Thunderbolt Display: is mine defective?

[Roman2K~]

@Lennyvalentin
I apologize for not having replied in time. Apple's TBD is one of the best screens I've seen, for sure.

@macrumorsuser10
I haven't noticed this on mine. Only the bottom corners. Apple have been kind enough to replace my first TBD with a brand new one (14-day return period), but it was exactly the same so I know it's normal.

Since the lighter bottom corners are normal symptoms, I would assume it's normal for the top ones as well.

If you don't mind, I'm going to answer a question you asked me via PM:

How do you like your monitor after these couple of months? Any problems?

I'm still very satisfied with it. The image quality still blows me away every time I use it, as much as the first day. The extra USB ports are extremely useful.

 

[macrumorsuser10]

@Lennyvalentin
I apologize for not having replied in time. Apple's TBD is one of the best screens I've seen, for sure.

@macrumorsuser10
I haven't noticed this on mine. Only the bottom corners. Apple have been kind enough to replace my first TBD with a brand new one (14-day return period), but it was exactly the same so I know it's normal.

Since the lighter bottom corners are normal symptoms, I would assume it's normal for the top ones as well.

If you don't mind, I'm going to answer a question you asked me via PM:

I'm still very satisfied with it. The image quality still blows me away every time I use it, as much as the first day. The extra USB ports are extremely useful.

Can you please check if you see light leakage in the top two corners like I've shown in my picts? I'd greatly appreciate it. I can live with the light leaks from all the corners if they're normal.

 

[Roman2K~]

Can you please check if you see light leakage in the top two corners like I've shown in my picts? I'd greatly appreciate it. I can live with the light leaks from all the corners if they're normal.

No problem. Here are pictures taken just now.

As you can see, the top corners are lighter as well. It all depends on the angle from which you're looking at the display.

In actual use, I see bottom corners (especially the lower-right hand one) when the image is dark around there. I never noticed any weird lighting toward the top.

 

[macrumorsuser10]

No problem. Here are pictures taken just now.

As you can see, the top corners are lighter as well. It all depends on the angle from which you're looking at the display.

In actual use, I see bottom corners (especially the lower-right hand one) when the image is dark around there. I never noticed any weird lighting toward the top.

Thanks for taking the time to do that! By the way, I turned the monitor settings all the way to the top. Are yours at the top as well?

 

[Roman2K~]

Thanks for taking the time to do that! By the way, I turned the monitor settings all the way to the top. Are yours at the top as well?

Oh, you're welcome, it's nothing . I didn't think about the brightness setting so I left it at 7 bars (half minus 1 bar).

 

[macrumorsuser10]

Oh, you're welcome, it's nothing . I didn't think about the brightness setting so I left it at 7 bars (half minus 1 bar).

I took the liberty of applying some Photoshop on your first image where you took a picture of your screen front-on (not at any angle). Since your brightness is so low, you can't see the corners, but by increasing the levels in Photoshop, you can clearly that there is leakage in all four corners to some degree, particularly the top-right and bottom-right.

For comparison, here is my screen again. I always have my monitor's brightness turned up to the max.

So I guess this is "normal" if you consider light leakage from the corners to be "normal". Both your monitors and my monitor have this behavior. I'm a little disappointed in Apple now, or who ever makes the panel.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Roman2K~]

I took the liberty of applying some Photoshop on your first image

No problem. Thanks for sharing the result of your findings.

So I guess this is "normal" if you consider light leakage from the corners to be "normal". Both your monitors and my monitor have this behavior. I'm a little disappointed in Apple now, or who ever makes the panel.

I'm sure it is normal for the TBD. I didn't expect this at all, so I was also disappointed at first, but as Lennyvalentin said, I doubt there exist better LCD panels / backlighting / whatever in this price range. Only OLEDs would have a perfectly even backlighting.

 

[lamboman]

My iMac is like this as well, the bottom as a whole is slightly darker when displaying grey. I wouldn't say that this is a big deal at all, not ideal for the professional, but it doesn't really bother me too much as it isn't that bad.