How good are Apple LCD's/Dead Pixels?

[MoparShaha]

Soon I'm gonna be looking at getting a new mac, after we all find out what's up SJ's sleeves after WWDC. I don't know what I'm gonna get (PM, PB, iMac.....), but I want to get something with an LCD. I want to know if apple LCD's suffer from a lot of dead pixels. This is the type of thing that would drive me mad/make me stop using the computer. If anyone could tell me what their experience with apple LCD's has been like, and if a lot of apple LCD's suffer from dead pixels, it would help steer me in the right direction.

Thanks

[melchior]

i my experience dead pixels are pretty good on apple notebooks and the imac.

they are however, a very vocal group who complain incessantly about stuck-on/stuck-off pixels in studio displays.

it is just a gamble because apple won't let you open the box to check. if you buy from a retailer like compUSA or BestBuy (are they stocking mac's yet?) then you can buy a better warranty that might cover the damned pixels.

good luck.

[shadowfax]

Tibook G4 here, no dead pixels. and i am pretty obsessive about that.

[dswoodley]

I have a PB 12" and previosuly two iBooks - all with no problem pixels. There have been some horror stories on some threads about dead pixels and Apple not doing anything about them. In general I think their quality control standards are buy, but as always - buy at your own risk

[patrick0brien]

-MoparShaha

Dead pixels are a fact of life for LCD's.

Apples has them too, however, Apple's standards are arguably the highest.

[shadowfax]

so, paddy (does anybody call you that, ever? no offense if it bugs you ;)), what's the avatar gonna be?

[patrick0brien]

-Shadowfax

Thought I'd throw the same thing I use as my OS X Login Icon.

:D

Took me a sec to get it to load.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Shadowfax

Thought I'd throw the same thing I use as my OS X Login Icon.

:D

Took me a sec to get it to load. not to utterly hijack this thread, but you deserve the moment, methinks. who is it in the avatar? not you, is it? such a stern face, ha. :)

[patrick0brien]

-Shadowfax

Yeah, that's me.

Hard to beleive that's the face of a 30-year old huh?

As for earning the right: Thank you, I've been looking forward to it, and I'm glad you noticed.

Scary to think that it was done without gettng involved in the Politics discussions.

[Duff-Man]

Duff-man says.... I have had an iBook and 2 PowerBooks in recent history...not one dead or stuck pixel on any of them. Apple has pretty decent standards...but that standard is not "no dead pixels" (no company can live up to that and keep prices reasonable)....oh yeah!

[Sedulous]

I have had problems on 4 different 22" Cinema Displays and a strange oval shaped "ghost" on a Powerbook. Strangely, 15"/17" Studio Displays, 23" Cinema Displays all seem to be perfect. A friend of mine has a single bad pixel on his iMac. I also think the Apple LCD screens age better (meaning brightness, whitepoint, style).

[jelloshotsrule]

apple 15" display here... no problems

i think it's just hit or miss.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by Sedulous
I have had problems on 4 different 22" Cinema Displays and a strange oval shaped "ghost" on a Powerbook. Strangely, 15"/17" Studio Displays, 23" Cinema Displays all seem to be perfect. A friend of mine has a single bad pixel on his iMac. I also think the Apple LCD screens age better (meaning brightness, whitepoint, style). i wonder if apple maybe had some issues with those 22 inchers, and that's why they discontinued them.

[tazo]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
not to utterly hijack this thread, but you deserve the moment, methinks. who is it in the avatar? not you, is it? such a stern face, ha. :)

i also got the 'tar a day ago. :cool:

[alset]

Mine is completely clear. 17 inch.

Dan

[The Reaper]

i have a 17 inch studio display (1280 by 1024 pixels) and it has no dead or flawed pixels, or any other faults i can think of. it's a very nice display. however, i recommend at least a 20 inch widescreen, as watching DVDs or doing photoshop stuff (palettes) is restricted on my display. widescreen is the future.

[crazzyeddie]

15" TiBook 1ghz.... One pixel that sometimes get stuck at red when i hit the side of the screen (on accident of course) but it massages right out :D

[Sol]

I have been using a 15" Apple Studio Display for two years now and have not had a single dead pixel on it. The PowerMac it is plugged in to takes its power from an Uninterupted Power Suply and I forbid anyone to touch the screen while they point at something on it. These two factors may be why my display is as good today as the day I bought it.

[nef919]

Just got a 22", none thus far. None on the 17" or the 15" Powerbooks. Same for my previous iBook.

[reflex]

I recently got an iBook 700 as my first mac. It has 2 dead pixels. My previous three laptops (one 4 years old, the others less than a year old) didn't have a single dead pixel. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.

[nikfel]

I have had my Powerbook G4 400MHZ REV1 for 2 years now and at first i used to used to take it around with me however now is has become a main desktop computer and is on 24/7 has been so for the majority of a year now. I have never had any problems with dead pixels so far (touch wood). The display is as crisp and bright as the first day I turned it on.

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by tazo
i also got the 'tar a day ago. :cool:

-Tazo

Yes, you're right! I meant to congratulate you on it.

Congratulations!

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by crazzyeddie
15" TiBook 1ghz.... One pixel that sometimes get stuck at red when i hit the side of the screen (on accident of course) but it massages right out :D

I was wondering if anyone else ever saw such a thing. My experience has been:

PB520
PB3400
iBook 600

as well as knowing others who have

23" cinema display
G4 PB 500
G4 PB 867

In all of these I've only ever seen one erant pixel, and that's on my PB3400. Occasionally it spontaneously sticks on red, but I can fix it by squeezin the border of the screen directly above it. I hope that when I get my next PB I'm as lucky as I have been with pixels.


52...

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
Scary to think that it was done without gettng involved in the Politics discussions.

Well, I'm almost there. Another couple days, with a little luck, and interesting things to post about. And, hey, I've avoided politics, too! :cool:


51...

[voicegy]

TiPowerBook here, first revision model. Not one single pixel problem.

Also, a 4 year old 22" Cinema Display at work...not one single pixel problem.

[Falleron]

Year and a half old 17" Apple LCD + no problems with dead pixels.

[elo]

Pismo PowerBook and iMac G4 - No dead pixels. If you're worried about this, you should avoid LCD displays altogether. Any LCD from any manufacturer can get them and no manufacturer will allow a return for only one or two (this standard would be prohibitively expensive). Apple's standards for displays tend to be higher than those of most other manufacturers (though a couple of others might be equal to Apple in this respect), since Apple specifically targets graphic design professionals.

It's also worth noting that, although the actual incidence of dead or stuck pixels is relatively small for monitors from any (major) manufacturer, the people that have them tend to speak up. Probability strongly favors a particular Apple monitor having no pixel problems.

elo

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by Snowy_River
Well, I'm almost there. Another couple days, with a little luck, and interesting things to post about. And, hey, I've avoided politics, too! :cool:


51... sounds like you need a dose of geek thread to exponentiate your post count!

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
sounds like you need a dose of geek thread to exponentiate your post count!

Nah, I'm doing okay. Just need to practice a little patience. Last week was kind of busy, and that pulled my post count down. (Not to mention it was a little slow, as far as interesting news is concerned.)


43...

[job]

no dead pixels here....

suckers. i've got a 40lb crt on my desk. ;) :p :D

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by job
no dead pixels here....

suckers. i've got a 40lb crt on my desk. ;) :p :D that makes you lucky. i know people with 90 lb trinitrons on their desks. no dead pixels, but LAN parties are a hell of a workout for them. my own CRT must be at least 50...

[job]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
but LAN parties are a hell of a workout for them.

fit, athletic geeks?!

whodathought? ;)

[TonicAngel]

17" imac with no dead pixels :)

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Snowy_River
Well, I'm almost there. Another couple days, with a little luck, and interesting things to post about. And, hey, I've avoided politics, too! :cool:


51...

-Snow

So I see 461 at this post. Hope you're getting your 'tar ready :D

As for politics, there are a lot of stong opinions, some in formed, others not, and most will never be convinced of anything other than what they came to the ediscussion with.

In my opinion, it's a waste of time.

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Snow

So I see 461 at this post. Hope you're getting your 'tar ready :D

As for politics, there are a lot of stong opinions, some in formed, others not, and most will never be convinced of anything other than what they came to the ediscussion with.

In my opinion, it's a waste of time.

I couldn't agree more. Political discussions need to be entered into carefully, and usually, at least in my experience, don't change people's minds. It takes open minded individuals to have constructive political discussions, and not simply throw arguments back and forth at each other.


37...

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by job
fit, athletic geeks?!

whodathought? ;) i never said they were fit, just that they get a workout moving their monitors. it probably wouldn't be much of one if they really were fit :p

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by job
fit, athletic geeks?!

whodathought? ;)

Hey! I'm a fit, athletic geek!

Martial arts, computers, physics and philosophy, an excellent combination! :)


30...

[celaurie]

I've had my iBook (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_600.html) since December 2001. My usage is generally quite heavy. So far I have noticed only one dead pixel way up at the top of the screen..

[wilhelmd]

Apple PB G3 (Bronze Keyboard): No dead pixels.
600 MHz iBook: Three dead pixels (corners), a fourth dead pixel came back to life when I used my "healing powers".
23" Cinema Display: One red pixel dead-center, and a green one just to the right of my trash-can in the Dock. Healing powers (smudging the pixels with a cloth) did not help.
12" PowerBook: No-one (Thank Bob!)

[melchior]

you all know that to check for "stuck" pixels (there are stuck-on and stuck-off pixels) to put a pure black image on your screen, right.

and some stuck pixels can be un-stuck with a bit of gentle rubbing too...

just a couple of tidbits.

----

and i got an avator too, yay!

[rt_brained]

Bought two iBooks last year. One had three dead pixels, the other had just one.

Bought two Powerbooks a few months ago and zero dead pixels.

As angry as I was about the iBook's dead pixels and the fact that the number didn't pass the magic threshold for Apple to do anything about it, I must say after a while I really didn't pay any notice to them...even with daily use. And I designed on them quite a bit while away from the office.

[davecentral]

My 3mnt old Powerbook has dead pixels, whats the magic number then? It's 12" titanium (800mhz). I used Dead Pixel Identifier from here http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21747 - i will use it before I buy next time.

I hate manafacturers that don't offer dead pixel warranties. :(

Thanks

[MoparShaha]

Well, I got over my fear of getting dead pixels and bought a 12" PB last month. Glad to report no dead pixels. The whole issue of allowing a certain number of dead pixels is unfortunated, but I guess that's the only way to keep cost down.

[caveman_uk]

I've got a 12" ibook and a 17" studio display - both without dead pixels (the ibook had a dead logic board but that's a different story:rolleyes: ). Others have worse luck though...iGav has had at least one duff TFT - then again he's a magnet for Apple's Lemons

[all-in-my-head]

Got a 20" couple of weeks ago and I have 1 stuck pixel. Only notice it on screen saver and sometimes movies. Its blue - always - but i guess i can live with for now. Can i get it replaced on warrenty?? Might do that just before the year ends on it :)

S

[leet1]

Originally posted by all-in-my-head
Can i get it replaced on warrenty?? Might do that just before the year ends on it :)

S

Nope, has to be a certain amount. :(

[blue&whiteman]

I think LCD screens are silly. to my eyes the quality of a high end CRT will always win.

What makes me laugh is when people say they have an LCD because of the much smaller footprint. HAHA! Would it not be far more practical just to get a larger desk and save a couple hundred with buying a good CRT? Maybe the really high end LCD are great but those ones are so much money that if you went with a CRT instead you could get twice the computer power.

Unless you have money to burn an LCD is not practical at all. I'm speaking in the mindset of a PowerMac user though, an iMac or PowerBook is a totally different story.

[Choppaface]

my dad just got a 20, set it up, and immediately noticed a dead pixel near one of the corners. he took it back to the apple store he bought it from and they gave him a new lcd. dunno.... could just be cuz its marin :D

[Mord]

when u buy go to a computer shop and make it a condition of purchace that there ane no dead pixels problem solved

[ZildjianKX]

Originally posted by blue&whiteman
I think LCD screens are silly. to my eyes the quality of a high end CRT will always win.

What makes me laugh is when people say they have an LCD because of the much smaller footprint. HAHA! Would it not be far more practical just to get a larger desk and save a couple hundred with buying a good CRT? Maybe the really high end LCD are great but those ones are so much money that if you went with a CRT instead you could get twice the computer power.

Unless you have money to burn an LCD is not practical at all. I'm speaking in the mindset of a PowerMac user though, an iMac or PowerBook is a totally different story.

Two main reasons I love my LCD...

#1 Its easier on the eyes, no constant refreshing like a CRT to wear out your eyes.

#2 1/4 the power draw of an equivalent size CRT.

And of course I have way more desktop space now, its lighter, and the screener is actually crisper than my trinitron CRT.

Edit - and about 1/6th the weight.