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

[Btom]

Hey guys.

I ordered a 27" imac, and it arrived like two weeks ago. I wasn't home when it arrived, so I finally got to pick it up this weekend and set it up.

I did the yellow tint test, and it seems to be tinted on the top right corner to me and along the right side. But I'm not sure if its worth trying to replace or refund, considering it's been a while and I also really dont feel like going through the process of replacing it. But if you guys think it's bad I'd ask for a replacement.

Any opinions? Thank you!

OK, a quick Photoshop test (uniform grey picture only) is telling me the screen is overall quite uniform, with up to ~4% blue deficiency in the top right corner (as you noticed already). It is just the corner really (triangle ~6" along side line and ~3" along the top), the rest is quite good.

Tom B.

 

[HeySasha]

OK, a quick Photoshop test (uniform grey picture only) is telling me the screen is overall quite uniform, with up to ~4% blue deficiency in the top right corner (as you noticed already). It is just the corner really (triangle ~6" along side line and ~3" along the top), the rest is quite good.

Tom B.

Thanks, Tom!

So since it's just the top right corner, I guess it should be worth keeping? What do you think?

 

[Btom]

Thanks, Tom!

So since it's just the top right corner, I guess it should be worth keeping? What do you think?

I am trying to stay away from giving this kind of advice, since everybody's needs and tolerance for imperfections are different. I think I would keep it for myself, but only because I followed some horror stories and I don't have time and stomach for multiple replacements and associated stress (I don't own an iMac, just a Mac Book Pro).

My personal opinion is that the present iMac is a dud. I was hoping for a quiet fix of the display on the refresh as Apple sometimes does, but it didn't happen, maybe on the next one?

When you own all in one computer, you want all components to be of highest quality, since you can't (easily) upgrade, or replace one at the time.

Tom B.

 

[HeySasha]

I am trying to stay away from giving this kind of advice, since everybody's needs and tolerance for imperfections are different. I think I would keep it for myself, but only because I followed some horror stories and I don't have time and stomach for multiple replacements and associated stress (I don't own an iMac, just a Mac Book Pro).

My personal opinion is that the present iMac is a dud. I was hoping for a quiet fix of the display on the refresh as Apple sometimes does, but it didn't happen, maybe on the next one?

When you own all in one computer, you want all components to be of highest quality, since you can't (easily) upgrade, or replace one at the time.

Tom B.

Thanks again for your help and opinion. I don't think I could go through the stress of having to replace it either, it'd be such a hassle and I'd just worry about it being replaced with a worse one.

I guess I'll just have to deal with it since its not that bad.

 

[jonwd7]

Picked up a 2010 i7 iMac to replace my 2009... Did it in-store once I found out they carry the i7 despite it being BTO usually. Figured it would make going through any potential replacements easier.

The new screen is much better... It changes half as much in Blue (relative to Red and Green). In fact, my new screen has the opposite characteristics as my old one, much like I describe in this thread

The "Normal" image does not actually reflect exactly how the screens look in real life. "Normal" actually means I grey balanced the center of each screen and made sure it was around 50% grey. However, the contrast is a little high and the dark bar and columns present on the screens are not nearly as noticeable in real life. With that said, I will say the color saturation is not as present in the images as it is in real life. In terms of noticing the blue or yellow in person, I would say it's closer to some blend of "Normal" and "Sat" images, closer to "Sat".

Notice in the last image just how TERRIBLE the blue-to-yellow is compared to the new! Those are equalized and saturated in the same amounts, too... I'm not accentuating the old screen any more than I am the new. The new screen looks greyscale in comparison.

When it comes to light uniformity... The new one can SEEM worse than the old... It has the bright center next to a very dark column, but it is barely apparent in real life. What is much better about the new is that there is less light falloff at the edges and corners. The new one is also generally less "splotchy".

...Sadly, I discovered a stuck pixel on the new screen. I've never had a pixel defect on any of the several screens I've ever had. Combine that with the new screen still having some apparent "dingy" areas, and the blue bottom right corner being rather noticeable, I'm still uncertain if I want to try another exchange. I could get a worse screen.

 

[Btom]

Picked up a 2010 i7 iMac to replace my 2009... Did it in-store once I found out they carry the i7 despite it being BTO usually. Figured it would make going through any potential replacements easier.

.......

Sorry, but what is what and how on your pictures?

Tom B.

 

[IndustrialSpace]

Thanks again for your help and opinion. I don't think I could go through the stress of having to replace it either, it'd be such a hassle and I'd just worry about it being replaced with a worse one.

I guess I'll just have to deal with it since its not that bad.

Don't worry. This is what the majority of people do. They just accept the color inconsistency and move on with life. You can only return a computer so many times.

Apple right now is not so concerned with any lost sales for their iMacs. Their focus is on dominating the mobile market. Apple shifts their engineer teams accordingly, based upon the current project need. The lack of any fix for this widespread issue is quite evident.

Hopefully, the NEXT iMac will have better color uniformity.

 

[jonwd7]

Sorry, but what is what and how on your pictures?

Tom B.

I don't really understand the question... Did you read the whole post and look at the filenames (hover on the thumbnails)?

Attaching two more. I think that both screens look worse in person than in the images, but it's still quite clear that my new screen is infinitely better. The sad thing is that the new screen is still not good enough for me, really. The top can appear dingy, especially with whites and light greys. Medium grey and lower is fine, though.

However, my current rationale is that is that this new screen has the worst of the yellow/dingy-ness at the top, where browser chrome, UI chrome, etc usually lies, and these are the least important parts of the screen then. Then if I calibrate for the middle of the screen most of the color uniformity lies in the useful areas of the screen...

Basically, I'm still not completely happy, especially because the new one also has a stuck pixel. Already tried software to unstick it -- didn't work. But really the new one looks almost completely greyscale in comparison to the old... Would hate to try a replacement and get a worse screen, and maybe even more dead or stuck pixels.

EDIT: Also, I guess what sort of makes me think the new screen is not optimal is that my eyes have compensated for a blue-yellow gradient in the opposite direction for the past 10 months. My eyes are used to the top being blue, and the bottom being yellow. Guess I will have to adjust.

 

[Btom]

I don't really understand the question... Did you read the whole post and look at the filenames (hover on the thumbnails)?

.......

Yes, I did and couldn't figure out what is what. From the post I figured out, that you want to compare new and old screens, but there my understanding ends. I admit, my post was slightly cryptic.

Tom B.

 

[Iamthinking]

Finally

After multiple returns (21.5") and almost 2 months without a computer I have finally got what I would consider a quite usable iMAC. I gave up on the mid-july 21" model and got the 27" this time and it seems to have a much higher quality display. Hooray!

If you are having the yellow tinge issues with your 21.5" imac I would say try to see if you can upgrade to the 27"... works for me !!

-Iamthinking

 

[Frith]

Anyone care to comment on my screen

After returning two imacs last winter and then finally giving up, I decided to take the plunge again on one of these refreshed 2010 machines. It arrived yesterday and has colour consistency problems that are at least visible to me.
Of the three imacs this is by far the best. The problem is noticeable though in just about any application that has a constant background.
I haven't decided if this is something I can live with yet. I do web development that admittedly doesn't include much actual design work but I'm not sure if the $2500 I spent will allow me to look past it.

The yellow this time is less "concentrated" than it was in my last two. It appears primarily in the middle near the bottom third of the screen. It is spread much larger though in this case with a very faint tint hitting most of the screen except for the top right (if the top right was a bit more yellow i could calibrate it out )

I'm attaching some images... admittedly they don't look as bad as a lot of the ones I see on here. Perhaps it's just more noticeable in person.

BTW not asking for anyone to tell me what to do... ultimately I need to decide that for myself I know that. Just want to get a bit of feedback.

 

[Tigerman82]

Just want to get a bit of feedback.

That looks like about what I have (21.5" iMac BTO mid-2010). I would call that mild yellow tint issue (where you cannot even really tell if the tint is yellow; it just looks like a warmer shade). My first feeling was that I should return the iMac. However, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and started to use it like I would normally use any computer. My findings were that the iMac was otherwise perfect and I only saw the tint issue in the grey bar test and in a consistent background if I really concentrated.

I decided not to return or exchange the iMac. No electronical device is absolutely perfect. People buy and keep LCD-TVs with a little backlight bleeding all the time. If you are a professional graphic designer/editor, by all means keep searching for the perfect iMac. However, if you are a normal user, really ask yourself does that mild yellow tint issue really bother you or are you not pleased simply because of the grey bar test and because so many people desire perfection here. I'm not saying this issue is acceptable as Apple should strive to deal with this issue. Nevertheless, it is an issue which, if mild, does not really show in normal use.

I also hate the way people are dissing iMacs because of this issue. It is like they forget how awesome computer it otherwise is. This was my first Mac and it is easily the best computer I've ever owned -- million times better than any Windows-PC.

 

[vandozza]

After initially reporting my 21.5 was yellow-tint free, upon further investigation it's clean that I have some yellow-tint as well.

It's located in the bottom right corner of the display, and probably takes up 1/6th of the display area.

I hate that I've noticed it now.

Don't know what to do, the iMac is only a month old.

Leaning towards keeping it, cause it's an issue that I'll hardly ever notice, and the iMac has no other issues.

 

[treoguy]

Just received my 3rd iMac. First one was late 2009 received late 2009 and had yellow tint. Second was refurb purchased in April with the same problem.

Finally decided to try again with 27" BTO 2010 i7 w/SSD. No problems at all. I'm actually surprised and didn't get my hopes up after ordering. Now that I'm past the yellow tint debacle, I can focus on selling off my Mac Pro / ACD and enjoying this iMac.

FWIW, mine was assembled in California. Not sure if possibly the QC is higher with BTO models? Either way, I'm thrilled. BTW, 2TB hard drive is dead silent.

 

[MassMacFan]

After multiple returns (21.5") and almost 2 months without a computer I have finally got what I would consider a quite usable iMAC. I gave up on the mid-july 21" model and got the 27" this time and it seems to have a much higher quality display. Hooray!

If you are having the yellow tinge issues with your 21.5" imac I would say try to see if you can upgrade to the 27"... works for me !!

-Iamthinking

Had the same issues with 21", took the same action and went with 27", and have the same result! Funny how quickly the 27" doesn't seem too huge. Congrats!

 

[Btom]

After returning two imacs last winter and then finally giving up, I decided to take the plunge again on one of these refreshed 2010 machines. It arrived yesterday and has colour consistency problems that are at least visible to me.
Of the three imacs this is by far the best. The problem is noticeable though in just about any application that has a constant background.
I haven't decided if this is something I can live with yet. I do web development that admittedly doesn't include much actual design work but I'm not sure if the $2500 I spent will allow me to look past it.

The yellow this time is less "concentrated" than it was in my last two. It appears primarily in the middle near the bottom third of the screen. It is spread much larger though in this case with a very faint tint hitting most of the screen except for the top right (if the top right was a bit more yellow i could calibrate it out )

I'm attaching some images... admittedly they don't look as bad as a lot of the ones I see on here. Perhaps it's just more noticeable in person.

BTW not asking for anyone to tell me what to do... ultimately I need to decide that for myself I know that. Just want to get a bit of feedback.

Not yellow tinge issue to speak of (if any at all)

Tom B.

 

[jcelia1]

After multiple returns (21.5") and almost 2 months without a computer I have finally got what I would consider a quite usable iMAC. I gave up on the mid-july 21" model and got the 27" this time and it seems to have a much higher quality display. Hooray!

If you are having the yellow tinge issues with your 21.5" imac I would say try to see if you can upgrade to the 27"... works for me !!

-Iamthinking

Had the same issues with 21", took the same action and went with 27", and have the same result! Funny how quickly the 27" doesn't seem too huge. Congrats!

After returning 4 21.5" imacs with yellow screens and hard drive noise, I decided to try a 27" and finally a beautiful screen with no problems, no hard drive noise. I was very happy...untill I started hearing a humming noise that sounds like it is coming from the power supply. The noise stops when I put it in sleep mode. I tried a bunch of things to determine if it was the fans or hard drive and that was not it. I am pretty sure it is the PSU humming all the time. This is the first imac with a perfect screen and now it is humming. I am so frustrated.

What should I do? Have the power supply replaced or return it for another one and take the chance of getting one with a yellow screen? I am still within my 14 days of original purchase date.

 

[ias2010]

mine looks a tiny bit yellowish if i see the screen test and concentrate to look for flaw, in real use it is just fine, i don't know if the replacement screen might have dead pixel which is more deal breaker for me,

as far i am concerned there are very few perfect LCD out there regardless of price, one inherent flaw with LCDs are uneven brightness (clouding or Mura) it is more visible large screens in dark scenes of movies or when title running in black background.

Apple should have more quality control or may be it is design issue who knows,
At the end of day premium product comes with premium expectation from consumers.

 

[Fedemac]

I revived my new iMac yesterday, today I called to the Apple Store to exchange it...

 

[MassMacFan]

After returning 4 21.5" imacs with yellow screens and hard drive noise, I decided to try a 27" and finally a beautiful screen with no problems, no hard drive noise. I was very happy...untill I started hearing a humming noise that sounds like it is coming from the power supply. The noise stops when I put it in sleep mode. I tried a bunch of things to determine if it was the fans or hard drive and that was not it. I am pretty sure it is the PSU humming all the time. This is the first imac with a perfect screen and now it is humming. I am so frustrated.

What should I do? Have the power supply replaced or return it for another one and take the chance of getting one with a yellow screen? I am still within my 14 days of original purchase date.

I returned my iMacs because I didn't want to debate how bad the yellow was with Apple in case a new screen didn't fix the issue. I would think you would have far better luck correcting the PSU hum for good if you can bring to retail store and have them hear it. Hate to see you give up a machine that is otherwise working for you.

 

[Btom]

I revived my new iMac yesterday, today I called to the Apple Store to exchange it...
....

What??!! Apple didn't fix the iMac yellowing screen issue yet??
I am shocked, really shocked! It must be this one in a million case!!!

But seriously, yours is/was quite bad.

Explanation for the unwashed: the bottom right corner has a ~20% blue deficiency, not to mention being ~~30% darker. Yet this unit somehow made it to the customer.
This is a good example how totally broken the Apple Quality Control system is.

Tom B.

 

[Jimstah]

My first iMac, 27" 2010 i7 BTO.

I'm quite satisfied with the screen, have I been lucky or am I not seeing it?

Pictures done from a slight distance zoomed from a closet (it was positioned slightly higher then the screen, so a bit aiming down).

 

[Iamthinking]

21.5" screens are ALL yellow tinged, 27" = you can get lucky

Hey guys,

Forget about getting a mid 2010 21.5" imac that has a good display. I'm pretty convinced that there are pretty much none. I have seen plenty of 21.5" screens from 2009 that are nice, but so far no mid-2010 ones.

The 27", on the other hand, seem much better than the 2009 model it replaced.

Role reversal from last year, it seems. Is it possible that the factory that was pumping out good panels last year are in charge of the 27" models, and the other factory has the smaller screens? Only Apple knows for sure, but that is my hunch.

-Iamthinking

 

[k3roro]

iMac 21.5'' Week 27.

Purchased today booted it up, noticed no yellowing problem until i started browsing around a bit more. Googled the problem, came up to this huge thread.

Took some pictures of the yellow tinge. I have 14 days to return the mac, I really like it and want to keep it, it doesn't look as bad as some of the other ones I've seen on this thread. I am leaning towards keeping it. Some feedback wound be appreciated.

I have attached a screenshot.

 

[wozwebs]

Mine looks very similar to these photos. Only bought it a month ago from best Buy in the UK (27" 3.06ghz Dual Core, late 2009) and have a genius bar appointment booked for Thursday to 'replace the panel'. Any idea how long this process takes? Presume I will be without it for few days?