17" MBP Faint Grey Horizonal Lines in Display

I have had four MBP 17" of the 2009 variety this year so far. The first two had screens that identified as 9C98 in the display profile. They were nice screens, both of them, but the computers had other issues. The two most recent units have had 9C99 displays, and both have had faint grey lines across the screen, horizontally, with a one pixel distance between each line.

For a time, I had both a 9C98 and 9C99 screen next to each other and the difference was clear.

I have been unable to find anyone else reporting this issue, but I did find some reports of people with Macbook Airs that report this exact same issue. Photos of this screen anomaly are identical to what I've got on these glossy 17" MBPs. The latest MBP is the new 3.06 GHz, and was manufactured two months after the previous one. The one thing in common is the 9C99 screen.

The first MBP with this issue, it was exceedingly obvious, but with this second one it is far more subtle, and may only become noticeable to someone doing very critical work graphically. I find it most easily seen in the upper left quadrant of the display, with slightly darkened grey colors. The iPhoto window with the background set a little to the right of center between black and white is a good color for seeing the effect. It is quite evident in the default Aurora desktop image as well. Because the pixel density is high with these displays, the distance between every other line of pixels horizontally is not large so you need to be looking closely enough to differentiate.

This issue may be easily overlooked by many people, but I can't imagine how anyone working seriously with graphics could handle this.

I feel confident that all the 9C99 displays are going to have this, although there is clearly a variance in the visibility of this anomaly among the affected screens. I wish there was a way to get the 9C98 display, but as usual it's a crap shoot when you buy one of these computers. For each display, hard drive, and optical drive they seem to always have two models they use - one better and one cheaper.

I'd like to know if anyone else has noticed this in their unibody MBP 17"s, and what model of display you have. To find it, open System Preferences, choose Displays, click on the Color tab, click on the "Open Profile" button, scroll down to #13 'mmod', click on it, and in the lower portion of that window you should see Manufacturer, Model, Serial Number and Manufacture Date. Do you have model 9C99 or 9C98, and can you see the faint grey or whitish horizontal lines?

Thanks

Hi taphil,

You mention that the 9C98 and 9C99 are Samsung and LG, respectively. I'm glad to know the manufacturers of these displays. Where was that information published?

The first 9C99 had the lines so badly that you could see them from even a few feet away. They marred everything on the screen and overall caused it to look washed out. The screen was also noticeably less bright at the highest setting than the 9C98 sitting next to it.

Now this second 9C99 screen is noticeably brighter than the previous 9C99. The lines are also significantly less visible, although there is a strange vertical discoloration on the upper left. It extends from just below the menu bar and continues about one vertical inch. Close inspection shows that the horizontal lines are beginning past the right edge of this vertical discoloration. Strangely, I cannot see the horizontal lines on the right side of the screen. The upper left quadrant of the display, and to a much lesser degree the lower left, are the only areas it's visible. Why only parts of the screen?

I do suspect the 9C98 is superior in this regard, because I had two of those units and never noticed it at all until the 9C99 came along. Considering the difference between two different 9C99's and the unevenness of the visibility of these lines, I'm not sure the screen model is the problem so much as perhaps how they are manufactured or put together.

I can tell you that the 9C98 models also had a better contrast to my eyes. On the 9C98 for example, I could clear see the dark purplish nebulae in the lower right of the Aurora desktop picture, whereas on the 9C99 it is a a faint blueish mist with no definition.

Of course I can only speculate, all I know for sure is it is that these lines are quite disturbing to my eyes and seems rather unsuited on a premium computer that is specifically sold under the auspice of having a superior display.

The first 9C98 was the best, the second had light bleed and the colors didn't pop in the same way. I had them right next to each other, same profiles. The 9C99's have both been junk, but the second one is definitely an improvement in terms of brightness and the lines being less visible - but they are still there. I would take either of the 9C98's over these lines, that's for sure.

Can you see any of these horizontal lines in your display?

Thanks MH01.

Apparently they are putting a completely different model in the matte version. The 9C98 didn't have the lines, as I keep saying, but both these 9C99 models do. Looking at pictures of the MBA lines, it is exactly like that. Due to the density of pixels, it's harder to see without looking for it, but it looks exactly the same as the MBA issue.