What is "screen flicker"?

[Abstract]

I mean, I can guess what it is. However, how long does your screen need to flicker for this to be considered a problem?
Sometimes my screen flickers, but it's only after I first wake my laptop from sleep. It may flicker, but if I play around with my brightness settings (make it dimmer, then brighter, and then dimmer again, etc), it's usually ok. It doesn't flicker after the first 1 or 2 minutes, and at worst, it'll flicker (infrequently) between the between the 2-5 minute mark. Most of the flicker happens in the first minute.

Of course, it doesn't always flicker when you wake it from sleep. This is why I haven't done anything about this issue. I also didn't want to take my laptop into the store in case it DIDN'T flicker when I showed it to them. How embarrassing. It also seems difficult to prove. However, reading about in a new thread has made me start worrying at least a little bit, since I'm still under AppleCare right now.

Should I take the damn thing in? Is this the infamous "screen flicker", or is the genuine problem worse than what I'm experiencing?

 

[Veracon]

Without getting too "know-it-all" here (I don't even have a MacBook yet), I found a few pictures and a video of this screen flicker; you may want to compare to these.

 

[PDE]

I mean, I can guess what it is. However, how long does your screen need to flicker for this to be considered a problem?
Sometimes my screen flickers, but it's only after I first wake my laptop from sleep. It may flicker, but if I play around with my brightness settings (make it dimmer, then brighter, and then dimmer again, etc), it's usually ok. It doesn't flicker after the first 1 or 2 minutes, and at worst, it'll flicker (infrequently) between the between the 2-5 minute mark. Most of the flicker happens in the first minute.

Of course, it doesn't always flicker when you wake it from sleep. This is why I haven't done anything about this issue. I also didn't want to take my laptop into the store in case it DIDN'T flicker when I showed it to them. How embarrassing. It also seems difficult to prove. However, reading about in a new thread has made me start worrying at least a little bit, since I'm still under AppleCare right now.

Should I take the damn thing in? Is this the infamous "screen flicker", or is the genuine problem worse than what I'm experiencing?

I think there are two 'known' flickers, one of which is represented in the videos and the other by your experience. My girlfriend's macbook flickers in exactly the same way you describe. In the morning, after long sleep, and just generally when waking up from sleep. When the energy settings are set to highest performance there is less flickering, but otherwise there is a flicker for a minute or two after sleep.

I suspect it's a defect inverter since it almosts goes away when you put everything to max power consumption = max performance. I'd say that no flicker is acceptable and that you shoudl talk it in for repair. Good luck.

 

[extraextra]

I think there's like a hardcore flicker problem among others (with it flickering constantly), but I have what you describe. It doesn't bother me, and there's really no way to prove that I have it (since it does it rarely). I'd rather not waste time by trying to convince Apple about the problem, and then having the Macbook be gone for awhile while they fix it.

Without getting too "know-it-all" here (I don't even have a MacBook yet), I found a few pictures and a video of this screen flicker; you may want to compare to these.

Oh jeez, mine is nothing like that. My screen just dims slightly (as if I pressed the dim button once) and then goes back to normal.

 

[stevehp]

Oh jeez, mine is nothing like that. My screen just dims slightly (as if I pressed the dim button once) and then goes back to normal.

This may be incredibly obvious, but make sure your display isn't set to change in low-light conditions. When I first got my MBP i was freaking out because the brightness kept changing until someone told me that by typing on it, the sensor thought it was dark and made the screen darker...Haven't used that functions since.

 

[extraextra]

This may be incredibly obvious, but make sure your display isn't set to change in low-light conditions. When I first got my MBP i was freaking out because the brightness kept changing until someone told me that by typing on it, the sensor thought it was dark and made the screen darker...Haven't used that functions since.

Change in low-light conditions? Does the Macbook do that?

 

[Abstract]

No it doesn't, only the MBP has the light sensor because of the illuminated keyboard.

I think there's like a hardcore flicker problem among others (with it flickering constantly), but I have what you describe. It doesn't bother me, and there's really no way to prove that I have it (since it does it rarely). I'd rather not waste time by trying to convince Apple about the problem, and then having the Macbook be gone for awhile while they fix it.

Well I feel the same way, but imagine if the screen just dies on me one day. I'll be kicking myself if I didn't take it in earlier because I was too lazy and thought it wasn't a big deal. There are lots of inopportune times for my laptop to break when I'm doing a PhD. Murphy's Law will screw me over.

 

[richard4339]

Mine is flickering like in the video mentioned above, but not nearly as badly. And, as stated above, it is mostly noticable in the dimmer stages, not in the brighter stages of brightness. (That sounded redundant...)

 

[JK.online]

My Macbook displays an odd rippling effect sometimes.

Though, this only happens:
- When the Macbook's rather warm
- The light settings are low (depending on how hot it is, this happens when the settings are high too)
- The screen is viewed from an angle lower than 45*
- It only seems to be apparent on the desktop though.

Does anyone else experience this?

 

[drummerbooker14]

is there a way to change the refresh rate in OS X? because that could be the problem

 

[extraextra]

No it doesn't, only the MBP has the light sensor because of the illuminated keyboard.

Well I feel the same way, but imagine if the screen just dies on me one day. I'll be kicking myself if I didn't take it in earlier because I was too lazy and thought it wasn't a big deal. There are lots of inopportune times for my laptop to break when I'm doing a PhD. Murphy's Law will screw me over.

Oh God, you'll get me paranoid!

Buuut I have Applecare, so as long as the screen dies within 3 years I'm fine. Either way, if I take it in now, or if I take it in when the screen dies, I'll be losing time with the Macbook (I desperately need it for school at the moment)!