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Richhep Author

Level 1

8 points

Display flashes to solid black intermittently

I originally posted this in the wrong category for the MacBook Pro instead of the Monitor catagory. I am wondering if anyone else has the same problem. I posted the following last night.

*Still an unknown issue with Apple Tech Support*? After 2 calls to product specialists and apparently an undocumented issue by any customers contacting tech support this seems to be a widespread worldwide issue. In one form or another with no answer after several months of the computer release displays are blinking, flickering and flashing to name a few descriptions of this problem. Mine flashes solid black for a fraction of a second and comes right back on. I have had this issue in the power saving mode as well as the better performance mode so that kills that theory. To this point there has been no pattern that I have been able to detect. I can go for weeks without a blink and all of a sudden get 2 in 5 minutes. Usually I am pretty good at troubleshooting but this problem has no pattern and is so intermittent I think it's going to be a tough one and I truly believe Apple has no clue as of yet so they are not addressing it publicly or to individuals calling in with the problem. I purchased my computer November 29th. I used it for over a month without ever seeing the issue. When the new monitor came out I still did not experience any issues with either display in the area of blinking, flickering or flashing. There is a video on Youtube that I have located showing the exact same issue as mine. Though the person on Youtube has a non-apple display and mine is the new 24" Apple display and it is the exact same issue this rules out the problem being the external display. Well, I can check that off as well. This is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-dQIgfIFsI Does anyone else have the exact same issue as mine? I am thinking maybe it is something in the 10.5.6 update. Who Knows?

*BTW this problem is not at all heat related.* It can happen during heavy use or very light use at low temps. I have purchased many newly released Apple Computers over the years and have actually had great luck with them. I hope this is not my first lemon.

MacBook Pro (late 2008) 2.53GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Apple LED Cinema Display (24" flat panel)

Posted on Feb 10, 2009 11:35 PM

515 replies

Jan 27, 2010 11:16 AM in response to Richhep

Just as an addendum, I have noticed by experiment on several occasions,
that the symptoms (at least the horizontal jitters) intensify when the Macbook was used on battery and is in recharge mode.

So I'm guessing this is definitely power related, and somehow affected by increased power draw from the MacBook.

Can anyone else test this an confirm?

jojm

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2010 3:47 AM in response to ealex_jaid

The Apple store repair shop told me they couldn't reproduce the problem after a day or two, so I told them to keep trying. They then told me to come and get a replacement. The new monitor does not exhibit this problem. Case closed for me.

The old monitor (with the problem) had a serial number 2A924xxxxxx (manufactured 24th week 2009), the new one is 2A950xxxxxx (manufactured 50th week 2009) if anyone wants to compare.

Message was edited by: jojm

kdenoue

Level 1

4 points

Jan 28, 2010 9:42 AM in response to Bodsham

Switching to Higher Performance Graphics in the Energy Saver seems to have stopped the intermittent flashing to a black screen for me as well. Thanks for this tip. This morning this problem was especially frustrating as my display was blinking every 5-10 seconds.

cammonro

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2010 2:23 PM in response to Richhep

This display is gorgeous but I must say Apple has some kind of quality issue here. I have gone through 3 monitors. Monitor #1 and Monitor #3 have had the intermittent "flash to black" problem. Monitor #1 was quite frequent. Monitor #3 maybe 1-2X day. Why did I return Monitor #2? Because it had factory debris behind the glass. (The Apple store was extremely gracious and even gave me a $100 credit for my aggravation.) I'm not sure if monitor #2 would have developed the black out problem. I did not have it long enough to definitively say one way or the other.

I had suspected that the firmware update could be the culprit, so for the first week of owning monitor #3 I did NOT update the firmware. The monitor performed flawlessly with heavy use. As soon as I updated the firmware, I began to observe the "flash to black" problem. Coincidence? I don't know.

I have tried setting the graphics card to "higher performance" and the frequency of the blackouts actually decreased. After about 3 days I was convinced that it fixed things until today when the blackout reoccurred.

I've owned at least 6 Apple computing devices (Macs, phones, etc.) of some sort over the past 4 years and this is the first time I've ever had a problem. If the monitor wasn't otherwise perfect I would have demanded my money back a long time ago. But nobody's perfect. Even Apple.

However, this is a real issue that needs acknowledgement not denial. I encourage everyone with this problem to contact AppleCare and open up a case. It's the only way this will get the attention it deserves.

Jan 29, 2010 7:48 AM in response to KevDaddy63

I have a MacPro 1,1 with the same issue.

Jan 29, 2010 1:05 PM in response to ealex_jaid

If anyone has tracked my comments, I've been silent for a while trying to analyze more thoroughly was is happening. And now that I'm on my 3rd ACD, I've had the most unusual thing happen:

(Note: my home set up is exactly like me work set up. Monitors, peripherals, etc.--identical).

The local Apple Store replaced my 2nd ACD because, like the first, it flashed to black intermittently. However, when I got my new 3rd monitor, I did not take it home. I took it to my office, and swapped it out with my office ACD.

This office ACD had NEVER flashed to black. It has always performed flawlessly.

However, once I got it home, within two weeks it began flashing to black. It does it much more infrequently than the other ACDs had previously, but sure enough, the problem is there.

(Incidentally, the new 3rd ACD that I put in my office has never flashed to black).

Thus, I'm wondering if there is some kind of ampage or power-draw issues related to my house and the demands of the whole system (computer + monitor + peripherals) on a particular outlet? Or perhaps related to the outlet strips I'm plugged into?

(Though, it seems like a power issue would NOT cause it to flash to BLACK, but rather, flash to BLUE (or desktop) like when you truly unplug power and plug back in.

At any rate, the mystery continues. I plan to live with the problem for now because the flash to black a infrequent enough.

Jan 29, 2010 1:23 PM in response to twobluffs

I wouldn't exclude it as a cause, but I remember that someone in here said they had theirs on a UPS, which regulates voltage & amperage, so that would or should be a stable power source, protected from anything coming from the outlets, so that kind of takes down the outlet theory.

Plus there's so many people repporting the same issue, what are the chances that everyone has a power system with similar problems?

It could be environmental, but if so, WHAT?

I'll be putting the display and macbook on a UPS feed soon and I'll let you know if that changes anything.

sxjxcx

Level 1

0 points

Jan 31, 2010 9:18 AM in response to jojm

jojm, I have the 8W952xxxxxx (manufactured 52nd week 2009) and it also has the problem. Higher Performance mode seems to fix it as a work around but I am considering trying my luck at a replacement.

Feb 2, 2010 1:03 AM in response to ealex_jaid

My MacBook Pro and LED Cinema Display are both running through a UPS, and I'm having problems.

When I first bought my display I didn't have any flickering issues. About a month ago I took it in because of a problem with a distorted picture on the right edge. They repaired it rather than replacing it. Now I am having problems with it occasionally flickering to black. It also does this odd thing where, as far as I can tell, the bottom inch or so of the picture shifts to the right. It's so fast that it's hard to see for sure what's happening.

I haven't taken it in yet because it's so hard to reproduce, and lugging it into the store is going to be a pain. I keep hoping it'll get fixed with a firmware update or something.

Feb 2, 2010 7:39 AM in response to Richhep

Could something like this be in the works for us? I wonder if we are having an identical problem to the one plaguing iMac 27" users.

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/02/02/apple-releases-another-27-inch-imac-firmware-upda te/

Of course, we need to be on Apple's radar screen for this to happen. Keep making noise!

Feb 2, 2010 7:45 AM in response to Matthew Hedstrom

Sounds like great news if they're planning the same for Cinema displays, and they shul have noticed by now, I mean ****, 15 pages, that's a lot of unhappy people, I can't believe that Apple doesn't read it's own forums, and even so, that large numbers of returns should give them a clue at least.

Sounds like the same issue from their phrasing and also sounds like good news for those in the thread that are using IMacs

I'm still not convinced this isn't a hardware things though. Mine's been acting up pretty bad since yesterday and I honestly don't think any environmentals have changed.

Feb 6, 2010 1:26 PM in response to Richhep

I had two 24" displays with this blackout problem (plus a frequently "shivering" image). Apple replaced the power supply on the first one (a refurb) but that didn't fix it. They gave me a new monitor which also soon began blinking. I took it in to the Apple Store yesterday and the only solution they gave me was my money back and a suggestion to watch the forums (and support) to see if a fix comes up for this if I want to buy one again. I noticed that there are NO 24" displays available as refurbs on the apple store.

Enroth

Level 1

0 points

Feb 7, 2010 9:44 AM in response to Richhep

I have the same problem with my brand new 24" Apple LED Cinema Display with this blackout problem, and a frequently "shivering" image. Why dosen't Apple react? At the store, they said, that they knew nothing about this problem- lol, so I gave them a link to this discussions. Shape up Apple

Feb 7, 2010 9:48 AM in response to Enroth

they don't want to admit this just yet... I suppose if it was a car with a sticking throttle it would be a problem 😉 My guess is they'll soon fess up about this, along with a fix or replacement. I'll keep the money back for now... it was a well-timed gift from the heavens. My old 21" monitor isn't so bad I guess.

aznap

Level 1

0 points

Feb 8, 2010 8:12 PM in response to Richhep

Brand new 24" display out of the box today and I'm experiencing this black out issue. Returning it tomorrow. Too bad.

Display flashes to solid black intermittently