PRIME Example of a Bad Screen

[TheMotif]

In case you're uncertain of whether your screen is wacked out or not, check this out from another forum:

[Rapmastac1]

That is absolutely unacceptable!

[HelixOmnimedia]

I have heard of this problem, but i never imagined how bad it actually is/was.
Now I'm worried about the one I have pre-ordered!

[james6000]

I thought it was gonna be slightly grey black screen. Didn't expect such a pale black screen!!!

[tangent7]

on man that is terrible!!

[TheMotif]

I'm most definitely waiting a few weeks before even thinking of making the trip down to Apple Store in Indianapolis. This is ridiculous.

[badtzmaru]

That sucks but why are people so outraged? If its busted just get a replacement.

[Sean Dempsey]

Originally Posted by badtzmaru

That sucks but why are people so outraged? If its busted just get a replacement.

Most likely because it's an issue with the type of display that is in the device, so replacing it with the same thing won't really help.

[gloss]

Originally Posted by Sean Dempsey

Most likely because it's an issue with the type of display that is in the device, so replacing it with the same thing won't really help.

The best theory I've heard is that it's an issue with misapplied Anti-Reflective Coating.

[awmazz]

Gee, I wonder why they photoshopped iPhone screen images complete with bluetooth icon onto it for their advertising...

If I recall, the bluetooth icon image was the one with the movie playing... go figure.

[CiscoGuru&aMac]

Turn the brightness down to an acceptable level and I bet most of the problem goes away.

This is a recognized issue at Apple already, however, I think people should try this as on most suspected phones, I bet this fixes the problem.

The only issue is that the screen seems very sensitive to angles.

It will get resolved...

[i0Nic]

Originally Posted by awmazz

Gee, I wonder why they photoshopped iPhone screen images complete with bluetooth icon onto it for their advertising...

If I recall, the bluetooth icon image was the one with the movie playing... go figure.

That has nothing to do with the touch. All product images on Apple's site are renderings, not actual photographs. Therefore any product with a screen has a 'photoshopped' screenshot on it.

It was just a case of a designer not paying careful attention to which screengrab he/she was using.

[gloss]

Originally Posted by CiscoGuru&aMac

Turn the brightness down to an acceptable level and I bet most of the problem goes away.

It doesn't.

[HelixOmnimedia]

Originally Posted by CiscoGuru&aMac

Turn the brightness down to an acceptable level and I bet most of the problem goes away.

We're paying £269 (or $399) I ain't turning anything down to make it "go away" I'm spending a hell of a lot of money and i expect to get my money worth for a product that actually work. Not something that I'm just going to put up with by changing settings.

[JuicyGoo]

Wow. That's terrible!

Got my ipod touch on Fri and so far the videos I've loaded onto them look fine. No issues with the black (at least not like the image above).

And there's no hissing sound like I've been reading. It works perfectly. (Hope that doesn't come off as gloating, just trying to let others know that not all the Touches are defective.)

[Sean Dempsey]

Alright, after reviewing a particularly dark episode of Dexter, it's pretty obvious that my Touch does have a bad "negative blacks" problem.

Regular scenes look fine, it's just when it's BLACK black shadow.

Still unsure if this warrants a return though, especially considering there's no guarantee that there will be "good" screens anytime soon. It's not a huge deal since most scenes aren't totally black, but it still can create an annoyance.

Not sure what to do. I have 30 days to go back to bestbuy.

[gloss]

Originally Posted by Sean Dempsey

Alright, after reviewing a particularly dark episode of Dexter, it's pretty obvious that my Touch does have a bad "negative blacks" problem.

Regular scenes look fine, it's just when it's BLACK black shadow.

Still unsure if this warrants a return though, especially considering there's no guarantee that there will be "good" screens anytime soon. It's not a huge deal since most scenes aren't totally black, but it still can create an annoyance.

Not sure what to do. I have 30 days to go back to bestbuy.

I've got about the same level of the problem as you - it wasn't obvious until I watched a dark scene in an episode of House, and suddenly it was staring me in the face.

I went back to the Apple Store and asked for an exchange. I'll be getting a unit from their next shipment. I'll post in this forum if the issue is fixed by then - hopefully it'll be a different batch of devices.

[aidanpendragon]

To OP: do you have access to an iPhone, and can you do the same shot from there?

To anyone else: ditto, if OP can't.

For all this talk of "the iPhone doesn't have these problems," I've seen little actual photo-evidence of it.

I think the OP's pic (or whoever's) is a definitive "bad." If iPhone's looks 100% better at same scene, angle, etc., then it's a Touch-specific problem. But I'd still like some more/better proof of the iPhone's superiority in this regard.

[kered22]

Originally Posted by aidanpendragon

For all this talk of "the iPhone doesn't have these problems," I've seen little actual photo-evidence of it.

http://playlistmag.com/features/2007...s_on/index.php

Jason Snell and Chris Breen of MacWorld have the same problem and posted some images of the touch versus iPhone comparison. The iPhone is, to the say the least, MUCH better for whatever reason. Check out the Flickr link that Jason posted to see some more samples.

My Touch does this too which so far is the only bad thing about it. Not sure if I'll be asking for a replacement, it does get very annoying though.

[jmpage2]

That original photo is one that I took. That was at default brightness in a medium lit room.

The problem does not go away if you change the brightness of the unit and it is noticeable in a bright room, dark room, etc. I took a series of photos and posted them in a thread which I can link here if that helps.

I have since returned the unit to Apple and bought one at Best Buy which also exhibits the problem, but not as bad.

I was initially skeptical that ANY screens did work properly, but some photographs demonstrate some screens perform fairly well, but still not to the same level as the iPhone.

The best way I can describe the problem is that it looks as if an anti-reflective coating was incorrectly applied to the screen so that when it displays black, everything is reflected on that part of the screen. However it does it in a pitch black room so maybe that's not the problem.

In any event, this is a real problem that is now being reported by respectable sources. If you are worried about this, then get the device from a source with a good return/exchange policy as Apple has yet to acknowledge the issue.

//edit;

here's the original thread with a series of photos;

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=355025

[badtzmaru]

if the ipod touch display is, in itself, screwy then definitely wait till the next version!

[jmpage2]

Originally Posted by badtzmaru

if the ipod touch display is, in itself, screwy then definitely wait till the next version!

I have a hard time believing that apple would agree to this quality display in what is probably their most important mass consumer product this holiday season.

So, we'll just have to wait a week or so and see how they respond.

[Dijo John]

Jesus Christ..I'm extremely worried about the Touch I've pre-ordered

[Southernboy]

If it was mine I'd return it. Even cheap (ie. free) phones have better displays than that. Totally unacceptable.

[Evangelion]

Originally Posted by Sean Dempsey

Most likely because it's an issue with the type of display that is in the device, so replacing it with the same thing won't really help.

While some people are reporting this problem, there are others who are saying that their touch does not have it. So it seems that there is a batch of faulty touches floating around. In other words: that this is not an universal problem, it only affects some touches.