QuickTime distortion in early 2008 MacBooks; Mac OS X 10.5.3 to fix

Numerous users of early 2008 MacBooks are reporting an issue in which video played back via QuickTime flickers or exhibits other distortion. This issue is appearing on factory-fresh systems running Mac OS X 10.5.2, indicating a potential bug in OS revision.

Oddly, this issue only appears to affect the frontmost window in QuickTime. In other words, video that is played in the background (with either another movie or another window overlaid) is not affected by the flickering or other distortion.

A post on one Apple Discussion Board thread regarding the issue claims that is now classifying the problem as known, telling users:

"Apple has received reports similar to the behavior you are describing and we are investigating those reports. Further information will come in the form of a Knowledge Base article, Software Update, or Software Release.""

In fact, MacFixIt has learned that Mac OS X 10.5.3 will include specific fixes aimed at resolving this issue, specifically eliminating a "graphics corruption issue."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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