swapnonil

Q: Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

I have a 21.5 iMac bought in November 2009.

There appears to be numerous greyish smudge marks behind the glass screen on the top left hand corner.

It was not apparent to me at first, but after I started using OMMWriter it became easily visible. I also tried placing a neutral white background like TextEdit and it was easily visible even then.

I have cleaned the screen on numerous occasions and it has not had any effect.

What should I do?

These spots are quite disturbing.

iMac 21.5, November 2009, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 10:55 AM

Close

Q: Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 58 of 87 last Next
  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 15, 2012 6:22 PM in response to PackJoker
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 6:22 PM in response to PackJoker

    It's possible.

     

    In my case, I'm running a utility to increase the fan speeds, this seems to prevent the smudge getting any worse (and stops any further overheating)

  • by bluish7,

    bluish7 bluish7 Sep 15, 2012 6:34 PM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 6:34 PM in response to swapnonil

    I saw a ton of these grey marks behind my screen today and this thread popped up. Mine seems to be far worse than many others on here.. I tried taking pics but I can't seem to get it to show up right but it's quite bad. The entire right side from top to bottom, from the edge of the pane to about 4 inches in is grey, and then on the upper left hand of the screen there's a huge splotch of grey as well.

     

    No apple care. My last imac had screen problems too, now this. Seems this thread was started years ago so it's not a new problem.

     

    Very unhappy customer.

  • by David M Brewer,

    David M Brewer David M Brewer Sep 15, 2012 7:00 PM in response to bluish7
    Level 6 (9,429 points)
    Video
    Sep 15, 2012 7:00 PM in response to bluish7

    I had this grayish problem a few months ago on my new iMac. Took it in and they replace the front glass (which is made from hard plastic). Tech said it was easier to replace the front glass than it was to clean off the smudges (which they probably couldn't). It was under warranty. The cost not under warranty would have been $79 USD.

     

    On the new iMac's it easy to remove the front panel glass. Not suction cups required. Just place your finger nail at the top of the screen and pull.

  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 15, 2012 7:18 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 7:18 PM in response to David M Brewer

    David, for many people it isn't a matter of cleaning a sheet of plastic. We're talking about a design fault inside the actual screen. That is, there is nothing to clean, the fault isn't caused by 'dirt'.

  • by judithblades,

    judithblades judithblades Sep 15, 2012 7:20 PM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 7:20 PM in response to swapnonil

    yes we know about this...but you may not be aware that the problem we are speaking about isn't able to be cleared away by such treatments...I for instance took mine in and they cleaned the screens but it made NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever...I was told it was not dust but some sort of damage to the LCD screen, and it would cost 600 to replace...

     

    others have the same experience

  • by David M Brewer,

    David M Brewer David M Brewer Sep 15, 2012 7:28 PM in response to Vectorkraft
    Level 6 (9,429 points)
    Video
    Sep 15, 2012 7:28 PM in response to Vectorkraft

    Vectorkraft wrote:

     

    David, for many people it isn't a matter of cleaning a sheet of plastic. We're talking about a design fault inside the actual screen. That is, there is nothing to clean, the fault isn't caused by 'dirt'.

    The original posting is talking about smudges on the inside of the glass panel. Some people are having problems with the screen and some the glass panel. Some people may think it's the screen when it's the glass panel.

  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 15, 2012 8:10 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 8:10 PM in response to David M Brewer

    "Tech said it was easier to replace the front glass than it was to clean off the smudges (which they probably couldn't)."

     

     

    Would you say your computer had a design flaw?

  • by David M Brewer,

    David M Brewer David M Brewer Sep 15, 2012 8:23 PM in response to Vectorkraft
    Level 6 (9,429 points)
    Video
    Sep 15, 2012 8:23 PM in response to Vectorkraft

    What's your point? If it was a design flaw everyone would have the same problems.

  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 15, 2012 8:44 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 8:44 PM in response to David M Brewer

    It was just a friendly enquiry

     

    Had my iMac developed any problems whatsoever during the standard warranty period, I would have demanded a complete replacement or a refund.

  • by Virgule,

    Virgule Virgule Sep 15, 2012 8:54 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 1 (55 points)
    Sep 15, 2012 8:54 PM in response to David M Brewer

    Not everyone use their computer in the same manner therefore it is logical that not every unit develop the same problems.

     

    None of the smudges I have seen are identical and they don't always correspond with the location of heat sources (GPU etc). This indicates that overheating cannot be much more than a factor, if it is one at all. The LCD smudge issue is not exclusive to the iMac. Not all LCD models develop them either.

     

    There is too much conjecture over this.

  • by Yashik.san,

    Yashik.san Yashik.san Sep 16, 2012 7:02 AM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2012 7:02 AM in response to swapnonil

    Regarding to the image I posted yesterday (page 56)... Today when I turned on my iMac, I didn't find these smudges..... So I would assume, they appear on my screen only when all processors become too hot.

  • by Omek,

    Omek Omek Sep 16, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Yashik.san
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Sep 16, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Yashik.san

    Mine also goes away when shutting down for the night and allowing it to cool off. Others have been left with smudges that aren't going away. So it can lead to permanent grey smudges.

  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 17, 2012 1:04 PM in response to Virgule
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 17, 2012 1:04 PM in response to Virgule

    They're faulty. There is no mystery.

  • by nikki_k,

    nikki_k nikki_k Sep 26, 2012 8:01 AM in response to Yashik.san
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 26, 2012 8:01 AM in response to Yashik.san

    okkk so i had these smudges on my screen for like a couple of months. So what happened though, i went away for a few days and decided to turn off my imac for those days. Keep in mind i hardly ever turn off the imac, i always put it to sleep.

    To my surprise when i came back, almost all the smudges were gone. I had some on the top left corner and also in the middle of the screen. Then i went away for a whole week last week which again i turned off the imac for that time, today there are no more smudges. Really strange but very happy. Perhaps they will come back after it gets too hot? But for now it's been great. I will try to turn it off completely once a week and see how that goes.

    Thing now is, i was thinking of bringing it in since i'm still under warranty until November, but now we no longer see them. Hopefully they won't be back.

  • by Vectorkraft,

    Vectorkraft Vectorkraft Sep 26, 2012 8:42 AM in response to nikki_k
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 26, 2012 8:42 AM in response to nikki_k

    Get it repaired/replaced, it's faulty. You wouldn't accept this with any other product so why an iMac?

first Previous Page 58 of 87 last Next