted_metal_2/P1050084-1.jpg
OK....so I decided to take my $2k gift card and go to another Apple retailer nearby who had a few 27" i5's in stock. Well, for starters their floor model and the one they use for check in both had the gray band issue. They opened up a "Q" week 6 i5 and again it had the same problem. It was fainter than the floor models and others I've seen but not enough to get my hard earned cash. To me there is clearly a defect in the way this display is being manufactured as some have the issue more noticeable than others and the problem is not necessary completely uniform across the display, yet on some it is. To those who say there is no such thing as a perfect display, I say *bites tongue* ....welll, that's your opinion. All I can say is my late 09 17" MacBook Pro's hi res display is flawless given my standards, so is my 24" iMac (previous release) and so was the 21" new iMac they had on display at the retail store. I'm going to keep my gift card in a safe place and wait till the next release.
Good luck to those who are in waiting and again, demand perfection and settle something slightly less.
-Marc
Good luck to those who are in waiting and again, demand perfection and settle something slightly less.
-Marc
Thanks for the update.
I just came back from genius bar and the guy how handled my case admitted that the screen is faulty. He also asked me to check other imacs on the floor. I checked two of them -- one 27 and one 21.5. The 27 one was worse than mine and the 21.5 was fine. Also I somehow scared the genius guy because he also purchased an i5 and he said the first thing to do once he reaches home is to check his imac.
I was offerred 10% discount card but honestly who cares? If apple keeps producing something like this, I do not want to buy for sure.
The problem is that the first two examples don't really count since they use a different screen. The 21" iMac may or may not count, but there are difficulties manufacturing bigger screens ... it may well be that 21" or 24" is the current limit for 101% perfect LED screens. I'm not saying people should settle for screens with obvious problems, but it may not necessarily be Apple's fault, but a fault in the new LED technology.
Another thought over night - it's possible that this same problem affects larger LED TV screens as well, but because of the constantly changing image few people have noticed. Perhaps displaying a "photo" from a CD of a single colour via a DVD player will show up the same faults on those too.
you can see the band pretty clearly here on my i5 which had the contrast and saturation boosted to show it. in the 2nd picture though, which is more how I see the screen daily, you hardly notice anything.
and I will say, this is nothing new to iMacs. you see this kind of grey patchy thing throughout my wife's old iMac 20", where the top half is way-off from the bottom. not sure if it's that old TP panel or the backlight. My wife didn't care enough about it so I let the whole matter drop.
most, if not all LCD panels have uniformity issues.
and I will say, this is nothing new to iMacs. you see this kind of grey patchy thing throughout my wife's old iMac 20", where the top half is way-off from the bottom. not sure if it's that old TP panel or the backlight. My wife didn't care enough about it so I let the whole matter drop.
most, if not all LCD panels have uniformity issues.
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Just got the call from apple store my new screen is installed, and it has a gray band. They told me over the phone. They were also unaware that apple has acknowledged a fix.
My faith in the apple store has diminished, these guys have no clue what is going on.
Good luck to everyone else.
My faith in the apple store has diminished, these guys have no clue what is going on.
Good luck to everyone else.
Could be the camera, could be the light or ..... could be just you: IMHO there is NOTHING wrong there.
I saw quite a lot of "defective" iMacs absolutely fine in this and other forums
Ok, now we have another guy (the genius) looking for a faulty screen that probably is .... Not faulty (since he didn't know until you said so).
BTW Apple doesn't produce the screen. It's manufactured by LG, as many many other monitor's display.
I see the big vertical band on your pic, which every imac I have owned had.
But I think people here are looking for the horizontal grey band which doesnt appear on your pic.
Originally Posted by xingstar View Post
Here you are. What do you guys think?
Sure it does....look again!
Here you are. What do you guys think?
I see the big vertical band on your pic, which every imac I have owned had.
But I think people here are looking for the horizontal grey band which doesnt appear on your pic.
Sure it does....look again!
It looks like someone drew two orange arrows on your iMac.
Take it back, immediately.
Seriously - some of these complaints are just over the top.
Yes your right it is there!
I was sitting to far from me tv at the time. Now I'm looking at me monitor, I can see. It looks like mine did (very annoying).
What is even more annoying is that I just brought a cheap HP 23" monitor for £129 and the screen is uniformly leagues ahead of any of the four Imac's and three 30" cinema displays which I have had to return for too many reasons to mention!
I'm so annoyed!!!!!!!!
I don't know why people do not see it. From CXsjr's picture you can clearly see it.
easier to make a 23" display with much more uniform backlight than a 30" monitor, but if you test your crap HP screen, it probably has a gradient too.