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The New iMac Display Problem?

Well Apple should at least be receiving my computer to dissect. Hopefully you all have called Apple tech support and let them know. It took months of bitching by end users before Apple would even acknowledge the last problem on the 24". To their credit, they took care of it with the firmware update.

I really hope this gets fixed soon. I WANT that quad core and the display is just so beautiful otherwise.
 
Heres the video guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjOxlxVz5Os

As you can see the screen just randomly restarts and throughout the video it randomly flickers, pretty big bands too.

After i took that video i restarted and it is now doing just fine, but this isnt the first time those problems happened.

I've already made an appointment with a Genius for Thurs, well see what they tell me.
 
iamweasel said:
Heres the video guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjOxlxVz5Os

As you can see the screen just randomly restarts and throughout the video it randomly flickers, pretty big bands too.

After i took that video i restarted and it is now doing just fine, but this isnt the first time those problems happened.

I've already made an appointment with a Genius for Thurs, well see what they tell me.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what happened with mine. Your iMac seems worse off, though. Good luck at the Apple store. Hope you are able to recreate it. I have a feeling my Apple store didn't completely believe me when I returned it.
 
it does seem like a software related issue. If your having problems recreating it, take a relatively good quality vid of it flickering. Use that as a vague form of proof, or at least to prove the point that it does actually exist as an issue!
;-)

PTP
 
ShaunPriest said:
Hello all,

I have documented this in another thread but I thought it would be better to dedicate a thread to this "problem".

I bought a new entry level iMac the other day. At night, before putting the computer to sleep, I often put the brightness of my screen all the way down to 1 notch so that when I wake the computer up in the burning the display doesn't burn my eyes.

So, I did this with the new iMac. When I woke up in the morning to check my email, the computer came out of sleep fine, but the display was flickering. As if it was pulsing between a brighter brightness level and a duller one.

The problem continued when I increased the brightness to 2 and 3 notches, but seemed to disappear after that. I have been able to recreate the problem many times (it is not intermittent) and it is also noticeable if you shut the computer down on 1 brightness notch and start the computer up a few seconds later.

I PM'ed someone in this forum who bought the very same computer as me and he was able to recreate this "problem". I was wondering if all of the new 21.5" and 27" iMac users could try the following:


  1. Put your computer brightness down to 1 notch.
  2. Put the computer to sleep.
  3. Wait about 30 seconds.
  4. Wake the computer up from sleep, and focus on some part of the screen.
  5. Does it flicker? Does it disappear when you increase the brightness level?

I don't know if this problem is that major as I very rarely use my machine on such a low brightness level, but in the morning, when you've just woke up even the 1 notch of brightness can seem exceptionally bright!

Let me know if you can recreate this problem on your new iMac. I think it could have something to do with the new LED backlit display.

Thanks in advance,

Shaun.
Click to expand...


Are the 21.5 displays having the same problem ? I'm about to switch from PC and am planning on getting a 21.5 .
 
http://gallery.me.com/larzy#100025

Here's my flicker...

I've just been on the phone with Apple support, and they've replacing it. They didn't think it was a software issue, as I reinstalled the system (dunno if they misunderstood me thinking it was due to some software I installed...?)
 
larzy said:
http://gallery.me.com/larzy#100025

Here's my flicker...

I've just been on the phone with Apple support, and they've replacing it. They didn't think it was a software issue, as I reinstalled the system (dunno if they misunderstood me thinking it was due to some software I installed...?)
Click to expand...

All of a sudden I don't feel like buying the new iMac anymore. This video scares the crap out of me. I really hope it isn't widespread! :(
 
Yea, it looks like a graphics card issue or even a connection somewhere in the machine.

Hope they figure it out before they ship my 27"
 
I have exactly the same problem. Bought it in Belgium 3 days ago. I have the bands running around my screen and also the "screen shutdowns" that all of you are experiencing.

What do you guys think? Hard or software related? Return it or hold on for some time.
 
If the problem is so serious I would return it.

I am currently holding off my 27" order to better understand what is going on with the new screens/GPUs......:confused:
 
So much for " it just works . "

I'm having serious seconds thoughts about making the switch from PC . Too many QC and other problems cropping up with these new iMacs .
 
Holy cow, at first when i read this i thought the flickering would be small and hard to notice. Looking at those videos it is completely unacceptable. I was about to order a new 27" with an i7, think i will hold off to see how this resolves. This looks like a hardware issue, and not something that a simple firmware upgrade will fix. Not so sure its a GPU issue, when GPUs start failing you usually get artifacts, i have not had a GPU flicker like that.

Just remember that you have 14 days to return it, some of you guys with really bad flickering might want to do that. The youtube video is an horrific example of this :(

Thanks again for all you guys that got the new 27" screens straight away and are doing some awesome beta testing. Hopefully by the time the i7s come out it will all be sorted.

Actually, have any of you guys got another PC/mac etc that you can hook upto the 27" to run it just as a display? This way you would remove the imac GPU from the equation. It would be best if someone that is suffering from this flickering could try this.
 
MH01 said:
Holy cow, at first when i read this i thought the flickering would be small and hard to notice. Looking at those videos it is completely unacceptable. I was about to order a new 27" with an i7, think i will hold off to see how this resolves. This looks like a hardware issue, and not something that a simple firmware upgrade will fix. Not so sure its a GPU issue, when GPUs start failing you usually get artifacts, i have not had a GPU flicker like that.

Just remember that you have 14 days to return it, some of you guys with really bad flickering might want to do that. The youtube video is an horrific example of this :(

Thanks again for all you guys that got the new 27" screens straight away and are doing some awesome beta testing. Hopefully by the time the i7s come out it will all be sorted.

Actually, have any of you guys got another PC/mac etc that you can hook upto the 27" to run it just as a display? This way you would remove the imac GPU from the equation. It would be best if someone that is suffering from this flickering could try this.
Click to expand...

If this is a hardware issue, this will be very prevalent and could warrant a recall. It will be interesting to see if people with upgraded cards or quad cores have this problem.

This thread should be a sticky. It's the only one on any forum discussing this problem...
 
I've been working on the iMac all morning now, and I have yet to see another flicker after my last mentioned reboot.

Fingers crossed, dont want to return it, just yesterday sold my old PC :)

Maybe it is a overheating problem. I've had similar issues with my old windows machine just before my vid-card (ATI X1900 series) died.

When i had the problems the back and top of my machine were VERY hot. I've reduced the screen brightness and now its running a lot cooler.
 
The flickering was really starting to bother me, so I returned the iMac for a replacement.

The replacement did not have the flicker problem, but it had a new problem:

A high pitched, high frequency noise almost like a dog whistle. The tone of the noise changes when you change the screen brightness. The noise disappears at full brightness and low brightness but anywhere in the middle there was this high pitched shrill.

Apple Support Forum Posting from other consumers.

I embarrassingly returned it, and the new one has the same problem but not as bad - despite the fact that the guy I spoke to done an instore setup of my machine and declared it had no noise.

This is a high pitched noise and very obvious when you change the screen brightness. I cannot work with the noise as it is extremely high pitched so much so that it's a relief to turn the computer off.

I am completely embarrassed to go back into the store AGAIN but I want my money back. Can I phone AppleCare and get them to pick it up from my house? [I'm in the UK] The store is a 70 mile round trip + parking costs each time. It would save me time, money and feeling embarrassed.

This being my third iMac has completely taken the joy out of purchasing a new machine, despite the iMac being perfect for my needs.

I am considering going back to the old setup I had before: My 13" MBP connected to a 22" Dell monitor, mStand and Apple Keyboard.

I will say one thing - in all three iMac's I've went through the Magic Mouse has worked perfectly on all of them, and I'd really recommend the mouse to anyone.
 
21.5" base model - no flickering issues here.

Shaun - you could phone up the Apple store or Customer Relations (02082181000 - Apple HQ, tell them to transfer you to customer relations). Explain to them that its too far away.

EDIT: although i am having the noise issue.
 
ShaunPriest said:
The flickering was really starting to bother me, so I returned the iMac for a replacement.

The replacement did not have the flicker problem, but it had a new problem:

A high pitched, high frequency noise almost like a dog whistle. The tone of the noise changes when you change the screen brightness. The noise disappears at full brightness and low brightness but anywhere in the middle there was this high pitched shrill.

Apple Support Forum Posting from other consumers.

I embarrassingly returned it, and the new one has the same problem but not as bad - despite the fact that the guy I spoke to done an instore setup of my machine and declared it had no noise.

This is a high pitched noise and very obvious when you change the screen brightness. I cannot work with the noise as it is extremely high pitched so much so that it's a relief to turn the computer off.

I am completely embarrassed to go back into the store AGAIN but I want my money back. Can I phone AppleCare and get them to pick it up from my house? [I'm in the UK] The store is a 70 mile round trip + parking costs each time. It would save me time, money and feeling embarrassed.

This being my third iMac has completely taken the joy out of purchasing a new machine, despite the iMac being perfect for my needs.

I am considering going back to the old setup I had before: My 13" MBP connected to a 22" Dell monitor, mStand and Apple Keyboard.

I will say one thing - in all three iMac's I've went through the Magic Mouse has worked perfectly on all of them, and I'd really recommend the mouse to anyone.
Click to expand...

WOW, imacs too? I went through a heck of a lot of trouble getting a new macbook pro because of that EXACT issue.

I don't know how it works in the UK but I don't see why they wouldn't take it back, however, given that it is noise related and at a frequency that a telephone mic will likely not pickup(believe me I've tried) you might have trouble convincing them and they might want you to go into a store anyways. Thats what the US Applecare people wanted me to do.

Sorry about all the trouble you're having with your computer!
 
The Samurai said:
21.5" base model - no flickering issues here.

Shaun - you could phone up the Apple store or Customer Relations (02082181000 - Apple HQ, tell them to transfer you to customer relations). Explain to them that its too far away.

EDIT: although i am having the noise issue.
Click to expand...

On the phone to AppleCare as we speak. He keeps putting me on hold to speak to his supervisor. 28 minutes on the phone so far...

EDIT: Been passed over to someone else. I've been told they can't pick the machine up I need to take it back to the store. I've told the person that they can't seriously expect me to go back to the store for the fourth time. I've asked for compensation if they are actually asking me to do that. I'm on hold while the advisor speaks to relations.

40 minutes so far...
 
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