Screen Burn!

[dazzer21]

I've got an Al iMac 2.8 24", three months old. Has worked wonderfully. Working on an InDesign file today, I walked away from my screen for no more than 30 seconds with a document window left open. Came back and closed the window - no other windows open, revealed the standard Leopard 'cosmic' desktop picture behind.

Looking closely, a faint image of the window I'd just closed (including type and images) was ghosted on the desktop pic. As silly things like this happen every now and again, I just re-started the Mac and carried on. At the end of the day, I have just looked at the screen and it's still there. I used Grab to capture a bit of the screen expecting to see the image on the grabbed portion and that maybe the background pic had corrupted somehow to pick up the image of the InDesign window. WRONG!

Restarting again, on the blue bootup screen, it's still clearly visible, so the image is actually burned onto the screen!!! I can't believe it! Anyone else experienced this?

 

[linuxophile]

I've got an Al iMac 2.8 24", three months old. Has worked wonderfully. Working on an InDesign file today, I walked away from my screen for no more than 30 seconds with a document window left open. Came back and closed the window - no other windows open, revealed the standard Leopard 'cosmic' desktop picture behind.

Looking closely, a faint image of the window I'd just closed (including type and images) was ghosted on the desktop pic. As silly things like this happen every now and again, I just re-started the Mac and carried on. At the end of the day, I have just looked at the screen and it's still there. I used Grab to capture a bit of the screen expecting to see the image on the grabbed portion and that maybe the background pic had corrupted somehow to pick up the image of the InDesign window. WRONG!

Restarting again, on the blue bootup screen, it's still clearly visible, so the image is actually burned onto the screen!!! I can't believe it! Anyone else experienced this?

Really unheard.
I suppose the warranty should cover this.

I wish you good luck (or should I say, "better luck").

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I've got an Al iMac 2.8 24", three months old. Has worked wonderfully. Working on an InDesign file today, I walked away from my screen for no more than 30 seconds with a document window left open. Came back and closed the window - no other windows open, revealed the standard Leopard 'cosmic' desktop picture behind.

Looking closely, a faint image of the window I'd just closed (including type and images) was ghosted on the desktop pic. As silly things like this happen every now and again, I just re-started the Mac and carried on. At the end of the day, I have just looked at the screen and it's still there. I used Grab to capture a bit of the screen expecting to see the image on the grabbed portion and that maybe the background pic had corrupted somehow to pick up the image of the InDesign window. WRONG!

Restarting again, on the blue bootup screen, it's still clearly visible, so the image is actually burned onto the screen!!! I can't believe it! Anyone else experienced this?

I had an iMac for 15 months and started noticing it the last few months. I just sold it a few weeks ago. I would get the image retention for leaving a window up for just 30 seconds. If I minimized a window I would still be able to see the outline of the window and faintly see the text. If I switched to a solid color background it was even more pronounced. I started leaving the Paper Shadow screensaver up and that seemed to fix it. It took leaving the screensaver up for about 24 hours to completely remove the residual image of the dock and my background picture. I had the same issue with the 23" Cinema Display that I had before the iMac. I think this is fairly normal for LCD displays. I haven't seen it on an LED though. It isn't permanent, but it is annoying.

 

[dazzer21]

It isn't permanent, but it is annoying.

You're right - it's gone this morning - will keep an eye on this...

Thanks

 

[BulletToothTony]

A LOT of times ghosting appears due to the brightness set too high.. Try lowering the brightness maybe it will help.

 

[DavyC412]

LCD screens dont have image burn like CRTs or plasma displays because they have no phospors to burn, they do have something called image persistence, which is never permanent.

its because the LCD crystals have a tendency to stay in one place, which means when you change the image, some of them are retained which creats the 'ghost' or persistent image on your computer.

the two ways i know of removing image persistance is

(1) turn the screen off for a few hours (like you did), will allow all the pixels to relax
(2) whitewash the ENTIRE screen with a single bright color (white, hence its called a whitewash) for a few hours, will force all the pixels to be excited or on

 

[PcBgone]

LCD screens dont have image burn like CRTs or plasma displays because they have no phospors to burn, they do have something called image persistence, which is never permanent.

its because the LCD crystals have a tendency to stay in one place, which means when you change the image, some of them are retained which creats the 'ghost' or persistent image on your computer.

the two ways i know of removing image persistance is

(1) turn the screen off for a few hours (like you did), will allow all the pixels to relax
(2) whitewash the ENTIRE screen with a single bright color (white, hence its called a whitewash) for a few hours, will force all the pixels to be excited or on

Will this also resolve a faint horizontal line running across my Imac? I did leave it off for 24 hours once, and it was gone, however it came back within 20 mins or so...its not nothing Im returning back to apple for as its very faint..and not worth my time since I dont have an apple store here..

 

[DavyC412]

Will this also resolve a faint horizontal line running across my Imac? I did leave it off for 24 hours once, and it was gone, however it came back within 20 mins or so...its not nothing Im returning back to apple for as its very faint..and not worth my time since I dont have an apple store here..

probably not, what youre describing sounds like either like a fault with the screen itself (most likely), or artifacting from your graphics card(possible but more unlikeley). either way, its something wrong with the hardware. i would take it back.

 

[G-Force]

Will this also resolve a faint horizontal line running across my Imac? I did leave it off for 24 hours once, and it was gone, however it came back within 20 mins or so...its not nothing Im returning back to apple for as its very faint..and not worth my time since I dont have an apple store here..

I had the exact same problems with my iMac (see this post). I called Apple and had the screen replaced, Apple said it was defective. I do believe the heat from the machine can cause this.

 

[PcBgone]

I had the exact same problems with my iMac (see this post). I called Apple and had the screen replaced, Apple said it was defective. I do believe the heat from the machine can cause this.

Ive actually read your thread before, however I guess my eyes arent that great to see what you posted in your pics... To see if it was the same type of faint line.

Does it ever get worse? If it doesnt, Im not to concerned about it, but if it does I guess I need to contact apple..