Cinema Display (23-inch HD) complaints (#2)
Yesterday we covered a report from a reader whose new 23" Apple Cinema Display (Aluminum casing) is exhibiting issues with uneven color and brightness. Although a number of MacFixIt readers have emailed us to say that their new Cinema Displays are functioning perfectly, others have not been so lucky. For example, Kevin Shertz writes:
"I have the same color issues (yellow at edges, pink on left side in for a few inches) as others with my 23" Aluminum ACD. I and others have found that the problem is most noticeable when working on a gray or white background. It has been in once already for repair via AppleCare, and came back saying nothing was wrong with it. I still have an active AppleCare case number, and am waiting until I have more confidence that Apple is taking these complaints seriously and actually correcting the problem before sending it back again.
"The 10.3.6 update did adjust the default calibration of the display away from having a pink tint over the entire screen -- a very common problem that was easily corrected by making a custom calibration -- but has not corrected the side-specific color problems. It, to my eye, is definitely a hardware defect. I'm hoping Apple corrects this problem sooner rather than later -- but right now I wouldn't recommend my experience with it to others."
Sean Cavanaugh reports similar display issues that appear to be exacerbated by vibration:
"I purchased a Cinema Display 23 HD several months ago, and it's had periodic troubles ever since that are completely mechanical and not software-related. If I bump the desk it's on, slam a door, or so much as touch the monitor, the display turns bright pink. Not the 'pinkish hue' or magenta cast I've read about that can be controlled (albeit temporarily) with ColorSync, but full-on bright pink. Sometimes I can fix it by wiggling a connected USB cable, or moving the hinged arm in back of the monitor, and other times I can't. What's most frustrating is the unpredictability of it. Sometimes, it works fine and I can't reproduce the problem, and sometimes it will work for weeks without it happening, and then again, on some days, if my coffee mugs bumps it, zap!, it goes bright pink.
"When it does go pink, it's next to impossible to use. If I shut down the system for, say, half an hour, it appears fine when I start up again. A simple restart, however, never clears the pink. In other words, it has to be completely powered down for several minutes. Heat related? Loose or frayed wire inside the unit? Hard to say... It's an extremely annoying problem. I have AppleCare on the unit, and plan to take it in, but it's my sole monitor at the moment, so I've been dragging my feet on that. I'm also worried the techs will say it works fine for them."
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software fault. However, in the case of 23" ACD faults, it might help to
photograph the monitor exhibiting the fault. Shoot it in context, ie. with your
desk or workstation showing, so that the techies can see that it isn't your
photograph that has a cast, and that will provide proof of the fault. (In the
case of the bright pink monitor this will be obvious. Where the colour issues
are more subtle, the photo may not show them. Just a thought.)
Here's another step to take while you're taking pix. Keep a written log of exactly when the monitor turns pink, the steps you try to take to remedy the situation, and the result of those attempts. This provides relatively irrefutable proof that you know what you're talking about.
You can provide more proof if you get your hands on another monitor that will use the same port from your Mac (even a cheap one) and use it for a while to determine whether the problem lies with the monitor or the computer...
As a former technician (not Apple) I know that intermittment problems are always the hardest to track down.
I had a G5 dual that exhibited intermittent problems with fans running, incomplete startup, etc. It was returned to Apple twice (under warranty). The first time, they replaced the power supply. The second time, they replaced one of the CPUs. Both times they said everything was OK (I even left it for a week with the request that they run it for the whole time). The problem showed up again the next day after I took it home.
The 3rd time, I took along meticulous notes covering about 3 days of experiences. The short result: The entire computer was replaced. This might have been Apple's policy on replacement after 3x for the same problem, but the notes definitely impressed them. Perhaps I should have done this the 1st time!
CompUSAs and three Apple Stores, I haven't seen even ONE good 23" AL
display. I also have this problem. Apple has been silent on this issue and all
techs I spoke to seem surprised by it, even the ones working at said stores
with said display problems.
Mine is working great !!. Had it for over 3 months already and running
wihtout a glitch
thin aluminium coloured bezel, and it has a couple of additional features over
the Apple display - composite and S Video input. It also has a USB 2 hub with
a total of 3 ports, but does not have a firewire hub in it. It doesn't exhibit any
of the problems described for the Apple display. MacUser UK reviewed it and
gave it a good write up, and the final bonus is that it's cheaper than the Apple
display.
waiting for parts so they can actually service this thing...
I have to admit, a few weeks ago before all this really came to a head, I went out and purchased one of the last-generation Apple Studio Displays - the 17" LCD - and I experienced one of the issues outlined here: the "yellowing" on the left and right-hand sides of the screen.
I didn't notice it at first; it took a day or so of adjusting to the new monitor to notice. But once I noticed, I couldn't stop noticing.
I did a little research using one of the web-based Mac serial number decoders (I believe it was http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html), which showed me that my monitor was made in June 2004...probably one of the very last run of 17" LCDs....so it wasn't as if it had been sitting around for a while or like it was "reboxed," etc.
(I do believe that the 17" panel is an LG Philips model, just like the 23"ers. , so my particular model certainly was of a vintage that overlaps with the current displays.)
I decided to keep it for a week or so to see if it was just something I was being hypersensitive about. It did keep bothering me, but I noticed something that exacerbated the problem:
- I generally keep my desktop picture rather dark, and I work with programs (e.g., web browsers, Word, etc.) in the middle of the screen, with desktop showing to the left and right.
- When I would switch from working with a visible desktop to editing a file in BBEdit (with a full-screen white window that fully obscured my desktop), the yellowing at the edges when this window first appeared was almost unbearable!
- However, when I would keep the window open, the yellowing would *ever so slowly* (over the course of 3 minutes or so) brighten up much closer to white. The yellowing never completely went away, but it got much, much better.
It appears that there was some sort of issue with the way that the pixels, or polarizers, in the display persist when going from dark to light . . . something way beyond the standard "pixel response time" that is so often measured with LCD displays . . . something that happens over a much longer period of time when switching from very dark to very bright and vice versa.
I imagine that the pixel polarizers at the edges of the display are on a slightly different visual axis than those at the center, and this probably why the problem manifests itself the way it does.
At any rate, for a day or so, I told myself: hey, just keep your white email, web browser, and other windows toward the left of your screen, and you'll never notice it because those pixels will stay bright all the time. But then I realized: this is silly; just return the thing.
And return it I did. I wound up purchasing a Samsung 193P display for about the same price, and the Samsung is better than the Apple in nearly every way: it's generally got better color (although the reds are just the tiniest bit less saturated . . . but that's probably a good thing); it's got WAY better black level and pixel response time; it's got WAY better contrast; it pivots; it's much brighter; color is *perfectly* even from corner to corner, all the time :-).
It's wonderful. I'm glad I got it, and that I didn't stick with the Apple.
That said, this situation with Apple's flat panels is most unfortunate, and it's very real. I thought I was a solitary case with this a few weeks ago . . . but turns out I am not alone. People with the problem *definitely* should return these monitors, since there *are* properly-behaving models out there; they just might not be from Apple . . . .
Drew
- by lwid1_dotmac March 8, 2009 12:07 PM PDT
- I have a 23" display and it was for about three years. It now has developed this "pink bars" all over making it impossible to use. I have shut down and still have it. I have reloaded software, still have it. I have gone in and cleaned, blew out all the dust inside the computer, still the same and it will not go away. After reading these posts I guess a new display is in order....hope that's the cure.
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