Intel iMac 17in display issue, is it me or is mine a lemon?

[supermacdesign]

I just got my new Intel 17in mac and either my screen is bad or apple uses a very cheap display component when building these macs. Here is the issue, when sitting directly in front of it without movie at all, the top of the screen appears to be normal, the color looks correct and is saturated but the bottom portion of the screen appears to be washed out. I sit about 2-3 feet away from the display. I have to adjust myself vertically up and down for the olor to shift correctly on the lower portion of the screen. A perfect example of is iTunes, those light blue bars you see seperating the song titles (every other one) appear normal on the top half of the screen but completely dissapear on the lower half. The other display issue I have is if you move of center just a tiny bit the screen takes on a yellow cast. The farther to the side you try to view the screen becomes vitually unviewable. Is this normal for the model I purchased because I pretty much hate the screen. I am a designer and the washed out problem alone prevents me from doing any work on it. I can tolerate the yellow side to side thing if I don't move around to much but the washout has got to go.

I also have a cinema display thats a few years old, that thing is perfect, no shift in color density or brightness when I move around that thing.

Some one please give me some insight on this matter and how do I approach apple about it? Just call them?

 

[Blue Velvet]

No, you're absolutely right. Set a friend's up last weekend and noticed those same issues as I noted elsewhere... I'm also a designer, but would never consider an iMac for work for those reasons and more.

The display isn't up to much, far prefer a decent CRT over the iMacs display.

 

[powerbook911]

Sounds like something may be up, but it is hard to tell, since I can only interpret through second hand information.

My Core Duo's display 17-inch is very close in quality to my 20-inch ACD, so it seems like there might be something wrong with yours. Yes, I do suggest you ring up Apple. I hope you can get it taken care of.

 

[supermacdesign]

Like I said I could tolerate (even though I shouldn't) the yellow shift because thats something that happens when you move left to right. But the fact that the color tone, intensity and brightness are not even just sitting directly infront of it really, really bugs me.

On a side note, the horizontal viewing area is not even half what they claim it is. Something like 170 degrees is not true at all. Atleast on my model, thats why I am here with this post to hear what other peoples thoughts are on it.

 

[Yvan256]

One more reason for me to stick with the Mac mini. I can choose the display and replace only the display if needed.

 

[plinden]

My 17" iMac just arrived (yayyy!) and although I do notice the slight yellowish color as I move from side to side (but only after you pointed it out) it otherwise looks fine - no noticeable difference from top to bottom even as I tilt the screen

 

[jsw]

My 17" iMac just arrived (yayyy!) and although I do notice the slight yellowish color as I move from side to side (but only after you pointed it out) it otherwise looks fine - no noticeable difference from top to bottom even as I tilt the screen

Same for me - no visible differences.

The 17" screens are inferior to those on the 20", BTW - much narrower viewable areas, etc. But... they aren't all as bad as yours. Best of luck with a resolution from Apple.

 

[bigfib]

My 17" intel imac screen is gorgeous. No issues anywhere.

 

[supermacdesign]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think I will be on the phone with Apple tonight. I have been Apple faithful since I could afford my own machine when I went to college (my forth Mac actually). They have never let me down but this was so unexpected and surprising I was in disbelief. Thats what brought me here to register and ask you fine folks about it.

I will update this thread after I have called Apple.