IMac display problems (twice now)

I am wondering if anyone has run into the problems I have dealt with.
I bought an iMac Core Duo 20inch two weeks ago. I got home, set it up and immediately noticed 7 dead pixels. I called up apple and complained to four different reps until they finally offered me up a replacement.
Yesterday my replacement came, and no dead pixels. This time the display was "uneven". One half of the screen is way brighter then the other half, basically making so a desktop background appears as two different colors, depending on which part of the screen you look at.
I called back again to complain about my REPLACEMENT, and they are having me jump through the hoops of FedEx'ing it back to California.
Plus the first MBP I bought had a blown speaker and I had to return it.
Is this normal for Apple's Quality Control? What the heck is going on here, I am beyond frustrated, I've never seen anything like it in all my years of computing (PC AND MAC).

Wow...well I hope the will get you all squared away......and I hope new people comming to Macs will not run into this problem.
The new iMac Core Duo....lets not have the same issue as the iPod mini did.

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Imac display problem, the resolution seems to be unusual, top bar and all folders on the desktop background is off the screen

Need help with 21" imac display problem. The resolution seems to be unsual, everything on the desktop background goes off the screen. The resolution is set at 1920 x 1080

Quit the game and restart the iPad.
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If that doesn't work try this.
Reset the iPad by holding down on the sleep and home buttons at the same time for about 10-15 seconds until the Apple Logo appears - ignore the red slider - let go of the buttons.

Windows 7 64 bit on iMac display problems and instability

I received my iMac 27" quad core with 8 gig ram & 2 x 1 TB hard drives last Friday. I'm using Boot Camp to run windows 7 64 bit on maximum 2560 x 1440 screen resolution.
I get intermittent but often display problems in windows 7. I get areas of the screen covered in little yellow dots or blue squares (never red artefacts.) This will happen at random areas of the screen, inside an open window, around borders of windows and so on. Most often the screen will go black and come back with a message in the bottom right corner of the screen saying 'Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered' with the sub message saying 'display driver ATI radeon family stopped....etc'. Sometimes I lose the screen wallpaper. Once I've had the system just shut down, once I've had Photoshop seize up and I had to do a cold reboot. Could this be an overheating problem or resolution too high problem or driver problem? Windows 7 tells me my drivers are up to date. I tried installing the drivers for the card from ATI's website which made no difference
The reason I bought a Mac is because it's the only effective way to code for the Mac family of OS's in XCode. The reason I didn't just attach a miniMac to my PC monitor was because there's rather a lot of advertising by Apple about the fact that you can use a Mac with a PC OS via Apple's own Boot Camp. Now I have a lot of Windows software (some of which is not available for the Mac or requires buying again) sitting on an unstable system. Any ideas would be much appreciated...

Sorry, that thread got moved for edit and as a user tip... which I didn't want and won't be doing....
Here is the post:
A tip and workaround for how to get ATI mobility/laptop drivers so that Windows no longer thinks the ATI is a desktop card:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11286987
Summary (my own edit steps):
1. Install Boot Camp 3.0 and upgrade to 3.1
2. Uninstall graphic drivers and run Driver Sweeper
http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/
instead of:
removing the crashing driver by going into windows 7 setup via its install cd and deleting the ati driver manaully
3. Install ATI Mobility (link)
4. Uninstall ATI (Programs control panel?) Device Manager (rollback; uninstall?)
5. Device Nanager: update driver and BROWSE BACK to 8.681 (the original apple driver that was causing freezes and purple artifacts) - navigate to /Apple/Drivers/ATI
(Apple uses) a 4850 card in the iMac, its modified a bit for apple. Enough that desktop drivers don't work, and modded-for-laptop desktop drivers don't work either.
Now the upshot of using modified drivers is that it FORCES the catalyst control panel to be installed, meaning you get a few more options to mess around with the card.
I couldn't use the original apple drive, it locks up, the newer one had banding, the newer radeon drivers direct form ATI wouldn't work until they were modded and then they cause black screens.
SO the solution, as obscure as it was, was to download ACTUAL mobility Radeon drivers - version 10.3 still, but made for laptops.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
THESE drivers I was able to install - and here is where things changed.
THIS driver changed they way windows saw the video card in device manager.
As I mentioned before, its NOT a desktop card, its a modified laptop card, but installing mac drivers makes windows THINK its a full desktop card, and running the original 8.681 driver crashed it.
Once installed 10.3 LAPTOP driver it now appeared in device manager as a MOBILITY card.
+These Steps "should" work:+
delete ATI driver manually
reinstall apple driver after that and see if that works,
otherwise try the steps above
(mod drivers, remove via windows recovery off setup disk, install laptop drivers, reinstall apple driver over it)

I called Apple about the 20" iMac display problem today...

I have the same display problem that I've been reading about here, it's much much brighter on the bottom of my screen than on the top and viewing the screen from an angle makes the screen look very dusty and dirty.
First I talked to technical support and because I live 75 miles from an Apple store, he said a technician would come and look at it tomorrow even though I said it was a problem that is very common and just not on my computer. It will be interesting to see what the technician says.
Then I called customer relations to put in a formal complaint against the 20" iMac screens. I told the man that even on the Apple support forums here that everyone was complaining about it. He said everyone where he worked was using 20" iMacs and as he looked at the screens next to him, he noticed that the colors were all off, looking dirty brown like mine. He said that's just how the new 20" screens were. I tried my best to tell him that it just wasn't right that the screens were so flawed and, although he kind enough and understanding, he didn't see any big problem with them.
He did submit my formal complaint at the end but I have to tell you all, it sure looks like Apple does not see any problem with these screens. He suggested that I write to Apple at their corporate office to let them know of these problems. Here is that address:
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
So that's my next step, writing to the corporate office.
I'll update this post after the technician comes tomorrow. I really don't expect this to be fixed but I shall let everyone know.
Martha

I have been watching this forum for months and have come to a conclusion that Apple
has taken the "easy road" by using cheaper components as evidenced by these discussions pertaining to cheap lcd computer screens. Also, with the Imac there is limited upgrade paths and the fact now
the imac has become more of a glorified computer with the internals of a laptop which suggests it is almost mandatory to pay extra for apple care for 3 year warranty because of uncertainty for longevity in my opinion. I am still using an apple 2002 quicksilver G-4 computer almost 6 years old that has not given me and problem. I have also been able to upgrade the hard drive, dvd rom drive myself-you cannot readily do with the current imacs. I was thinking about replacing my G-4 with an Imac, but have now come to the conclusion that Apple is losing focus with providing quality products and unless something drastic happens which I doubt, Apple will lose me as a future customer. I may be forced to go to the other side and buy a PC.

IMac display problems with gray to white gradients

My early 2006 iMac 20 has problems displaying gradients going from pure white to light gray. The web colors are #000000 to #EEEEEE (RGB 238 238 238 and 255 255 255)
My cheaper Acer and Fijutsu Siemens displays can handle this very well, but my iMac cuts the gradient prematurely and makes the gray darker. It looks as if the gradient on my iMac is a dark gray bar and a white bar, instead of a smooth gradient compared on the two other monitors.
I know the iMac doesn't have the best display for a designers need, but it can't be that 'cheap' or can it? I have tried to calibrate the display with both manual expert mode and using ColorSpyder. The latter gave me a blue/magenta colormode with beige gamma each time, so I gave that up.
The frustration is that I have use my iMac as secondary display and one of the other primary. It is not the optimal arrangement for an office environment.
Does anyone have the same problem or do they have any good advice for me as of what to do?

Thanks for all the speedy replies.
Barbara:
This was reassuring news, I have been using Spyder2express with both the bundled calibration software and another professional (and high revered) software, which name is completely lost to me right now.
In both cases, with blinds shut, lights turned off and no other interference, I got a beige/dark result from both. With a bit of flicking with the settings, I managed to produce only a sick magenta result.
Your post reassures me that it can be done, so I am going to borrow the Spyder2 again and try all over, even read myself to death on the instructions once more.

New iMac display problem(?) - weird colors and grain

Hello,
I'm a fresh mac user, made the switch this monday (August 27th) when my 24" iMac 2.4GHz C2D arrived. After using it for a while, I noticed a handful of dead pixels, and a semi-bright green stuck one. I thought I'd wait and see how disturbing I would find them before raising an issue about them.
Well, yesterday I decided to make my first backup of the whole system to my external 500GB Lacie drive (connected with FW800) using Super Duper!, which to my understanding is a reasonably sturdy and reliable backup application.
During the first backup iteration I started to notice some alterations in color in the top middle part of the display. I then returned to whatever I was doing (not on the mac, I had no other applications running, just Super Duper!), and after a while took another look at the display. The weird colored area had expanded, and the whole display had become somewhat grainy. Also, the backup process had slowed down quite a bit (from ~30MB/s to ~7-8MB/s).
So I cancelled the backup operation and logged out and back in again. No change. Then I restarted the whole system, which booted just fine, with none of the aforementioned problems. Even the second backup iteration went without problems.
Still, it's a new (and with my budget, quite expensive) computer, and if I get this kind of problem during the first week, I cannot continue using it happily in the fear of these problems reoccurring time and again.
I took a couple of pictures of this, one during and one after the problem. The quality of these are quite lousy, they're taken with my Nokia 9500 Communicator.
During the problem:
http://iki.fi/aita/imac/01notok.jpg
After rebooting:
http://iki.fi/aita/imac/02_ok.jpg
The images are taken in the same light conditions, but from slightly different viewing points. Note: The first image does not present reflections, it's how the screen looked (actually, in real life it looked somewhat worse)
What do you think?
Could this be a driver related issue or have I received bad hardware?
My drivers and Apple software should be up to date (at least OS X informs me that everything is, and I haven't found newer graphics drivers anywhere).
If anyone has had the same or related problems or know how I should proceed with this matter, I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance!
-Aidan from Finland

A few people, myself included, have experienced the same thing. Check these threads: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1082181&tstart=15
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1100912&tstart=30
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1090395&tstart=60
So far the only fix suggested has been to call apple and get a replacement. I'm still.....still waiting for mine to make it slowly across the ocean from China, so I don't know how the new one is working. I'd call Apple and request a new one.

Intel based Imac, display problems

My son has played around with the IMAC today, and now the screen is all black. i have tried to safeboot, change display settings but nothing seems to work.
In the display settings I cannot touch the refresh rate anymore either which to me looks strange. Any good suggestions?

Lenn, thanks. That was how easy it was..... And yes, my system preferences are now locked
Karsten

Of all the iMac display problems here, has anyone seen this yet? (PHOTO)

Take a look at what I've been experiencing. I took this photo with my iPhone, so while it may appear that there are gradation issues or other irregularities, my real concern is the top center of the image. I've had my 24in iMac for about 8 months and this issue began about two months after purchasing it, but since I work at home and am on this computer all day, every day, I haven't haven't been able to afford the time to get it fixed. This blotch is NOT on the glass and it almost doesn't make sense to call it a "blotch" since you can clearly see some kind of patterning going on. It's the LCD itself. In the corners you can see some streaking going on which IS on the glass, but the stuff at center top is not. It seems to be getting worse, so I'm going to have to take it in, but I just wanted to know if anyone out there had anything similar going on. I am.....shall we say, nonplussed about this and have been since it started.

I recently bought a 24" iMac (intel based) in April 2009.
Within 2 days of using it, I had a small 3"x3" "ink blob" show up on the screen, very similar to what you're experiencing, but much darker and prominent.
As far as I'm concerned, it's a defective LCD screen and your problem will just get worse. The reason I'm saying it will probably get worse is because mine did and this "ink blob" has grown in size over the past few weeks to a size of about 8" in length and about 5-6" in width. Covers a good fraction on my screen now when it appears.
Meanwhile, it's only appeared 3 times while I've been using the computer. I tend to keep it on when not in use, but don't monitor it's activity 24/7, so it could be happening more frequently than I think.
I contacted Apple support to document the "sitings" (I feel like I'm some paranormal psychic) and they've recommended me to return the product from where I got it (BestBuy - Southern Ontario doesn't have mac stores unfortunately).
Anyways, I'm planning on returning the iMac tomorrow in hopes that a new one will be the fix of this issue, but thought I'd put this out there to anyone else who might have this problem or know of someone who is currently encountering it and going "wth!"

Intel Imac display problems

I have an old intel imac (17 inch white screen) bought just over 5 years ago. The imac has just 'died', the screen will not display anything. It will chime on starting up and I can hear activity but nothing displays on the screen.
I returned it to my local Apple store, upon investigation they said the graphics card had gone (£500 to replace) so I bought a brand new iMac a few days ago.
All of my data is backed to up an external hard drive.
I run a database programme on the old iMac called 4D, which has a huge amount of data stored in it (all backed up).
I have installed the most current version of 4D on my new Imac, but it will not open the data on my back-up (error message: data cannot be published).
I have installed my old original version of 4D from my original bought CDs, but again it will not read the data.
The guy in the Apple shop gave me instructions on how to link my old 'dead' iMac, to my MacBook Pro via a Firewire cable, and using Target Disc Mode, I should be able to access the dead iMac hard drive on my MacBook ... have just tried this and the dead iMac hard drive will not show up on my MacBook. It does not appear on the desktop as suggested by the guy in the Apple shop, nor does it show up in System Preferences > Start Up Disk as an alternative disc to boot from.
What I need to do is access the 4D database on the dead imac, so that I can export the data as a text file, to put into a new application on my new iMac.
Althought the data is backed up to the external hard drive, it is backed up 'in the database' ... and I need to EXPORT the data, which I cannot do unless I can open the database ... which I can't !
I'm going round in circles with this, so if anyone can please point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Rock of Ages.

make sure you execute the instructions for target disk mode properly, because your screen is dead and you won't see the icon displayed.
see here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8443.html
you may have to hold the T longer on the deadhead mac.

Rescue and Recovery display problem

I'm running Rescue and Recovery 4.21.0016.00 and when I boot the R&R rescue media boot disk I come up with the screen that shows the options however the the image is too big to fit the screen. I've tried 2 different monitors but the program makes the image size too large so that I can't see all the options and pick what I wnat to do. I'm running this on a IBM Netvista 8307-GU6. Any ideas out there????????

I found another post for the same problem and found the fix. went into the BIOS and increased the display memory and that fixed my display problem. Now if I can just find out why the R&R program won't recognize the backup file when I boot from the CD I'll be happy. The backup file is on a USB drive and when I look at it from the Windows XP side it shows it being there but booting from the CD there are no backup files to restore from. Any ideas????

I have had my iMac for 55 days now and twice I had to power off/on and then It does not power up correctly. I verified my disk and found errors that could not be repaired. I erased the drive and restored system back to the previous day.

I have had my iMac for 55 days now and twice I had to power off/on and then It does not power up correctly. I verified my disk and found errors that could not be repaired (errors were associated with boot drive) I erased the drive and restored system back to the previous day. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Since it's a new machine, contact Apple's Support and let them deal with it. Allen's already recommended an Apple repair station visit. Do note that if you have AppleCare's protection plan and you're within 50 miles (80 KM) of an Apple repair station, you might be eligible for an onsite repair since yours is a desktop machine (depends on where you're located). BTW, the AppleCare Protection Plan's the best warranty policy available for desktop machines. Get it if you don't have it before contacting Apple.
27" i7 iMac (Mid 2011) refurb, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), ML & SL, G4 450 MP w/Leopard, 9.2.2

Hello to all: My iMac has developed a video display problem. It displays everything in cartoon like colors - purple, green, blue. Can this be repaired? Is there a way to output to a different monitor? Thanks in advance! isplays

Hello -
My iMac has developed a video display problem. Everything now appears in a strange, cartoonish way. Purples, greens, blues. Can this be fixed, and if so, any idea how much it might cost? Also, could I output to a seperate monitor? I plan to replace the unit , but cannot right now. Thanks!

Go to System Preferences > Universal Access > Seeing.
In the Display area, reset it to "Black on white" by clicking that checkbox.
You can also reset it by pressing Command-Option-Control-8

2x iMac G5: Both Logic Board and Display Problems, Warrenty?

Hello,
Thank you for looking at this topic.
I am Jeroen from The Netherlands and proud owner of several Mac Mini's, iMac's and Macbook's. I have 2times the iMac G5, a beautiful machine, but both not working since 2 months.
I have two times the iMac G5 with iSight, both have logic board and display problems.
The first iMac doenst start at all, black screen, i hear the chime, but nothing happening. After a minute i see one horizantal white stripe but nothing happens.
The second iMac has weird horizantal stripes also, but the computer starts. It gives a finder and questionmark icon. After a while the fans go crazy.
Both these symptons are widely known on the internet. I would like to get this fixed, but prices are crazy. And because this is a common issue I would expect to get this fixed for no costs. I have contacted several Apple resellers but they shown me high prices and bad services. On these forums I've saw people in the USA who get this fixed free of charge.
Does anyone has any advice for me? I'll call apple USA this morning.
Thankyou for ur time.

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
I know of no repair extension authorization which provides for the repair of either computer you describe beyond its original 12 month period of coverage. If either machine is covered by a warranty extension program provided by AppleCare, then the parts, labor or both required to replace the defective components may be offered at no charge to you. Final determination of eligibility is made at the part level by authorized Apple service providers or dealers and by the specific serial number of the machine submitted for service.
Absent a warranty extension, however, it is quite likely that you will have to pay for the repairs is you elect to have them performed.

My 21" Imac has display problems

I have a problem with my 21" Imac display when moving Icons the diplay image become corrupt

I'm not sure what you mean. Reply in more detail.

I'm using an older mac (2008 iMac). Things were fetting slow and I used a program called DupZapper to get rid of a lot of duplicate files. It worked and my computer is running better. The only problem is now InDesign crashed at startup. I have the ori

I'm using an older mac (2008 iMac). Things were getting slow and I used a program called DupZapper to get rid of a lot of duplicate files. It worked and my computer is running better. The only problem is now InDesign crashes at startup. I have the original disks and serial number (CS3) The error message is "required resources are missing". Same message if I try to uninstall. Any clues as to how to re-install?

reset your preferences and retry launching id: InDesign Help | Setting preferences
if that fails, uninstall (properly with the uninstaller), clean and reinstall per Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6

IMac display problems (twice now)

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