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30-inch Display Problems

iGary

iGary

Guest
Original poster
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
OK, so Thursday I happily bring home the new monster and get it hooked up and a couple of fine folks on the board helped me dispose of my two 20-inch ACD's.

First thing I noticed when I had it next to the 20-inch ACD I just sold is that the color is really faded, so I put a spectrometer to it and calibrated them both individually.

The 20-inch ACD still looked much richer and crisper.

Additionally, the 30-inch ACD has a a tannish cast in the upper right corner. Barely noticeable, but it is there.

Now, today, while running PhotoChop™, I notice flickering green and blue pixels in some of the images I am editing - but get this - the pixels are not stationary - they are dynamic and move around with the image in the same place?!?!?

A restart usually cures this for a while, but then I just queued up Dashboard (it's raining cat's and dogs here) and it was doing it on my weather widgets - same thing - I move them around and the flickering "dead/stuck" pixels move with them.

That said, I don't want to haul this thing and my G5 to the Apple Store tomorrow in order to replicate the problem. I just had my Mac guy here yesterday doing some networking with the Dell and it passed the old hardware test without a hitch.

Is it that this ATI 9650 can't really handle this thing (does it with and without the additional display)?

Does this sound like a video card issue?

Lastly, would you call Apple Care in hopes that it is a known issue with the card and they send me a new one? Christ I do not want to un-cable tie all these wires and haul 70 pounds worth of stuff to the mall.

Thanks in advance! :eek:
 
I would box it up and take it back demanding another display immediatey,
preferably from a completely different batch.

It might be your VRAM, but pixel and uneven shading problems at the price you pay for a 30" is simply inexcusable.

Edited in honor of your suffering.
 
FFTT said:
I would box it up and take it back demanding another display immediatey,
preferably from a completely different batch.

It might be your VRAM, but pixel a shading problems at the price you pay for a 30" is simply inexcusable.
Click to expand...

So this is called "pixel shading?"

I suppose I could hook up the Dell and see if it does it - my guess is since the 20-inch ACD didn't do it, it is the display.

I think I am going to take the whole shooting match in so I can duplicate it and get another display. This time, I only have one display to work on, and I can't be without it for three days as I have someone working with me and they use the Dell.

Blah!!!

Three grand and problems.
 
It is bizarre, there is one on my desktop picture - the rocks one from Apple - and when I move my mouse over it it goes away.

So I take a screen shot of it and when I move the screen shot around it goes away and appears in the same place on the image while I move it around.

Freaking weird.

I guess I'll just haul the display in first and hope it is replicatable in the store.

If not, I guess I do a clean install. :mad:
 
If you're taking your system in, you may want to strip it down to totally
"AS SHIPPED" stock hardware just to rule out any 3rd party hardware blames.

You may also want to shut down and re-seat your ATI and make sure
your DVI cable is reasonably tight on both ends.

Sometimes in the rush to play with new gear, simple things get overlooked.

At least you're well within your no questions asked return window.
 
Apple Store Annapolis swapped it out for a new sealed unit, no questions asked.

So far I am very happy with our new store. :)
 
iGary said:
Apple Store Annapolis swapped it out for a new sealed unit, no questions asked.

So far I am very happy with our new store. :)
Click to expand...

For $3,000 they better of! Glad you got it fixed. If you want to ship it my way, I won't complain at all. My 17" PowerBook will hook right up to that sucker.

*Drools over your 30"....display that is* :D
 
FFTT said:
I'm glad to hear they swapped it.

Did they say what the problem was?
Click to expand...

The guy at the Genius Bar said it was "a known issue." Rare, but "known."

Something to do with the gear inside of the LCD case being defective.

He said the ATI 9650 is more than enough to push this screeen (given I do not do video work, but rather photography) and wasn't the problem.

*crosses fingers* :eek:
 
mcarnes said:
So are you having any problems at all with the new 30"?
Click to expand...

Not yet, but it has to heat up first.

I'll play a DVD or something and see if it starts again.

It only happened when the display heated up.
 
So what did you end up doing? Hauling the G5 and the 30" monster?

Good thing you got it fixed so soon. I want a 23" cinema :p
 
It's a shame that Apple does not recall production batch runs with
" known issues "
before they are sold.

Perhaps they think someone spending a fortune on an Apple product
won't notice the defect until that product is out of warranty.

I've heard countless complaints about defective 23" displays, but your's
is the first I've heard about a defective 30"

Theses product are cosmetically beautiful, but no one should have to
worry about luck of the draw to get a good one.
 
I just went and picked up display number 3.

Display number 2, which I swapped for display number 1 went *pop* and half the pixels in the display went black, and then came back on, sans a random sampling of about half the pixels on the screen.

I'm getting tired of hauling this thing back and forth.
 
iGary said:
I just went and picked up display number 3.

Display number 2, which I swapped for display number 1 went *pop* and half the pixels in the display went black, and then came back on, sans a random sampling of about half the pixels on the screen.

I'm getting tired of hauling this thing back and forth.
Click to expand...

Egads, man, that is dissapointing. Nevertheless, can you post a picture of your new setup? I'm dying to see what one of these 30" looks like on a desk, or however you have it set up.
 
pdpfilms said:
Egads, man, that is dissapointing. Nevertheless, can you post a picture of your new setup? I'm dying to see what one of these 30" looks like on a desk, or however you have it set up.
Click to expand...

It's in the picture gallery, and yeah, it's getting a bit old.
 
iGary said:
It's in the picture gallery, and yeah, it's getting a bit old.
Click to expand...

Perhaps your video card is bad and breaks all the displays. :confused:
2 bad 30" ACDs in a row, man that has to suck. Plus, what are the chances of that happening.
 
iGary said:
I just went and picked up display number 3.

Display number 2, which I swapped for display number 1 went *pop* and half the pixels in the display went black, and then came back on, sans a random sampling of about half the pixels on the screen.

I'm getting tired of hauling this thing back and forth.
Click to expand...
Oh, wow, iGary. Hope you have better luck with this one.


I've never heard of that before :confused:
 
iGary said:
It's in the picture gallery, and yeah, it's getting a bit old.
Click to expand...
Which gallery? I cant find it in the "Post your setups" thread. Sorry you're having so many problems, but it is starting to sound like a video card issue.
 
iGary said:
It's in the picture gallery, and yeah, it's getting a bit old.
Click to expand...

Gary,
i just bought a 30 incher as well (got rid of 23 inch, as i wanted more real estate). not 1 day after reading your initial post, i experience flashing pixels on my desktop screen. It was cured by restart, but since i was also having probs w/ my G5, i called apple care and mentioned both problems. He also said, it is a "known issue" with the 30 inchers, although i had never heard of it before. So anyway, hope you have better luck with the 3rd one. I am taking mine back this weekend. Good luck...
 
Man, how I'd love to have a 30" display, but it sounds just slightly dodgy right now. I hope they work out for you two. Nothing sucks more than forking over all the cash and getting crap for it. Best of luck with #3 iGary and #2 vkapoormd
 
Definitely check the video card. Apple says that all three Radeon cards support the 30" but I noticed only the GeForce 6800 GT DDL can drive two of them. Maybe this is why I haven't had any problems?

I have a 30" ACD and the 6800 Ultra and they have worked flawlessly for me. Once calibrated the color is pretty spot on. YMMV. The little quote below is the only difference I can detect in the 4 cards except the 6800 GT DDL's ability to drive two 30's.

link
Dual link capability is required to drive the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD display and the GeForce 6800 GT DDL can drive two of them.
Click to expand...
 
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