iPod touch screen problems - week 43

[godisjustpreten]

I have had my iPod Touch for almost 2 weeks now, and I have been very happy with it. In fact, my coworkers now ridicule me and call me fanboy, etc.

Anyway, I have been using it mostly for web browsing and audio. I just put some video on it, and I've noticed some strange shimmery effects during dark scenes. it almost plays tricks with my eyes, causing me to adjust the angle I'm looking at it, etc. So, I went online and used some of those screen test sites. Sure enough, it is not rendering dark grays correctly.

Anyway, I am about to call the Apple store I bought it from, but I want to see if there is any tips I should know before I do. Has anyone had to exchange their Touch, and if so, is it easy? Also, I actually live closer to a different Apple store (not the one I bought it at). Do you know if they service/exchange at different official Apple stores?

Thanks.

 

[GoodBoy]

Hi!
If your Touch comes from 43th production week then it's impossible to have negative black problem. What's more possible is that you're suffering inverted dark scenes and artifacts clearly visible on dark scenes. While the first problem is described as "defect", the artifacts and inproper blacks are not - at least not by Apple.

more about this issue:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/385128/

and here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/388631/

 

[godisjustpreten]

serial number begins: 9C743

I tried a few different movies and some youtube content.
Then I went to http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/small/ipod-touch/ (the test results from http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/small/), and I noticed some more problems. I don't see the first bars out of the 32 bars that should be visible in the gamma test, for example.

I called Apple and they told me I could bring it in. I'm just nervous now that I might get into an exchange cycle that won't resolve the problem. I'm hoping I just have a defective iPod.

Anyway, I am loving this thing other than this problem.

 

[hecks]

serial number begins: 9C743

I tried a few different movies and some youtube content.
Then I went to http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/small/ipod-touch/ (the test results from http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/small/), and I noticed some more problems. I don't see the first bars out of the 32 bars that should be visible in the gamma test, for example.

I called Apple and they told me I could bring it in. I'm just nervous now that I might get into an exchange cycle that won't resolve the problem. I'm hoping I just have a defective iPod.

Anyway, I am loving this thing other than this problem.

When you see the 'shimmering' effect, keep your head in place and close your left eye. Then open it and close your right eye. Repeat many times. You'll notice that the image looks different from each eye. This is because the viewing angles on these screens are very poor - so narrow that the distance between your eyes is enough to notice a significant difference in image quality. The result is kind of like a 3D effect, or image 'shimmering': the eyes see different images, and try to integrate them. Nothing at all to do with the earlier negative blacks issue, but a problem nonetheless that irritates me immensely.

Solutions:

1) Hold the iPod further away from your head (basic geometry, think triangles). This isn't always practical, of course.

2) Tilt the iPod slightly back and to the right. Do the eyes thing again, you'll notice that from this angle the image is more uniform. Lord knows why.

Crappy screens.

 

[cjmal]

When you see the 'shimmering' effect, keep your head in place and close your left eye. Then open it and close your right eye. Repeat many times. You'll notice that the image looks different from each eye. This is because the viewing angles on these screens are very poor - so narrow that the distance between your eyes is enough to notice a significant difference in image quality. The result is kind of like a 3D effect, or image 'shimmering': the eyes see different images, and try to integrate them. Nothing at all to do with the earlier negative blacks issue, but a problem nonetheless that irritates me immensely.(

What you are describing is definitely the negative problem. All the iPhones that I had did what you just described.

 

[hecks]

What you are describing is definitely the negative problem. All the iPhones that I had did what you just described.

Nope, negative blacks was something else, where deep blacks became 'inverted'. I had this problem with a Wk 37 iPod, which I replaced with a Wk 40 ... which has no negative blacks but poor viewing angles just like all the others I've seen.

 

[cjmal]

Nope, negative blacks was something else, where deep blacks became 'inverted'. I had this problem with a Wk 37 iPod, which I replaced with a Wk 40 ... which has no negative blacks but poor viewing angles just like all the others I've seen.

This is what i'm talking about, I don't know whether we're talking about the same thing or not. This is the way blacks appeared on my iPhone.

 

[hecks]

This is what i'm talking about, I don't know whether we're talking about the same thing or not. This is the way blacks appeared on my iPhone.

Yes, that is what I mean by the negative blacks problem - fixed on my Wk 40. No, that's not the problem I'm describing here with viewing angles creating image 'shimmer'. Actually, it's impossible to show in a photo, since the camera lense is viewing from one angle only ... you'd have to take two shots, eye-distance apart on left and right of image ...

 

[cjmal]

Yes, that is what I mean by the negative blacks problem - fixed on my Wk 40. No, that's not the problem I'm describing here with viewing angles creating image 'shimmer'. Actually, it's impossible to show in a photo, since the camera lense is viewing from one angle only ... you'd have to take two shots, eye-distance apart on left and right of image ...

See, the thing is, when I did have the phone (don't anymore, returned it unfortunately), I tried that one eye at a time thing, and with my left eye the screen looked shimmery and real dark, and with my right eye, the screen looked fine - which is why I think we're talking about the same thing.

 

[hecks]

See, the thing is, when I did have the phone (don't anymore, returned it unfortunately), I tried that one eye at a time thing, and with my left eye the screen looked shimmery and real dark, and with my right eye, the screen looked fine - which is why I think we're talking about the same thing.

We really aren't talking about blacks being inverted anymore as in your photos - I'm not seeing that.

But since the viewing angle problem has been the same with *all* models, the shimmer was visible with the faulty 'negative blacks' models too ... so in that sense we are talking about the same thing.

Two problems, one of which has been solved, the other of which hasn't ...

 

[cjmal]

We really aren't talking about blacks being inverted anymore as in your photos - I'm not seeing that.

But since the viewing angle problem has been the same with *all* models, the shimmer was visible with the faulty 'negative blacks' models too ... so in that sense we are talking about the same thing.

Two problems, one of which has been solved, the other of which hasn't ...

Ah okay, gotcha.