smoge
macrumors regular
Are you for real?
It makes sense to take the photo in portrait orientation as opposed to landscape as that whats the medium dictates.
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My 2012 27-inch iMac has image retention
- Thread starter Lava Lamp Freak
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Are you for real?
It makes sense to take the photo in portrait orientation as opposed to landscape as that whats the medium dictates.
I was having a major image retention problem with a new 27" iMac purchased at work. Apple Store folks call it image persistence, and I refer to it as after-images below. Took it to a store and a replacement will be shipped to the store. Notes:
- Doesn't happen until the system is warm.
- The after-images are most visible on a dark gray background, and are invisible against a very bright or completely black background.
- When the problem first starts to kick in as the system warms up, blue after-images show up first, followed by green.
- Certain blue or magenta images result in blue after-images.
- Certain white or yellow images result in green after-images.
- Green after-images are far more common than blue after-images.
- After system is warm, it takes about two minutes for an after-image to become noticeable, and it becomes strongest after about 5 minutes.
- Takes about 20-30 minutes for strong after-image to fade away after switching to a dark gray background.
- Rebooting doesn't clear an after-image.
Photos of problem:
Test Image
IR of Test Image
Zoom 1
Zoom 2
Video:
Youtube Video of IR
- Doesn't happen until the system is warm.
- The after-images are most visible on a dark gray background, and are invisible against a very bright or completely black background.
- When the problem first starts to kick in as the system warms up, blue after-images show up first, followed by green.
- Certain blue or magenta images result in blue after-images.
- Certain white or yellow images result in green after-images.
- Green after-images are far more common than blue after-images.
- After system is warm, it takes about two minutes for an after-image to become noticeable, and it becomes strongest after about 5 minutes.
- Takes about 20-30 minutes for strong after-image to fade away after switching to a dark gray background.
- Rebooting doesn't clear an after-image.
Photos of problem:
Test Image
IR of Test Image
Zoom 1
Zoom 2
Video:
Youtube Video of IR
Last edited:
Woodcrest64
macrumors 65816
itsamacthing
macrumors 6502a
😱 That's just not acceptable... these LCDs are produced in ranges of quality and clearly you got one from the wrong end.
Completely agree with Swiddles findings.
The image I showed on the last page was when the machine was warm.
I have run the grid test numerous times when the machine is cold and had no retention.
When doing anything with the machine remotely intensive (I was playing with Garageband for a bit before I took the image of that desktop) and the machine warms up, it is easy to reproduce retention. It is summer here, so the ambient temperature has been rather warm. When warm it can show after as little as five minutes.
Most easily seen on a grey background, but you can see it shows on the desktop just as easily.
I am waiting for my replacement..
The image I showed on the last page was when the machine was warm.
I have run the grid test numerous times when the machine is cold and had no retention.
When doing anything with the machine remotely intensive (I was playing with Garageband for a bit before I took the image of that desktop) and the machine warms up, it is easy to reproduce retention. It is summer here, so the ambient temperature has been rather warm. When warm it can show after as little as five minutes.
Most easily seen on a grey background, but you can see it shows on the desktop just as easily.
I am waiting for my replacement..
well their test is bs first of all...i believe that so many other people have this problem and just havent noticed it...ill give you an example, if you set your background to a dark color, atleast in my case...youll never see the ghosting...ever. some take longer to set in than others, but if you read any of the rmbp forums where they had screen issues and got replacements, those "replacements" winded up having the same problems sooner or later in 90 percent of the cases
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funny you mention that because ive always had this one black wallpaper ive used in particular in all my other iMacs and never noticed ir...since ive gotten my new one ive been using the stock wallpaper of the galaxy since i never got around to changing it and have sinced noticed it, so all i know is all my imacs could of had it and i just never knew, ive noticed after i did the reinstall and all that it does come back but it takes 45 minutes now, instead of 10 and when i put my old wallpaper pack up thats mostly black i never notice its there, so now iv got a dilemma, do i just hang onto it and forget about it being there (out of sight out of mind sort of thing) or do i send it back, wait another month, only to get another machine with the same exact screen...because this isn't like the rmbp situation where if you got a samsung screen your all set, these are allllllll lg screens now
ok guys heres a question for all you with any ir problem....does your ir show up only on a light colored wallpaper like mine? for example if i open safari and then open a finder window and leave it sitting in safari it leaves no ir...only if i leave a window open in the desktop only...anyone else experience this?
Did little experiment today at local apple store (Freehold Mall NJ). Launched chessboard page (http://www.marco.org/rmbp-irtest.html) on 27 and 21 iMac for 10 min and then switched to gray page, adjusted brightness of both monitors to high and low brightness on the gray page as well as on desktop background - no retention at all, not even a little "hint" to retention
itsamacthing
macrumors 6502a
You are the man! Awesome move...thanks from everyone here. In my tests, I have not seen any IR on the new iMacs on display ... so this is continuing confirmation that if you get one with IR, it's really a defective display and you need to get it replaced. Keep the updates coming!
Just to be clear...
My 27" has no retention most of the time, not even a hint of it with the grid test, even if its been on for hours.
However, if you do anything processor or hard disk intensive, it will easily develop retention with the test.
I don't think you can test for it easily in store, without at least pushing the machine for a bit before running the test.
itsamacthing
macrumors 6502a
So maybe it's an issue with heat then? Maybe the screen used in the new iMacs doesn't tolerate heat very well, resulting in image retention when the CPU and/or GPU is running hot..
My iMac is arriving in a day or two, getting a bit nervous here. Really hope my iMac doesn't have any of these issues... 🙁
My iMac is arriving in a day or two, getting a bit nervous here. Really hope my iMac doesn't have any of these issues... 🙁
itsamacthing
macrumors 6502a
I've tried to induce a stress test resulting in IR, by playing 3 HD movies, whilst simultaneously copying 30GB of files. No IR, not even after playing a game in Windows for hours, restarting back into OS X and pulling up the grid pattern.
itsamacthing
macrumors 6502a
There you go! If I see IR, it's going back... stress test time! Can't wait for the shipment
27"
3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
1TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5
Absolutely agree, you can't do this type of test at the store.
Just few words about my intention. I've ordered 27", i7, 1TB Fusion, 8GB, 680 video and was really disappointed to see so many cases with retention and tried to see it my self. My plan to use new iMac as my desktop (have MBA) to edit pictures, brows, music, etc. i am not a gamer nor video editor so usage should be mild on cpu and hd. Bottom line - now i know exactly what i will do if i'll see any retention on my new iMac (under mild usage) - return it for repair/exchange.
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I didn't even have to run the test on the iMac at my local Apple Store to see retention. I just pulled up a grey screen and could see it.
My iMac has this issue too. At least a similar one. It has image burn in. My Tweetbot window that is always open on the left side of the screen is slightly visible when displaying certain colors in full screen, even directly after booting. Same goes for the Menu bar. The effect is only visible on the top half of the iMac, it slowly fades out towards the bottom.
I just got home from going to Best Buy. They had one 27" and one 21" on display. I pulled up a grey screen on both. The 27" had clearly visible retention, but I didn't see any on the 21". I didn't run the test on it, I just looked at a grey screen.
So far I've only seen one 27" in person that didn't have noticeable retention on a grey screen, and I've seen three that do. I didn't run the test on any of them.
So far I've only seen one 27" in person that didn't have noticeable retention on a grey screen, and I've seen three that do. I didn't run the test on any of them.
Has anyone noted the system temperature when you do or don't see image retention? What sort of temperatures are people running the grid test at?