27", 21.5" iMac Owners, test your screen for yellow tint issue here

iSamurai · May 3, 2010

SuAlfons said:
@iSamurai:

Congrats for getting out of this mess! Hope you enjoy your MacMini!

Thanks, but that's not really the ideal solution... For those of you in Australia, Dick Smith is having a 10% off the entire Apple range (but except the mac mini) if you're looking for replacements.

timgman said:
I took a pic to see if maybe my screen isn't bad as I think it might be. Any advice would be must appreciated.

I can't really see any tint except the bottom few centimetres. I think there's more uneven lit surfaces like light bleed to worry about.

The grey bar test doesn't seem to do well anymore. just take a pic of a white screen with a little under-exposure so you can make out where the whites are differentiating.

The top grey bar and the bottom have a slight difference in brightnesses, but you'd expect that from every screen in the world as that's how they are lit.

good luck... o__O

Darkroom · May 3, 2010

2010 Week 15 (April)

i had previously owned a 24" iMac with display problems. the screen was replaced 3 times over the course of about 14 months. the problems i had experienced concerned burn-in/ghosting on the left side of the screen, which is where it exhibited the most mura effects. each screen was uneven on the left side to varying degrees, as well as other screen bleeds in corners and edges, and each replacement all eventually lead to burn-in/ghosting.

it seemed apparent that this was a hardware problem and not related to the screens, so this month apple replaced my 24" iMac for the new 27" iMac. immediately upon arrival i had noticed that the screen was uneven, which is especially noticeable with a neutral grey background. it's mostly apparent on left side of the screen, but the right side of the screen is also very slightly inconsistent. additionally, there is also some slight bleeding along the top and strong bleeding in the bottom right corner.

serial number: W8015******

attached are underexposed images (one stop and two stops) in order to see the yellowing / colour inconstancy more clearly. the camera's white balance was set to automatic, shot in the dark. i used Chrome set to full screen for the test site.

alanwong · May 3, 2010

mtgentry81 said:
That's assuming apple actually cares about fixing the damn things.

Unless it has a direct financial impact or has an impact on something that has a financial impact why would Apple care? It's a business not a charity!

tiguanito · May 4, 2010

alanwong said:
Unless it has a direct financial impact or has an impact on something that has a financial impact why would Apple care? It's a business not a charity!

There are hundreds of refurbished iMac 27" on the online store, so maybe:
- it's going to have a direct financial impact because a lot of people return their flawed iMac/screen(s). (and not only people writing in this thread)
and/or
- they are preparing the next (coming soon ?) iMac refresh

Btom · May 4, 2010

alanwong said:
Unless it has a direct financial impact or has an impact on something that has a financial impact why would Apple care? It's a business not a charity!

I think that Apple also cares about own image. That is why they quietly replace affected iMacs, but it is a stop gap solution only and the real fix is in the pipeline.

Or so I hope...

Tom B.

timgman · May 4, 2010

thinking of returning the imac...

thanks for all the advice. I called apple and they told me to take it to an apple store or 3rd party repair shop to have the hardware looked at.

I'm thinking of returning it & just waiting for the 27" cinemas display to come out and getting a MBP instead. I really wanted the imac to work out! So bummed. Maybe I'll give it a few more days and see if I can live with this.

I took a couple more shots, just white screen underexposed as someone mentioned. Also I enhanced the levels so you can REALLY see the yellow patches. I know, this is an exaggeration of the issue, but there is definitely yellow in the screen.

hnr2802 · May 4, 2010

help

hi just ordered 27" i7. will be delivered to me maybe next week. after reading through this thread i still cant spot where the yellow tinge in any of the posted pictures. can someone pointing out an example picture that have you have marked/circled where the yellow tinge is? i am afraid that i will unable to spot the yellow tinge with my untrained eyes.

Btom · May 4, 2010

timgman said:
....
I took a couple more shots, just white screen underexposed as someone mentioned. Also I enhanced the levels so you can REALLY see the yellow patches. I know, this is an exaggeration of the issue, but there is definitely yellow in the screen.

IMHO your screen is quite good (yellow tinge wise). Top right corner is an the bluish side and darker, but we are not that sensitive to blue.

Tom B.

IndustrialSpace · May 5, 2010

bios702 said:
After recently purchasing a 27inch iMac (i7) on April 28th, I no longer believe that this issue has been fixed or will be fixed. I also no longer believe that this is a real issue. Let me explain:

I noticed a yellow tinge without attempting the test found on this thread, so I started doing some research and found the test and it made it even more obvious that the bottom half of the screen was slightly more yellow than the top. It also appeared to be brighter near the bottom of the screen.

So I took it back to the apple store and the manager there opened up three new iMacs that all had the same problem. The actual yellow tint varied in intensity, but all of them appeared to be brighter toward the bottom half of the screen. So we went to every mac in the store and ran the same test. 27inch iMac - 21.5inch iMac - 17 inch macbook pro - 15 inch macbook pro - all showed the exact same gradient from top to bottom. Slightly brighter toward the bottom and sometimes slightly more yellow.

So now I'm seriously doubting that there are any Mac products out there that do not have some slight difference when running this test. Has anyone got a 27inch iMac without a slight difference from top to bottom? I doubt it.

Therefore, I do not believe this issue will be rectified any time soon or possibly ever. Seems like it's a product of the technology.

On a side note, oddly enough my 13 inch MacBook Pro seems to not have a difference that I can see when running the test.

I agree with you. I've been saying this for a long time.

IndustrialSpace · May 5, 2010

hnr2802 said:
hi just ordered 27" i7. will be delivered to me maybe next week. after reading through this thread i still cant spot where the yellow tinge in any of the posted pictures. can someone pointing out an example picture that have you have marked/circled where the yellow tinge is? i am afraid that i will unable to spot the yellow tinge with my untrained eyes.

If you don't see it, why bother to try?

If your eyes arent sensitive to it, then you wont be bothered by it. Buy it and be happy! Duh

Gene Steinberg · May 5, 2010

IndustrialSpace said:
If you don't see it, why bother to try?

If your eyes arent sensitive to it, then you wont be bothered by it. Buy it and be happy! Duh

If you expect 100% color uniformity from top to bottom or right to left, give it it. It won't happen.

Peace,
Gene

Btom · May 5, 2010

hnr2802 said:
hi just ordered 27" i7. will be delivered to me maybe next week. after reading through this thread i still cant spot where the yellow tinge in any of the posted pictures. can someone pointing out an example picture that have you have marked/circled where the yellow tinge is? i am afraid that i will unable to spot the yellow tinge with my untrained eyes.

There are some examples shown in posts: #947, #919, #755, #691, #651, #542, #398 (one even with arrows). If it doesn't bother you, you did well ordering your i7.

Tom B.

mtkagan · May 5, 2010

Just got my iMac from apple. It's a week 10 model. As soon as I booted up the computer i noticed the yellow cast on the bottom third of the screen. I did the screen test. No dead pixels, no flicker, HD is very quiet, but there is a temperature gradient going from cool to warm on my panel. I am going to use it for a day and see if It really bothers me doing day to day tasks. Also vie been following this thread for months so maybe I'm subconsciously looking for it lol

hnr2802 · May 5, 2010

Btom said:
There are some examples shown in posts: #947, #919, #755, #691, #651, #542, #398 (one even with arrows). If it doesn't bother you, you did well ordering your i7.

Tom B.

thanks tom. i will check it out

timgman · May 6, 2010

Another screen shot...

hnr2802 said:
can someone pointing out an example picture that have you have marked/circled where the yellow tinge is? i am afraid that i will unable to spot the yellow tinge with my untrained eyes.

Honestly, I understand that the screen is more yellow at the bottom, my 23" ACD screen was very similar. My issue is more of a yellow patch that come up the screen in one area. It is VERY light and subtle which is why I am so torn over what to do. When you do the test you notice it, but when I'm just working I barely see it. I think its more of knowing that its there which is bothering me.

I worry if I have the screen replaced I'll get a worse one. I go back and forth, sometimes I see it and sometimes I don't. Which makes me think I'll forget its even there over time.

mtkagan · May 6, 2010

I just received my i7 from apple today. Guess I got some older stock because mine is a week 10. At first I swore I saw a yellow gradient towards the bottom third of the screen, but after taking pictures and boosting the saturation, I think my screen is okay. let me know what you guys think. First Image is the light bar test, second image is same but I boosted the saturation in adobe lightroom to 100 (double saturation). Third image is dark bar test and 4th is the same doubled saturation. what do you guys think? I cant seem to see much yellow.

mtbdudex · May 6, 2010

My turn, more and more I'm feeling to take this back.
I took these with my T1i in RAW, @ 1/20 sec on tripod to not capture screen refresh. Did white balance in PSE8 using the test upper LH corner grey bar as grey ref.
How the heck can I do serious photography with this mess??
Others agree this is quite bad?

Btom · May 6, 2010

mtbdudex said:
.......
Others agree this is quite bad?

A simple tests with the Photoshop Eyedropper tool shows progressing deficiency (darkening) of each of the RGB components when moving top to bottom (in the middle of the screen):

Red Channel: 3% drops to 10%;
Green Channel: 4% drops to 11%;
Blue Channel: 1% drops to 16%;

What this means is bottom of the screen is about 6% darker and has ~7% yellow component (as compared with the top). Thing are getting worse in the corners. Some of these effects may be due to the camera viewing angle (ideally picture should be taken with a telelens).

But I have no idea, what is the Apple specification on the screen brightness and color uniformity.

Tom B.

mtgentry81 · May 6, 2010

@mtkagan

Yours is one of the better screens I've seen but there is still some slight yellowing around the bottom. Its most noticeable to me in pic 3.

@mtbdudex, yeah thats pretty bad. Sorry : (

mocsharp · May 6, 2010

Week 16, assembled in US.

mtbdudex · May 7, 2010

mtgentry81 said:
@mtbdudex, yeah thats pretty bad. Sorry : (

Misery loves company, thx.

Btom said:
A simple tests with the Photoshop Eyedropper tool shows progressing deficiency (darkening) of each of the RGB components when moving top to bottom (in the middle of the screen):

Red Channel: 3% drops to 10%;
Green Channel: 4% drops to 11%;
Blue Channel: 1% drops to 16%;

What this means is bottom of the screen is about 6% darker and has ~7% yellow component (as compared with the top). Thing are getting worse in the corners. Some of these effects may be due to the camera viewing angle (ideally picture should be taken with a telelens).

But I have no idea, what is the Apple specification on the screen brightness and color uniformity.

Tom B.

Tom;
As an engineer in automotive field, I can guarantee of course there are specifications for screen brightness and color uniformity, boundary sample, limits of acceptability, etc.
Somehow those QA specs need to be leaked from apple specs, the vendor specs, the final QA inspect sheet, etc.
It's all about the yield vs scrap rate here.
I can't believe these meet apple specs, yet they are being shipped!

I took the video for others to see the spec difference area, best viewed in HD mode. Yea, interesting what the eyedropper or other measurement device will show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp1TNppH_iQ

Fact based data is best here.
I'll go to the store with plots of deviations.

I'll have to read how others approached apple to get their replacements.
Been a while since I went to the apple.com support forum....

Others, beware, I waited and waited on buying a 27" and still got a bad one.

tigereat · May 7, 2010

mocsharp said:
Week 16, assembled in US.

This looks too good for me.

Btom · May 7, 2010

mtbdudex said:
.......
Tom;
As an engineer in automotive field, I can guarantee of course there are specifications for screen brightness and color uniformity, boundary sample, limits of acceptability, etc.
......

Not all the technical numbers have to be made public. They say for example, that for many years Roll-Royce was not specifying engine power of their cars, stating only that it is "sufficient". And of course it was... (or is it just one of the urban legends?).

What bugs me most is multiple reports of people replacing iMacs 2-5-7 times, before getting an acceptable one, or calling it quits. Even with a very liberal exchange policy at Apple and an extreme pickiness of some of the buyers it can't be good.

I hope that Apple is now in a holding pattern, replacing computers on a whim and working at the same time on the line refresh, solving these problems.

Tom B.

iSamurai · May 9, 2010

mtbdudex said:
My turn, more and more I'm feeling to take this back.
I took these with my T1i in RAW, @ 1/20 sec on tripod to not capture screen refresh. Did white balance in PSE8 using the test upper LH corner grey bar as grey ref.
How the heck can I do serious photography with this mess??
Others agree this is quite bad?

Hey mate, I like your camera, and the lens. iMac aside for now not much warping and pincushioning compared to my sony alpha lens.

anyhow, the screen is terrible. I guess mine was about like yours except the yellowing gradient seems to be linear progessing to the bottom, which should be okay for text except photography... I returned my iMac awhile back and got a Dell screen, though not LED-backlit (and not as bright), it is VERY WHITE. I don't like Dell, but at least the screen has good QC. It has uniform whites and no tint at any corner, spot or whatsoever nonsense.

I guess Apple's been sending a message that all screens in the world would have more or less a degree of tint on them, and you know once you use Apple you don't really look at other PC hardware anymore. But of course it is not true that all screens that have tints are categorised as "tolerable" in many Apple engineers' definition.

jaws3 · May 9, 2010

Week 17 USA built to order i7 2.8GHz

Looks like I have some yellow on this one week old 27" iMAC ? (one week since delivery)

Trying to decide if it is bad enough to ask for a replacement. I do need it for Photoshop editing, although as a hobby only - not for income generation.

Opinions welcome. (looks like there is a second colour tinge - not yellow - in the upper mid section as well?)

Pic taken in dark basement room without any window. No additional light source except screen itself.
Camera 5DMkII on tripod, Lens Canon EF 28-135, 1:3.5-5.6 IS at f25, 0.4 sec, IS = OFF, no lens filters, Auto WB, RGB color space.

Opinions welcome.

Len

27", 21.5" iMac Owners, test your screen for yellow tint issue here

Is your display having the problem described?

iMac 21.5" both grey bars look identical in color

iMac 21.5" the bottom bar looks more yellow

iMac 27" both grey bars look identical in color

iMac 27" the bottom bar looks more yellow

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