How do I get rid of a pixel wide stripe?

[erachman]

I upgraded to 10.5.4 on my G4 iMac with a 17" display 2 weeks ago. The other a day a 1 pixel wide magenta stripe showed up, about an inch from the right side. Runs the full length of the screen, cuts through the menu bar. Shows up at start up, so I think it is hardware related. I have owned it for 2 years, am I screwed, or can this be fixed?, warrantied? Thanks for helping.

[sickmacdoc]

I would certainly agree that it sounds like a hardware problem- the difficulty is determining whether it is a display panel problem, or a problem with the video circuitry or logic board. I you have AppleCare coverage on it, a repair will certainly be done at no charge.

Whether you do or do not have AppleCare coverage, make an appointment at the Genius Bar in an Apple retail store if you have one within a reasonable distance. They will provide an initial consultation at no charge- and might find problems regarding the logic board which can result in a no-charge repair even out of warranty as recently happened with my GFs 20". Even if not they can give you an estimate of what a repair would likely run- although I will tell you now that if it stems from a non-covered logic board swap you will probably either learn to live with the stripe or seek to purchase a replacement machine!

Good luck with it as I can imagine that driving you nuts!

[viggen61]

You can try to gently massage the area of the stripe up and down the screen, paying attention to the ends, especially. I've had this work for "stuck" individual pixels.

LCDs are attached to the electronics by surface connections. What may have happened is the connection pulled away from the glass of the panel, leaving the magenta stripe. If the gentle (and I mean gentle...) massage doesn't help, then definitely go to Apple and see what they can do.

[gazwas]

I'm sorry to break the news but its the LCD Panel. The 17" panel Apple use is to blame. All the panels within a particular serial number range have the same issue.

17" PowerPC and Intel iMacs as well as 17" MacBook Pros affected.

Just google imac verticle lines or search for the same thing on youtube and I'll let that explain what your in for over the next few weeks...... yes I said weeks!

Apples view on this is that its not a known problem so they won't help unless you have Applecare. Its such an unknown problem because they have deleted posts from their own discussion forums about it......

[Etherz10]

Sorry To Hear That, Good Reason Why To Get Applecare