17" PB Parts of screen images appear in color negative

Question

17" PB Parts of screen images appear in color negative

Don't know how to describe, but display has lost colour balance and no attempt at calibration will recover it. For example the appearance is supposed to be graphite but shows as a grey/blue; photos come out with the same grey blue in certain areas, certain hues. Could it be the graphics card. Very weird!
I've plugged in an external display and that works OK. So it must be my PB display or the connection to the board?? Window headers are blueish, pane headers are greenish. Not quite trippy but very sickly! Could it be the lamp?
Now I have found that 'hot corners'/'all windows' results in the desktop image returning to normal colour balance. So it's not the screen, and not the graphics card, so could it be a software problem. Maybe I sould try a reinstall Tiger effort.
I've tried to correct images in photoshop but it keeps crashing. Maybe some cross talk with the system.

Posted on Oct 13, 2007 6:37 AM

Reply

Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 13, 2007 10:13 AM in response to John Morecroft

I might also mention, I asked if Universal Access had anything to with it in a previous thread, and it doesn't. So I'm stumped as to the cause. Is your data backed up? Don't reinstall unless it is.

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 13, 2007 3:19 PM in response to a brody

Hello u in Maryland!
Yes the reinstall is a bit frightening. My iPhoto is backed up, and my iTunes, but theres a load of files that have accumulated over the last 2 years, and the bits of software I've downloaded. It could be a major life change. The funny thing is ... this thing with photoshop. I was messing around with the magic wand, selecting stuff to cut etc. The bits I've pasted have the freaky coloring, so do the skies, but the body of the image is quite normal, right down to the sillhouetes? of masts against the sky, which is sickly.
Thanks for your concern
Kind regards
JohnM

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 13, 2007 3:40 PM in response to a brody

BTW ... Cool specs list!

Reply

Answer 4

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 13, 2007 5:38 PM in response to John Morecroft

Since you aren't backed up, seek one of the restore options in my FAQ*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

Once you are comfortably backed up, then we'll examine possible causes for your problem.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Reply

Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 13, 2007 5:39 PM in response to John Morecroft

Thx...I must admit I've been lucky.

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 14, 2007 2:57 AM in response to a brody

Thanks for your help. I'm a bit nervous when things go wrong;-) Especially since my Mac has never gone wrong in over two years.
iTunes has File/Backup to disk, iPhoto just has Share/Burn disk. Is that the same thing, will it do 12Gig of photos across multiple disks, do I have to create a burn folder? I've done it before somehow but now that it's important I find the multiplicity of information ambiguous. Just give it to me straight!

Reply

Answer 7

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 14, 2007 4:43 AM in response to John Morecroft

I don't know anything about the Share/Burn disk, or the File/Backup disk. All I do is run Superduper to external firewire hard disk. To restore the information since a fair bit may be corrupted, I just move over from the backup the Pictures and Music folder, and any other critical data such as bookmarks as outlined by my FAQ. Please read my FAQ in its entirety, and you'll be able to do it. If you can't, find a Mac person who understands the system better than you do at your local Mac usergroup who does at http://www.apple.com/usergroups/ . It sounds like you really need a hands on approach, and not something that is easily provided by simple online discussion.

Reply

Answer 8

Oct 14, 2007 5:08 AM in response to a brody

OK OK I'll try harder, just lazy 😉

Reply

Answer 9

Oct 16, 2007 2:10 PM in response to a brody

I've completed backup. What are your ideas regarding the problem.

Reply

Answer 10

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 16, 2007 4:11 PM in response to John Morecroft

First see if the hardware test

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86287 is able to detect any problems.

Reply

Answer 11

Oct 17, 2007 6:50 AM in response to a brody

The hardware test completed successfully. Problem still remains.

Reply

Answer 12

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 17, 2007 3:47 PM in response to John Morecroft

Was it there while you were running the hardware test, or does it only appear upon reboot back into the operating system?

Reply

Answer 13

Oct 18, 2007 1:53 AM in response to a brody

Only on reboot, looks pretty normal during the test.

Reply

Answer 14

a brody

Level 10

85,320 points

Oct 18, 2007 7:21 AM in response to John Morecroft

OK, if the machine is under 4 years old, try zapping the PRAM:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

If the machine is 4 years or older, take it to an authorized service center to have the PRAM battery replaced.

If zapping the PRAM/replacing the battery doesn't help, try repairing the directory as my FAQ* explains:

http://www.macmaps.com/directoryfaq.html

If that doesn't help, does the problem exist on multiple display resolutions, or only the one specific resolution or set of colors? Change those via Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Displays, and only use recommended resolutions and colors.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Reply

Answer 15

Oct 19, 2007 4:07 PM in response to a brody

Zapping the PRAM didn't work. Changing screen res or colours doesn't have any effect. I haven't repaired the directory yet. I'm thinking that since the external display works perfectly the problem can't have anything to do with the video source or software. I would have thought the external display gets its signal from the same place as the PB display itself. Maybe not.

Reply