iPhone 5 display interlacing?

panopticblue · Sep 28, 2012, 11:19 PM

I swear I see what looks like the screen is displaying an interlaced image. It's really noticeable if I move my eyes around a screen displaying a solid color. It's very jarring, I'm coming from a launch day iPhone 4 that actually had a near-perfect screen, and never saw any such issues with it. Never seen this on my retina iPad either.

It's a black 32gb and is literally perfect in every other way

This screen is not an upgrade from my 4, imo the "interlacing" that I'm seeing is a downgrade. Is it possible this is a side-effect of the in-cell display they are using? Or is it just a bad display?

BENJMNS · Sep 29, 2012, 12:47 AM

Don't look so close you'll become senile

bandofbrothers · Sep 29, 2012, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panopticblue

I swear I see what looks like the screen is displaying an interlaced image. It's really noticeable if I move my eyes around a screen displaying a solid color. It's very jarring, I'm coming from a launch day iPhone 4 that actually had a near-perfect screen, and never saw any such issues with it. Never seen this on my retina iPad either.

It's a black 32gb and is literally perfect in every other way

This screen is not an upgrade from my 4, imo the "interlacing" that I'm seeing is a downgrade. Is it possible this is a side-effect of the in-cell display they are using? Or is it just a bad display?

This has obviously un nerved you so look at a friend or colleagues iPhone screen ,and if they are different then the best avenue is to visit your Apple Genius Bar

bigcstyle4 · Sep 30, 2012, 01:52 PM

Get it swapped out. As I posted in the other thread, save that image as your wallpaper and show it to the Genius. My new display is perfect.

idiotkkid · Sep 30, 2012, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigcstyle4

Get it swapped out. As I posted in the other thread, save that image as your wallpaper and show it to the Genius. My new display is perfect.

It's not something that can be captured in a screen shot. It's a property of the display itself.

I see this effect too. It's like looking at vertical lines on the screen on solid colors as the screen moves, or when your eyes move. Stop the movement and everything looks solid. Start typing and the vertical lines show up in the gray background of the keyboard. Move icons from side to side and vertical lines appear. It's very noticeable and bothersome. None of my other apple devices showed this quality. I even swapped a phone out due to the issue, genius couldn't see it but swapped it anyway. The new one is exactly the same.

I've seen it on my Harmony One remote too, except those are horizontal lines. If you own one, you'll know what I'm talking about.

bigcstyle4 · Sep 30, 2012, 08:02 PM

I know it can't be captured in a screen shot. See this post:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...439&p=15918533

Get it replaced.

idiotkkid · Sep 30, 2012, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigcstyle4

I know it can't be captured in a screen shot. See this post:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...439&p=15918533

Get it replaced.

Just saw your post, and sent you a PM.

Thanks!

bigcstyle4 · Sep 30, 2012, 08:16 PM

I'm not sure if my replies to your PM are going through since they don't show in my outbox, but basically no, the replacement phone doesn't flicker at all, it's perfect. The new display is noticeably better in every way, not just the scan lines. While you wait for your appointment you can save the image on a floor model to show the comparison.

samven582 · Jan 2, 2013, 09:41 AM

are iPhone 5 still experiencing this problem?

zybersniper · Jan 2, 2013, 10:06 AM

What all of you are experiencing is called pixel walk inversion. It's a common limitation in most LCD. Not just your iPhone, but your desktop monitor will experience it too. For more info: see the link

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

Quote:

In a pixel on an LCD monitor, the amount of light that is transmitted from the backlight depends on the voltage applied to the pixel. For the amount of light, it doesn't matter whether that voltage is negative or positive. However, applying the same voltage for a long period would damage the pixel. Do you remember how electricity decomposes water into oxygen and hydrogen gas in chemistry class? Similar things could happen inside the liquid crystals that are in the pixels. In order to prevent damage, LCD displays quickly alternate the voltage between positive and negative for each pixel, which is called 'polarity inversion'. Ideally, the rapid polarity inversion wouldn't be noticeable because every pixel has the same brightness whether it a positive or a negative voltage is applied. However, in practice, there is a small difference, which means that every pixel flickers at about 30 hertz. In order to make this less noticeable, pixels with positive and negative voltages are interleaved, such that on average the screen as a whole keeps the same brightness – at least for normal images. The interleaving does not work for the inversion test images, at least for the one(s) where the pattern matches the interleaving pattern of the monitor. In such cases, the monitor will flicker if the positive and negative voltages are not tuned very well.....

Not all LCDs are created equal. Some electronics like the Nintendo DS Lite actually had a port screw on the motherboard that could change the flicker rate for different screens and it was common knowledge that it had to be adjusted if a LCD swap was made. I believe that Apple may have not calibrated the LCD properly on some phones and so some of you experience more flicker than on other phones. And it's true that not all eyes are created equal. Mostly people with very good eye sight would be more sensitive to the flickering.

samven582 · Jan 25, 2013, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zybersniper

What all of you are experiencing is called pixel walk inversion. It's a common limitation in most LCD. Not just your iPhone, but your desktop monitor will experience it too. For more info: see the link

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

Not all LCDs are created equal. Some electronics like the Nintendo DS Lite actually had a port screw on the motherboard that could change the flicker rate for different screens and it was common knowledge that it had to be adjusted if a LCD swap was made. I believe that Apple may have not calibrated the LCD properly on some phones and so some of you experience more flicker than on other phones. And it's true that not all eyes are created equal. Mostly people with very good eye sight would be more sensitive to the flickering.

I own many LCD based products and none of them exhibit this problem expect the iPhone

vastoholic · Jan 25, 2013, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samven582

I own many LCD based products and none of them exhibit this problem expect the iPhone

Not all iPhone exhibit this problem either. What's your point?

samven582 · Jan 25, 2013, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vastoholic

Not all iPhone exhibit this problem either. What's your point?

Most of them do

aphexacid · Jan 25, 2013, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samven582

Most of them do

Thats a bold statement. Not most, Some.

Anyways, theres a giant thread on this subject already

samven582 · Mar 17, 2013, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aphexacid

Thats a bold statement. Not most, Some.

Anyways, theres a giant thread on this subject already

Its not a bold statement. 5 out 5 iPhones I purchased has this issue and they were all scratched out of the box.

sulpfiction · Mar 17, 2013, 09:16 AM

Sounds like you'd be better off giving up on the iPhone and moving on. I have never experienced this interlacing problem on my phone, and my launch day 5 was perfect out of the box. So I'm happy. But if I had to get 5 replacement phones, and I still wasn't happy...I'd throw my hands up and go look for another device.

samven582 · Mar 17, 2013, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sulpfiction

Sounds like you'd be better off giving up on the iPhone and moving on. I have never experienced this interlacing problem on my phone, and my launch day 5 was perfect out of the box. So I'm happy. But if I had to get 5 replacement phones, and I still wasn't happy...I'd throw my hands up and go look for another device.

I already have and will moving on to the S4

sulpfiction · Mar 17, 2013, 12:58 PM

Yeah, if I was that unhappy, I'd run away too. Good luck with the S4! Hope it meets ur needs.

thadoggfather · Mar 17, 2013, 01:18 PM

I had a few of them that did it as well.

It seems to be fairly common at the very least. Some exhibit it more intensely than others believe it or not, and others don't exhibit it at all.

Given that the LG Nexus 4 I played with at the T-Mobile store had the same vertical interlacing (easily visible against the blue of the Facebook app that was already loaded on it).

Therefore, given this and LG's terrible track record with displays in Apple products in general, I'd say it's just an 'inherent characteristic' of all LG iPhone 5 panels and varies.

Really annoying, imo. If you notice something weird about the screen without first researching and knowing about the issue, it's an issue.

Sep 28, 2012, 11:19 PM	#1
panopticblue macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2011	iPhone 5 display interlacing? I swear I see what looks like the screen is displaying an interlaced image. It's really noticeable if I move my eyes around a screen displaying a solid color. It's very jarring, I'm coming from a launch day iPhone 4 that actually had a near-perfect screen, and never saw any such issues with it. Never seen this on my retina iPad either. It's a black 32gb and is literally perfect in every other way This screen is not an upgrade from my 4, imo the "interlacing" that I'm seeing is a downgrade. Is it possible this is a side-effect of the in-cell display they are using? Or is it just a bad display?
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Sep 29, 2012, 12:47 AM	#2
BENJMNS In Time-Out Join Date: Dec 2005	Don't look so close you'll become senile
	1

Sep 30, 2012, 01:52 PM	#4
bigcstyle4 macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2012	Get it swapped out. As I posted in the other thread, save that image as your wallpaper and show it to the Genius. My new display is perfect.
	0

Sep 30, 2012, 08:02 PM	#6
bigcstyle4 macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2012	I know it can't be captured in a screen shot. See this post: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...439&p=15918533 Get it replaced.
	0

Sep 30, 2012, 08:16 PM	#8
bigcstyle4 macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2012	I'm not sure if my replies to your PM are going through since they don't show in my outbox, but basically no, the replacement phone doesn't flicker at all, it's perfect. The new display is noticeably better in every way, not just the scan lines. While you wait for your appointment you can save the image on a floor model to show the comparison.
	0

Jan 2, 2013, 09:41 AM	#9
samven582 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009	are iPhone 5 still experiencing this problem?
	0

Mar 17, 2013, 09:16 AM	#16
sulpfiction macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Philadelphia Area	Sounds like you'd be better off giving up on the iPhone and moving on. I have never experienced this interlacing problem on my phone, and my launch day 5 was perfect out of the box. So I'm happy. But if I had to get 5 replacement phones, and I still wasn't happy...I'd throw my hands up and go look for another device.
	0

Mar 17, 2013, 12:58 PM	#18
sulpfiction macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Philadelphia Area	Yeah, if I was that unhappy, I'd run away too. Good luck with the S4! Hope it meets ur needs.
	0

Mar 17, 2013, 01:18 PM	#19
thadoggfather macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2007	I had a few of them that did it as well. It seems to be fairly common at the very least. Some exhibit it more intensely than others believe it or not, and others don't exhibit it at all. Given that the LG Nexus 4 I played with at the T-Mobile store had the same vertical interlacing (easily visible against the blue of the Facebook app that was already loaded on it). Therefore, given this and LG's terrible track record with displays in Apple products in general, I'd say it's just an 'inherent characteristic' of all LG iPhone 5 panels and varies. Really annoying, imo. If you notice something weird about the screen without first researching and knowing about the issue, it's an issue.
	0