23" Cinema display poor color consistency

I just hooked up my brand new aluminum Apple Cinema HD Display 23 after waiting for weeks for it to arrive. I was pretty disappointed when I immediately noticed the far left and right edges had a dingy yellow tint to them when viewing white windows (such as Finder windows). I also noticed a darker bluish vertical band just to the left of the center when working in LightWave which has a gray background.

So to test the color consistency I then switched the desktop to a medium gray and hid everything else. Sure enough, there was a subtle, but noticeable bluish vertical band about 3" wide just to the left of the center. I then switched the desktop to white and could also see that the far right and left edges were slightly dingy yellow about 2" wide on each side.

I recalibrated the display 2 - 3 times and tested various brightnesses and viewing angles. No matter what I did, the color problems persisted...

I had this $2000 23" Apple HD monitor attached to the Mac with a $400 17" Sony DVI LCD right next to it as a second monitor. The Sony wasn't as good at wide angle viewing, but performing the same gray/white desktop tests showed nice consistent color across the screen. For $2K this HD monitor should have at least as good color consistency as a $400 DVI LCD...

I'd be curious to see how other people's HD 23 monitors hold up with these simple tests. Set your desktop to solid color gray and see how consistent the color holds across the screen. Do the same with solid color white...

Since I run a high end multimedia studio, I need consistent color across the screen. I bought the Apple Cinema display because I thought it was the best I could get...

I packed the monitor up and my associate has just gone to the closest Apple store to see what can be done... I hope this is just an isolated problem that can be quickly resolved. Hopefully I just got a bad monitor and hopefully Apple will just replace it with one with better color consistency...

I'll post the results here...

Thanks,
-MikeS

Posted on Aug 17, 2004 12:15 PM

349 replies

Aug 1, 2005 10:43 AM in response to Michael Scaramozzino

I have heard so much of problems with the new 23" display.

I have 3 suggestions:

1.) If your Mac has an ADC video card, go with the old-style ADC 23" display, if you can find a good one. You should be able to. The problems only started happening with the new Aluminum 23".

2.) Go with the 20" or the 30"--they don't have problems like the 23" does.

3.) If the size is right for you, or if 20" is too small and 30" is too expensive, and you don't have the ADC card, I would go with the Dell display--in fact, I would probably do so in the first place, with all those inputs.

Aug 4, 2005 12:19 PM in response to A strolling player

After reading that the new displays are good on another thread on this forum, I decided to finally take action to get my monitor replaces. No such luck. They made me lug the thing into a repair shop. I've had it "too long" to have it replaced. That "too long" is since October but after I read other people's experiences having one bad monitor swapped out for another, I decided to wait until I heard they were good.

I detail the problems I had with this monitor --which is notorious for its pink cast -- on my weblog http://www.bruceeisner.com/newculture/2005/08/my_apple_is_al.html

Gianrico

Level 2

262 points

Aug 6, 2005 9:46 AM in response to Bruce Ehrlich

I confirm tha 20" display is perfect about the white balance

Aug 9, 2005 1:24 PM in response to Michael Scaramozzino

I bought my 23" back in Nov 2004. It has a slight yellowish tint along the left and bottom of the screen.

I haven't been doing that much graphic work until recently, but now that I've started doing more it's become a real pain.

Also, I'm a PC user and the display doesn't show me BIOS information (I have a XFX 6800GT). I recently installed Windows Vista Beta 1, but in order to do so I had to hook up my old CRT so that I could see what I was doing. I mean really, I've never seen a monitor that doesn't display post information.

I was initially unhappy with both of these issues but I chose to live with it in hopes that Apple would correct the problems, which obviously they haven't. So, I'm going to pack the thing up and head over the Apple store today and see what they're willing to do about it.

I'm hoping for a refund but I think that I may have waited too long to complain. I need to get it back to the store before November though since the 1 year warranty will be up then. The industry standard on displays has been 3 years for some time I believe. It's crazy that Apple only gives you one year on a product that I paid quite a generous premium for.

I paid $1,700 for the display, but I don't even care if they only want to give me the current sale price at this point. What do you guys think? Do I stand a chance of getting a refund or am I stuck with a dysfunctional product?

Aug 10, 2005 11:01 AM in response to Christopher Fisher

Hi Guys

Well, I'm down to my last couple of million dollars (LOL) so I definitely couldn't afford the 30" I drooled for. I picked up a 23" last night and the actual Apple rep or "red herring" swore that he called Apple for me and assured that every 23" in stock was just received with all of the issues taken care of. I was excited.

Got home and plugged her in. Firstly I must say, this particular unit is far nicer than my 23" acrylic display i.e. brighter and crisper. Whites are vivid and wonderful - more so than my older display. There is no apparent problem that I can see.....

I'm scared - the first thing I did after turning it on was to run my serial. It turns out my newly made, newly received display was in fact made in March!!! I can't tell you how much that ticked me off.

So, my question for all of the wounded veterans here. Any recommendations? The display is beautiful now, but what might I expect tomorrow or in a month or two.

Aug 10, 2005 11:45 AM in response to Christopher Fisher

Aug 10, 2005 8:58 PM in response to Community User

Relax. Don't ruin your own enjoyment of what should be a fine piece of hardware. There are perfectly fine units (this will be hard to believe for several people on this forum who have never actually seen one!) Yesterday, I saw the first 23" ACD that:
A) did not look pink and
B) did not have the dirty edge bit and/or obvious uneven backlighting and
C) was not connected to a Mac Mini and
D) was on display in one of Apple's own stores ( in this case their "flagship store at the Cupertino "campus")

I have been very pleased with my 23 since the panel was recently replaced. If it looks good, enjoy it.

DD

PS Send MS some pictures...

Aug 10, 2005 10:36 PM in response to David DeCristoforo

Thanks for the reassurance , David. Interestingly, I've specifically followed your tale of woe very closely and was just very nervous. My display is actually as perfect as can be. I design full size color books, and color wise, out of the box, it's very similar to my 23" acrylic display.

Even if it is a good one, I still dream of that 30"er - sigh

By the way, what's MS

Aug 10, 2005 11:00 PM in response to Michael Scaramozzino

I took my display to my local Apple store this evening and spoke to the resident Genius. I told him about the issue with the BIOS not displaying on bootup.

He told me that this was the first time he'd heard of the problem and that he wanted me to give him a couple of days to try and find a solution. He also mentioned that if he couldn't find one we could discuss returns and whatnot.

I also told him about the yellowish tint along the left side and bottom of the screen, so they gave me a new display no questions asked, although the tech knew that it still wouldn't solve the BIOS issue.

The price on the return was $1,499 (the current sale price) so I asked the woman that rang it up that if the worst case scenario came about and I wanted to return the display if would I get re-imbursed for the full amount or the current sale price. She said that I would NOT get a refund because I bought it so long ago (Nov of last year).

I mentioned to her that I read through the limited warranty agreement and that a refund was an option, at which point she interrupted me and said "Yeah, at our discretion" and left it at that. To me this says "Tough luck, I don't really care whether or not your $2,000 display works like it should or not," which got me pretty ticked.

So, my current plan is to not even open the display until I call the tech back a couple of days from now. I guess I could get a new graphics card, but I don't really want to spend another $400 on a new one considering the fact that I just bought my 6800GT last year. If he can't find a solution I'm going to push for a refund. If they won't give me that I guess I'll at least have a new one in the box that I can sell on eBay or something. :\

Aug 11, 2005 4:09 AM in response to Bill Gallagher

While I've ruled out the ACD's (20") I'm really wavering on the Dell 20" LG panel. From everything I've been able to research, it does not exhibit the problem of a non-white (pink-blue-darkstripe) color aging.

My understanding is that the Dell 20" uses the same LG-Philips TFT that the 20" ACD does. The colour cast problems are most prevalent with the 23" panel that uses a screen manufactured by Samsung.

Or have I missed something?

Aug 11, 2005 4:11 AM in response to Community User

By the way, what's MS

Generally, multiple sclerosis, but in this case Michael Scaramozzino, the OP of this thread.

Aug 11, 2005 7:47 AM in response to Community User

"... I've...followed your tale of woe..."

Well, I was one of the "early adoptors" of the 23" Alum ACD. I ordered one the day they were announced and sight unseen. My overall experience has been less than enjoyable but, in fairness, the display I have now is at least as good as any I have seen from Apple or anyone else. While that might not be a very enthusiastic endorsement for what is still a $1,500 piece of hardware, it's the best I am able to muster.

DD

Aug 11, 2005 8:36 AM in response to Michael Scaramozzino

Hi ClearView & Gang...

That's great news!

Unfortunately my third unit still shows two out of three of the problems. Better than three out of three, but not as good as what a few others are describing.

I'd love to see some photos of your good ACD23 showing a solid white and a solid gray desktop. If you could post links to the following thread it would give me some hope for when I return this third unit for a fourth one... 😉

Does anyone have photos of a good ACD 23"?
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.68a92810

Thanks,
-MikeS

Aug 11, 2005 12:56 PM in response to Michael Scaramozzino

Hey Mike

I would be happy to post images for you...just tell me how.

Just a note, I called Apple about 5 weeks ago (before my purchase) concerning the 23" "color" issue and all I can is, if you present your concerns professionally and calmly, they will be helpful. Over the course of 3 days Apple's high level tech reps CALLED me. In other words, I didn't call to complain. My position was of genuine professional concern. I let them know that after all I read about the problems with the 23" display, could they guarantee that I would in fact be able to create a "reasonably" identical calibration to my existing 23" acrylic display. They were extremely forthcoming on every technical concern I had.

Mike, there are thousands of these 23"s that work perfect. On this board there are hundreds that don't. However, when you add the emotional component of an owner with a bad display, perception becomes blemished realty. If I were you, I would find out what distribution center supplied your 3 displays. Chances are they pulled replacement screens from the same substantial inventory you got your first screen from. It doesn't matter whether you ordered it directly from Apple or purchased it at a local re-seller. Your direct order and your local re-seller's inventory is dispatched from Apple to the most convenient warehouse in your territory.

I see you're up in Bean town. I'd be more than happy to find a new 23" for you down here in Philly. I would have the store put it on hold and you can train, drive or jog to the city of brotherly love to pick it up and have a Philly cheese steak before your trek back north. I feel bad for you. There is no reason you (or anyone) should have to put up with this any longer - or at all!

Aug 11, 2005 1:13 PM in response to David DeCristoforo

"My overall experience has been less than enjoyable..."

After all you have endured, I hope your present display stays plugged in and turned on...

Good luck!

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23" Cinema display poor color consistency