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rMBP display very yellow

Guys, why don't you just calibrate your displays? That's why they offer calibration functions you know...to help you correct for variances in displays out of the box. Just make sure you tick the "Expert Mode" box before you begin the calibration so you can adjust the display's white point. It doesn't take much of an adjustment to remove the yellow tint of your display.
 
here we go again. Every display is going to be different and it takes a while to get used to. At least with these laptops, you can calibrated it, unlike an iPad. Also, unless your old display was calibrated, who is it to say that its not your old display and not your RMBP that is off. Calibrated using a monitor calibration tool, and it'll give you the correct image.

I used an x-rite i1Display 2 (http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-i1Display-Calibrator-Laptop-Displays/dp/B000JLO31M) and my RMBP looks amazing.
 
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Not entirely true, the Apple tech, supervisor told me that this is caused by " burned " glass and has been an issue for a while now.

I can calibrate as much as I want I don't get a proper white.
 
Pivoh said:
Not entirely true, the Apple tech, supervisor told me that this is caused by " burned " glass and has been an issue for a while now.

I can calibrate as much as I want I don't get a proper white.
Click to expand...

Burned glass. Causing uniform tint anomalies. Sure. :rolleyes:

Have you tried calibrating your display with a colorimeter? If not, you have no idea whether you're getting a "true" white because you have no frame of reference. Besides, most displays out of the box are very blue; chances are that's what you're used to. It's very likely that that "yellow" rMBP display you're looking it is more accurate than other displays you're used to.

Do what you want, but it's likely that your replacement computer will be just as "yellow" as your current computer.
 
kfscoll said:
Guys, why don't you just calibrate your displays? That's why they offer calibration functions you know...to help you correct for variances in displays out of the box. Just make sure you tick the "Expert Mode" box before you begin the calibration so you can adjust the display's white point. It doesn't take much of an adjustment to remove the yellow tint of your display.
Click to expand...

Decent colorimeters cost more than your casual user will spend. They can't really address the hardware directly anyway. Some displays have internal LUTs which make a better solution, but raw hardware values have to be set reasonably well at the factory. In this case I'd suggest it was within tolerable spec. A colorimeter measured profile would just tell the OS a bit more about the overall response of the display. They measure certain known points such as maximum primaries, quarter tones, and temperature. If you're talking about a laptop display, it's typically ideal to just leave things to native wherever possible. Take native display white point ---> flag it for what it is in generated profile. I dislike making the framebuffer do gymnastics to hit an arbitrary value. You definitely get more of a range if the display has addressable hardware luts. My point would be that ideally you're just using the measurements to interpret the hardware response.

kfscoll said:
Burned glass. Causing uniform tint anomalies. Sure. :rolleyes:

Have you tried calibrating your display with a colorimeter? If not, you have no idea whether you're getting a "true" white because you have no frame of reference. Besides, most displays out of the box are very blue; chances are that's what you're used to. It's very likely that that "yellow" rMBP display you're looking it is more accurate than other displays you're used to.

Do what you want, but it's likely that your replacement computer will be just as "yellow" as your current computer.
Click to expand...

Colorimeters vary too. They're affected by temperature, humidity, age, and other factors, so it's better to accept that there is no perfect target or "true white". Typically the hardware would corrrespond to something around a native 7000k white point. Typically if you were preparing for print or broadcast or whatever, you would just use a standardized value. It doesn't make it a true color. You probably already know this. I'm more pointing it out for others as it becomes confusing without the right background information.
 
received-returned yellow fever rMBP 16GB

Ordered my 2.6Ghz 16GB rMBP on 7/18 from the online Apple Store. Received yesterday (7/30).

Returned to my local Apple store 4 hours after receiving the package. 40 minutes waiting for the Genius (I had an appointment, but hey ...). One look at the display, no dispute needed (fortunately!).

Could not stand the screen, next to my late 2008 15" MBP it was both dimmer and had a yellow/pinkish color tint (slightly pink on the right, yellow on the left).

Now the game begins: The sales rep in the store promised to let me know if they accidentally receive a rMBP that has my configuration. He would personally look out for that (which does not give me great confidence, seeing how busy they are and all?).
So to get anything any time soon, in parallel, I am putting in another order through the online store.

What sucks: 2+ more weeks without the new machine. Fortunately the old MBP has not given up completely (yet) but I had some vacation video editing projects that I had hoped to be able to tackle on the 3x faster hardware ...

Apparently the following applies (and I don't like it):

1. Apple can give no assurances that the next rMBP won't have the same issue. No way of telling but buying, unpacking, getting to the desktop, setting the background to white.

2. I am at the continued mercy of Apple to accept additional returns if needed (see some other posters in this forum).

3. I will not get expedited shipping on the replacement (have to get back at the end of the queue).

4. No guarantee that the replacement will ship with Mountain Lion or that Apple will honor the "up to date" promise. I have 10 emails in my inbox now denying me the upgrade, reasons given from "does not qualify" to "no proof of purchase" (which I of course had attached) to "no proof of receipt" to "no proof of payment". I BOUGHT THE MACBOOK PRO FROM APPLE.COM AND PROVIDED SERIAL NUMBER AND ORDER NUMBER, receipt showing credit card payment and all.
Very impressive job here Apple on wasting my time and not allowing me to get your current OS on a $3000+ brand new laptop.

Can we please have Steve Jobs back, or somebody who cares about quality of customer relationship? I heard that Microsoft stores have now eclipsed Apple stores in customer satisfaction, I am starting to believe that this actually might be true.
 
Pentad said:
To the OP:

1. I would try to calibrate your display or grab one from the 'net.

2. Camera shots are a difficult to judge because the slightest issue can throw off the color, sharpness, etc...

3. This is MacRumors, people are biased to Apple. Your MBPr display could be spitting blood and rotating wildly while sitting next to the finest display ever handcrafted by the greatest artists and engineers the world over and people here would find fault with the non-Apple product.



-P
Click to expand...

Where can we get some good display calibrations online?
 
I posted a thread earlier regarding this issue:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1415114/

Should the Color LCD profiles on both my TB display and rMBP differ so greatly that I cannot use them at the same time?

The Color LCD profile when used with my TB display makes the monitor look yellow.

I do not know if my rMBP has a problem or what.
 
Attached an image of my rMBP next to my TB display, both using their default profiles.

Does that look out of whack to anyone?
 

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Another one bites the dust (2.7Ghz/768GB SSD/16GB RAM)

Bought and returned a maxed our rMBP today.
Same issue as with the prior one (this 2.7/768/16 configuration being $800 more expensive than the 2.6/512/16): Uneven, dim and discolored screen (no true white).

That's the second LG panel showing exactly the same deficiencies.

After agreeing that the display was horrible, I asked the Apple sales rep (who was very helpful) to turn the 3 rMBPs on display to a white background.
Result: 2 had the same poor screen as the ones that I had bought. One was perfectly fine (bright, white, evenly lit).

The one that was perfect had a Samsung panel (unfortunately a 2.3/256/8 config, or I would have bought it right there). The other 2 had LGs.

Not scientific, but 4/4 LG panels completely unacceptable and 1/1 Samsung really great.
For what it's worth.

I hope that somebody at Apple wakes up to the fact that this variance is a bad thing for everybody involved. I have returned close to $8k in merchandise so far ... and seriously considering my options (but since I have an old unibody Macbook Pro, I don't want to go back to that form factor, so the cMBP is not a good alternative).
 
appletechpro said:
Attached an image of my rMBP next to my TB display, both using their default profiles.

Does that look out of whack to anyone?
Click to expand...
That's about how my rMBP looks compared to my 27" iMac. But without a reference white to compare to, who knows which one is more "correct?"

I say if you're satisfied with the display (other than the slight warm tint -- i.e. if it has good color & brightness uniformity, no dead pixels, etc), keep it. You can calibrate the white point to make it more satisfying to your eyes. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to find a perfect one because - guess what - it doesn't exist...assuming there's even anything "wrong" with the display you have.
 
calibration on 8bit LCDs causes banding

Title says it all, by shifting around color curves you are effectively ripping gaps into the histogram (= different brightness values getting compressed into one).
The effect is called banding, and manifests itself by visible borders in smooth gradients (blue skies, ...).

One of the reasons why pro photographers shoot in raw format to get more than 8 bit color depth, so that curves adjustments (brightness, contrast, ...) do not have this side effect (most DSLRs have 12-14 bit actual depth, Photoshops processes that as 16bit).

Your LCD calibration works on 8bit.
The more calibration you need, the worse banding you get.

Hope this explanation helps (search on raw banding, lcd banding, calibration banding in the search engine of your choice for more)
 
Pivoh said:
Received my retina MBP today, and it has a terrible yellow tint compared to my previous MBP.

I called apple and after a long discussion they would agree to replace my machine, however, they said I would have to send mine in first and THEN they would send out a new one.

Unfair, considering its not my fault this machine is faulty.

Anyone dealt with this before?
Click to expand...

If you had asked for an "advanced replacement" they would have gladly obliged if you provide your credit card. They pre-authorize your card for the new computer, then remove the authorization when they receive and process your return. I've received this every time I've requested this, no matter the severity of the issue.
 
mzbe said:
Title says it all, by shifting around color curves you are effectively ripping gaps into the histogram (= different brightness values getting compressed into one).
The effect is called banding, and manifests itself by visible borders in smooth gradients (blue skies, ...).

One of the reasons why pro photographers shoot in raw format to get more than 8 bit color depth, so that curves adjustments (brightness, contrast, ...) do not have this side effect (most DSLRs have 12-14 bit actual depth, Photoshops processes that as 16bit).

Your LCD calibration works on 8bit.
The more calibration you need, the worse banding you get.

Hope this explanation helps (search on raw banding, lcd banding, calibration banding in the search engine of your choice for more)
Click to expand...
Anecdotal evidence already suggests that there's enough variance between rMBP displays that calibration will be required in order to use these machines for any serious photo work. If you're saying that they essentially can't be calibrated because you might run into banding, then I think everyone is expecting way too much from these displays, because it's almost a given that you're not going to get one that's perfect OOTB.

I'm not a photographer but, despite your post, this article suggests the the rMBP display responds very well to color calibration. I'd rather buy or borrow a calibration tool and get my current display as close to "perfect" as possible -- and risk banding -- than go through the trouble and crapshoot of the exchange game.

I guarantee you'll find it hard to convince anyone that a calibrated monitor isn't superior/more accurate for photo work (or just general use) than a fresh, non-calibrated, out-of-the-box display.
 
I just received mine today and started messing with it. I checked and didn't have any bad pixels but did notice that I do have a slight yellow tint compared to my Mid 2010 MBP. Going into the store tomorrow to return it.

Unfortunately I did a BTO with the 2.3/16GB/256 so I am sure I am going to have to wait for another one since they don't have those in store.

Quick question, how do you find out what type of LCD screen you have in your rMBP?

I used this ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

But all it shows is Color LCD nothing else.

Thanks in advance.
 
appletechpro said:
Attached an image of my rMBP next to my TB display, both using their default profiles.

Does that look out of whack to anyone?
Click to expand...

I had exactly the same scenario. I got apple to replace my rmbp. My new screen is a much better match - Replacement rmbp not yellow at all

Glad I was obsessive about this. It's a lot to pay for something you are unhappy with
 
Stack said:
I just received mine today and started messing with it. I checked and didn't have any bad pixels but did notice that I do have a slight yellow tint compared to my Mid 2010 MBP. Going into the store tomorrow to return it.

Unfortunately I did a BTO with the 2.3/16GB/256 so I am sure I am going to have to wait for another one since they don't have those in store.

Quick question, how do you find out what type of LCD screen you have in your rMBP?

I used this ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

But all it shows is Color LCD nothing else.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Why is a slight yellow tint a defect? Maybe it's just different than your 2010 MBP? Maybe your older MBP is too blue? Who really knows without an accurate frame of reference? I know my cMBP, rMBP, iPad, and iMac all have slightly different tints. That doesn't mean that any of them are necessarily broken, it just means there's display variance.

It's obviously your time and money, so do what you want. I just think that the next screen could likely be different from the screen you have now and still not match your older computer's screen.
 
kfscoll said:
Why is a slight yellow tint a defect? Maybe it's just different than your 2010 MBP? Maybe your older MBP is too blue? Who really knows without an accurate frame of reference? I know my cMBP, rMBP, iPad, and iMac all have slightly different tints. That doesn't mean that any of them are necessarily broken, it just means there's display variance.
Click to expand...

Type A: There are the yellow rMBPs.

Type B: And then there are all other devices in the Apple Store, and if you happen to have a Microsoft store nearby, all of those as well.

This is not a debatable slight tint. I tried (and failed) to correct using the built-in advanced calibration settings, the best I got (without fixing the uneven brightness and color shifts) was about a 800 Kelvin increase (= towards blue) to get rid of the yellow elements of the tint (it's not pure yellow, which why some on the forum have referred to it as pink, perhaps on displays with even more extreme variation).

Interestingly, all 3 LG screens I looked at today were shifted in the same (wrong) direction. Almost as if somebody had been using the same defective screen as a reference.
Since 2 LG rMBPs were in store, I assume those were from an earlier batch, while the 2.7Ghz rMBP I bought today was just delivered today (still on Lion, not ML, for what that is worth).

----------
kfscoll said:
Anecdotal evidence already suggests that there's enough variance between rMBP displays that calibration will be required in order to use these machines for any serious photo work. If you're saying that they essentially can't be calibrated because you might run into banding, then I think everyone is expecting way too much from these displays, because it's almost a given that you're not going to get one that's perfect OOTB.

I'm not a photographer but, despite your post, this article suggests the the rMBP display responds very well to color calibration. I'd rather buy or borrow a calibration tool and get my current display as close to "perfect" as possible -- and risk banding -- than go through the trouble and crapshoot of the exchange game.

I guarantee you'll find it hard to convince anyone that a calibrated monitor isn't superior/more accurate for photo work (or just general use) than a fresh, non-calibrated, out-of-the-box display.
Click to expand...

You have a good point, calibration (on a 8 bit display) is a tradeoff between hitting certain measurement points more accurately and having smooth gradients.

2 important factors:
1. the less calibration you have to do (delta E between actual and target), the less the impact on banding will be.
2. the less calibration you have to do, the more accurate the results will be. If variance is too great, you have a finite amount of calibration points and it is common to see at dE>3 that you cannot improve one point on the curve without making another one worse to an equal or greater degree. Classic interpolation problem.

Takeaway: With the limits of laptop displays being what they are, starting closer to where you need to be on display color accuracy is highly desirable.
Spending >$4k on a laptop that ships with a strong color cast, that is likely to get worse over time, is not a good move?
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
If you had asked for an "advanced replacement" they would have gladly obliged if you provide your credit card. They pre-authorize your card for the new computer, then remove the authorization when they receive and process your return. I've received this every time I've requested this, no matter the severity of the issue.
Click to expand...

I asked the supervisor if there are any other possibilities, and two supervisors told me there is nothing they can do.

Later on i read on the forums here, that apple can put a hold on a CC and send one out, while holding on to the faulty machine, its what I did now.
 
kfscoll said:
Why is a slight yellow tint a defect? Maybe it's just different than your 2010 MBP? Maybe your older MBP is too blue? Who really knows without an accurate frame of reference? I know my cMBP, rMBP, iPad, and iMac all have slightly different tints. That doesn't mean that any of them are necessarily broken, it just means there's display variance.

It's obviously your time and money, so do what you want. I just think that the next screen could likely be different from the screen you have now and still not match your older computer's screen.
Click to expand...


As someone mentioned in the post before mine, the frame of reference I am using is my iPhone, MBP, and 2 other PC Laptops that I own. All of them are a true white compared to the rMBP.

That is the only reason I believe it is not the correct color. I even spoke to Apple care and they agreed it should be a whiter tone.
 
I must be one of the odd balls eh? I exchanged 7 times and on my 8th unit it is an LG screen. The clarity, contrast, and colors are absolutely perfect. I finally received a machine without backlight bleeding, unlike the 4/5 machines that were Samsung which had some or very minimal bleeding, whereas the other 3/3 LG screens were perfectly color accurate. The only reason I returned the other two was due to defective issues.
 
My problem on my LG screen (which is getting returned) was the "it's yellow and slightly darker in the bottom-left corner of the display" issue. Since this seems to be (from this thread and others) a not uncommon issue, it really, really bugs me when people drag out the "just calibrate your screen already, for crying out loud" argument. Uh, maybe because calibration affects the whole screen? I can't calibrate just the lower-left quadrant of the screen all by itself without affecting the rest of it, now can I?

If it was a uniform tint issue, you guys might have a point. But that's not what a lot of us are seeing. What we are seeing are portions of the screen being affected, while other parts are not. Or as other people have described it, the "yellow gradient." A uniformly yellow or "warm" white point might be correctable with software calibration, but this isn't a uniform white point issue, and that's actually the whole point and the reason why some of us are frustrated: regardless of where you fall on the debate surrounding what a given screen's native white point either is or should be, the white point on these screens doesn't even remain uniform across the entire display!

-- Nathan
 
NathanA said:
My problem on my LG screen (which is getting returned) was the "it's yellow and slightly darker in the bottom-left corner of the display" issue. Since this seems to be (from this thread and others) a not uncommon issue, it really, really bugs me when people drag out the "just calibrate your screen already, for crying out loud" argument. Uh, maybe because calibration affects the whole screen? I can't calibrate just the lower-left quadrant of the screen all by itself without affecting the rest of it, now can I?

If it was a uniform tint issue, you guys might have a point. But that's not what a lot of us are seeing. What we are seeing are portions of the screen being affected, while other parts are not. Or as other people have described it, the "yellow gradient." A uniformly yellow or "warm" white point might be correctable with software calibration, but this isn't a uniform white point issue, and that's actually the whole point and the reason why some of us are frustrated: regardless of where you fall on the debate surrounding what a given screen's native white point either is or should be, the white point on these screens doesn't even remain uniform across the entire display!

-- Nathan
Click to expand...
I think you're the first person in this thread who's main complaint is a yellow gradient. Others have mentioned it, but the overall issue that's causing all the returns is the uniform yellow tint. I know full well you can't correct a color gradient with a calibration, and I never suggested that you could...nor did anyone else.
 
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