23" Cinema display poor color consistency

Yea, problem is I've seen these "We Fixed It" stories here for months, yet nothing seems to change. The 23" Displays already have a bad reputation among nearly anyone I've talked to that uses a Mac. I've only been responsible for a few of those, the rest found out either by buying one and witnessing the defects themselves or reading stuff on other forums. But, I do tell anyone that asks me about buying Apple equipment to be wary of their displays, especially the 23".

Until Apple admits the problem and admits that they've fixed it, few are going to believe it. I sure won't be buying any more Apple Displays until then.

I just wanted to see if anyone has heard anything official from Apple on this matter? Are there any updates? Thanks in advance.

Last week I've bought two Cinema displays 23'' and one was perfect (great colors and contrast), but the other one has the white colors quite yellow or light grey over the left border mainly..
I'm gonna give back this second one..
Is it a matter of all 23'' or only certain units?

Well, I guess I must add my serial number 2A4363LXPKL to the long list of 23" Cinema Displays with a pinkish cast. WHAT A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!

Apparently the Cinema Displays are "hopelessly defective." I am going to look into my state's lemon laws to see about a refund.

Ouch! I heard about these problems way back, also that they'd been fixed. I just went out and got my dream system yesterday. G5 2.7, 20" ACD, 23" ACD.

The 20" ACD looks great but the 23 has the dirty yellow edges and overall, the display has a yellow cast that can't be calibrated to match the 20".

I called AppleCare and was told to bring it back to the store. Here goes...

I was on the fence between Apple and Dell displays. Hope I didn't screw up. For the premium you pay for Apple, you get a really sweet design but the engineering/manufacturing leaves a lot to be desired.

At the last minute, in the Apple store, I almost went for the 30". If I could do it over, I think I would. What are the chances they'll let me trade up without hitting me with 2 restocking fees?

"What are the chances they'll let me trade up without hitting me with 2 restocking fees?"

ASK THEM!! (Apple, not us:))

DD

Sorry to not complain....I don't think my 23" could be any better.

I took the 23 back to the Apple store. I'd prepared myself for the worst. When I told them I'd like to return the 23 and get another 20 in it's place, there was no issue at all. They didn't even open the box, just took it back and got me a 20. They were very nice about it and the guy at the check-out admitted that they'd had problems with both 23 and 30s.

I'm very happy with Apple! The 2 20s look stunning together. I should have gone this way to start with. BTW, the store is the new Woodland Mall store in GR MI

I had purchased a 23" aluminum display when they first came out last July, immediately noticed the pink tinge and was able to calibrate it out using the Displays calibrator. However, it needed re-calibrating for several months and finally stabilized. The Menu bar still had a pink tinge, and if I calibrated that out the other colors were so off that the monitor was not usable-it is flanked by NEC 17" LCD's and the used for CADD drawing, so consistency of colors across the monitors is important. As the warranty was running out, I took it in for repair: recieved it back in a week with the repair noting that the LCD panel was replaced. The stock profile was a little 'washed out', so I created a profile with the Diplays calibrator. The display is now perfect. White is pure white, no pink ting anywhere. In fact, the NEC displays now show a slight pink ting next to the pure white of the ACD. Text is much sharper on the ACD than on the NEC's (they all run at the same resolution and are all DVI). At this point I'm very happy with the display and with Apple for fixing it.
I would think that new dispays are being made with this new improved panel.

"...recieved it back in a week with the repair noting that the LCD panel was replaced. The stock profile was a little 'washed out', so I created a profile with the Displays calibrator. The display is now perfect. White is pure white, no pink ting anywhere.

This is the same experience I had after the LCD panel was replaced. My "stock profile" was a bit beyond "a little washed out" but after proper calibration, my screen looks fine. I can now leave the toolbars for Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. right on the left edge without having them look "cruddy". Also, the fine gradations between very light grays are much better. For the first time since I got the 23 I can actually see the stripes in the menu bar, even at the extreme left edge. Also ghosting seems to be gone as well. So far, since I got the display back from repair, I have been happy with it.

DD

Hi Christopher: I have the same problem as everyone else with this 23" Cinema Display. It is a huge disappointment. Please let me know what you find out regarding the lemon law. What state are you in?

David

Apple broke my heart! I can't agree with you more.

A GUIDE TO RETURNING YOUR 23" APPLE DISPLAY.
------------------------------------------

1) Take the bus to your local Apple Store.

2) While entering the Apple Store with your display in box,
walk firmly and directly to the Genius Bar while looking
focused, angry, and "no-nonsense."

3) Sign up on the Genius Bar list, and let them feel that you are not
going anywhere while you sit and wait. cross your arms, tighten your
brow and stare hard at everything. Make sure your monitor box is in clear
sight for everyone to see, and that you are irritated.

4) When dealing with a Genius Bar employee, let them know right away
that you are in total control of what can and will be done about your
monitor, even if you actually are not. list each problem you have
with your monitor and why it directly hinders your ability to perform
certain task/jobs. Make it sound "totally unacceptable", because it is.

5) The Genius Bar employees will insist they have never seen such problems
before or heard or read anything about them. This is a 110% lie.
Let them know that you know they are lying and demand they get a
manager to authorize a replacement monitor. make sure you
specifically ask for one from the latest production and have them open
it for you to inspect.

6) They will bully you with all kinds of fees for openning and returning
this product, ignore that. It's their faulty product, let them know
that you are not giving them 1 penny more and in fact, they are
wasting YOUR time. They may even try to have you pay state recycling
fees($8 CA) for your return, it's a joke, let them know they are paying
for that, and they will.

7) The sad part of all this is that the new monitor they bring out may only
have slight improvements over the return. And, where the new one does
have major improvements, it may also have other problems the one you
just returned didn't. It's a catch 22, a gamble, and an irritating dead-end
situation with no winners and Apple is to blame, not your badass,
in crontrol attitude.

8) If the new monitor is obviously better then take it and call it a day.
If it is obviously worse, demand they open another one while they know
you are certainly not going to pay any processing fees, and that they are
continuing to waste your time. It shouldn't take more than
three tries to get a noticeably better monitor. when you get it, don't look
too excited, because the quality will undoubtedly remain under 90% of
what it advertises.

9) go home, set up your new monitor, realize that it's still a piece of junk
and look forward to doing this all over again in about 3-6 months.

10) Remember that Apple is at fault, not you. Your bold, direct, and
intimidating language is designed not to insult individual apple
employees, but to give Apple as a company a sense of the
seriousness of this epidemic and that you, the consumer, will not smile
back at blatant lies, denials, and propaganda regarding
the expensive and disappointing 23" apple display.

peace and positive thinking,

curtis nishimura

David,

Lemon laws generally require you to make several attempts to get your monitor repaired. You must be able to document your repeated attempts at repair. Once you do this the required number of times (usually 2 - 4 times), then you must fill out the forms your state law requires. Sometimes you will find private law offices that specialize in lemon law claims. I'm not sure whether it is a good idea to use them or not, i.e., you may be able to do the filing paperwork yourself.

At this point, my 23 inch is being "repaired" for the first time. Given the positive repair outcomes I see reported here, I am hopeful that no second iteration of repair will be necessary. I am going to be traveling abroad for a month, so I will not be able to see the results until I return in late August. I'll report back to you then.

FYI, I live in Florida.

Chris