24" LED Cinema Display - Backlight Bleed

[integrat.ethis]

Oh, the external plague of all LCD monitors. Here's mine - you guys think this is acceptable? Obviously for $900 I'd like to get nothing less than perfection, but since there's no dust or dead pixels on the one I've got, I'm not sure it'd be wise to swap it. Due to the blacklight bleed the black levels aren't great (dark rooms in videogames can be a bit washed out). Plus, the bleed in off-angle viewing is really horrendous (I thought perfect viewing angles were an IPS hallmark?).

So without further ado...
(These pictures were taken at full brightness.)

The camera exaggerated these corners, but downplayed the slightly washed out blacks across the whole screen.

The view from this angle is pretty much completely accurate - it's atrocious in real life.

Also a very realistic shot:

 

[the2j]

I had to return my first one do to similar problems. I called applecare first because I didn't want to deal with the "geniuses" at my local apple store. They went a head and set up an exchange for me there.
It was really nice, I just walked in gave them the old one and walked out with the new one (which is amazing!).

I would take it back if I were you.

 

[integrat.ethis]

I had to return my first one do to similar problems. I called applecare first because I didn't want to deal with the "geniuses" at my local apple store. They went a head and set up an exchange for me there.
It was really nice, I just walked in gave them the old one and walked out with the new one (which is amazing!).

I would take it back if I were you.

Thanks for the advice. I bought mine online - think they'd let me set up an exchange at a nearby store?

Also, does your new one have a truer black?

 

[Grolubao]

I would not accept it that way, but that's me...

 

[gjw4u]

Call Applecare, and have them set up an exchange for you.

 

[integrat.ethis]

I would not accept it that way, but that's me...

Are there really that many that are better, though? Any experience from owners here?

 

[michaelsviews]

I fail to see a problem with your monitor, honestly.

 

[nope7308]

I fail to see a problem with your monitor, honestly.

Perhaps he didn't look at the pictures...

Yes, for $900 USD, that is unacceptable. Just so you know, I don't think they will do a direct exchange in store. The Apple online store and Apple Retail stores maintain different inventory counts, so you'll most likely have to ship it out and wait for a replacement. Yes, it's annoying, but it's better than owning a defective/mediocre display that you just dropped $900 on.

 

[integrat.ethis]

Perhaps he didn't look at the pictures...

Yes, for $900 USD, that is unacceptable. Just so you know, I don't think they will do a direct exchange in store. The Apple online store and Apple Retail stores maintain different inventory counts, so you'll most likely have to ship it out and wait for a replacement. Yes, it's annoying, but it's better than owning a defective/mediocre display that you just dropped $900 on.

I'd really like confirmation that I could actually get something better, though. I mean, this kind of bleed could be pretty much par for the course. Could anyone duplicate these photos with their own monitors? I was using an automatic camera, but apparently it was around 1/4 or 1/8 exposure.

 

[jjahshik32]

Oh, the external plague of all LCD monitors. Here's mine - you guys think this is acceptable? Obviously for $900 I'd like to get nothing less than perfection, but since there's no dust or dead pixels on the one I've got, I'm not sure it'd be wise to swap it. Due to the blacklight bleed the black levels aren't great (dark rooms in videogames can be a bit washed out). Plus, the bleed in off-angle viewing is really horrendous (I thought perfect viewing angles were an IPS hallmark?).

So without further ado...
(These pictures were taken at full brightness.)

The camera exaggerated these corners, but downplayed the slightly washed out blacks across the whole screen.

The view from this angle is pretty much completely accurate - it's atrocious in real life.

Also a very realistic shot:

Wow that looks absolutely horrible. I guess I lucked out as I have no dead/stuck pixels, dust,hair anything behind the glass and blacklight is very even with barely any backlight bleeding.

Get it exchanged!

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I took some pics of mine and they are pretty close to what I see. If you aren't happy with the display, you should exchange it while you are able to. If your new one doesn't meet your expectations, exchange it again. It is your hard earned money, you don't have to settle.

 

[alphaod]

I've exchanged mine twice and it appears that it's pretty hard to find a perfect one.

 

[iranintoavan]

I am having this same problem with mine. I also have bad back light bleed in the bottom left corner, and when viewing a all white screen it seems to make it look much "cooler" in the bottom and "warmer" near the top. I am thinking about calling applecare for an exchange...

 

[MooneyFlyer]

Mine seems to be much more like Lava Lamp Freak's... maybe a little less.

 

[integrat.ethis]

Lava lamp...

Was that at full brightness, and what exposure setting was your camera set to? Thanks for your help!

 

[iranintoavan]

What was the number you guys called to set up an exchange?

 

[avalys]

Mine does this. I assumed it was an IPS artifact, not backlight bleed, since it is only visible in certain viewing angles. Are you telling me this isn't normal?

 

[jjahshik32]

All displays exhibit some form of backlight bleeding and it is normal. Just some are worse than others, in the case of the OP's screen that looks worse than the norm.

 

[iranintoavan]

My problem seems to be more of a color uniformity problem than a light bleed. The bleed doesn't bother me much because it's not nearly as bad as the OP's. What bothers me is that on a white screen such as these forums or google.com the right side of the screen seems to be warmer of a color than the left side. This is very annoying and I will most likely return.

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

Lava lamp...

Was that at full brightness, and what exposure setting was your camera set to? Thanks for your help!

Full brightness. Camera settings 1/80 at 3.5, ISO 1000.

 

[Dreamail]

Oled!

I know my comment is not particularly helping here, but I can't wait for OLED screens to become mainstream.

All these backlight bleed headaches will be a thing of the past. Gone forever!
Blacks will be true blacks.

And no more tinted screen corners.

And 'dead pixels' will be much less of an issue too as they would only not light up, i.e. no more annoying bright red, green or blue dots on an otherwise black(-ish) screen.

If you have a chance to check out a Sony XEL-1 TV or the new Kodak OLED photo frame, do it! It's just no comparison. No backlight bleed, perfect blacks. And amazing reds too.

Another year or two and we should see the first 24" ones.
Can't wait!

And 8-10 years from now we'll be looking back at this thread and think: 'backlight bleed - oh how retro!'

 

[integrat.ethis]

I know my comment is not particularly helping here, but I can't wait for OLED screens to become mainstream.

All these backlight bleed headaches will be a thing of the past. Gone forever!
Blacks will be true blacks.

And no more tinted screen corners.

And 'dead pixels' will be much less of an issue too as they would only not light up, i.e. no more annoying bright red, green or blue dots on an otherwise black(-ish) screen.

If you have a chance to check out a Sony XEL-1 TV or the new Kodak OLED photo frame, do it! It's just no comparison. No backlight bleed, perfect blacks. And amazing reds too.

Another year or two and we should see the first 24" ones.
Can't wait!

And 8-10 years from now we'll be looking back at this thread and think: 'backlight bleed - oh how retro!'

Haha, it's funny though - we buy these amazing new monitors, and we already can't wait until the next model! I think it would do us all good to try to stop nitpicking and enjoy what we have... easier said than done though.

 

[MooneyFlyer]

Haha, it's funny though - we buy these amazing new monitors, and we already can't wait until the next model! I think it would do us all good to try to stop nitpicking and enjoy what we have... easier said than done though.

You are right -- all in all I am really happy with this new monitor. My wife is still using a G4 15" iMac and came in to look at picture tonight and went "woa -- it looks good on that monitor!"

 

[timestoby]

i wouldnt say the pics are that bad.the pics from the front view seem to be okay,but i dont know. a macbook screen is worse then that and so is my samsung monitor lol. youd think spending that much ona expensive monitor it should look better. guess you should have just gotten a cheaper bigger monitor if they are gonna look that bad lol.

 

[integrat.ethis]

I think I've decided on trying my luck with the exchange now. I've heard Apple can be fairly stingy with exchanges, needing "proof" and all that - do you guys have any advice on what number I should call, and how I should approach the issue?