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Late 2013 27" iMac, yellow screen issues :(
- Thread starter forceroyale
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It seems my new late 2013 iMac display is having the same problem. The top is nice and bright, the bottom is dull and yellowish. I never noticed this before on my mid-2010 iMac but unfortunately I've sold it already so I can't check and see for sure.
Since the OP has been through 4 iMacs already I'm betting they all have this problem but that people just don't notice or care. I'm going to visit an Apple Store tomorrow to see if the ones on display show this as well.
May I ask that people who have ordered recently do the test I did and post back to this thread? If they are all like that at least I'd know it's not just me and the OP.
Thanks!
Since the OP has been through 4 iMacs already I'm betting they all have this problem but that people just don't notice or care. I'm going to visit an Apple Store tomorrow to see if the ones on display show this as well.
May I ask that people who have ordered recently do the test I did and post back to this thread? If they are all like that at least I'd know it's not just me and the OP.
Thanks!
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Oh damn it...just unboxed another iMac...my third now (one had a misaligned screen and another w/ a dead pixel). I didn't notice this at first but it's definitely there now that I compare. WTF 
Probably not an issue for everyone but I don't want to have to remember to keep any images I'm editing on the upper half of the screen. I do not see this at all on my new rMBP. No idea how this is acceptable...
Probably not an issue for everyone but I don't want to have to remember to keep any images I'm editing on the upper half of the screen. I do not see this at all on my new rMBP. No idea how this is acceptable...
Personally, I think 90% of it is to do with viewing angles. If I look hard enough and sit up a bit higher, the bottom of my MBP 2008 screen looks more dull and slightly warm/yellowish.
The iMac I am returning had a very slight yellowing at the bottom, but if I sat with my eyes level at the bottom, it would clear and the top of the screen would look yellowish!
I do agree that Apple set their monitors EXTREMELY warm... next to my iPad and MBP it was offending my eyes (felt like I was looking through yellow/orange tinted glasses)!
Once you colour correct, it pretty much resolved the issue I had.
BTW, i'm not returning it because of screen colour, it's because of the RAM issue that seems to be plaguing a few folk (kernel panics when using 32GB of 3rd Party RAM).
This was definitely not the case in my experience. Viewing angle made no difference and calibration can't change just half the screen at a time
Feature? Why would this be a feature? I'll check but I can't imagine how this wouldn't be a problem in bootcamp.
So now we need to buy color correction equipment to not have this horrible yellowish haze? Or am I misunderstanding?
Nope, just go into the display settings, click on the colour tab and then use the calibrate feature. Granted, it's not as accurate as a physcial colour calibrator as it's only 'by eye' but, if you were concerned about colours being 100% true and accurate as opposed to visually accurate, then you must be working in design/print and therefore should really use a colour calibrator hardware tool instead of software.
Looks pretty good to me Richard, but I'm guessing that's because you didn't photograph the screen. Instead it looks like a screen shot of what the computer is sending to the display. If that is an actual photograph, nicely done!!!
In order to see any variations in color, you need to take a picture of the screen with a camera in the middle of the screen so you don't create an unusual "viewing angle" for the camera. If your camera is focused at the bottom of the screen, the top may have an unusual tint to it due to the angle.
I was at Best Buy recently playing around on a new 27" iMac and the screen looked incredible! No issues whatsoever. I changed the desktop background to a variety of colors from white to black and the screen was very even throughout. I think this is indeed just a bad run from LG on certain panels. Keep trying, once you get a good one, it is unmatched.
I remember when the 27" iMac first came out, I went to all the Best Buy stores in my area and I couldn't find a screen that was even in color without a yellow tint. I'm surprised these kind of threads are still popping up. Too bad Apple doesn't just buy all of their screens from Samsung! They seem to have the production process down the best.
Yes, very good point. I was trying to do two things at once (show how the test should be done and show my results) and didn't realize that the screenshot wouldn't work for the latter. Please see the photo attached. It's not the same as actually seeing it with your eyes but it demonstrates the problem.
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This doesn't seem to work in Mavericks. Maybe I should install Mountain Lion to find this information out. It might be a good test to see if the yellowing shows up there too.
I wanted to chime is to mention that the screen on my Dad's new (bought a couple of weeks ago) 21" iMac had a yellow problem too.
All light-greys were yellowish. I thought it could be an alpha-channel issue. All greys were yellowish and you could also see the problem by viewing the blue stripes on the USB page of the System Information screen, which showed as a muddy yellow-green colour instead of blue. Very light greys (e.g. shadows) were light yellow.
The iMac was returned and the new one doesn't have the problem at all; greys are properly grey, without any yellow tint at all and the blue stripes (in the Sys Info page) are blue, as they should be. I put both iMacs side-by-side and the difference was obvious.
Problem sorted but I'm dismayed at Apple's lack of quality control on these screens as I would like to get a 27" for myself soon.
I suppose at least it is acceptable to keep sending your iMac back till you get one with a white screen, but what a massive PITA for spending so much money.
All light-greys were yellowish. I thought it could be an alpha-channel issue. All greys were yellowish and you could also see the problem by viewing the blue stripes on the USB page of the System Information screen, which showed as a muddy yellow-green colour instead of blue. Very light greys (e.g. shadows) were light yellow.
The iMac was returned and the new one doesn't have the problem at all; greys are properly grey, without any yellow tint at all and the blue stripes (in the Sys Info page) are blue, as they should be. I put both iMacs side-by-side and the difference was obvious.
Problem sorted but I'm dismayed at Apple's lack of quality control on these screens as I would like to get a 27" for myself soon.
I suppose at least it is acceptable to keep sending your iMac back till you get one with a white screen, but what a massive PITA for spending so much money.
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Now I'm worried. I was poking at the grey startup screen and it definitely looks to have a yellowish tint. Are there other photos available?
Well. After really taking a closer look, I definitely think my one and a half week old iMac has issues. There are some definite issues on the right side of the panel. I'll be calling apple tomorrow morning. :-(
Well. After really taking a closer look, I definitely think my one and a half week old iMac has issues. There are some definite issues on the right side of the panel. I'll be calling apple tomorrow morning. :-(
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Ok, I was able to use this command on my MBP to see it has a Samsung panel. But when I run it on my new iMac it returns nothing. I tried this on both Mavericks and Mountain Lion so it's not Mavericks like I thought earlier.
Can some other people please try this (especially if you got a new 27" iMac recently)?
Thanks!
My 27" BTO iMac also had a display that got warmer (yellower) towards the bottom. I decided to return it for a refund. For almost $3000, I should not have to spend months playing musical chairs until I get one without a defective display. I noticed that the demo iMacs in the Apple store had the same problem. It is possible that all of the iMacs have this defect to varying degrees.
I would also caution others that are thinking about going ahead with a purchase because the yellow tint isn't very noticeable to their eyes: it can get worse. My early-2008 iMac's display, which was fine when I purchased it, is now almost orange in hue. It is particularly jarring next to my Dell IPS monitor, and there is no way to calibrate the difference away.
The thing that really kills me about this is how Apple brags on their website that "every iMac display is individually color-calibrated using state-of-the-art spectroradiometers to match color standards recognized around the world." The only explanation I can think of, aside from the claim being patently false, is that the calibration is done by measuring at the center of the display only, leading to good calibration at that particular point, but hues that are too cool at the top and too warm at the bottom on the defective displays.
I am very disappointed in Apple's quality control, and given my experience with the early-2008 iMac and the late-2013 iMac, I don't think I will be buying any Apple products with a display in them until they demonstrate better quality control.
By the way, I have found that one the best ways to check your display is to go to this color preview website and put in a hex code for a neutral grey, like ccc. I recommend using Chrome in Presentation Mode, not Full Screen Mode, which does not hide the address bar and tabs (Safari's full screen mode also does not hide tabs).
I would also caution others that are thinking about going ahead with a purchase because the yellow tint isn't very noticeable to their eyes: it can get worse. My early-2008 iMac's display, which was fine when I purchased it, is now almost orange in hue. It is particularly jarring next to my Dell IPS monitor, and there is no way to calibrate the difference away.
The thing that really kills me about this is how Apple brags on their website that "every iMac display is individually color-calibrated using state-of-the-art spectroradiometers to match color standards recognized around the world." The only explanation I can think of, aside from the claim being patently false, is that the calibration is done by measuring at the center of the display only, leading to good calibration at that particular point, but hues that are too cool at the top and too warm at the bottom on the defective displays.
I am very disappointed in Apple's quality control, and given my experience with the early-2008 iMac and the late-2013 iMac, I don't think I will be buying any Apple products with a display in them until they demonstrate better quality control.
By the way, I have found that one the best ways to check your display is to go to this color preview website and put in a hex code for a neutral grey, like ccc. I recommend using Chrome in Presentation Mode, not Full Screen Mode, which does not hide the address bar and tabs (Safari's full screen mode also does not hide tabs).
Thanks for the link to the screen test site. i think it shows the "yellowing" in grey and white best.
To be honest, I feel kind of bad making a stink about this yellowing. I mean, I can read what's on the screen and the difference between this yellow and the pure white on the top of the screen isn't that severe. I've seen some that are really bad. The system otherwise is sweet and super fast! But, yea, I paid $3K this thing and IPS screens shouldn't suffer from crap you normally see on TN screens.
I called up Apple today and they are sending a replacement iMac to me. I'm hopeful that it will just correct the problem. If it doesn't, and they are all like this, I'll have to make a decision. Either accept this nonsense or completely walk away. I'm not up for endless swap outs.
I think after returning 4 Imacs I would just give up and either buy a mac mini and use my own monitor and or wait for the new mac pro.
ps: no flame here plse,but dell also makes some nice all in ones if you can handle windows.
ps: no flame here plse,but dell also makes some nice all in ones if you can handle windows.
No flames
Yea, the Mac mini might be a good option for some. Unfortunately, the lack of a dedicated graphics option puts it out of the realm of possibilities for me. The main reason for me having my last iMac and buying a new one now is to get enough horsepower and screen real estate for gaming.
I agree that there are some nice AIO PCs and that's an option but it would be nice if I could just stay in the Apple ecosystem.
It's partly because of the age. There's no hour counter on Apple displays, but most are not going to look so great past 10k hours or so. Some are better than others depending on panel and supporting electronics. Apple misses a couple key points. One is some kind of compensation for drift like what NEC uses in some of their more expensive displays. The other thing is some method of uniformity compensation. The uniformity at the hardware level is what it is. They aren't going to bin them further considering the required volume. There is a lot of room for improvements without making a single change to the sourced panels. As for calibration, there are different methods. The apple displays take a very high level approach by adjusting it through the ICC profile. It's quite far from hardware, and there's really no way to deal with non-uniform casts when calibrating anyway. That is something that must be dealt with at the time of manufacturing.