23" Cinema display poor color consistency

why not consider the 23 apple clear frame display just previous to the aluminum one??the¥ can be bought off ebay for a much better price then the new ones.

I noticed the original post in this thread was made in August of last year. Pretty sad that Apple has clearly chosen to ignore this defect while continuing to sell these displays. That's pretty shameful and not what I expect from Apple.

I sent in two of these displays two weeks ago, both of which were exhibiting the same color/brightness banding issues and one was havnig pretty severe ghosting problems as well (Safari windows left shadows behind after being closed, etc.) and just received one replacement today (5/10/05).

So far, this one is better - but not totally right. Color balance seems to be more accurate across the display, but the 3" band just to the left of center is still visible as a slightly darker area. The far left edge is brighter than the rest of the display.

I'll be interested to see how this display burns in after a few weeks, and how the other one I sent in looks when it returns.

I'm not particularly fussy when it comes to color, but this is pretty poor performance for such an expensive display IMHO.

I just got my 23" ACD yesterday, I was more concerned about my video card working with it, did not investigate to see if there would be a colour problem as Apple is known for there quality products. Unfortunately while workin in CorelDraw I did notice about a 5 inch band of washed out colour to the left side of the screen. While the right side was only washed out a tiny bit. Working In photoshop is not too bad on brightly coloured subjects, My concern is it going to get worse as time goes on.

I too am having the same issues with my 23" ACD. I purchased it in November of last year, and I have yellowish tint along the edges, mostly in the bottom left and bottom right corners of the screen.

What do you guys think my options are as far as returning the unit? It's obviously beyond the initial grace period, but if I call Apple will they acknowledge this as a defect and give me a refund? Or should I persue another unit and hope that it is better?

It could get worse, others including myself have seen the displays degrade gradually or in some cases fairly quickly. It certainly won't get any better.

First, Apple won't even acknowledge the defect, and will probably act as though you were the first person to report it. I had the same experience.

If you're beyond the return period, then your only real option is to try to get a replacement, but, I hate to bear bad news: everyone who has tried this has received a display with the same defects. If you didn't buy the display from Apple, you'll have a better chance returning it. Otherwise, you're stuck with a defective display. Since last summer Apple has managed to avoid correcting the defects or even acknowledging them, even though it's been reported in numerous magazine and newspaper articles.

Final update: My display was returned to me, as promised, last Monday. Here's what I'm seeing post-"repair"...

Pink cast, gone.

Yellow tinge on edges, present.

Darker band left of center, present though not as bad as prior;
-ghosting, not evident -- yet.

Also, I've noticed that the front panel, or element, rattles around a bit in the aluminum frame. Not a problem once the display is setup and in use but only noticed when taking it out of the shipping box. This may indicate a manufacturing change per posts on the notion that the front panel was being tweaked by the outer frame being too tight.

I'll live with the repaired unit for a few weeks to see if any further degradation appears. I'm not sure if I wish to continued the back-and-forth between me and Apple repair wherein I'm without the display for 6 weeks a pop.

Unless, of course, we see posts here indicating some kind of real progress.

-Phil

Changes on the Apple website regarding the cinema displays

A brief history of my experience with 23" cinema display;
I am now on my third cinema display from Apple.

1st returned - because of poor colour and 'dirty' edges
This was replaced
2nd returned - same problems
Apple says there was no problem but sent me another anyway
3rd returned - worse than the second
I was offered a full refund + compensation or keep the 2nd display

( to cut a v.long story short ) ......

In the end i kept the second display as it was the best out the displays i had received. The display is 95%+ good, still slight colour washout at the edges but i am used to it now. I am not 100% happy but i need to get on with work and didn't want to spend more time writing emails and calling Apple.
I had had so many conflicting responses with Apple, saying there was a fault but the screen was still deemed perfect. Or that there may have been a fault in manufacturing etc... but it still passed Apple's tests.

In the end i was only sent the third display to see if it was better after sending an email to Steve Jobs. I actually got a phone call from some very high up manager in response. I was told that these displays are still new technology and therefore may not meet the high expectations and quality i wanted, if was still not happy i should accept the refund plus compensation and buy a display elsewhere.

OK. my main complaint with Apple was that the display did not live up to the sales pitch on the Apple website.

The site has now been updated ( not sure when that happened )

It used to say ....

" What’s more, Apple uses the best technology in the industry to minimize color shift at wide angles, which ensures that a color on a pixel in the center of your display looks the same as that color on a pixel in the corner. "

http://www.apple.com/displays/technology.html

" These issues fade away with an all digital signal. DVI transmits a distortion-free digital signal from a digital location in the graphics card to a digital location on the display’s screen. This digital connection gives you the full clarity and stability of liquid crystal technology — with sharp, clear pixels from edge to edge. "

http://www.apple.com/displays/digital.html

" This gives you the peace of mind that an Apple display will integrate perfectly into your color workflow, ensuring accurate color from capture to screen to print. "

http://www.apple.com/displays/technology.html

It no longer makes these claims, read the website and you will see what text changes have been made.

At least Apple seem to be moving in the right direction. I hope all these issues will be solved in the future for current and future customers

Thanks

I bought the 23" ACD without doing a lot of research (shame on me) with my new G5. I got them for 10% discount on Tiger opening night (so 23" ACD was $1350). I also got the AppleCare so the display is covered for 3 years. So, I've settled on the idea to stick with 23" ACD since it's covered for 3 years.

In my case, the washout is most noticable in iTunes, iPhoto or Finder windows which are in that 50 mm zone on the left side. Working in Photoshop or with the actual photos in iPhoto the actual images are outside that zone. In other words, for 99.9% of the time it isn't noticable. That being said, it still bothers me slightly that for a premium priced monitor it isn't perfect.

Let's face it, Apple's quality isn't what it used to be. In the past 24 months I have boughten new a 15" Alu Book, 4G iPod, iMac G5-17", PM G5 2x2.3 and 23" ACD. All of these products, except the PM G5, were replaced for defects! In the case of the PowerBook, twice!! Prior to this I've purchased new the IIsi, LaserWriter 320, various Stylewriters, Quadra 650, 2x PM 7100, PM 9500, Blackbird (PB 520c), Wallstreet PB G3, PM G4-400 AGP. I can't count all the used CPU's I've bought over the years... Of all those older things only the Wallstreet had to have repairs (not bad enough for exchange). From my experience there has been a definite shift towards "badness" over the past 2 years for the quality of Apple's products.

Mace

I have no idea why many people are suffering from this issue. Am I just lucky? I bought 2 ACD 23" displays so far and none of them exhibits such problem.

How do I test for sure that there weren't any issues with this display? I'd like to post a picture if it indeed turns out to be ok.

What's the serial number of your displays??

To test: open iTunes or Safari download window. Move window to left of screen and watch the light blue bars. Do they fade when they are on the left side of screen?

Mace

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Nope