Why does a Safe Boot fix my video problem?

After visiting my local Genius Bar twice (and getting two different answers), I erased and reinstalled Snow Leopard 10.6 on my late-2006 "white plastic" iMac.
I reinstalled the version of SL that came with the iMac, then upgraded it twice to OS 10.6.8. Software Updater says all of my OS components are up-to-date.
My video-corruption problems ("ghosting", "tearing", pixelation of icon, then the kernel CRASHES within 20 minutes) appear when I boot normally. But they permanently disappear when I reboot into the Safe Mode! 
I've search Apple.com and every other site I can find without a clear answer to this:
What extensions, StartUp items, software daemons or gremlins DO NOT load in Safe Mode? Shouldn't one of them be the cause of my problem? Or does Safe Boot work on a hardware-level, too?
This happens on ALL accounts, both Admin and regular users. No external devices are connected except the wired mouse and wired keyboard.
I've zapped the PRAM three times, and I've unplugged it for hours. Disk Utility shows everything is good, too. There's about 50 gigs left on the internal 750 GB hard drive.
The so-called "Geniuses" both ran their Triage OS off an external drive and my iMac hardware passed ALL of their tests. One said it just needed a reinstall (a free fix!!), and the other said my video card is bad ($800, and I have to use an outside repair shop).
Can someone give me an idea how to proceed? I've been working in Safe Mode for days, but that prevents me from using: Sound, my home network, fonts, Preview, editing in iPhoto, etc.
Thanks.
Specs:
  Model Name: iMac
  Model Identifier: iMac6,1
  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
  Number Of Processors: 1
  Total Number Of Cores: 2
  L2 Cache: 4 MB
  Memory: 3 GB
  Purchase Date: March 2007

Hi, Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I read the linked post about QE, but I don't see how it could help me troubleshoot my problem. Could you clarify: is QE a piece of "software" (that is, a file -- like an extension)?
If QE IS a piece of software that is disabled in a Safe Boot, I should be able to move it to my Desktop and restart. If my video problem is eliminated, the QE software is the problem, right?
But then, if my problem is caused by a file/extension, why would the problem occur (and be eliminated in a Safe Boot) right after I re-installed the OS? Shouldn't all the System software be pristine right after re-installation? But since it's NOT fixed by the re-installation, it seems like a hardware problem -- like the expensive video card. That's what's confusing me.
So, I'm proceeding as if the problem is caused by a file being loaded into memory and I'm trying to disable the items that don't load in Safe Boot Mode one-at-a-time. I just need a specific list of what those items are (and their locations on my hard drive).
In OS/9, I used Conflict Catcher to do this automatically, but I haven't found an OSX app to do the same. So I'm trying to do it manually.
Please excuse my layman's terms. Any help is appreciated.

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