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New white nVidia Macbook owners: check here to see if you have a defective LCD!

Seramir said:
What color profile you guys are using? I would especially like to know which one the topic creator is using when he took those photos.

I have a late 2007 white MacBook with the 9C5B panel and the issue is only really noticeable if I set it to any profile other the default Color LCD profile.

On either 1.8 or 2.2 gamma Color LCD profile I barely even see any of the banding or dots, however if I for example use the Adobe or sRGB profiles the banding and dots become very evident (almost like the Aurora photo topic creator posted, but only not that bad). Also, I don't have the lines issue mentioned. In Windows XP the issue also isn't as noticeable.

So I guess I'm fortunate that I don't have it as bad as others here, especially like the topic creator. Still, I freaking hate it to death, especially since I'm stuck having to use the default color profile. :mad:
Click to expand...

I was using the default color profile. The other ones turn everything blue and look just terrible. I'm surprised that you're experiencing problems too on a late 2007. I've taken a few more pics and will be posting them soon.
 
I've taken a few pictures myself and will be posting them shortly. Here's the first showing the make and model and date of my display atop the aurora background. Notice the horizontal banding on the edges of the aurora.

wu2k5u.jpg


The Macbook's serial number is W8928... (Shanghai, 2009, Week 28) which means it's brand new off the assembly line.


Click here for full size.
 
By the way, does anyone know how to interpret the Manufacture Date C054C480? What does it mean? Thanks for any help.

I may post some more pics tomorrow.
 
I have an 09, 16th week build with the Samsung screen and it was hard to notice at first, but the poster above who used craigslist.com to check made it visible for me.

So I believe I have it as well..
 
Craiglist.org background looks fine to me, solid gray. But then again I never had the lines issue, just banding and dotty look if I switch to a different color profile.

I have to learn to live with it, I just got this 2007 MacBook from my parents and I immediately noticed the issue when I switched color profiles. The default color profile looks fine (banding and dotting hardly noticeable), but the screen IMO looks too warm.

Planning on selling it and upgrading to a Unibody MacBook Pro. Those don't the issue at all right?
 
theARNSKI said:
I have an 09, 16th week build with the Samsung screen and it was hard to notice at first, but the poster above who used craigslist.com to check made it visible for me.

So I believe I have it as well..
Click to expand...

I know, the Craisglist site looks utterly atrocious, doesn't it. Yellow lines where there should be solid light grey!!! Conclusive proof of a terrible defect. It's the worst example I have yet found.

Sorry to hear you have the same defective screen. Please take it up with Apple and post again and tell us all what they are going to do about it.

Thanks for posting.
 
Seramir said:
Craiglist.org background looks fine to me, solid gray. But then again I never had the lines issue, just banding and dotty look if I switch to a different color profile.

I have to learn to live with it, I just got this 2007 MacBook from my parents and I immediately noticed the issue when I switched color profiles. The default color profile looks fine (banding and dotting hardly noticeable), but the screen IMO looks too warm.

Planning on selling it and upgrading to a Unibody MacBook Pro. Those don't the issue at all right?
Click to expand...

I think all the Pros have a new model screen(s) that is different. I suspect that the Pro screens are mostly good ones, but this problem with the White Macbooks could indicate a problem with Apple's quality control methods and standards.
 
Okay, some more pics for your viewing pleasure! Here's the same Craiglist site with the Digital Color Meter showing that it's supposed to be (8-bit) R-G-B = 244-244-244 which is a solid light grey background. As you can see, my Macbook shows horizontal yellow lines. Below I have also posted a screen cap of what it's supposed to look like. Assuming your monitor is not malfunctioning, you should see solid light grey on your screen.
2u971h3.jpg

Click here for full size.



2w4wgpk.png

Click here for full size.
 
Using the Digital Color Meter and a color spectrum I have also been able to find a wide assortment of other colors on which my screen fubars. Here's is another especially atrocious example. I've set the destop wallpaper as solid orange color (8-bit) R-G-B = 242-93-1. First my photograph showing horrid horizontal banding and below a screen cap of what it *should* look like (assuming again that your computer screen is working properly).

16anpg2.jpg

Click here for full size.


5n7uyu.png

Click here for full size.



This is what Apple is shipping out of the box.
 
Light banding problem, vignetting, and bluish cast on 13" white MacBook

We ordered a white 13" MacBook online on Sunday that ended up at our doorstep on Tuesday. Speedy!

The problem is that the screen is heavily vignetting at the bottom (worse than my 2007 MacBook with 2 years of daily use), has a distractingly obvious blueish cast, and has a faintly detectable banding issue on menus that should be flat/plain. It almost looks like the screen was a used or refurbished one!

The Apple Store in San Jose is courteously replacing the entire machine for us in the store, even though we ordered it online.

Some data from the "old" MacBook:

MacBook 5,2
Serial: W8925074A9Q
Dual Core 2.13 GHz
SMC Version: 1.38f5
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
ROM Revision: 3384
 
ryryinchina said:
We ordered a white 13" MacBook online on Sunday that ended up at our doorstep on Tuesday. Speedy!

The problem is that the screen is heavily vignetting at the bottom (worse than my 2007 MacBook with 2 years of daily use), has a distractingly obvious blueish cast, and has a faintly detectable banding issue on menus that should be flat/plain. It almost looks like the screen was a used or refurbished one!

The Apple Store in San Jose is courteously replacing the entire machine for us in the store, even though we ordered it online.

Some data from the "old" MacBook:

MacBook 5,2
Serial: W8925074A9Q
Dual Core 2.13 GHz
SMC Version: 1.38f5
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
ROM Revision: 3384
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting ryryinchina. Do you know/remember what the LCD panel model was?
 
LG/9C5F FTW! :) :D :cool: :p :judge: :bigdumbgrin:

1z55h0w.png


No lines!

Craigslist is a solid light grey, not horizontal yellow lines. My solid orange background is...solid orange! (Not full of lines!!!)

The colour reproduction/fidelity is also 1000x better on this LG/9C5F screen. The Ars forums are actually the right colour now (different shades of grey) rather than different shades of yellow/green like before. Checked out a color spectrum with the DigitalColor Meter and the dithering looks good, not horrible with visible horizontal lines everywhere like before.

There's one dead pixel about 1cm in from the right side and 5cm down from the top. Though it may possibly be a tiny, pixel-sized dent/scratch/imperfection in the screen cover or glossy coating because if I look up really close with one eye at just the right angle it appears to disappear. Not sure. But I'm not complaining. I'm just so happy because this screen is so, so, so much better than the Samsung/9C5B I had before. Something is seriously wrong with the current (2009) Samsung/9C5B panels, whether it's the LCD screen itself, the dithering algorithm, the color profile or the firmware or something else. I've forwarded all my photos to Apple and have been told that they've been forwarded to the appropriate people.

Thank you AppleCare Replacement Group!

I'll post some pictures tomorrow and try to recreate the same shots as before on the new screen so you can really see the difference.

Oh, and the serial number is W8931..., indicating it is a Week 31 machine.
 
About time! Glad everything worked out. I haven't been checking the old Ars thread you made, but did you do anything different after the second time you took it in for a display replacement?
 
MarkMS said:
About time! Glad everything worked out. I haven't been checking the old Ars thread you made, but did you do anything different after the second time you took it in for a display replacement?
Click to expand...

Heyo, the first Macbook I got had the Samsung/9C5B screen and I brought it into the Apple Store, first showed the Genius side by side next to the LG display model, then showed the Asst. Manager. They both agreed to replace the screen, but said they had no way of knowing if it would be another Samsung/9C5B.

The new replacement screen was another Samsung/9C5B, I talked to the technician who repaired it and showed him the problem next to the display model and he eventually agreed to send me a couple of tiers up the Apple Care ladder to get the Macbook replaced.

So I talked over the phone to a couple of people at Apple Care and I sent my Macbook back to them via UPS and they sent me a new replacement Macbook via FedEx. They also said that they had no way of knowing if the new replacement would have the same Samsung/9C5B panel.

The new replacement Macbook has just arrived and, luckily, it has the LG/9C5F screen. There is no horizontal banding and the colors are much more accurate. This looks just like the display model I first looked at when I was at the Apple Store shopping around for my new computer.

And that is a short summary of what happened.
 
The whole process, from the day I first placed my order to today took about just under a month.
 
Okay guys, I finally got around to taking a few pictures of my new LG/9C5F MacBook screen. My new MacBook is a Week 31. I'm reposting the pics of my old Samsung/9C5B screen from pages 4 and 5 of this thread followed shots of my new screen. I've tried to recreate the same shots as before for comparison. (Note: The new pics have a bit of moire, sorry, please ignore it.)

Samsung/9C5B, horizontal lines on edges of aurora.
wu2k5u.jpg

Click here for full size.[/QUOTE]


LG/9C5F, [color:RED]*NO*[/color] horizontal lines on edges of aurora.
11933w4.jpg

Click here for full size.
 
Samsung/9C5B, horizontal lines on menu.
ndlu2f.jpg

Click herefor full size.[/QUOTE]



LG/9C5F, [color:RED]*NO*[/color] horizontal lines on menu.
21afxgo.jpg

Click here for full size.
 
Samsung/9C5B, horizontal lines on Dashboard Sticky.
35hegqg.jpg

Click here for full size.[/QUOTE]



LG/9C5F, [color:RED]*NO*[/color] horizontal lines on sticky.
91fpn8.jpg

Click here for full size.
 
Samsung/9C5B, horizontal yellow lines on Craigslist.org background. Should be solid light grey as indicated by DigitalColor Meter.
2u971h3.jpg

Click here for full size.



LG/9C5F, [color:RED]*NO*[/color] horizontal yellow lines, background is solid light grey like it's supposed to be.
smx35v.jpg

Click here for full size.
 
Samsung/9C5B, horizontal orange/red lines where it should be a solid orange colour.
16anpg2.jpg

Click here for full size.



LG/9C5F. [color:RED]*NO*[/color] horizontal lines, solid orange colour like it's supposed to be.
eqxmvn.jpg

Click here for full size.
 
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