Dark "waves" on 24" iMac Screen

I'm having problems with the screen on my 24" iMac. Over the last couple of weeks I'm noticing dark areas on my screen in random "wave" type patterns. Here's what it looks like:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2918/picture2ya.png
You can't see them when the background is white. But it is very visible otherwise. I tried changing the screen saver to all white and cleaning the vents (saw that on a previous post), but nothing seems to work. I'm beginning to worry I have a significant problem. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hi Al,
Thank you for taking the time to write and offer advice. I already have taken it back and Apple told me it was within their specs. I am definitely returning this unit; the only question is whether it will be for exchange or refund. If all 24" iMacs look this way, then I won't bother exchanging it. That's why I would like to see photos of other people's screens, if possible, to see if I detect similar issues.
The screen shot I posted is an actual photo. As I mentioned, I have adjusted the brightness and contrast of the photo in Photoshop to make the variation more easily recognizable; but these color and brightness variations are readily visible to me under my normal working conditions (which is what prompted me to take the photo in the first place). I also recognize that since I am a graphics professional, I may be more aware and less tolerant of display problems than more casual users. I think my current 20" (non-Apple) screen looks quite good, so I know it's possible to have a good LCD. I just don't know if the 24" iMac is capable of this performance by design.
Best Regards,
- Michael
24" iMac, 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8) Screen is too bright, has uneven brightness left-to-right, and hums when dimmed.

Similar Messages

IMac Screen it turn bight and dark in a second.

I had a problem with my iMac screen, sometime in a second my screen turn the bright to brightness and then turn darkness, bling bling ( please note that it not because of sensor of iMac depend on the light around) I felt there is something wrong with my VGA. Please let me know is there any other way I could fix it without bring it to Apple Store. Thank in advance.

You could run the Apple Hardware Test from your install disc.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

IMac screen is dark

The screen is dark on my 2006 iMac. Is there a way to reset or do I need a new part? Also, what cable do I need to connect it to a MacBook Pro to recover data?

Hi mgtrumpet,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I recommend using the steps in this article to troubleshoot your iMac, starting with the "No video..." section:
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573
If necessary, try using Target Disk Mode to recover the files on your iMac using the MacBook Pro. See these articles for more information:
OS X Mavericks: Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13842
Note: The steps in the article above apply to previous versions of OS X as well.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
Best Regards,
Jeremy

I am having dark blurred light ghosting effect on my imac screen. Does anyone experience this?

I am having dark blurred light ghosting effect on my imac screen. Does anyone experience this?

When posting in Apple Communties/Forums/Message Boards.......It would help us to know which iMac model you have, which OS & version you're using, how much RAM, etc. You can have this info displayed on the bottom of every post by completing your system profile and filling in the information asked for.
***This will help in providing you with the proper and/or correct solutions.***
Can you post a picture of your problem? Sometimes, that helps. You did not mention where this ghosting effect takes place? Startup? Finder? Browser?

Just wondering what Apple's stand is on the issue with a flickering and a dark area appearing on imac 27"screen - forums seem to indicate this is not uncommon - and happens through normal use - so should be subject to repair (Sale of Goods Act - 6 years)

Just wondering what Apple's stand is on the issue with a flickering and a dark area appearing on imac 27"screen - forums seem to indicate this is not uncommon - and happens through normal use - so should be subject to repair (Sale of Goods Act - ie 6 year warranty)

We are just users like yourself. If Apple has stated publicly about the problems you mentioned, it will be listed on their website and/or in one of their Knowledge Base Articles.
I have a 27" & do not suffer from such a problem. You should keep in mind that these are technical support forums. Generally, the only people posting here are those with problems. The thousands/millions without problems don't ever come here.
Think of these forums as a hospital emergency room.

Imac screen went dark after power interruption any suggestions?

My son's imac screen went dark after a power interupption (someone turning the computer off by pulling cord out of electric socket) and I can't get it to go back on. I've already tried depressing the "command, alt,p and r" keys to get a restart, and while it did restart, still no picture on the screen. Occasionally you can see white staticy lines, but mostly it is just dark. I've seen the suggestions to update software and back up data but that isn't possible as far as I can tell because I can't see anything on the screen - it is totally dark! Any suggestions? He is coming home from a trip today and hasn't had any access to computer for some time - he is going to freak

First try iMac SMC and PRAM reset, please do each of them 2x. If that does not work then try restarting in Safe Mode, this will clear some caches. You did not mention the version of OS X running on the machine, if you are running Snow Leopard then install the Snow Leopard disc in the SuperDrive and restart, when you hear the start up tone hold down the Option key and start from the SL disc and run Disk Utility and Repair Disk Permissions & Repair Disk.

My imac screen went half dark, can I fix this myself??

My 24' Imac screen went 1/2 black on top the bottom is fine, can I fix this myself??? HELP

You really should contact Apple or your local AASP and have it checked out.
Apple - Support - iMac - Service FAQ

How to keep iMac screen black while keeping secondary monitor running for visual experiments in Matlab

Hi,
I'm trying to run a visual experiment using PsychToolbox in Matlab.
I've attached a secondary monitor to my iMac for this purpose and I'm having difficulties trying to
'black out' the iMac screen.
I need the secondary monitor to run at a refresh rate of 120Hz and at linearised luminance (did this for my secondary monitor),
so I can't really use my iMac screen. However, i need my iMac screen to be darken out because I'm doing a vision experiment.
I tried dimming my iMac screen but it doesn't go completely dark. I tried Ctrl+Shift+Eject (or was it Command) but it will darken both
monitors. I also tried mirroring, but it doesn't seem to work too.
I'm really stuck and any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
shui
NB:I'm using OS X Version 10.8.3.

I do not know the details of your experiment, but creating a black monitor is not difficult. For example a completely black page, e.g. in Power Point, set to fill the screen?
The advantage of doing this with PP is that you can move in to or out of the black page with just the space bar. You can set up your monitors so PP is displayed on just one monitor.

IMac Screen Failure

Hey,
I was just wondering if any of you are experiencing screen failures as noted in the link below? If so, is it the aluminum iMacs, or is it the white ones?
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/11/30/imac.screen.failure/
Thanks!!

Hi autiger
Which iMac do you have and are you having any display issues?
I don't believe it can be jinxed, so I'll do a little bragging here. My 17" Early Core Duo w/Apple Care purchased Jan. 21 2006 is great and has no gradient light/dark, no dead pixels and only a very very small backlight bleed. The sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998) profiles were OK, but the display seamed a little washed out. After more than a few tries, and some good advice from Barbara B and others here I was able to set a new profile that is much richer than any of the factory supplied profiles.
All display manufactures and computer system will have there share of issues, some more that others. I have had more than a few Apple's over the last 20+ years without a single hardware problem. I do have to admit though, that with the all-in-one Intel I bought Apple Care for the first time ever???
Dennis

2010 27in imac screen failure

my 2010 27 in imac screen has failed, right half of screen grey shadow, dark, i note that this has been a problem in the past, seems that apple ireland are not concerned? any opinions or suggestions? seems that there are major reliability issues with imac
extremely disappointed with product and apple support.

Your are missing the point. Yes, there will be the occasional Mac that has a display failure.. Yes, there will be a number of LCD displays that fail out of the millions of Macs that are assembled with LCD displays. And yes, techs will be seeing those occasional display failures over the wide array of Mac models upon which they work. But there are a number of companies that make LCD displays for Apple with the various Mac models that exist. And sometimes there are different companies making the displays for the same Mac model. These are the random, occasional display failures that can be expected with every computer manufacturer who assembles massive numbers of computers; Apple, Toshiba, Dell, Sony and on and on.
But the point is that the link that I gave you points to a consistent mass failure of displays on the same iMac model, assembled in the same factory, over the same time period with displays from the same manufacturer. That doesn't exist for your iMac. If it did we would see folks posting about it here in large numbers, just as we did back in 2006 and 2007, which we are not.

Reduced brightnes on half iMac screen.

Out of the blue the brightness of the display is constantly reduced on the top half of the screen.
It goes from being bright(normal) from the bottom and slowly faded into much darker at the top of the screen.
When it wakes from display sleep it appears normal in about a second then goes back to the split screen.
I have tried to reset the firmware, but it hasn't helped.
Hope someone can help.
Thanks

Ditto to Denny's advice! Run, not walk to the nearest Authorized repair center. iMac screens are about US$700.00 to replace if the warranty has expired. If you do not have Apple Care and your Mac is still in the original 1 year warranty, get Apple Care and extend the warranty for two more years. Just one costly repair will more than pay for the Apple Care coverage.

IMac Screen has burn marks developing

I have a late 2008 iMac that up to now seems to be operating ok. But recently there have been dark spots occurring on the screen after the unit warms up. It's most definitely caused by heat because the spots on the screen are hot to the touch.
When I turn the unit off and let it rest, then reboot after a while, the marks go away.
Is this an Apple defect? Is there anything that can be done? In other words if I take it to the Apple Store are they going to tell me there's nothing they can do?

I don't b4elieve they'd tell you that they can't do anything; the point would be to find out exactly what issue is causing it and how much it would cost to replace that part. If your machine is a 2008 is getting to be +/- 7 years old which - with electronic devices - is very old. So you will need to determine if whatever fix they offer is worth spending the money on. And, after 7 years, it would be far too difficult to prove it's a manufacturing defect - rather, it appears to be simply parts wearing out after quite a long time.

How do I get rid of hazy spot on my IMac screen?

How do I get rid of hazy spot on my IMac screen?

Does it look like condensation between the glass panel or more like a dark smudge (aka burn mark) on the display?
see > iMac Screen Cleaning - YouTube
Of course if your iMac is in warranty or you are not into DIY, then contact your Loacl Apple Store or AASP and have them clean and/or service the iMac.
see > Apple - Support - iMac - Service FAQ

Dimming iMac screen

I've been using powerbooks for the last few years, and the dimmer keys will gradually dim the screen from bright, to dim, to almost dark & then compleely dark.
On the iMac, it dims the screen, but not to the same degree as the powerbooks. I'd like to make my screen darker than seems possible.
Is this a normal function of the iMacs?
Thanks

The iMac screen is bright - especially in the normal room lighting conditons (as opposed to office lighting). For normal viewing gamma 2.2 and white point 6500 are best (native gamma and white point can also be used as they are close to these values) Gamma 1.8 looks pretty bad on these machines.
If that is still to bright you can make a dark profile in the Display pref pane's color calibration area with the expert settings (pull all the sliders down) - but that really will only increase the contrast - for the most part the whites will stay just as bright.

IMac screen will not come on after sleep

iMac screen does not come on after sleeping for a period of time - twice now from overnight. The back seems to be warm. I have to hold the on button until I hear the drive and system shut down. Then after period of time it will start just fine. ?????

I know that some of the older imacs had overheating problems that caused unexpected sleep. try to keep the display darker and keep the room not too hot. That seems to usually solve the issue.

Dark "waves" on 24" iMac Screen

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for