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My 2012 27-inch iMac has image retention

M

martinm0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2010
568
25
Waiting for 3rd iMac

Here's my experience and thought on IR so far:

Received first iMac on 12/22. Machine had no major issues with IR or loud fans, but Target Display mode would not work. Apple sent a replacement and let me keep the current iMac until the new one arrived.

Received second iMac on 1/15. Immediately booted it up and connected to the first iMac to test that Target Display mode worked (and it did!). I left the machine in this configuration (first iMac as the main computer and the newest as the second monitor the first). After a few hours I moved to a new desktop work space by swiping and found finder and some other utilities burned into the newest iMac. That IR stayed on the screen for over an hour.

From there I took it off Target Display mode and let both machines run on their own. I did the IR test pattern on the newest one and left that up for 10 minutes, and sure enough, no issue.

Fast forward a week. IR suddenly shows up again. I do some more testing - IR is happening pretty frequently. What I realized at this time that the only thing that I was doing differently was having a second display connected to the iMac (at this point my TV). And since the issue only started when I was using the display in Target Display mode or with a second screen attached, I'm wondering if the issue is really GPU related and causing burn in.

I haven't had IR since I unplugged the TV from the iMac, but admittedly, I'm not really testing for IR at this point since I was told by Apple that if IR stays around for more than a few minutes its a problem.

Anyone else finding the same issues happening with dual displays? With the rMPBs having the same issue and same GPUs, this seems oddly coincidental.
 
P

perspectivebass

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2013
21
0
Having my 3rd iMac right now. At the store they see my problem. it is pretty easy. you see it quite easy on gray. On a colorfull background you don't see it that much but that is still an issue because i work in Photoshop a lot witch is gray and i want to be sure the colour i see is the colour i get!

3rd replacement seems a bit better than the last but it has some light IR i think i will put some further tests.

About apple and IR is normal? IR is normal if an display stays on for a day on the same screen nog after 30 minutes...
 
P

perspectivebass

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2013
21
0
Update:
It was no IR asked my brother (who is pretty critical about these kind of things and he didn't see anything. i don't see it any anymore!)

I did the check board test no IR at all left it open for a about 30 mints. Im installing a game right now to put it to a torture test and re test the screen after some heat (note: previous iMacs had IR from stone colt startup with screen longer than 5 mints)
 
S

strauss884

macrumors member
Jan 9, 2013
38
0
Just opened my new Imac and I have no image retention but i definitely notice some yellowing at the bottom. It's not huge but it's there. What have been people's experiences with this. I'm going to Genius Bar tonight. Can they fix it or will I need to wait for a new CPU if I chose to return?
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
This one is doing really good as far as image retention goes. On a grey screen I see nothing right now. If I leave up a high contract image for a few minutes, it will leave a light blue retention, but it fades quickly, so it isn't a huge deal.

However, I'm really unhappy with the overall screen quality of this iMac. The screen is much dimmer on max brightness than the last ones were. I used a 2011 iMac in my university video editing lab today, and I immediately could see how beautiful the screen was. It was much better than mine. It was brighter, and the colors looked more vibrant, like my prior iMacs were. I pulled up a black screen to see how the backlight was, and it looked very good. Mine is horrible. I have blue and yellow IPS glow, and the bottom has backlight bleed. The backlighting is so bad that on a solid color screen, like orange, it doesn't look like a solid color.

In the picture below, you can see how the glow at the top left is yellow while the glow at the top right is blue. The bleeding at the bottom is white. Of course this is exaggerated because it was taken with my iPhone, but you can see the color of the backlighting which distorts colors and images on screen. I think this is much worse than the prior three iMacs.

photoosj.jpg


Also, the vertical streaks/lines I see in blacks bothers me. (I also had this on my first iMac.) If you look at the second picture below, you can see the streaks. You may have to zoom out on it, or step back from your screen to see it in this picture.

photo2ff.jpg
 
Last edited:
T

tmorterlaing

macrumors member
Jul 14, 2008
48
0
Lava Lamp Freak said:
This one is doing really good as far as image retention goes. On a grey screen I see nothing right now. If I leave up a high contract image for a few minutes, it will leave a light blue retention, but it fades quickly, so it isn't a huge deal.

However, I'm really unhappy with the overall screen quality of this iMac. The screen is much dimmer on max brightness than the last ones were. I used a 2011 iMac in my university video editing lab today, and I immediately could see how beautiful the screen was. It was much better than mine. It was brighter, and the colors looked more vibrant, like my prior iMacs were. I pulled up a black screen to see how the backlight was, and it looked very good. Mine is horrible. I have blue and yellow IPS glow, and the bottom has backlight bleed. The backlighting is so bad that on a solid color screen, like orange, it doesn't look like a solid color.

In the picture below, you can see how the glow at the top left is yellow while the glow at the top right is blue. The bleeding at the bottom is white. Of course this is exaggerated because it was taken with my iPhone, but you can see the color of the backlighting which distorts colors and images on screen. I think this is much worse than the prior three iMacs.


Also, the vertical streaks/lines I see in blacks bothers me. (I also had this on my first iMac.) If you look at the second picture below, you can see the streaks. You may have to zoom out on it, or step back from your screen to see it in this picture.
Click to expand...

(Deleted pics for thread length)- assume you'll be doing another exchange then? This really isn't good enough is it guys. LG are NOT a good screen manufacturer. They make cheap parts to sell cheap products- which is fine, if you are on a budget, I thoroughly recommend LG products. I had an LG phone for year. For Apple to charge this much on screen which are screwing up so much is terrible. i understand businesses do this, but at least Samsung knows how to make a damn screen.

Sorry, I need a rant outlet :D
 
P

perspectivebass

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2013
21
0
Lava Lamp Freak said:
This one is doing really good as far as image retention goes. On a grey screen I see nothing right now. If I leave up a high contract image for a few minutes, it will leave a light blue retention, but it fades quickly, so it isn't a huge deal.

However, I'm really unhappy with the overall screen quality of this iMac. The screen is much dimmer on max brightness than the last ones were. I used a 2011 iMac in my university video editing lab today, and I immediately could see how beautiful the screen was. It was much better than mine. It was brighter, and the colors looked more vibrant, like my prior iMacs were. I pulled up a black screen to see how the backlight was, and it looked very good. Mine is horrible. I have blue and yellow IPS glow, and the bottom has backlight bleed. The backlighting is so bad that on a solid color screen, like orange, it doesn't look like a solid color.

In the picture below, you can see how the glow at the top left is yellow while the glow at the top right is blue. The bleeding at the bottom is white. Of course this is exaggerated because it was taken with my iPhone, but you can see the color of the backlighting which distorts colors and images on screen. I think this is much worse than the prior three iMacs.

photoosj.jpg


Also, the vertical streaks/lines I see in blacks bothers me. (I also had this on my first iMac.) If you look at the second picture below, you can see the streaks. You may have to zoom out on it, or step back from your screen to see it in this picture.

photo2ff.jpg
Click to expand...

That is pretty bad...

I would return it...
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
Here is a pic of a solid grey screen. You can see how half of the screen is yellow because of how bad the yellow glow is.

I have decided to return this one because of the backlight, but I'm tired of messing with it so I am not going to exchange again. I'm getting my money back and trying a Dell again.

photo2rjd.jpg
 
M

Mac32

Suspended
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
My first/original late 2012 iMac 27'' is pretty much flawless. To receive 3 faulty iMacs in a row, that sounds really strange... :confused:
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
Mac32 said:
My first/original late 2012 iMac 27'' is pretty much flawless. To receive 3 faulty iMacs in a row, that sounds really strange... :confused:
Click to expand...

This is my fourth, actually, and I'm not the only one to have had multiple bad iMacs in a row. I'm afraid that there are no flawless 2012 iMacs by my standards. They are just not as good as the 2011 and earlier iMacs.

With the iMac, after the return period I'm stuck with what I have and will have to convince Apple to replace the screen. Dell offers advanced exchange. They'll send a new one and then I send the old one back after I get the new one, and I don't have to worry about replacing the entire computer if I'm not happy with the monitor. I'd rather have the display separate so that I can replace it at any time. No more spending half a day with backing up and restoring Mac OS X and Windows. I've tried to convince myself to stick with the iMac, but I'm done with it. I don't want to deal with it anymore. It's going back to the store this weekend.
 
P

perspectivebass

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2013
21
0
You are not the only one i just went to THE store and got à refund. Not very happy with it because I love the iMac design and Mac OSX but it is really tempting to build my own pc right now. Always loved using Mac OSX on my MBP late 2008
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
perspectivebass said:
You are not the only one i just went to THE store and got à refund. Not very happy with it because I love the iMac design and Mac OSX but it is really tempting to build my own pc right now. Always loved using Mac OSX on my MBP late 2008
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. The iMac is a nice looking computer, and honestly that is the main reason I bought it. I don't have to have OS X for anything I do. I've been using Macs since 1995, but I've been using Windows for just as long. I used to keep both a Mac and a PC, but since they switched to Intel processors I just use Boot Camp and have one computer. For now, I've decided to go back to having a PC and no Mac. If they ever decide to release a headless iMac, I'll reconsider, but I'm not taking any more chances on the iMac.
 
S

strauss884

macrumors member
Jan 9, 2013
38
0
Lava Lamp Freak said:
This is my fourth, actually, and I'm not the only one to have had multiple bad iMacs in a row. I'm afraid that there are no flawless 2012 iMacs by my standards. They are just not as good as the 2011 and earlier iMacs.

With the iMac, after the return period I'm stuck with what I have and will have to convince Apple to replace the screen. Dell offers advanced exchange. They'll send a new one and then I send the old one back after I get the new one, and I don't have to worry about replacing the entire computer if I'm not happy with the monitor. I'd rather have the display separate so that I can replace it at any time. No more spending half a day with backing up and restoring Mac OS X and Windows. I've tried to convince myself to stick with the iMac, but I'm done with it. I don't want to deal with it anymore. It's going back to the store this weekend.
Click to expand...


Sorry to hear the Mac didn't work out. Since you said you were looking to go back to windows I thought I'd let you know before I got my Imac( which seems to working well so far knock on wood) I tried out a Dell XPS One 27. If you are looking to go the All in One route that was a really nice machine and good hardware. The only reason I took it back is I just couldn't get used to Windows 8 and really did still want a Mac. The touchscreen on it was really nice.
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
strauss884 said:
Sorry to hear the Mac didn't work out. Since you said you were looking to go back to windows I thought I'd let you know before I got my Imac( which seems to working well so far knock on wood) I tried out a Dell XPS One 27. If you are looking to go the All in One route that was a really nice machine and good hardware. The only reason I took it back is I just couldn't get used to Windows 8 and really did still want a Mac. The touchscreen on it was really nice.
Click to expand...

I looked at the XPS One at the mall. It's a nice computer, but I need more than the GT 640M that it comes with. I'm going to order a refurb XPS 8500 and add a GTX 660 Ti and 250GB SSD to it. With the U2713HM it'll actually cost about $200 less than the iMac I have now. I've been using Windows 8 since it was released, and I like it.
 
H

HenryDJP

Suspended
Nov 25, 2012
5,084
843
United States
Lava Lamp Freak said:
This is my fourth, actually, and I'm not the only one to have had multiple bad iMacs in a row. I'm afraid that there are no flawless 2012 iMacs by my standards. They are just not as good as the 2011 and earlier iMacs.

With the iMac, after the return period I'm stuck with what I have and will have to convince Apple to replace the screen. Dell offers advanced exchange. They'll send a new one and then I send the old one back after I get the new one, and I don't have to worry about replacing the entire computer if I'm not happy with the monitor. I'd rather have the display separate so that I can replace it at any time. No more spending half a day with backing up and restoring Mac OS X and Windows. I've tried to convince myself to stick with the iMac, but I'm done with it. I don't want to deal with it anymore. It's going back to the store this weekend.
Click to expand...

Sorry it didn't work out for you Lava, but I will say this and you should keep a mental note. Forum members on the Dell forum are probably saying the same thing about their Dell issues as you do about Apple. So if you think leaving Apple and going to a Windows competitor will be the solution to your headaches then I would say, think again.

If Windows PC's did everything for you then you never should given Apple a second look.

I only have one request though, since you're now dumping your iMac please be fair and not post here how great your Dell is while continuing to slam the iMac. It would be nice to keep a fair playing field of discussion and not turn it into a troll fest. People who've left the Mac have done this often.
 
B

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
Lava Lamp Freak said:
This is my fourth, actually, and I'm not the only one to have had multiple bad iMacs in a row. I'm afraid that there are no flawless 2012 iMacs by my standards. They are just not as good as the 2011 and earlier iMacs.

With the iMac, after the return period I'm stuck with what I have and will have to convince Apple to replace the screen. Dell offers advanced exchange. They'll send a new one and then I send the old one back after I get the new one, and I don't have to worry about replacing the entire computer if I'm not happy with the monitor. I'd rather have the display separate so that I can replace it at any time. No more spending half a day with backing up and restoring Mac OS X and Windows. I've tried to convince myself to stick with the iMac, but I'm done with it. I don't want to deal with it anymore. It's going back to the store this weekend.
Click to expand...

Apple must be pleased! Also, good luck finding any 27" panel from any manufacturer that has even backlight when looking at a solid grey screen. It looks to me like you're looking for issues/attention.

Also, for the record, the underlying panel in the 2012 is the same 27" panel you got in every old 27" iMac, the ACD/TBD and most of Dell's 27" panels.
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
1,565
618
HenryDJP said:
Sorry it didn't work out for you Lava, but I will say this and you should keep a mental note. Forum members on the Dell forum are probably saying the same thing about their Dell issues as you do about Apple. So if you think leaving Apple and going to a Windows competitor will be the solution to your headaches then I would say, think again.

If Windows PC's did everything for you then you never should given Apple a second look.

I only have one request though, since you're now dumping your iMac please be fair and not post here how great your Dell is while continuing to slam the iMac. It would be nice to keep a fair playing field of discussion and not turn it into a troll fest. People who've left the Mac have done this often.
Click to expand...

I actually tried some Dell displays, both a 23" and 24", after I returned my first iMac because they didn't have any iMacs in stock at the time so I had time to do some testing. I have been reading other forums and I'm already aware of issues with the 27" Dells -- the exact same issues as the iMac since they are likely using the same LG panel. However, with a Dell monitor I'm not stuck with it since I can swap it out at any time with a different model or brand.

I'm not bashing the iMac. I'm bashing the horrible QC of the LG panels being used. They are not as good as the previous ones. Even the new Thunderbolt/Cinema display isn't as good as they were a year ago. I went from a 2009 27" iMac to a 2010 27" Cinema Display to a 2011 21.5" iMac, and they were all great. I had no problems at all. The backlighting was great. I had no bleeding. I had no image retention, and now four bad ones in a row. Surely you can understand my frustration.

They've changed something in how the panels are produced. This isn't an Apple problem -- it's an LG problem. If Apple made a tower with the same specs as the iMac, I'd be very happy. But since they don't, I'm perfectly fine with a Dell. The reason I bought an iMac in the first place is because I like Mac OS X and the design and style of the iMac, but I'm not willing to be locked into this horrible display and I am tired of exchanging. I feel like I'm being interrogated every time I go to the Apple Store.

Brian Y said:
Apple must be pleased! Also, good luck finding any 27" panel from any manufacturer that has even backlight when looking at a solid grey screen. It looks to me like you're looking for issues/attention.

Also, for the record, the underlying panel in the 2012 is the same 27" panel you got in every old 27" iMac, the ACD/TBD and most of Dell's 27" panels.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but like I said, I can replace a Dell monitor I don't like in 6 months if something better is available. With the iMac I'm stuck with it unless I sell the computer, and then I have to worry about having trouble selling it because of the screen.

And as far as your comment about me looking for issues, look back at my old forum posts and you won't find any complaints about screen problems since my 2008 iMac that had retention. My 2011 iMac was perfect, so yes I'm pissed that the new panels are all so bad. I use a 2011 iMac at my university video lab and it has a perfect screen too.
 
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