Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Yellow tint on HR AG - common or bad luck?

murdercitydevil

murdercitydevil

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 23, 2010
1,561
0
california
Okay here's the deal. I looked through the yellow tint threads and sure enough noticed that my high res AG had it. At first I dismissed it as poor viewing angles. I calibrated the LCD, which seemed to make it a bit better. But it is not a matter of viewing angles. I tried the test on my friend's old blackbook, and when viewing the screen head-on, the bottom square definitely looks yellow, BUT, when tilting the computer back, changing the viewing angle, the square turns white again, thus, a result of viewing angles. The same thing on my HR AG doesn't change the color of the bottom square, it stays yellowish. So I'm pretty much convinced that it's a real issue, at least to some degree.

I'm considering taking it back to the Apple store, or at least going there and seeing how their display models look. Something tells me that nearly all HR AG models (the current shipment that's out right now) suffers from this, and that my replacement will be the same. Does anyone think this is true as well? Should I even bother trying to swap it out? The yellow tint threads have several people that are going through 5-6 exchanges, and all still getting the same problem. Any help is appreciated.
 
murdercitydevil said:
Okay here's the deal. I looked through the yellow tint threads and sure enough noticed that my high res AG had it. At first I dismissed it as poor viewing angles. I calibrated the LCD, which seemed to make it a bit better.
Click to expand...

How did you calibrate (what system did you use)?

To what white point did you calibrate?

Most non-calibrated LCDs have a very high colour temp - so next to them things will appear yellow.
 
Guiguiga said:
I have the HR AG for about a week now. I have no issues with its screen or anything else. Would you be able to post a picture of the issue?

THanks.
Click to expand...

To be honest I don't think a picture would help much, unless you know the lighting conditions, the camera WB setup etc then it'll just introduce more uncertainties.
 
Well I'm at the Apple store now, waiting for my genius appointment. I have a feeling he'll say theres nothing wrong with it, but let's hope he can actually suggest how to fix it if they wont give me an exchange. Maybe the white point has something to do with it. I was doing the test with this image btw

attachment.php
 
murdercitydevil said:
Well I'm at the Apple store now, waiting for my genius appointment. I have a feeling he'll say theres nothing wrong with it, but let's hope he can actually suggest how to fix it if they wont give me an exchange. Maybe the white point has something to do with it. I was doing the test with this image btw

attachment.php
Click to expand...

Let us know what Apple says.

I have a swap in progress via online Apple care, since I bought a 15" i7 with the high res glossy. I'm curious to see if the replacement fixes the issue, or if it's "just how it is".

If the new one has it, I may just return it and buy the 13" cheapy. I just can't bring myself to accept imperfection like this in such an expensive laptop.
 
acribb said:
Let us know what Apple says.

I have a swap in progress via online Apple care, since I bought a 15" i7 with the high res glossy. I'm curious to see if the replacement fixes the issue, or if it's "just how it is".

If the new one has it, I may just return it and buy the 13" cheapy. I just can't bring myself to accept imperfection like this in such an expensive laptop.
Click to expand...

well here's the deal. I spent a total of maybe 1 minute with the genius. He looked at that image and said "oh yeah, you can totally see that" and swooped away to get my replacement. no restocking fee or anything. I clearly got a good employee because he understood right away what I was talking about and knew it was a defect. But the problem is that the new one is exactly the same. So based on my own experience and observations, I conclude that this is just "how it is". This new MBP doesn't have it so bad that it's overwhelming, but it is definitely visible on a white screen. Either way I don't plan on taking this one back, even though they told me I was more than welcome to, should it have the same issue.

What sucks though, is I looked at a 17" AG model that they had on display and the screen was perfect. Looks like the 15" HR screens have it more than any other ones.

EDIT: about the white point - would it be better to make the white point more on the warm side or the cool side?
 
murdercitydevil said:
What sucks though, is I looked at a 17" AG model that they had on display and the screen was perfect. Looks like the 15" HR screens have it more than any other ones.
Click to expand...

I went through five 17" macbook pros all with yellow tint issues (but some with dead pixels, stuck pixels and backlight bleeding as well)..
 
murdercitydevil said:
well here's the deal. I spent a total of maybe 1 minute with the genius. He looked at that image and said "oh yeah, you can totally see that" and swooped away to get my replacement. no restocking fee or anything. I clearly got a good employee because he understood right away what I was talking about and knew it was a defect. But the problem is that the new one is exactly the same. So based on my own experience and observations, I conclude that this is just "how it is". This new MBP doesn't have it so bad that it's overwhelming, but it is definitely visible on a white screen. Either way I don't plan on taking this one back, even though they told me I was more than welcome to, should it have the same issue.

What sucks though, is I looked at a 17" AG model that they had on display and the screen was perfect. Looks like the 15" HR screens have it more than any other ones.

EDIT: about the white point - would it be better to make the white point more on the warm side or the cool side?
Click to expand...

I was afraid this was going to be the case. Especially after hearing of other people returning up to 5 times (I won't be doing this).

So it sounds like it's either live with it or return it.

Disappointing.

I guess I might as well just return what I have and get the 13". If i'm going to have something imperfect, it might as well be cheap(er).

I wonder if the standard resolution 15" screen has the issue.
 
acribb said:
I was afraid this was going to be the case. Especially after hearing of other people returning up to 5 times (I won't be doing this).

So it sounds like it's either live with it or return it.

Disappointing.

I guess I might as well just return what I have and get the 13". If i'm going to have something imperfect, it might as well be cheap(er).

I wonder if the standard resolution 15" screen has the issue.
Click to expand...

My previous 15" glossy standard res had yellowing on the bottom too, but it wasn't as noticeable due to the glass.

EDIT: By the way, the display that I'm viewing this on right now (24" samsung LCD) has the same problem. I'm going to attribute this to an inherent defect with TN panels and leave it at that. I guess the lesson to be learned here is that the more time you spend searching for problems, the more you're going to find.
 
My i7 15" HR Glossy is purrrrrrfect. None of the issues you've mentioned and not a single bad pixel either.
 
Adidas Addict said:
Proabably an illusion caused by that blurry plastic stuff that is anti-galre;)
Click to expand...

LOL. But I think this problem seems to be more prevalent with the glossy screens than the anti glare.

Anyway, now I'm worried as hell about the high-res glossy I ordered last week Monday. I don't want to wait for another one to SHIP. Geez...
 
acribb said:
I guess I might as well just return what I have and get the 13". If i'm going to have something imperfect, it might as well be cheap(er).
Click to expand...

Can you downgrade to the 13 instead of the 15 if you want to return it without incurring a restocking fee? :confused:

choco said:
Anyway, now I'm worried as hell about the high-res glossy I ordered last week Monday. I don't want to wait for another one to SHIP. Geez...
Click to expand...

Look, folks if you're looking at this lappy, don't let this talk scare you. If my screen is yellow on the bottom, which it probably is, it's very hard to see. Most of the time it's not really noticeable. The only time you will see it is is when dive into the dock at the bottom. The program icons are "warmish" looking.

Then again, what concerns me is that Web sites now have a decidedly different color value. I think I'm going to bring both laptops in and show it to my business team at the Atlanta Apple Store. :)
 
can someone with a "perfect" HR AG display post a picture of their screen, with that image that I posted earlier? I really want to see if a perfect screen is possible, or if they really are all like mine is. Here's a pic of mine for reference, no ambient lighting, no keyboard light, half screen brightness, screen tilted back to minimize reflections:

33v2s68.jpg


note that it doesn't look THIS terrible in person, but you should def. get the idea
 
murdercitydevil said:
EDIT: about the white point - would it be better to make the white point more on the warm side or the cool side?
Click to expand...

1. You say the whole screen is slightly yellow?

2. You said you calibrated it. How?

Most uncalibrated, LED backlight LCDs have high (8000K) color temps when displaying white. This might well be what your eyes are used to and expect 'white' to be almost bluish.

I have recently calibrated my Thinkpad T60 (terrible 3 year old CCFL screen) and my NEC multisync 2690WUXi (pro level IPS monitor, aRGB) with a Spyder3 to 6500k (gamma 2.2). When I turn the calibration 'on' then the Thinkpad looks yellowish - but and this is the important point, pictures that are sRGB tagged have near identical colors for skin tones etc on both monitors. Without cal, the Thinkpad looks blueish and the photos are not idenitical on the screens.

Therefore *unless* you hardware calibrate you really can't do any meaningful judgement. The eye rapidly adjusts to white balance. This also explains why digital camera pics always appear more 'yellow' under incandescent light, than you remember: the camera doesn't lie, but your brain adjusts under those light conditions.
 
Color calibration....

murdercitydevil said:
Okay here's the deal. I looked through the yellow tint threads and sure enough noticed that my high res AG had it. At first I dismissed it as poor viewing angles. I calibrated the LCD, which seemed to make it a bit better. But it is not a matter of viewing angles. I tried the test on my friend's old blackbook, and when viewing the screen head-on, the bottom square definitely looks yellow, BUT, when tilting the computer back, changing the viewing angle, the square turns white again, thus, a result of viewing angles. The same thing on my HR AG doesn't change the color of the bottom square, it stays yellowish. So I'm pretty much convinced that it's a real issue, at least to some degree.

I'm considering taking it back to the Apple store, or at least going there and seeing how their display models look. Something tells me that nearly all HR AG models (the current shipment that's out right now) suffers from this, and that my replacement will be the same. Does anyone think this is true as well? Should I even bother trying to swap it out? The yellow tint threads have several people that are going through 5-6 exchanges, and all still getting the same problem. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I use my MB Pro for photography, and in particular, generating fine art color prints (my main machine is a 8 core MacPro with a wide gamut 24" Eizo CG243W and Apple 24" LCD displays). I spent a couple of hours yesterday, my first full day with the laptop, calibrating the display and comparing the color gamut to that of my previous laptop and my MP displays. First off, I found right out of the box my 15" anti-glare HR display has very good color with the Apple supplied screen profile. For calibrating my workflow, I profile all of my displays, as well as my printers, with a Gretag-Macbeth i1, a $2000+ device (FWIW, the newer and much cheaper X-Rite Colormunki works just about as well, and is easier to use.). I am EXTREMELY intrested in having what I see on screen mirror what I print. This is notoriously a problem in the various yellowish, green and magenta hues with which most professional printers struggle. Here's what I found:

(1) out of the box, with Apple supplied color profile, no color casts, on or off axis.
(2) color gamut is virtually identical to the Apple Cinema 24" LCD (final LCD generation, not the ugly glossy LED monster they sell now)
(3) color gamut isn't nearly as wide as the Eizo 243...which is a couple of years old now (98% Adobe RGB). On the other hand, that is a $2500 display
(4) color gamut is considerably better than my previous 15", the late 2006 model
(5) For a change, my own color profile is incredibly close to the one provided by Apple. Part of the differences are probably from differences in ambient lighting and viewing color temperature choices in creating the profile, and I suspect a difference in brightness choice. Apple has done a better job here than in the past; my Apple Cinema displays were never this close to accurate right out of the box.

Bottom line: if you have a yellow tint, then either (1) buy a good profiler and see if that makes it go away, or (2) return yours until you get a good one.
 
murdercitydevil said:
can someone with a "perfect" HR AG display post a picture of their screen, with that image that I posted earlier? I really want to see if a perfect screen is possible, or if they really are all like mine is. Here's a pic of mine for reference, no ambient lighting, no keyboard light, half screen brightness, screen tilted back to minimize reflections:

33v2s68.jpg


note that it doesn't look THIS terrible in person, but you should def. get the idea
Click to expand...

Isn't that just the viewing angle? If you tilt the screen backwards, the bottom white block will probably become fully white, and the top one will fade out.
 
murdercitydevil said:
can someone with a "perfect" HR AG display post a picture of their screen, with that image that I posted earlier? I really want to see if a perfect screen is possible, or if they really are all like mine is. Here's a pic of mine for reference, no ambient lighting, no keyboard light, half screen brightness, screen tilted back to minimize reflections:

33v2s68.jpg


note that it doesn't look THIS terrible in person, but you should def. get the idea
Click to expand...

I don't mean to hate, but this photo is awful on almost all counts, and I don't see how you can expect to get an honest response about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back