Image Rentention solution?

[iOrbit]

ive had my Late 2013 iMac for about 5 months now. i bought it from ebay used, in like new condition for £1500, it came with the apple USB Super Drive, Magic Mouse, wireless Keyboard, Magic trackpad. it was about 11 months old at time of purchase. it is also a fully spec'd out iMac pretty much. but after a day of use i experience the image retention error, other than this problem I'm very happy with the iMac.. but i wondered if anyone had a solution to avoid this problem?

the one i have used has been;
keep brightness at exactly half way or 1 block over half way or less. when i do this i never get the image retention. if i turn it up brighter and keep it at that brightness for a period of 5 mins or possibly less, the image retention kicks in.

i wondered also why the image brightness in my case seems to be the cause of it happening? does anyone else have the same problem?

I've never complained to apple as i know their stance on it, but it is my intention to do so at some point to see if i can get a new screen.


also.. i noticed this slim unibody iMac has a much looser tilt mechanism than the 2009 iMac we have downstairs. its just about bare able. it will usually tilt a hair low from a bit of movement but usually it stays straight. however if i wobble my desk or jump in the room the chin will certainly go way down at an angle away from me. does apple improve this? or is this acceptable behaviour of these newer imacs?

 

[steve62388]

I have no idea how bad your retention is because you haven't really given anybody anything to work on, but you noticed it after one day and you didn't do anything about it? And now you're complaining? A fool and his money....

I don't think your chances of getting a new screen from Apple are good.

 

[librarian]

for what I've seen, every 2012 and 2013 27" imac screens have image retention, with some is better, with others is worse. On mine it kicks in with dark and saturated colors, but needs to stand still for a long time. It fades away fast as soon as i view a movie clip. its barely noticeable when it happens, I can only see it on flat, mid range to dark colors or gray.
About the tilt… all the 2012 and 2013 27" have a design flaw on the mechanism: there are a couple of parts that, over time, fails because of the weight and you cannot adjust it anymore. This is because these small tiny parts are made of plastic and loosen up or snap in half. I'm pretty sure apple offer this repair service for free.

 

[iOrbit]

I have no idea how bad your retention is because you haven't really given anybody anything to work on, but you noticed it after one day and you didn't do anything about it? And now you're complaining? A fool and his money....

I don't think your chances of getting a new screen from Apple are good.

Its the worse kind, that many on this forum have been told to get it replaced for. (its the kind where the remnants of the image remain on the screen in various colours and have strange texture to it. its not the same as seen on the retina MacBooks or even my iPad 2 where its just a slight ghosting of previous imagery that looks like it was photos hoped with opacity down to 20)

i will post a picture shortly.

I bought this iMac used from ebay, and after i experienced it i googled it and looked it up - i realised that apple call it "normal" behaviour, and most replacements ended up with the same issue.. YEAH big encouragement or morale boost to lose my iMac for a week or two! and I'm not complaining here I'm just sharing experience and notes on this retention issue - i wanted to know if everyone actually has it and if its caused by the same thing - brightness level.

can you please explain why you think apple won't replace my screen? this "normal" behaviour statement isn't going to fly because i have a 2011 macbook pro and a 2009 iMac, and neither of them at max brightness for any length of time produce this problem or any ghosting at all.

I have not experienced the milder "ghosting" version on my iMac at all.

this isn't my iMac, but my image retention is the same kind as this;

for what I've seen, every 2012 and 2013 27" imac screens have image retention, with some is better, with others is worse. On mine it kicks in with dark and saturated colors, but needs to stand still for a long time. It fades away fast as soon as i view a movie clip. its barely noticeable when it happens, I can only see it on flat, mid range to dark colors or gray.
About the tilt… all the 2012 and 2013 27" have a design flaw on the mechanism: there are a couple of parts that, over time, fails because of the weight and you cannot adjust it anymore. This is because these small tiny parts are made of plastic and loosen up or snap in half. I'm pretty sure apple offer this repair service for free.

does yours look like the above, or is it the more "milder" kind as seen on the retina MacBooks? i believe the milder kind will show up if you keep your display on the same static image for a while. with my iMac it never occurs, but i think i have the screen saver kick in after 20 minutes. I'm going to experiment with it today and keep the screen saver only coming on after 1 hour

the mechanism, does apple actually fix it permanently, or do they just replace whats broken and it breaks again after time?

edit.

just did the Grid test, and after 10 minutes on 50% brightness, No image retention whatsoever.

 

[steve62388]

That is really bad. You got sold a lemon on eBay, if it wasn't detailed or pictured in the auction description you should have returned it.

 

[iOrbit]

That is really bad. You got sold a lemon on eBay, if it wasn't detailed or pictured in the auction description you should have returned it.

i disagree, many people have had this issue from brand new, it was no fault of the seller, but apple. i only paid £1500 for what was at the time £2400 to buy from apple. (Late 2013, 3.5ghz i7, 16Gb Ram, GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5 and 3TB Fusion Drive. It came with apple magic mouse, keyboard, track pad and usb superdrive all in like new condition inc still under apple warranty) If i was unhappy with this iMac i would've sent it back, but i never gets the image retention issue under my use because i use brightness at 50% or sometimes 60% and it never occurs under those brightness settings.

it was also under apple warranty, (was only 9 months old) and i bought apple care for this mac for just £30, so i knew either way, what ever problem it may have, apple will cover it. all in all £1530 for £2450ish value. thats why it was a great buy for me. very hard to get that value for that price at the time of 5 months ago or so (was before the retina 5K iMac)

video of my iMac after 9 minutes of the grid test in my use case (50% brightness)

View My Video

 

[steve62388]

i disagree, many people have had this issue from brand new

Nope. That's really bad, I have never seen such a bad example. My MacBooks and iMacs have never had image retention even approaching that.

 

[iOrbit]

Nope. That's really bad, I have never seen such a bad example. My MacBooks and iMacs have never had image retention even approaching that.

well you have now, several exist on this forum, and more on the apple support forums.

 

[Sensamic]

I would never buy a used iMac from eBay for 1500£. What happens? You get image retention and other stuff...

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote above:
[[ i disagree, many people have had this issue from brand new, it was no fault of the seller, but apple. i only paid £1500 for what was at the time £2400 to buy from apple. ]]

Well, that's what happens when you "go cheap" -- and assume the risk. The original owner had something he wanted to get rid of, quickly and cheaply.

You got what you paid for...

Just like Sensamic said in the post directly above this one!

 

[Sensamic]

Exactly.

If OP had bought the computer directly from Apple and then saw that issue then he could have had the opportunity to return the computer inside the 14 day trial period.

Now he can't return the computer to the owner because it's eBay and he won't accept it.