Problem with 20 inch iMac screen – colours washed out

Sep 2007

If you’ve got the all new 20 inch silver iMac, you may have noticed how beautiful the colours on that glossy screen are. You may have also noticed that they are more beautiful on the top of your screen than on the bottom.

It’s not only that colours are washed out as you go towards the bottom of the screen, they also change as you change your viewing angle. This makes the new iMac very much useless for any half-serious graphical designer. (see the video on the bottom of this page)

The reason for this is that Apple has used TN displays, which are the low end displays and are very cheap. 24 inch model comes with IPS displays, just like the old 20 and 24 inch white iMacs, and they are perfectly fine.

Take a look at the first picture below. Two Finder windows, none of them selected, positioned right at the top of the screen. The colour of the toolbars is identical. When I moved one window down to the bottom of the screen, the brushed metal toolbar became very light grey, almost white.

When I slice this picture and bring both toolbars next to each other, you can see the real difference.

A few iMac users claim to have limited success with fixing this by re-calibrating the screen, but that makes the problem only a little less obvious, it really doesn’t fix the issue.

You can also minimise the problem by tilting the screen backwards, but again – the issue is still there.

I came across the following post in Apple support forums…

As being a technician I opened my iMac (which is very easy) and found out that the connector of the bottom fluorescent light had come loose. After putting it into place and assembling the whole thing, the display looks better than ever. I really love this computer

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1110321&tstart=0

… but I’m yet to find anyone else who is able to confirm that this could be the fix.

Another problem is the horizontal viewing angle, if you move your point of view slightly, the colours on the screen will change.

Here is an example, the Apple support forum page. This is the normal view. The page background is white, the post background alternates between white and light blue, and the menu bar on the right is grey.

If I move to the left, so that I look at the screen from a 30 degrees angle, the far side of the screen changes colours, so grey becomes light brown.

If I go to the other side, same angle – same colour inconsistency.

If this is not bad enough, just wait until you stand up, becasue if you look at your screen from the top (30-45 degrees) this is what you will reward your beautiful eyes with:

Please note that the colours from the normal viewing angle are:

white
blue
grey

Here is the screenshot of what’s actually there

So Apple – it’s your turn now. Are we going to see the recall or will it end up in some kind of class action? I guess we’re yet to find out.

Mac

Comments

Dave

December 28th, 2007 at 11:10 AM

Definitely an imac issue.

Take a look at this video of a Dell 20″ Ultrasharp. Same tests run, very different results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNNcW3OTZ-4
c

January 10th, 2008 at 1:22 AM

Has anyone had luck with getting the screen on the 24″ replaced?

I called today and apple are going to take a look at it, but i’m worried about being misinformed.
einstein

January 19th, 2008 at 1:32 AM

My colleague had mentioned that her new 20″ silver iMac screen died 3 weeks after she bought it (November07). Apple store replaced the screen AND the connector. She says the new monitor is fine. BUT When she picked it up (December) she casually asked if this had happened to anybody else and the Apple guy snapped at her in a very nasty & condescending way – giving her NO information.

I still love Apple products but they need to handle this better! Also I stopped paying for Applecare – it’s a waste of time & money -more about protecting Apple than helping the customer.
R G

January 24th, 2008 at 4:02 AM

same thing here, 3 imac and none of them with a decent display. I doubt there is one out there that has an acceptable one.
nick

January 26th, 2008 at 11:57 AM

I just bought a new 24″ imac. So far, so good.

Shopping:

At the Northridge AppleStore, I asked the manager if he could open a new 24″ imac for me to look at. I told him about my difficulties with the screen on the 20″ that I had to return and the uneven displays on the 24″ units that I had looked at a couple months ago. My forlorn hope was that by now Apple might have corrected them.

He said no, he could only open a box after full payment. I asked if I could pay him and look at it. If good, I keep it. If not, he would refund the full amount on my credit card. That seemed advantageous for both of us. :)

The screen color is even, and text is uniform all over the screen, at least on that one. Sold to the man with the green mustache!

My last ditch effort:

This was prompted by the problems with buying a computer and a separate display. The mac mini ran too slowly for me, and a Mac Pro is a gross overkill in computer power for me. A thousand dollars more than the 24″ imac (take $500 off the suggested model by going to one quad processor instead of two, add hundreds more for a good display) is obvious, but the most difficulty is the uncertainty in buying a display. The stores stock the lower priced units of various brands, but not the better, more expensive models. That would mean buying one sight unseen, relying entirely on the many reviews online, some contradictory. Then add the risk of the manufacturer substituting a lesser screen instead of the type offered originally, with the same model name and number. :(

Nick
Paul

January 27th, 2008 at 1:49 PM

Just came across this site, and now I am very concerned. I was looking to switch to a Mac, the 20″ iMac in particular – and now I have concerns. I am going to return to the Apple store and inspect the models on display more closely.

btw.. exactly what qualifies as a ’silver iMac’? These models appear to be available in black, while, and silver. Does this problem exist on all iMacs, or just the silver one?
Dax

January 28th, 2008 at 9:52 PM

I purchased a 20″ Aluminium iMac and have been using it for the last few days. It’s my first Mac and its fantastic… but yep, it has the dreaded gradient issue. Looks like this is a problem on all models and Apple won’t be fixing this issue range-wide.

I have read on other forums that many users have taken theirs back, received new ones, and they still have the same issue. It also looks like the 24″ model also suffers a gradient issue that is not quite as bad, where the gradient goes from left to right instead of top to bottom. (Oh and not forgetting the yellowing in the corners!)

After browsing these forums, I can see that some users have either opened the unit up themselves or had a third party open it up for them, and adjust the flourescent bar underneath the monitor, which seems to resolve the issue! I am certainly in no position to void my warranty by doing this, and neither should any other customer. If you try sending it back to Apple, it looks like they can’t seem to find this fix. Either that or this fix doesn’t actually work for all iMacs.

At the moment, I am stuck. This iMac is almost useless for my primary use; graphic design work (Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, etc) as the gradient issue gets in the way. In fact the blue bars on either side of this forum site appear to have a gradient when they shouldn’t.

If I exchange for a 24″, I will lose £60 for transportation fees according to Apple (I purchased it over the phone). But even these still seem to have issues. Another option is to purchase a Mac Mini with a separate display. This won’t be as fast as the iMac,plus if I order an expensive Apple cinema display, I will probably have to spend more, and also suffer with the ‘pinking’ issues they are having at the moment. I could buy a non-Apple monitor, but it would be such a shame to slip away from these gorgeous iMacs and their power/speed.

It looks like Apple has taken a turn for the worst after may years of supplying great products.

If anyone else is in the same situation or has any advice to me and everyone else who has commented here, please help!
anthony

February 2nd, 2008 at 4:52 AM

I am on the market for a new desktop and wanted to purchase a 20″ imac. However, with the gradient issue I am a bit taken back. Any suggestions on an equivilant out there.

Surprised that CNET didn”t catch this and gave it rave reviews.
drp

February 3rd, 2008 at 3:13 PM

I have owned a 20″ aluminum iMac for the last three months. And yes, compared to the IPS panels of the previous (white) 20″ iMacs, there is a noticeable difference.

Although I don’t make my living with Photography, it extends far beyond a hobby for me, and I have some serious photo gear. As a result, I’m well aware of the current iMac’s limitations.

The biggest issue is that out of the box, the color profile is awful — it’s been adjusted for the bright lighting of an Apple Store, and in a normal setting, looks “washed out”.

The default profile also exaggerates the gradient that people are talking about. Once calibrated with a monitor Spyder, however, the display improves dramatically. There is still a very small gradient. However, it doesn’t impact day to day use.

In the photography world, there is a certain segment of people called “measurebators”. They spend all of their time photographing rulers and test charts and not taking meaningful photographs. I believe that the majority of people complaining about the 20″ iMac are measurebators. They’re so obsessed with the small differences in their iMac display that they don’t notice that nearly every LCD display in the world has some trade offs.

Now, calibrating the display won’t impact the off-axis color shifts that people are complaining about. (And are inherent in almost every LCD panel to one degree or another) However, if you’re using the display for real work, you’ll be looking at it on-axis.
Jazz1

March 8th, 2008 at 8:53 AM

Is there any more news available on this subject. Has Apple fixed this problem? Is it a manufacturing problems or just the nature of the “cheaper” screen?
Kirk Giudici

March 20th, 2008 at 8:24 AM

Uggg. I switched from the white iMac the the metal one thinking it was an upgrade. This monitor on the metal one is clearly not as good as my old one. my photos look horrible and washed out on the new one. Is there anything we can do?
Cue

April 4th, 2008 at 11:43 PM

Is this the case for for both 20 inch iMacs? (e.g. the one with ATi HD2600 Pro)
Derek Currie

April 16th, 2008 at 12:33 AM

SHAME ON APPLE!

To clear up some misinformation and toss in my own rant:

1) Every LCD suffers from color and contrast distortion whenever you change the angle of view of the screen.

2) There is an angle of view for every worthwhile LCD within which you will see only a minor change in color and contrast. This is called the ‘Viewing Angle’ of that LCD and it is different for each model of LCD.

3) Apple (are supposed to) provide a better Viewing Angle on more expensive LCD models.

4) If you are expecting a decent Viewing Angle on any laptop, forget it. MacBooks and MacBook Pros are not any good for professional color matching. Don’t waste your time. You can buy all the gadgets you like to do calibration and you will never improve the crummy viewing angle on these LCDS. Their colors are simply unreliable.

5) Then toss in the fact that Apple are scamming us all with their lie that the MacBook and MacBook Pro can show ‘millions of colors’ when in fact they are not 8 bit color LCDs, but are actually 6 bit color LCDs capable of only showing 262,144 REAL colors. Dithering of the missing millions of colors does not equal actual millions of colors. It does constitute false advertising. SHAME ON APPLE!

6) As to what is happening with the 20 inch iMac, I have to assume that they have the crummy 6 bit color LCDs as well. Part of the demo here shows the result of the LCDs having a very small Viewing Angle. You see the color and contrast distortion as you move your head. However, from watching the video I can’t see that there is any angle from which you don’t get distortion. It looks like these LCDs are so poor that they always have color and contrast distortion, even if you look at them perpendicular to the screen surface’s center. That is really really lousy quality. SHAME ON APPLE! Are iMacs used in professional shops? Yes!

7) And now I am hearing that this 6 bit color disease scam has been passed along to one of the ‘proffession’ quality Cinema Displays? SHAME ON APPLE!

What blithering idiot marketing moron at Apple thought that the top color professionals in computing would not notice this fraud? Apple are gonna pay big time for their outrageous scam against their dedicated users/customers. This sort of lie from Apple is unprecedented.

I have a letter to prove that Steve Jobs himself was informed of this problem in mid-2006 by a group of photography professionals who realized the cheat that had been perpetrated against them. You can read it yourself over at: http://www.colorblindmac.com/

Apple have maintained, since this scandal was discovered, that dithering the missing millions of colors equals actual, real, (in a News Corp / Fox Broadcasting kind of way) ‘millions of colors’ which any first year photography student knows is a total lie. SHAME ON APPLE!

(Think I am using too many big angry words? Nah. Apple deserve to be royally ripped for this one. How dare they! And I am one of the most dedicated Mac proponents on the net. I think I’m gonna hurl).
Dennis Lamb

July 1st, 2008 at 1:44 AM

I have just spent about 4 days considering whether to buy the new 24″ iMac to replace my PC and give up 25 years of experience from MSDOS to Windows XP. Thankfully I read through a lot of opinions on the web about reliability etc and having read all the complaints about the quality of the screens on this and other sites plus the video demos on YouTube I have decided to postpone my purchase until Apple provide a fix.
David J

July 7th, 2008 at 1:59 AM

The new Apple Macs are not the same quality as the old Apple Macs! If I had it to do over I would have not bought a 24in Silver Mac last Feb.
John Evans

July 29th, 2008 at 7:17 AM

I purchased a 20″ silver iMac. I am not an expert designer so I did not notice the color distortion at first. My wife and I watch movies, lying in bed with the iMac positioned above us. From that position the distortions are not subtle but so extreme that we could not watch the movie. All detail in the dark areas were completely washed out. I guess most people do not view their computer from below. Until I read this commentary I did not realize that this was a manufacturing defect on Apple’s part.
EagerToBuy

August 4th, 2008 at 10:30 PM

Any ideas when will Apple be able to provide a fix of the iMac 20″ problem?

Thanks
Mac Hoe

August 26th, 2008 at 6:10 AM

I didn’t know there’s an issue on the 20″ I’m really glad I have the new 24″
Andrej

August 26th, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Folks, DOES ANYONE have updated info on tightening “the loose connector of the bottom fluorescent light” issue and whether or not that has solved anyone’s problem?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1110321
V. Rosenman

January 10th, 2009 at 10:02 AM

I spotted these light and contrast problems from the first day and have tried three different calibrations with no luck. I am an artist and while the actual light level at the top of the screen measures the same at the bottom (Checked first with the internal light meter in the iMac and then with a hand held photographer’s Sekonic light meter) it looks as if there is a big difference to my eyes. There sure is a difference in the contrast and I agree with the other complainants about it being obnoxious.– I use a solid grey desktop, which really shows this up, but there is a partial fix.

In Photoshop, and probably other photo programs, s- there is a tool called “Gradient.” Indicate the bottom to be darker than the top of your screensaver, and you can indicate the exact percentage of difference you want- I think I used about 20% as I recall. This darkens the lower portion of the screen enough to sort of balance the lighting out.

On my plain grey screen, I can see steps of different grey colors, but my eyes are very sensitive. This might not bother some other users, and I hope this helps. I am going to either add a new display or get another computer. This screen is awful.

My big complaint is that even positioned with my face centered, black and white photos look like they have yellow and blue shading. Even ordinary photos stand out and look great- Till you print them out in greyscale and they go back to looking ordinary. I can’t work with this screen and am going to try to get another computer.
-Victor
Keith

March 4th, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Your post is a great little exposition of the two problems I found with my 20″ iMac when I got it a week ago. I soon realized I’d never be able to live with the severe vertical brightness gradient. The extreme sensitivity to viewing angles was awful too. With the combined distortions you’re getting, you basically lose the ability to judge colours by eye, and that’s no good if you’re interested in any sort of graphics work.

Calibrating the screen can’t fix the gradient issue I’m quite sure, nor would you expect it to be able to. Calibration applies across the whole screen, so there’s no way of correcting unevenness. Possibly you could make it a little less obvious, but only at the expense of losing contrast range or something.

My iMac got sent back today and I hope to be getting a full refund – maybe to go towards a 24″, though that’s bigger than I need or want. I looked at a 24″ in a store a few days ago and it had neither of the two shortcomings (which the store’s own 20″ models had, just like mine). Coincidentally though, today Apple have announced new iMacs. I’m not sure what the situation is with the screens though. Has the 20″ screen been replaced by something less diabolical? Not sure, but I kind of doubt it.
Mike

April 5th, 2009 at 5:12 AM

I just bought one of the previous generation iMacs (before the upgrade) which arrived this week. I noticed the gradient problem this morning and started googling to see what others had to say. Now I have to decide what to do … It’s sure discouraging.
Dan

April 19th, 2009 at 11:04 PM

Just bought the latest 20″ imac. Jut noticed the washed out problem when I did my first photoshop work. VERY VERY disappointing. I have a 4yr old 20″ lcd which didn’t have this problem but it was a matt screen. Maybe there’s an issue with the glossy screens?