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I just used an iPhone 3G S and sorry, the LCD is the same...

TheSpaz

TheSpaz

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2005
7,032
1
I was just at my AT&T store and I got to play with an iPhone 3G S. Although it is really, really fast, I noticed that the LCD screen has the same scanline issue as the iPhone 3G. I don't think they changed the LCD at all. It kinda makes me sad because I was hoping they'd make the screen smooth and not show those stupid horizontal lines.

Here's how to spot if your iPhone has the scanlines. Hold the iPhone as still as possible and look at the light blue title bar in Mail or Messages and notice that everything is smooth. Then move the iPhone up and down a little... as you move it, the screen shows these weird horizontal lines. They only seem to show up when the iPhone is moving. I think it has something to do with the refresh rate of the display.

Anyways.. my current iPhone 3G is 95% free of this problem (there's a little bit on the lower left side, but I can ignore that) so I'm sad to say... I probably won't be upgrading to the iPhone 3G S (unless I am able to take the LCD out of my iPhone 3G and put it in the iPhone 3G S, but I don't know how similar the internals are yet).

How sad. Why doesn't anyone else notice these lines? When you look at your computer display, do you notice lines appearing if you move your head slightly? No you don't... why should it be on your iPhone?

One more thing: I've also noticed this effect on GPS units and other small LCD screens in credit card scanners and stuff at stores... so it's not just the iPhone.

Let me conclude by saying that my current iPhone barely has this problem and my iPod touch barely has a problem but, the iPhone 3G S is a lot worse and so are a lot of iPhone 3G's that I've seen in the past. It's a gamble whether you'll get a good one or a bad one.

Who's with me?
 
So, I'm trying to see this, but when I look a the messages or mail blue title bar all I see is the line across the middle of it (exactly halfway) that is used to give it that 3Dish look. Maybe I'm missing something... :eek:
 
Wow, you're really nitpicking. It's not a big deal. Besides, Apple never said they upgraded the LCD. They just used another material that handles smudges better.

People should stop complaining about these small, insignicant details.
 
abiyng87 said:
So, I'm trying to see this, but when I look a the messages or mail blue title bar all I see is the line across the middle of it (exactly halfway) that is used to give it that 3Dish look. Maybe I'm missing something... :eek:
Click to expand...

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about lots of lines that appear on the screen when you move it. It's hard to explain. I just know that my computer screen doesn't do it and my iPhone 3G screen mostly doesn't do it.
 
...LCD's don't have scan lines...only LED's do(well and rear projection/CRT monitors or TV's do, but who cares about those)...so maybe you should get your eye's checked.

LCD's do have a film not seen by the human eye, that shows up on camera's sometimes...but unless the refresh rate is lower than 60Hz, your wrong.
 
I have no idea what the OP is talking about, seems to me the word perfectionist is an understatement.
 
bob vansteel said:
...LCD's don't have scan lines...only LED's do(well and rear projection/CRT monitors or TV's do, but who cares about those)...so maybe you should get your eye's checked.

LCD's do have a film not seen by the human eye, that shows up on camera's sometimes...but unless the refresh rate is lower than 60Hz, your wrong.
Click to expand...

Nothing is wrong with my eyes. I'm not an engineer, and I don't know exactly what I am seeing but, I know that it's annoying and it really is there on the 3G S I used today. You can get as technical as you want, but I know what I see and I know that I don't like it.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/366724/

I'm not the only one that sees it.
 
TheSpaz said:
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about lots of lines that appear on the screen when you move it. It's hard to explain. I just know that my computer screen doesn't do it and my iPhone 3G screen mostly doesn't do it.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should try shaking your computer screen up and down too and see if they're there.
 
You spent 30 seconds playing with a demo phone at the store and assume that's the case for every iPhone?

Are you just trying to stir things up or are you really so limited in your perceptions?
 
Eh I didn't notice anything wrong with even the old iPhone 3G.

Spaz wouldn't make the stuff up, especially since he saw the problem in his old iPhone. Either he is unlucky twice somehow, or it is a real problem for him. Personally, I don't see it.
 
TheSpaz said:
...I'm not the only one that sees it.
Click to expand...

Some people's eyes/brains have less persistence than others. Baseball players come to mind (Babe Ruth supposedly). Some fighter pilots claim this but they are d**ks. Some folks complain of "flicker" at movies or motion sickness using computers under florescent lighting.

I'm pulling all this out of my backside, but if not everyone sees it then it could be you.
 
Are these lines perfectly straight? In other words do they exactly follow the rows of pixels that you can see when looking at your phone with a magnifying glass?

From the thread you linked to:
I've noticed that there are faint and occasional 'scan lines' on my iphone display. They're not visible all the time and everywhere, but they appear as a slight pattern of horizontal lines on solids. If I flip the iphone into portrait mode, the lines are vertical from top to bottom.
Click to expand...
 
I'd hate to go car shopping with Spaz.

"I won't buy this car, or any car from this maker because the radio station is not preset to my favorite."

"But you can change the station."

"That is besides the point. Also, the gas gauge is showing 3/4ths of a tank. That means the tank is not currently filled! Fail!"
 
After searching google for this LCD problem you have, I found the answer to the question I asked you above. Funny thing, it was posted by you.

New iPhone: Shimmering Screen/Scan Lines/Interlacing?

I'm not really sure what to call it, but I just got a new iPhone 3G and when I move the device and look at the screen at the same time, I see faint lines appear all over the screen... almost like interlaced lines or scan lines, but when I stop moving the screen, the lines stop. I checked my iPod touch and my 1st Gen iPhone and neither of them have this issue. Should I take it back? Anyone else see this?
Click to expand...

So let me get this straight, the lines are shimmery. They aren't always on your 3G's screen, so they're intermittent. According to the other poster, they rotate with the screen.

I have these exact same issues. They're there sometimes, other times they're not. They shimmer and move when I move the screen. And if I rotate the screen they rotate.

Since I've never heard of an LCD that has scan lines... I'm going to go out on a limb here. What shimmers, has a wavy pattern, and may not always be there... oily finger streaks? Wipe your phone with a soft cloth. And try making the streaks in a different direction with your fingers. If you have a screen protector remove it because you may have streaked the glass underneath. I think most people don't see it because they're looking past the oily finger streaks for an actual problem with the LCD.
 
You guys are not understanding me. It's not on EVERY iPhone, so maybe some of you have *good* ones and some of you may think it's *normal* or simply don't care. I've seen a lot of iPhone 3G's at the Apple Stores over the past year and almost all of them have this issue. The first generation was much, much less of an issue. The lines are there, but they're a lot more faint.

They're easier to see when the brightness is up as well.

On another note: It's not just when you move the iPhone up and down while you're looking at it, but also when you move your head or eyes while looking at the screen. Especially when I'm driving, I can see it as I hit bumps (I can't keep my hand and head perfectly still in a car)

Also, I'm on my 4th iPhone 3G (due to other problems) and my 4th one does not have the scanlines very badly... it's only in one tiny part of the screen where they show up, but the rest of the screen stays smooth.

Maybe they're not called scanlines, but I don't know how else to describe them. I'm not seeing the row of pixels across the screen... I'm seeing actual a pattern of lines about every other pixel all the way down the screen.

I'm actually really glad that most of you don't see it, because then it would be a huge problem for Apple, but as far as I'm concerned, I *DO* see it on MOST iPhone 3Gs and it *DOES* bother me. I'm just warning others that may not like this "feature" that the iPhone 3G S is no different as far as the LCD panel goes.
 
skwoytek said:
After searching google for this LCD problem you have, I found the answer to the question I asked you above. Funny thing, it was posted by you.



So let me get this straight, the lines are shimmery. They aren't always on your 3G's screen, so they're intermittent. According to the other poster, they rotate with the screen.

I have these exact same issues. They're there sometimes, other times they're not. They shimmer and move when I move the screen. And if I rotate the screen they rotate.

Since I've never heard of an LCD that has scan lines... I'm going to go out on a limb here. What shimmers, has a wavy pattern, and may not always be there... oily finger streaks? Wipe your phone with a soft cloth. And try making the streaks in a different direction with your fingers. If you have a screen protector remove it because you may have streaked the glass underneath. I think most people don't see it because they're looking past the oily finger streaks for an actual problem with the LCD.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with oils. It happens with the iPhone being perfectly clean with no screen protector. It's just weird that it's not ALL iPhones and some have it worse than others. My current 3G is almost like my iPod touch... no lines (except one small spot on the left bottom side). It has something to do with the LCD, I'm just not sure what to call it.

anjinhamarota said:
I've never noticed that issue and I'm not going to start looking for it. I'd rather just enjoy my iPhone than to look for flaws in it.
Click to expand...

That's fine for you, but I can't NOT see it. I'm always going to see it and it's always going to bug me. I think the main reason I saw it in the first place is because my iPod touch screen was so perfect and when I upgraded to the iPhone 3G, I was surprised at how the screen had lines all over it. I really wish I could find out what is causing them.
 
I seriously laughed.

Oh dear god users - we have a massive flaw! If you use your phone from an inhumanly, unnatural point - 0.01 inches from your face - there's an issue where you see faint lines if you squint real hard. This will sabotage using the phone as we know it. How can you possibly listen to music, browse the internet or make a phone call when you know at an absurd angle there's a faint line! Woe is me!

Honestly? Are you kidding me? Get over it, stop nitpicking and being ungrateful. Enjoy the phone without being a narcissistic, perfectionist weirdo.
 
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