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2011 iMac owners: do you have a yellow tinted display?

  • 21" iMac; both bars are grey. Perfect display!

    Votes: 39 15.9%
  • 21" iMac; yellow tinted display.

    Votes: 24 9.8%
  • 27" iMac; both bars are grey. Pefect display!

    Votes: 109 44.5%
  • 27" iMac; yellow tinted display.

    Votes: 73 29.8%

  • Total voters
    245
Picked up a new 21" iMac...the lower end and this is what I have.

I have no dust behind the screen, no messed up pixels, but a hint of yellow.

Do you think it's worth going through the return and risking something that's worse? Or does this look ok?

If the issue won't get worse then I think I should be fine (depending on what you guys think), but if it gets worse over time maybe I should return it?

(These were taken 3 bars away from full brightness...)

upper left you have some red tinting, bottom half , you have some yellowing, more prominent on the bottom right. It's really really difficult to get a perfect one, they are almost non-existent.
 
upper left you have some red tinting, bottom half , you have some yellowing, more prominent on the bottom right. It's really really difficult to get a perfect one, they are almost non-existent.

Screw you! :p
I didn't even notice the red tinting until you pointed it out haha.
The only thing that KINDA bothers me is the bottom right yellow.

If I bought it in store do you think I have to exchange in store?
Or could I call Apple and let them know I want one sent to my house and I'll return whichever one is worse?

I don't want to go in store...exchange this one...and have more problems with the second?

And do these "tinting issues" effect anything other than whites?
(BTW, I don't do photshop or anything so I don't need it to be PERFECT...even though that would be awesome.)
 
Screw you! :p
I didn't even notice the red tinting until you pointed it out haha.
The only thing that KINDA bothers me is the bottom right yellow.

If I bought it in store do you think I have to exchange in store?
Or could I call Apple and let them know I want one sent to my house and I'll return whichever one is worse?

I don't want to go in store...exchange this one...and have more problems with the second?

And do these "tinting issues" effect anything other than whites?
(BTW, I don't do photshop or anything so I don't need it to be PERFECT...even though that would be awesome.)

I think it's better to go to the store and check it out before you take it home. Also, if you call apple, they won't send you a new one until you send the old one back, so you won't be able to compare the two.

I don't do anything serious on my mac either but the yellow tinting just bothered me to the point where I couldn't accept it. I went through 3 of them. The second one was the better of the 3 so I kept that one.
 
I cant believe people are settling "because it is the best they could find".

That is insane.

I love Apple. I love MAC OS X. But this is my second 27 inch and it still has issues. I couldnt see myself settling for something when I spent over two thousand dollars on it.

I am sorry, perfection is what should be expected at these price points. And for anyone to say otherwise is a fanboy. I have an iphone 4, I have an iPad 2, I have a macbook air, so I do not think anyone could say I hate Apple. This is just ridiculous though. Especially when I could build a PC of much higher power at the same price (of course I do not really want to).
 
I think it's better to go to the store and check it out before you take it home. Also, if you call apple, they won't send you a new one until you send the old one back, so you won't be able to compare the two.

I don't do anything serious on my mac either but the yellow tinting just bothered me to the point where I couldn't accept it. I went through 3 of them. The second one was the better of the 3 so I kept that one.

So I can go to the store and check it out?
I just feel like I've been bugging these guys lol.
And I was reading that others had another sent to them while they were using theirs.

How were you able to get you're second back after you returned it for a third?

How bad does mine look in comparison to yours or just in general? I can't tell the red (in real life, but I can in the pic)...and the yellow seems worse in the pics too then what I'm seeing sometimes lol.
 
So I can go to the store and check it out?
I just feel like I've been bugging these guys lol.
And I was reading that others had another sent to them while they were using theirs.

How were you able to get you're second back after you returned it for a third?

How bad does mine look in comparison to yours or just in general? I can't tell the red (in real life, but I can in the pic)...and the yellow seems worse in the pics too then what I'm seeing sometimes lol.

Some people were lucky and were able to get apple to send one before they sent back their defective one. I wasn't that lucky. I had to opt to buy a second one then was able to compare the two and pick one which was the better one. I think I have pics of mine in this thread somewhere, i dunno.

Yes, i just checked, i have some pics with side by side comparisons. Compare those with your own and decide what you wish to do with yours.
 
Some people were lucky and were able to get apple to send one before they sent back their defective one. I wasn't that lucky. I had to opt to buy a second one then was able to compare the two and pick one which was the better one. I think I have pics of mine in this thread somewhere, i dunno.

Yes, i just checked, i have some pics with side by side comparisons. Compare those with your own and decide what you wish to do with yours.

I'd rather opt to buy one and return the bad one...But honestly I notice it...then right now I don't...OCD at its best...What if I bring this up in 2 years with my AppleCare and keep complaining and say it isn't right...any chance they'd entirely replace it after a couple "failed" tries on their part?
 
And this is my last picture...I tried opening two windows so you could see the change more...and what you would do lol...
 

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And this is my last picture...I tried opening two windows so you could see the change more...and what you would do lol...

Go through your normal daily routine on your IMAC (sites you vist, Apps you use, Programs you run) and see if its really noticable. If its not keep it. If it bothers you send it back for another one. While there is no guarantee it will be better, plenty of people say they have a perfect screen.
 
calm down all of you Apple is great , they dont have a solution for the yellow tint or for the smudges that appear over time inside the panel , so just accept it like it is , apple admires your problem
you did want a iMac , you know about the problem, you know apple can not solve it, they never even tried since the first 27"iMac hit the shelfs near 2 years ago as they still can sell the iMac's like they are , so why complain:confused:
get a MacPro , mac mini or a MacBook and a dell 27" ips display , its the same as in the iMac but without those problems
 
a dell 27" ips display , its the same as in the iMac but without those problems

Two friends of mine have them: white is white, black is black, no yellowing, no weird shades, nothing, 100 % perfect. It's sad Apple can't deliver that.
 
Two friends of mine have them: white is white, black is black, no yellowing, no weird shades, nothing, 100 % perfect. It's sad Apple can't deliver that.

i know that too as i bought one recently and surprise its even less glossy , and its Apples fault , dell goes for the simpliest way possible if it comes to new technology, as thats often the cheapest way too ,but Apple wants to make something very special so goes routes no other manufacturer would take

someone posted it in those uncountable posts about that problem where the differences between those two different aproaches Dell and Apple take to get that 27" display working , it has something to do with different backlight systems and different colored LED's

that ips tech is new ok around for 3 years now , but that is in technology terms not a long time , if you think back how long it took to make CRT displays next to perfect , and those last generations had been really good displays those CRT's , but then everyone did want tft displays then LCD then ips
now we have to wait for them to reach the perfection standard crt's had
i mean some of those "older " lcd panels fitted in the white intel iMac's get after about 3 years of life stripes on display
and ok its not apple alone who gets those problems from time to time
but maybe sometimes Apple should be less proud and just look on those cheap computer manufacturers like dell to see their solution if it comes to new technology and just do things the same way as others instead of something special
 
So I called about about the Yellow Screen (just to report it) and to see if I could also have them send a new one...Nope, I have to go to the store.

But instead of playing the Lottery with these things and exchanging the one I already have I think I'm going to buy a new one.

I'll compare it to the one I have now and whichever one is worse is the one I'll return. I'll keep playing that game until I'm satisfied.

My fear with exchanging the one I have now is because I don't want to exchange it for something that ends up being worse..so does that seem like the best way to do it?

Or just keep exchanging the one I have now?

BTW: Exchanging isn't the pain...it's zeroing out all the data while erasing the HDD before returning it (2.5 hours) and re-installing SL on it (30 mins) so when they check it they'll know everything works. And then when I get home installing from my Time Machine (1 hour).

Would it be smart when I buy this new one to install from my Time Machine right away or just login (uploading nothing) and do the test. Because if it's broke I could skip the 3 hour process of deleting and restoring everything before returning again.

And if it's better and works I'll do a clean re-install from my Time Machine.
 
The one I got don't even need any test to tell. the tint is actually greenish. really bad.
 

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I'm on the fence as far as what to do with mine. The geniuses agreed there was a problem and had the panel replaced, but the replacement isn't much better. Am still within the 14-day return period.

I checked out 4 iMacs today at a couple of stores, and all had at least a little bit of yellow, to varying degrees (one was almost perfect, one was pretty bad, and two were sort of in the middle). They all also had a fair bit of backlight bleed from the lower right corner (again, to varying degrees). Doesn't make me feel good about my odds of getting one that's better than the one I have now.

This is very annoying in that a) I do notice the issue during day to day use, and I don't want this to drive me bonkers over the five years I intend to use this computer; and b) the iMac is the perfect Mac for me, so other than trying for another replacement (again, knowing that the odds aren't necessarily in my favor) I don't know what my alternative would be. I'm a switcher to begin with, so I'm almost tempted to go with a PC and a 27" cinema display... or maybe try again in a year after the next iMac redesign...
 
I May Have Hit The Jackpot!

So I exchange my iMac today and was very scared to do so...but I think all is well. They gave me a brand new one and when I opened it at home the screen had little "scratches" on them with one fingerprint...My old one did too, but I got "Goo Gone" and it went away. As for the one fingerprint...this thing was brand new, I made sure...so maybe it was a China Man's from the factory.

I noticed a piece of "dust" or something...but it is on the corner where the black gloss meets the side of the iMac...so not on screen lol.

Here are my 3 test results...if you go to my previous posts you'll see my old machine...did I hit the jackpot and get a good one? Or shall I say, better than before? ;)

Edit - I do notice slight yellowing in the pics...but I can't see them in person...and that's what matters lol...and I compared results...I think this one > old one.

As for the backlight...Can't see those left corners in person either...just in the picture.
 

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Two friends of mine have them: white is white, black is black, no yellowing, no weird shades, nothing, 100 % perfect. It's sad Apple can't deliver that.
Your friends are lucky. Like many imac users with perfect screens.

DELL U2711 has the same panel and has exactly the same problems with backlit consistence, tints, etc. Also it has a crystalline effect because of anti glare cover. Google a bit and you can find nothing is perfect.
 
Two friends of mine have them: white is white, black is black, no yellowing, no weird shades, nothing, 100 % perfect. It's sad Apple can't deliver that.

I second that.

After buying (and returning) the first generation 27" iMac I was lurking around waiting for Apple to fix the problem (for two refresh cycles, no less), but apparently it is not happening.

My U2711 is very nice, came with the individual Factory Color Calibration Report (did you hear this Apple?) and the anti-glare screen works perfect for me, day and night.

Did I already mention that black is black and white is white?

Tom B.
 
Your friends are lucky. Like many imac users with perfect screens.

DELL U2711 has the same panel and has exactly the same problems with backlit consistence, tints, etc. Also it has a crystalline effect because of anti glare cover. Google a bit and you can find nothing is perfect.

The anti glare coating of the Dell is NOT a defect. It's a bit excessive, I agree, but it's not a defect. You either like it or not.
The panel is the same, but, as others have reported here (and I have been told also on some Dell forums) the adopted backlight technology is not the same. At this point it's clear that iMac panels are fine, but the implementation of backlighting is not, or is easily prune to high deviations from optimal.
As much as I like Apple, I must admit that I'm always scared about their displays. My MBP is ok, as is my matte ACD, but my first Powerbook, don't know how many times I returned that (5, 6 ?). The yellow tint issue of iMacs has been running for quite a long time, so obviously something must be wrong. Packaging defects exist, I'm not that stupid to pretend that every shipped unit is perfect (not from Dell, not from Apple, not from Nec or whatever), but I suspect some design issue here. As long as they sell, becuase some people don't notice it or, worse IMO, learn to live with the issue, no reason for Apple to find a fix.
 
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The anti glare coating of the Dell is NOT a defect. It's a bit excessive, I agree, but it's not a defect. You either like it or not.
The panel is the same, but, as others have reported here (and I have been told also on some Dell forums) the adopted backlight technology is not the same. At this point it's clear that iMac panels are fine, but the implementation of backlighting is not, or is easily prune to high deviations from optimal.
As much as I like Apple, I must admit that I'm always scared about their displays. My MBP is ok, as is my matte ACD, but my first Powerbook, don't know how many times I returned that (5, 6 ?). The yellow tint issue of iMacs has been running for quite a long time, so obviously something must be wrong. Packaging defects exist, I'm not that stupid to pretend that every shipped unit is perfect (not from Dell, not from Apple, not from Nec or whatever), but I suspect some design issue here. As long as they sell, becuase some people don't notice it or, worse IMO, learn to live with the issue, no reason for Apple to find a fix.
I think we are hearing more about imac screen issues simply because it sells ten times more than Dell or NEC expensive panels. I've already mentioned imac has LED backlit technology, while Dell are using more older CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp). I read a lot about how you need carefully choose Dell panels in the store, how they die after one year of usage, how people change it again and again, and Dell sends refurbished panels for exchange which even worse, and etc.

The same quality inconsistency, but on lower scale, because of technology limitations for screens >24".
 
I second that.

After buying (and returning) the first generation 27" iMac I was lurking around waiting for Apple to fix the problem (for two refresh cycles, no less), but apparently it is not happening.

My U2711 is very nice, came with the individual Factory Color Calibration Report (did you hear this Apple?) and the anti-glare screen works perfect for me, day and night.

Did I already mention that black is black and white is white?

Tom B.

I'm seriously considering a Dell U2711 and a Macbook pro 15" 2.2Ghz....i want a big Mac....and this seems to be the best solution at the moment.
 
My iMac is tinted along the bottom and a greyish band across the bottom too. I called Apple and as part of their diognosis asked if I had installed Windows on the hard drive and that the driver for the video card could have been overwritten and messed up. Before I go through the process of moving all my files and doing a clean install, has anyone else been told this or found that it's part of the problem? I do feel that it has developed over time (short time) I bought it on May 18th.

The other steps were to check the settings, clear PRAM and unplug the iMac to reset.
 
My iMac is tinted along the bottom and a greyish band across the bottom too. I called Apple and as part of their diognosis asked if I had installed Windows on the hard drive and that the driver for the video card could have been overwritten and messed up. Before I go through the process of moving all my files and doing a clean install, has anyone else been told this or found that it's part of the problem? I do feel that it has developed over time (short time) I bought it on May 18th.

The other steps were to check the settings, clear PRAM and unplug the iMac to reset.

That's BS...no driver in windows will break a driver in OSX causing anything remotely related to the yellow tinting issues, and no tinkering and resetting will make it go away. The technichian must have hit his head or something.
 
here for all who are interested a review from anandtech of the U2711
..sometimes it pays to use "older" technology

If you want something a little smaller, or if you have a need for 30-bit color support, the U2711 is a better buy than anything else currently on the market. This is a great high resolution display that delivers on the quality and features fronts, and we're pleased to award the Dell U2711 our Gold Editors' Choice award.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922

and Apples 27" cinema display to compare as thats exactly what you get in the iMac too

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3946/apple-27inch-led-cinema-display-review/9


then we can talk again about "old" technology
 
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