Uneven illumination

It will be interesting to see if your screen stays OK, especially as the inverter board has also been replaced. I hope it will be OK.

Merry Christmas.

Nice one Phil. Though I would not be as content as you seem to be with the dead pixel. But then again, I am a bitter and twisted sad person. If it doesn't bother you then fair do's. If it does bother you, march it back. AppleCare? Redundant in the UK. Take a happy trip to:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm
Read it, take heart, spend yer dosh on a new ipod instead, y'know, the one that plays videos (please God!)
Good luck, and a Merry Christmas to all our readers! - Especially Porsche owners...(Nice to see you back EC)
Cheers
Chris

Where I live there is a UPS depot close, plus just a few streets away from me is an Apple service centre, not open to the public.
The UPS guy who brought back my powerbook from repair said that they (UPS) deliver quite a few of these (powerbooks) to the Apple service centre a day - even his own has had to go back!
But then a guy at work who has a Sony Vaio is sending it back for its third time, as he put it - the power supply blew up again!
So if its any consolation it looks like even Sony has problems!
But you do wonder at the extent of the screen problem on the 15" powerbook?!
Phil

Hi ChrisRR

Thanks for the link, I will print out the info.
F.Y.I. and anyone else who is interested.
I came across this while poking about for info on TFT's and dead pixels.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20030319/lcdpixels-06.html#iso_standard_the_actualfigures
It made interesting reading especially the info about, "If they do not specify, the monitor is Class 1 by default and you can have it changed at the smallest pixel defect."
Which I thought was very interesting as I believe Apple do not specify the "Class" of their displays!
So I am off to the phone right now!
Phil

Philip

That is a very interesting link. Useful info indeed.

Having had the screen replaced due to uneven illumination I find the new screen has 2 defective pixels.
Well I have been onto Apple, and to say I am hacked off would be an understatement. I reported the pixel problem and got 'the usual' from them but persevered, where upon I was told I should take it to my local Apple agent and was given an address to go to. So I duly went there only to be told by 'this agent' that there was nothing he could do. "Yes he could look at it and say there are two duff pixels on the screen but that would mean nothing" he said. He could not even send it in for repair as Apple were in the process of altering the way laptops are handled, adding that he could not understand why I was sent to him in the first place. So basically I was sent on a wild goose chase for absolutely nothing! I phoned Apple as soon as I got back home and was eventually contacted by one of their bigger guns who told me that Apple will not replace a screen for just two defective pixels and that Apple do not acknowledge or adhere to the ISO standard! He seemed to imply that the limit was 5 defective pixels.
I said I thought it was wrong of Apple to ignore out of hand the ISO standards especially as we their customers pay a premium for their goods in the first place and a premium for their after care. Which he said he could not deny and went onto say he knew how I felt but that was Apples policy and their legal team are happy with their position on this.
So it looks like I will have to live with two defective pixels!
Basically it looks like Apple supply Class 2 displays according to the ISO standard, perhaps that nugget of information should be made more wildly available?!
I asked about compensation for being sent to an Apple agent on a wild goose chase and was informed it was not Apples policy to pay compensation but if I was going to buy something from the Apple store, to give him a ring - number supplied, he would sort out a voucher I could redeem!
Phil

Any PB that has been sent in for 'uneven illumination' or 'pixel defects' of it's display to Apple and has been determined as being 'within spec' was probably measured and compared to a known standard. (That's simply a logical assumption.)

In Apple's case this would be their specific definition of the International standard which is the ISO (International Standards Organisation) 13406-2, the standard that all monitor manufacturers refer to that stipulates an array of ergonomic requirements on the quality of liquid crystal display images.

Having had a number of Apple service experiences of both the uneven illumination and the pixel defects issues with my Rev A PB, I believe that the Apple determination of 'within specs' is simply made through a visual asessment, possibly using a magnifying aid, in an office/lab environment.

Unfortunately, visual assessment under fluorescent lighting makes it extremely difficult to even see some of the display faults that often are so obvious to the user while viewing the display under other ambient lighting environments.

Apple do not appear to have in place the normal industry standards for the control of neutral ambient and neutral viewing lighting that are applied throughout most other industries whenever consistent repeatable determinations need to be made.

I'll bet this is not the case when it comes to Apple personnel making determinations of colour differences in their advertising and packaging approvals processes.

It would helpful if the Apple definition of these standards was made available for users to gauge their own displays visually to determine for themselves if they were likely to need repair, prior to contacting Apple.

It would also be helpful if Apple's standard criteria for repair/replacement was also made public.

You said:

"In Apple's case this would be their specific definition of the International standard which is the ISO (International Standards Organisation) 13406-2, the standard that all monitor manufacturers refer to that stipulates an array of ergonomic requirements on the quality of liquid crystal display images."

I repeat Apple do not recognise or adhere to the ISO standard regarding TFT displays, if they did then we would know where we stood.

Instead we rely on rumors and hear-say as to what they (Apple) deem as being sufficient to warrant a replacement or repair.

I for one would not buy any of Apples TFT displays with the information I now have, as you have no idea where you really stand regards defective pixels, especially at the cost of their TFT screens I would expect them to be pixel perfect!

Apple has a policy regarding dead (or STUCK pixels) see this tech note:

About LCD display pixel anomalies

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=22194

It says that "a certain number of subpixel anomalies is considered acceptable." - it doesn't say who it is that finds it acceptable, though one might expect it would be Apple.

"it doesn't say who it is that finds it acceptable, though one might expect it would be Apple"

That would be Apples legal department for sure!

Phil

Get it fixed A.S.A.P

Then you have time to find out if the new display is OK, as it would appear, from the post on this discussion, that it has not always been fixed satisfactorily on the first go!

Hello my fellow not-so-illuminati.

I thought I had dodged this particular bullet: purchased my rev. A (in mortal fear of having a bad screen) on January 22 04. The manufacturing date was 2004 01 01 - surely a good omen.

But no. Yesterday, December 27 2004, there it was. Noticeably darker right side of the screen, particularly near the bottom. Thanks heavens I'm still under warranty. I'll be buying Apple Care now for sure.

So it happens that I'm living in Tokyo now. After calling support over the phone to establish a case # and to satisfy them it was a bonafide harware issue, they sent me to the Apple Store. Took it in this morning and they say I'll have it back in two or three days, but were non-comittal about what exactly they planned to do.

My question: I know there are people out there who've had this fixed once and never had it recur. In those cases, what exactly was fixed?

Hey Phill

Sounds like quite a bunch of hoops you;ve been through. I'm going to send mine in just after the New Year. You wouldn't happen to know who I actually contact about this ssue? Is it just Apple UK?

Cheers

Ian

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

My question: I know there are people out there who've had this fixed once and never had it recur. In those cases, what exactly was fixed?

As a very general guide, having at least both the LCD and inverter board replaced seems to resolve the problem for many. However it seems that Apple, in the past, have often only replaced the LCD on the first attempt - which led to the problem reappearing after a few months.

Hi dunes
In the first instance you will need to phone Apple support on 0870 876 0753, if you did not take out the Apple Care policy on your PB have your credit / debit card ready! The reason being if you are outside the 90 days free phone support they will charge you £35 for the call. BUT DON'T WORRY I was assured if the problem was discovered to be an actual fault with the PB the £35 will be refunded.
I have yet to get my statement to check that out yet!
The tech on the phone will ask you to jump through various 'hoops' such as reset the PRAM, do a PMU reset (power management reset), boot into Open Firmware and reset a couple of things, they are also likely to ask for the original system DVD that came with the PB, so have that handy as well.
After each of these processes they will probably ask how the screen looks.
Eventually they will decide there is a fault and will arrange for a box to be delivered to you for your PB to be picked up in.
It will probably be a good idea to select 'white' as your desktop colour, set the screen brightness to half way and turn off 'adjust screen brightness to ambient lighting' option. This should make it pretty obvious there is a problem to the engineer when he comes to fix it.
I wish you a speedy repair!
All the best
Phil