iMac 24 Aluminum screen burn-in?

Hi,

same problem here, but doesn't go away. Here too, it is even there during boot. I shows up on darker backgrounds like on the built in background colours "dark aqua blue", but less so on lighter ones and especially NOT AT ALL on plain white. (Still, the same "burned in"-pattern is always still there if I change from a white background back to a darker one after some time.)

My iMac is out of warranty. Any Idea, guys?

i never turn my mac off so i didn't notice it, but had to move my 24" and when it rebooted the white screen has many gray spots especially in the upper right quadrant. also gray dirty marks universally on the screen. i can't believe i didn't see it before. my baby is only 16 months old, no applecare, i'm going to live with it unless there's a recall. i think someone with apple needs to step up on this one. ipods and iphones are selling well but if it hadn't been for the diehards, they could have gone down in flames with the Lisa.

I started noticing screen burn-in on 24" iMac a few days ago.

Specifically, the Firefox toolbar leaves a ghost image at the bottom of the screen. The machine is one year old. I do not have AppleCare.

I will try the suggestions mentioned in this thread and if that fails to fix the issue I will call Apple and play hardball with them.

So after installing smcFanControl and Brightness Control the problem has (for now) been resolved.

HDD and CPU fans are cranked pretty high and screen brightness is at Apple's minimum setting and bumped down an extra few notches with Brightness Control.

I still think Apple needs to address the overheating/screen issues that seem to plague more than a few iMac users.

This is all very troubling. I'm just a few days away from buying a 24 inch imac (3.06 GHz) and I'm not so sure anymore. It seems this problem has been going on for a while now and Apple hasn't stepped up to the plate to resolve it. This thread has been viewed over 22,000 times and still nothing from Apple?? That's shameful.

A few days ago I telephoned with Apple service and learned that this is quite normal for a display of this class. Guess you'd have to invest much more and buy a more professional one to not have these little imperfections.

That is a cop out on Apple's part.

I paid a lot of money for this machine and these "imperfections" are not acceptable.

The facts seem to be:

1) The iMacs' cooling system is inadequate (due to a DESIGN FLAW) and the computers run too hot.

2) The overheating issue seems to be causing problems with the display.

3) Apple is playing dumb/ignorant and disrespecting its customers.

The white screensaver "solution" does not work for me.

The only thing that works (temporarily)is cooling the machine down.

Heat buildup is the culprit and Apple should address this.

Message was edited by: Mr Nogatco

I have had a new IMAC for 4 months and have just developed this ghosting problem. I would say that the problem is exactly the same as other people are describing.

Will apple come to my home to change the screen? I do have applecare and this is the 6th machine I have bought from them

Has there been any official response from Apple on this matter?

Normally such an obvious hardware based fault like this that is common to a particular model requires a recal and replacement or refund from the manufacturer.

Simply replacing my iMac with a new one is just going to give me another 6-12 months before the same thing happens again so that is obviously not a solution to the problem.

This is terrible publicity for Apple and I expect that they'd be rushing to remedy this and right the wrong they have done to their customers. In the two days I have been aware of this matter I have already told two friends who were thinking of getting a 24 inch iMac not to. They are both PC users considering switching and I'm afraid this has stopped them crossing over to Macs.

*_Possible solution_*

Like a idiot I left my screen on for a little over 18 hours, when I returned to my iMac all the disk icons, folders, dock, menu bar had all burnt into the screen.

I searched and searched for a possible solution and after a few hours I managed to find a solution which did correct my screen.

A few websites recommend watching a few full length movies using the iMac, well I did this and after 2 hours worth movie there was a slight visible difference. The next was to use a screen saver called LCD Scrub. I used LCD Scrub with the 'High Contrast' selection running for 8 overs (over night) when I awoke this morning, I immediately checked my screen and everything was back to normal, screen burn gone.. everything back to normal.

So, to summarise

1. Watch or just leave a DVD/Movie running
2. Use LCD Scrub - following instruction in the screensaver field
(LCD Scrub = http://toastycode.com/lcdscrub/ )

As mentioned, the above method worked for me

I think this is a design flaw. Combination of things. The left side is more affected and the heat is the culprit. I don't notice a gradient difference in brightness across the screen. Guess I got lucky on that one. But, the burn-in on the left side is very easy to reproduce. I have changed my console colors, in which I do development, so it is a black screen with yellow letters. Easy on the eyes, but hard on the LCD I guess. Often, as I'm working, a window in the background will have its letters burned in quite quickly. I have my screen saver set at 3 minutes and display shuts down in 10. However, that's no help if I'm typing for an hour and a window on the left does not move and gets burned in. I almost need to minimize all the windows that don't move. I started doing that - but, what a pain.

So, I did the white screen trick. First, my brightness is at the lowest level now. I just used MSWord to save a blank page as PDF and then saved that as a JPEG and then used that in an empty directory to put on as a screen saver. To those that have tried this - it takes a long time. I left this on for days. Doing work here and there, but about a week later it started to fade.

What made more of an impact was the smcFanControl. I used this on the macbook as it gets hot enough to melt your legs. On the iMac, I set it to about 2/3 of the way to the max and it runs around 37 degrees C. (About 99F.) This has made a dramatic difference. To really fix the burn-in, first, turn all fans on full and make sure the air around the iMac is cool - open a window a bit if you live in the north like I do. Then, do the white screen trick for a few days. It should be gone completely... Of course... it will keep coming back unless your screen is constantly moving.

I think fundamentally, keeping a hot power supply, hard driver, video card and CPU right behind an LCD - maybe not such a great design decision. At least, they should have engineered the LCD to handle it, or engineered a cooling system that doesn't require such high fan use to prevent it. My best solution to this so far:

Purchased a new Mac Pro! Put this under the desk. It runs far quieter and cooler than the iMac with the fans on and I purchased 2 cheap 28" monitors which look way better than the iMac screen. Solved all my burn-in issues.

Now... just need to find someone to buy my iMac. 😉

Every so often I visit the support site (I own an iPhone) and I "surf" around. I have to say, only on an Apple forum would you see this kind of post. Just what kool-aid are you drinking? And, can I have some?

Viewing this from a perfectly functioning, $220 24" ViewSonic monitor that's a year old.

"A few days ago I telephoned with Apple service and learned that this is quite normal for a display of this class. Guess you'd have to invest much more and buy a more professional one to not have these little imperfections."

Every so often I visit the support site (I own an iPhone) and I "surf" around. I have to say, only on an Apple forum would you see this kind of post. Just what kool-aid are you drinking? And, can I have some?

Viewing this from a perfectly functioning, $220 24" ViewSonic monitor that's a year old.

Spoke to Apple today regarding a very similar situation with the screen. I have change the screen every 2 months since August 2009, because of screen burn in or some other issue with the screen.
Just spoke to them today, they are saying it is an environmental issue where the machine is being used and as such they are not willing to replace the screen, given the history of my machine’s screen replacement.
This is what they replied, “the dark patches may be environmental but its impossible that this customer is the only one to get panels with this defect consistently.”
This is Apple saying this is not their problem anymore and they are not going to honour the warranty.