IMac screen "ghosting" or "persistence"

Question

After 3 trips to the Genius Bar with my iMac and 4 Tech Support phone calls, Apple has washed their hands of a problem I am having with my 2-year old iMac. So far the hard drive has been replaced as well as the LCD screen. Yesterday, an Apple senior technician told me that the problem (that I will shortly describe below) is not a hardware problem and therefore is my problem, not Apple's, to solve by ME Googling a third party software solution, notwithstanding that all the software on the computer, with very minor exceptions, is Apple software and that my Apple Care extended warranty is good until June 2011. At this point it is looking pretty useless except for the trial and error troubleshooting they have done so far.
The problem started months ago with the screen all of a sudden going blank with everything disappearing including the mouse arrow. The screen would take on various colors, i.e., pink, purple, grey, white with blue vertical stripes, etc., but no icons or anything of any structure.... including the dock icons. The only way to get the computer back was a hard reboot by powering off and then on. It did not make any difference what program I was using or what was open or what was connected to the iMac (powered hub, printer, speakers, etc.). On the first trip to the Genius Bar, they could not duplicate the problem. On the second trip, the hard drive indicated 5 problems so it was replaced. Along with the above problem, I noticed what I called "screen burn" but what Apple calls "persistence." They did not do anything about that. So far, the problem with the blank screen has not recurred following the replacement of the hard drive and LCD screen. I'm not sure which action solved that problem.
I took a number of pics of the screen with my iPhone that clearly showed the "ghost" dock icons when the dock was moved to either side of the screen away from the bottom position. I sent them to Tech Support and was told to take the computer back to the Genius Bar, which I did. They were clearly visible and the next fix was to replace the LCD screen. When the "persistence did not go away after the screen change, I called Tech Support again and sent more pics of the ghosting on which the date on iCal could be easily read. The senior tech representative said he would send the pics to Engineering, which he did. When he called yesterday, he essentially said, "Too bad, it is not Apple's problem. You need to find a third party software fix. Goodbye."
Not only are there ghosts behind the dock icons, there is a vertical parallel line from the top to the bottom of the screen on the left 1/3 of the screen that will not go away. It was there before the LCD screen was replaced and still is.
I have a friend with a newer iMac than mine and he found that he had "persistence" on his screen last night, although his was not under the dock icons. His ghosting was on the left side of the screen toward the top of the screen. The easiest way to check for ghosting under the dock is to change the screen background to a solid color such as grey or green (a darker color) and then move the dock to the right or left side... assuming that it is on the bottom, which is where I normally keep mine. If you have ghosting (persistence) you should be able to still see remnants of the icons including their shape (square, round, star, etc.) and may even be able to read the date on iCal. This problem seems be heat related in that the ghost icons are harder, not impossible, to see after the computer has been asleep for a while. After using the computer for a while, the icon ghosts stand out remarkably well.
I'm guessing that Apple must be aware of this problem (though they don't want to admit it) since they increased the speed of the fan during the last trip to the Genius Bar. Until then, the fan could barely be heard, but now, it is loud, obvious, and obnoxious.... and it has not solved the problem.
Has anyone else encountered this issue? If so, have you solved it and how did you solve it? Did you find a third party software program that solved it, temporarily or permanently?
I am more than a bit miffed at Apple for abrogating their responsibility by telling me it is my problem, not their's, and that it is my responsibility to find a solution.
I'm anxious to hear from others, but not wishing this problem on anyone.
will

Answer 1

I have just recently had this problem as well on my 24 inch iMac, though the evidence leading up to the problem wasn't as extreme. I didn't experience the screen going blank, things disappearing, or screen flashing pink, purple, grey etc.
I do however have an "image persistence" or burn-in issue. I leave a window open for as little as 5 minutes and when I move or close it a faint representation of that window remains burned into the screen. It seems to be most evident with high contrast websites, such as Google. When I leave the google home page up for a few minutes I will get a burned in Google logo on my background along with the address bar and a box the size of the window.
When I first noticed the problem I took it into the Apple store to have it checked out. The genius there listened to me patiently as I described the problem but wasn't sympathetic when he tried to replicate the problem by letting a window stay open for at most 30 seconds. He didn't say anything about not being able to see the problem himself but sent me home with a Work Authorization to replace the LCD panel. The store got in the 755 dollar part a couple of days later and I took my computer in again and they replaced the panel. They called me up a day later to pick up my "fixed" computer I took it home to test it out and the exact same problem was still there.
So I call up Applecare and explain what happened and told them how stupid it was that they sent me home with my computer and before verifying if they even fixed the problem. They agreed that it's a hardware problem and it's a possibility that it could be the logic board. They set me up with another appointment at the Apple store. So I take it in again and tell them that the display was replaced a week ago, and that it had the exact same issue as before. They get me to show them them problem again... this time he actually acknowledged that he saw burn in on my screen and told me that he will order in another LCD panel because the one they put in must have been faulty. I told him how ridiculous it was to replace the screen again because it seems very unlikely that the new display would have the exact same problem as the old one. I asked him what is going to happen when that comes back with the same problem and he didn't have a good answer.
So... instead of really addressing my problem this Apple store will have spent $1600, nearly the cost of a brand new 27 inch iMac, to not fix my problem. Had I not been protected by Applecare I wouldn't have been able to afford all of these replacements. Applecare should be built in to the cost of the computer. These computers NEED three year warrantees. I love it to death, and haven't had any other problems (knock on wood). But I'm an illustrator; I work almost exclusively with Photoshop doing colour and image quality sensitive things. I feel your pain man. I'll let you know the outcome of this. Who knows, maybe the genius was right and that the part they gave me was faulty and by coincidence it had the exact same problem as the one that shipped with my computer. But that leaves me to question the reliability and quality of the parts they are using.
I've been looking around on forums and there are a ton of different issues with this display. In fact you know if it comes up as a google suggestion when you search, there's a problem. Just type "+24" iMac d+" and Google will help you out by suggesting "+24" iMac display problems+". We're not alone.