Backlight failures on 20" Cinema Displays

I have the same issue that just happened recently and my monitor is also under 2 years old. I have not investigated the issue of getting it fixed as I have just been reading everyone's post. Unfortunately, suggestions that people have given such as unplugging and plugging back in the monitor does not stop the flashing power light.

I would be glad to hear from anyone who was able to fix their display with another solution other than sending it to Apple. It is ridiculous that extended warranty is not offered for new displays unless you buy it with a CPU.

Just wanted to add that I also just experienced this problem. Scared the **** out of me!

Anyhow, my 20" Cinema was purchased in July of 2003. It just did the blink/dim thing for the first time today (04/22/2005). Unplugging and restarting took care of it for now. Hope it remains fine for a while!

I just bought this thing... within 6 months, and I'm already seeing this problem. Wow, now I know what I have to look forward to. I bought this thinking that it would last me at least 4 years, like my old CRT did.

Well, it did it again this morning! I hope I don't have to unplug and restart every day.

Help me Apple, you're my only hope...

I have had the same problem as all of you. I took my 23" display to Mac for testing & of course there was nothing wrong with it at the store....... They said that they thought it was a problem with the video card ?!? Any ideas, anyone....... so I brought it home and low and behold it worked ! I figured it had just needed some air........ of course it worked for a while and then went back to it's old ways. Now it has shut down completely. Is the video card thing a possibility ?

It just might... there are known problems with one particular graphics card, which I have too... go to your System profiler and check on your PCI/AGP Card set up... do you hav an ATY, RV350.. ? using with ATY, Simone_B?

Your post seems to have been deleted. However, after experiencing the "three flashes of partial darkness" (my coined term) warning, I was glad to see this thread.

A simple unplug and reboot did it for me. However, I am a bit skeptical about WHY it worked.

I have an open question for the group...

I leave my Mac in sleep a lot. I also never had issue until very recently. I am wondering if a recent OS update made some changes to the Energy Saver panel. Perhaps the graphics card is putting out a weird "wake" signal and the displays don't know how to wake up fully?
Just an odd thought.

For now, I am thrilled to have my top backlight on again and thank god for this forum.

Everyone is describing "top and bottom" of the the monitor going dim, but how about left and right? My right side is dimming out. It looks almost like an oil spill in the sense that it is not uniform in the area of the darker region. Of course, my monitor is also about 2 years old as well.

Have I got the same problem as everyone else?

If so, anyone get any happy resolutions from Apple or do I just give up and order the replacement bulbs?

Forgot to mention, but my power light on the monitor is NOT blinking like everyone else seems to be describing.

I think I might be screwed in a different way... LOL

Thanks!

Matt @ Post Pro

Graham, your comments are encouraging! The way I look at it is the monitor is not worth spending a few hundred shy of just buying a new monitor to have Apple fix, so what can you lose by trying the repair yourself? I for one, don't have the money to do that. I'm still paying off the one I have.

I did go to the lcdpart website and their instruction sheet on replacing the backlight converter (on a 17") looked like it was cut short at the point of cutting one of the power button wires . . . didn't make any sense to me there. But I sent an email tonight asking some detailed questions, and hope to hear from them tomorrow.

By the way, I took my CPU into the shop today and they checked it out, by cleaning and hooking up to new monitors through both ports. Everything checked out, so it is my monitor, not the video card. I had my monitor disconnected for about 3 hours. When I got home, I hooked it up, but got no special grace like some others have mentioned here. The monitor's problems remained. I will reply once I get the monitor fixed in case it helps anyone else . . . especially to let you know if the lcdpart bulb and/or backlight converter fixes the problem.

I didn't mention that I get the two short blinks then a long blink, which according to the Apple article 88366 says the problem is a backlight converter . . . no mention of the bulbs themselves.

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Soapbox
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It's unfortunate we all don't have a way to make our voices heard in a fruitful way that would get Apple to step up to the plate with a fix. If LCDParts can sell parts for this cheap, Apple should do a recall. Whatever the cost to them, it should be offset by increase in customer satisfaction. If they really wanted to give loyal customers a reason to not go buy an HP, Sony, ViewSonic . . . . MacWorld and other Mac mags almost always rate other manuf's slightly better in most respects. We all think our Apple monitors are cool, right? I do. but if I have to spend money I don't have to keep replacing them every two years, it's not worth it. Sorry for "venting" a little there.

Ryan, my cinema display was purchases July of 2003 as well. How many others from the same time are going out?

Will backlight failures also cause the display not to turn on at all?

I have a 17" Cinema Display that I purchased with my G4 back in 2002. It is displaying the same problem as described by others on this board: the screen goes black intermittently, and movement of the mouse revives it. Sounds like I too am on the slow road to repair / replacement.

At the time I purchased the ACD, I paid a little bit more for what I felt was a superior product. I wanted to give Apple the money; that is why I feel as hurt as I do at their lack of response to this issue.

I have also have this problem with my 20inch display (Just 2 years old). I'm feeling really disappointed and letdown by Apple.

I have backlight failure in a 20' ACD that's just 18 months old. Supposely it was build around summer of 2003, so it looks like a series of defective factory displays. Apple just does not care about what's out of warranty. It gives the solution of fixing it at the cost of new display, what makes you feel insulted cause you get your old screen fixed while the new ones are on sale. I always thought that Apple products were better given their quality and trust, even though you pay more for it. Now my advice is to purchase other trademarks like Sony displays, that gives you 3 to 4 year warranties.
NOTE: Technical support from Apple tells you to buy a new one and trash your almost new display. Is this normal in other companies?. Was like that some years ago when Apple wanted to position itself better?.