7th
iMac 24" Display Problems
I recently decided to drop some money for a refurbished top-of-the-line 3.06 GHz iMac 24”, hoping to get a really kick-ass machine. For the most part it delivered.
- The processor & GPU is blazing fast, more than most users would actually need
- There’s nary a noise from the system in normal operation
- Fans are very silent and do not switch to hair dryer mode when the CPU is taxed, unlike the plastic MacBooks
- Build quality is great
However, the display is somewhat of a mixed bag. The colors are great, but Apple being Apple had to cut cost somewhere…
Brightness
The brightness, even at 0% is just way too bright especially at night, and in low-light conditions. Consequently, the brightness control just goes from very bright to effin’ bright—not very useful. Someone had to come up with an app called Shades to put an artificial translucent overlay in software just to dim the display.
Its really taxing on the eyes if you’re doing normal work like emails and word processing in windows with white backgrounds. On the flipside, watching movies on such a bright display brings it close to awesome HDTV territory.
Once again, Apple has shown themselves to be more than willing to sacrifice the long-term usability of their products just to make the sale by going overboard with the “bright” and “glossy” so that their products stand out by appealing to first impressions.
See the recent uproar over the reflective glass MacBook displays for more evidence.
Uneven Backlight
The blinding brightness and glassy surface of the display hides a very annoying problem: many iMac 24” displays suffer from uneven backlighting, which isn’t visible at first glance. I only discovered this issue after a few days with the system.
What’s worse is that Apple seems to be content to let these iMacs pass QC checks.
The most common problem is that the left 1/4 of the screen’s backlight is very bright, so windows and white backgrounds look just perfect. (Its like staring at the 1st generation iPhone’s display.)
But when you look at the other right 3/4 of the display, the backlight becomes dimmer causing white to become slightly yellowish. (Like the current iPhone 3G’s backlight.)
To do a quick test of this problem, go to your local Apple reseller and open an empty Safari window on an iMac 24”. Drag the window around and observe if the white background changes tint.
Some people have also found additional anomalies besides uneven white levels from left to right. Here are some links to discussions of this problem at the following sites:
People have even brought along meters to measure the brightness of a large sampling of iMacs at their local Apple stores and the results are clear that there are consistent problems that aren’t fixed even in the current generation.
