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Screen interlacing still present on 5S

ydeezy said:
Let us know how that iPhone works out! Crossing fingers for you! Good luck!
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I'm back with my new iPhone 5s. Well, it looks like I do have the interlacing issue, but it's very minimal. It's not as bad as some I've seen. I only notice it if I'm looking at the screen really closely and let's be honest, I don't usually hold my screen 6 inches from my face.

So since I know there's worse ones out there, I'm not going to try my luck by returning it.

I'm just going to have to accept this fact of life I guess. Nothing I can do about it.

The strange part is, I didn't notice it in the dark. I looked very hard to find any interlacing lines and couldn't find any. Then when I got into a lighted room, they started to become more apparent.

By the way, I think this phenomenon is called "pixel inversion" or "pixel crawl" or "pixel walk". It happens on lots of LCD panels, but the pattern looks a little different on a computer monitor than it does on a phone (for some reason). On a computer screen, it looks like a mesh pattern when you move your eyes around, but on a mobile screen, it's usually just lines.
 
Triangle Man said:
I'm back with my new iPhone 5s. Well, it looks like I do have the interlacing issue, but it's very minimal. It's not as bad as some I've seen. I only notice it if I'm looking at the screen really closely and let's be honest, I don't usually hold my screen 6 inches from my face.

So since I know there's worse ones out there, I'm not going to try my luck by returning it.

I'm just going to have to accept this fact of life I guess. Nothing I can do about it.

The strange part is, I didn't notice it in the dark. I looked very hard to find any interlacing lines and couldn't find any. Then when I got into a lighted room, they started to become more apparent.

By the way, I think this phenomenon is called "pixel inversion" or "pixel crawl" or "pixel walk". It happens on lots of LCD panels, but the pattern looks a little different on a computer monitor than it does on a phone (for some reason). On a computer screen, it looks like a mesh pattern when you move your eyes around, but on a mobile screen, it's usually just lines.
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I'm sorry to hear that your new device has it too. But it's good to know that it's not bad and very minimal. I would probably do the same thing and keep it. If my other ones didn't have the yellow tint, I would've probably kept it even with the lines. Like you, I did notice it more in a well lit area and not so much in a darker setting.
 
I have never had "screen interlacing" issues on any i device. Well I take that back, on an iPad 1, with the backlight turned all the way down, there was a slight waviness to it.

However with that said. There is no such thing as "interlace" on an LCD device. It's all progressive scan. If there's a refresh issue, then okay I could see that. However I have never ever seen any refresh problem on an iPhone, iMac, or iPad, unless as I just described it.

If anything, you better get your lights/ballasts checked. Change the florescent bulbs out for a 5900 Kevin 92+CRI day light bulb or something close.

I suspect a harmonic issue between your lighting and the iPhone. Or you have terrible magnetic issues in your building and it is messing things up.
 
danilko1 said:
I have never had "screen interlacing" issues on any i device. Well I take that back, on an iPad 1, with the backlight turned all the way down, there was a slight waviness to it.

However with that said. There is no such thing as "interlace" on an LCD device. It's all progressive scan. If there's a refresh issue, then okay I could see that. However I have never ever seen any refresh problem on an iPhone, iMac, or iPad, unless as I just described it.

If anything, you better get your lights/ballasts checked. Change the florescent bulbs out for a 5900 Kevin 92+CRI day light bulb or something close.

I suspect a harmonic issue between your lighting and the iPhone. Or you have terrible magnetic issues in your building and it is messing things up.
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You're right about the "interlace" thing. It's not interlaced lines, it's pixel inversion or pixel walk, which a lot of LCDs suffer from. It has to do with calibration of the display when it's being manufactured and has nothing to do with your lights.
 
Update time!

So after receiving my third phone yesterday, I am glad to say that no interlace is present! Woo finally! And it starts with serial number "DN" so don't lose any hope.
 
I wonder how hard it is to swap the screen out using the special tool? I ordered the tool awhile back but never had a reason to use it. Since I have a perfect screen and screen protector if mine has a hardware issue rather then go to the genius bar just contact Apple and have them send a replacement. If the replacement is fine but has the interlaced screen I may just swap the screen out. My understanding is you remove the 2 screws at the bottom with the tool, pull off the screen with a suction cup, remove a ribbon cable or 2 and thats it.

If Apple cant fix the Accelerometer issue via software I may go this route.
 
Triangle Man said:
You're right about the "interlace" thing. It's not interlaced lines, it's pixel inversion or pixel walk, which a lot of LCDs suffer from. It has to do with calibration of the display when it's being manufactured and has nothing to do with your lights.
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Is the calibration of the display possible, after manufacturing? Is it possible, that only certain people "eagle eyes" can see this effect? I only say that, because I wear glasses.
 
richard371 said:
I wonder how hard it is to swap the screen out using the special tool? I ordered the tool awhile back but never had a reason to use it. Since I have a perfect screen and screen protector if mine has a hardware issue rather then go to the genius bar just contact Apple and have them send a replacement. If the replacement is fine but has the interlaced screen I may just swap the screen out. My understanding is you remove the 2 screws at the bottom with the tool, pull off the screen with a suction cup, remove a ribbon cable or 2 and thats it.

If Apple cant fix the Accelerometer issue via software I may go this route.
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I guess you void your warranty by doing so. Just call Apple and get it replaced.
 
danilko1 said:
Is the calibration of the display possible, after manufacturing? Is it possible, that only certain people "eagle eyes" can see this effect? I only say that, because I wear glasses.
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1. No you cannot calibrate the display yourself
2. It may be possible for some people to be able to notice it more than others. I've shown people before and either they don't know exactly what they're looking for or they simply cannot see this effect.

On another note, a lot of people don't even notice screen tearing on video games. I have no idea how someone can't see their screen split in half but seriously some people can't tell it's happening.
 
Just got back from the apple store. They swapped me out with another screen that had the issue. I tried explaining what was happening to the genius (who was actually quite nice and receptive about the issue even though he and others he called over couldn't see it).

They didn't have any other Gold 64s in, so they went ahead and decided to order another one that will show up in a few days. I'm HOPING it's from another run or something, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. I only have so much fight in me left.

I brought my 4S with me to illustrate the "flicker" image that a few other threads have referenced. That really helped my case after I showed them — a total shift in attitude from "well, if you say so..." to "please, let us work with you so we know more about the issue in case someone else comes in with it."

It's generally nice meeting with the genius guys, but their only recourse in a lot of cases is to swap the hardware (which is a pain, since I've now restored three iPhones). I don't know what their training programs look like, but they didn't seem familiar with the potential display issues, consistently referring to the "discreet GPU" and trying to call it an iOS issue. Which really isn't a problem no matter what they call it so long as they're helping me out and while swapping the hardware seems like the nuclear issue -- without the ability to recalibrate the display there's no other option.

Am I bitter? Not really. Am I tired of driving 10 miles both ways? Yes. That, and it feels like such a crapshoot to get a phone I'm gonna be happy with for two years.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a Gold 64 with no issues that stumbles upon this thread? I saw one post above with a signature implying that, but it wasn't clear.
 
Ughhh. I've got a 32gb space grey that I was considering taking back due to a warm screen, but it doesn't have this issue. Now I'm not sure what to do...
 
richard371 said:
I wonder how hard it is to swap the screen out using the special tool? I ordered the tool awhile back but never had a reason to use it. Since I have a perfect screen and screen protector if mine has a hardware issue rather then go to the genius bar just contact Apple and have them send a replacement. If the replacement is fine but has the interlaced screen I may just swap the screen out. My understanding is you remove the 2 screws at the bottom with the tool, pull off the screen with a suction cup, remove a ribbon cable or 2 and thats it.

If Apple cant fix the Accelerometer issue via software I may go this route.
Click to expand...

Do the screws hold the screen in? How is the top of the screen held in if the screws hold the bottom in? Clips?

Just wondering :)
 
Can someone describe this effect?

Either I was lucky or I don't see it. With the wallpaper of page 1 i see no flickering if I view it in the photo lib. The only Thing I noticed was that the stripes in the edges were crisp and in the middle totally washed out, so you couldn't tell if it's gray or stripes anymor. That scared me but then I realized that I must have zoomed in weirdly. I reviewed the Image a bit later and everything was just fine, no weird flickering.

The only Thing that is weird with that wallpaper is that approx. 3-4 Pixelstripes seem to form a bigger stripe. But it's uniformely alterating across the whole screen. Actually, if it's the so called interlacing, I'm fine with it.
 
supermassive said:
Can someone describe this effect?

Either I was lucky or I don't see it. With the wallpaper of page 1 i see no flickering if I view it in the photo lib. The only Thing I noticed was that the stripes in the edges were crisp and in the middle totally washed out, so you couldn't tell if it's gray or stripes anymor. That scared me but then I realized that I must have zoomed in weirdly. I reviewed the Image a bit later and everything was just fine, no weird flickering.

The only Thing that is weird with that wallpaper is that approx. 3-4 Pixelstripes seem to form a bigger stripe. But it's uniformely alterating across the whole screen. Actually, if it's the so called interlacing, I'm fine with it.
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Basically, if you see something not-unlike screen tearing or scanlines on your phone (very subtle, since it's retina). For me, it's mainly an issue of seeing patterns at angles where I can see a subtle pin-striping that shimmers when I try to focus on it. It's really distracting when I'm doing general use with the phone and elements start moving. All I can see is the lines when I'm playing games like Infinity Blade and there's lots of movement on the screen.

The test image you mentioned really, really shows when you have the image up as either your wallpaper or when you pull up control center. What I did was show the geniuses how my screen freaks out when you tap-hold on the image in safari, which dims the whole screen causing it to flicker violently like a bad fluorescent light.

If your phone doesn't flicker and calmly dims (my fiance's Silver 32 is wonderful), you don't have the issue and have a good screen.

As mentioned above for a "warm" calibration -- I'd be happy to have that over this issue. Our eyes can adjust over a minute or two to color inaccuracies, or at least I can get over it. :p
 
richard371 said:
I wonder how hard it is to swap the screen out using the special tool? I ordered the tool awhile back but never had a reason to use it. Since I have a perfect screen and screen protector if mine has a hardware issue rather then go to the genius bar just contact Apple and have them send a replacement. If the replacement is fine but has the interlaced screen I may just swap the screen out. My understanding is you remove the 2 screws at the bottom with the tool, pull off the screen with a suction cup, remove a ribbon cable or 2 and thats it.

If Apple cant fix the Accelerometer issue via software I may go this route.
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brave man :)

I thought when apple sends the service replacement the same courier picks up the old handset there and then.
 
I bought an iPhone 64 gb on launch day which had interlacing (serial F2). I just received my replacement from apple (serial DN) and it is perfect. I am so happy that it was the first replacement this time. With my iPhone 5 I had the issue on 4 different replacement units.

There are good ones out there. Good luck guys!
 
Hmmm. I though they put a hold on the credit card and release it when they receive the other one back. I'll just tell them I need to transfer my screen protector.

gCloud said:
brave man :)

I thought when apple sends the service replacement the same courier picks up the old handset there and then.
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I wouldn't need to do this unless they cannot fix the accelerometer via software and the replacement is fixed but has the bad screen.
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There is a video tutorial on ifixit.com on how to do it but since we would be swapping the entire screen we wouldn't need to remove the home button, ear speaker etc.

DMoggo said:
Do the screws hold the screen in? How is the top of the screen held in if the screws hold the bottom in? Clips?

Just wondering :)
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Zeusus said:
I bought an iPhone 64 gb on launch day which had interlacing (serial F2). I just received my replacement from apple (serial DN) and it is perfect. I am so happy that it was the first replacement this time. With my iPhone 5 I had the issue on 4 different replacement units.

There are good ones out there. Good luck guys!
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Out of curiosity, what color what is it? I've had three DN Golds; I'm trying to piece together trends.
 
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AndrewR23 said:
you are in the exact same situation as me..
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I'm leaning towards just keeping it, since I'm also getting some killer battery life with this unit vs. the first one I had (about 8 hrs vs 5-6), which was replaced after it was throwing error codes up for a hardware failure.
 
Zubba said:
Ughhh. I've got a 32gb space grey that I was considering taking back due to a warm screen, but it doesn't have this issue. Now I'm not sure what to do...
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in my opinion, keep it. if anything, jailbreak when it comes out for 5s and install 'color profiles' so you can tweak the temperature. I don't understand why Apple hasn't put these feature in stock iOS. It would save them A LOT of money.

Not worth trading up for an interlaced screen.

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AndrewR23 said:
you are in the exact same situation as me..
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ditto to my previous comment


The 32 gold 5s I had had a more reddish tint to it than my perfect 5 screen (neither with interlacing, I really can't believe first shot I got a good 5s I had terrible luck with the 5 for a while) but I returned it because I saw no reason to really sell my jailbroken 5 and fork over at least a couple of hundred to get the new one. Gonna wait for my subsidy and use it on the 6 next year.

If I were in the market to feel the 5s was worth that over the 5, I would have certainly held onto my particular one even still preferring the temperature of my 5. There really are so many crap displays out there, its insane it goes relatively unnoticed by most or else they wouldn't be able to get away with this and still make a decent profit.

If the 6 has this issue too (which, I'm sure it will) I'm returning/exchanging them until I get one that doesn't.

The screen is the whole experience.

If runny lines were really the way it were meant to be, it should be emphasized in the marketing material for that 'superior retina display.' I get lost in the quality of my iPhone 5 screen despite it being 4" and not technically HD, I can't even begin to let myself get lost in an interlaced screen. It's something that immediately pops out to me and cripples the magic.
 
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thadoggfather said:
in my opinion, keep it. if anything, jailbreak when it comes out for 5s and install 'color profiles' so you can tweak the temperature. I don't understand why Apple hasn't put these feature in stock iOS. It would save them A LOT of money.

Not worth trading up for an interlaced screen.

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ditto to my previous comment


The 32 gold 5s I had had a more reddish tint to it than my perfect 5 screen (neither with interlacing, I really can't believe first shot I got a good 5s I had terrible luck with the 5 for a while) but I returned it because I saw no reason to really sell my jailbroken 5 and fork over at least a couple of hundred to get the new one. Gonna wait for my subsidy and use it on the 6 next year.

If I were in the market to feel the 5s was worth that over the 5, I would have certainly held onto my particular one even still preferring the temperature of my 5. There really are so many crap displays out there, its insane it goes relatively unnoticed by most or else they wouldn't be able to get away with this and still make a decent profit.

If the 6 has this issue too (which, I'm sure it will) I'm returning/exchanging them until I get one that doesn't.

The screen is the whole experience.

If runny lines were really the way it were meant to be, it should be emphasized in the marketing material for that 'superior retina display.' I get lost in the quality of my iPhone 5 screen despite it being 4" and not technically HD, I can't even begin to let myself get lost in an interlaced screen. It's something that immediately pops out to me and cripples the magic.
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Agreed. I love jailbreaking for color profiles. I cannot wait to install Color profiles to get my blue tint back, and zephyr so I can stop clicking this button.
 
So I guess I was lucky.

Here my final (replaced) Phone, the first one didn't have the issue either:

P1050488efb6.JPG

http://s44i.img-up.net/P1050488efb6.JPG


With controll Center up it should flicker like crazy but it doesn't at all. Just like in this Picture.
 
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