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Abbstrack

Q: 24inch iMac scren appears to be transparent

I'm using a 24in iMac purchased in August 2008, and using it for photo editing...my monitor appears to be transparent..when i'm in on application, I can almost see an underlying layer of whatever other application is open, or in some cases even silhouttes of whatever image is currently being used as my desktop. My display is set at 1920 x 1200, and brightness is turned all the way up. i have it currently set to the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color profile.

does anyone know how I can get rid of this. it gets really distracting when looking at images in full screen.

iMac 24in, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 2.8Ghz Core Duo 4GB ram NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS

Posted on Feb 17, 2010 8:50 PM

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Q: 24inch iMac scren appears to be transparent

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  • by Abbstrack,

    Abbstrack Abbstrack Feb 17, 2010 9:46 PM in response to Abbstrack
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Feb 17, 2010 9:46 PM in response to Abbstrack
    here is a link to a photo from my iphone of a section of the screen. notice the lines running horizontally through the screen. Those lines are not in the picture. When I close Aperture, they are still there, running horizontally through the desktop.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbstrackphotography/4366589495/

    Any thoughts?
  • by Carolyn Samit,Helpful

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Feb 18, 2010 12:27 AM in response to Abbstrack
    Level 10 (122,502 points)
    Apple Music
    Feb 18, 2010 12:27 AM in response to Abbstrack
    HI,

    I've never seen that before...

    Try Resetting the PRAM and see if that makes a difference.

    If not run the Apple Hardware Test from your Mac install disc.









    Carolyn
  • by Roald Hoolwerf,Helpful

    Roald Hoolwerf Roald Hoolwerf Feb 18, 2010 5:10 AM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 5:10 AM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Are you absolutely sure that the lines that you are seeing are from an active program that's running in the back, at that very same location?

    It looks like 'screen burn-in' to me. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_burn-in
    Have you let your computer run for a very long time without a screensaver at full brightness? Burn-in can still happen sa far as I know..

    You can try Googling for burn-in solutions.. If it's really burn-in, I don't think you can fix this easily.


    Hope this was helpful, eventhough it's not exactly good news.
    Regards.
  • by kguy,

    kguy kguy Feb 18, 2010 6:05 AM in response to Abbstrack
    Level 2 (420 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 6:05 AM in response to Abbstrack
    Hi-

    This is called Image Persistence- not burn in.

    It can happen to any LCD screen, and fortunately, it can be cleared up in most cases.

    Follow the instructions from Apple first...

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2807

    If that doesn't work, try googling Image Persistence LCD to get alternate solutions.
  • by Abbstrack,

    Abbstrack Abbstrack Feb 18, 2010 6:33 AM in response to kguy
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 6:33 AM in response to kguy
    thanks for the suggestions. I will give them a shot and report back.

    I do a ton of editing on my machine, and for the past week i've had it running overnight in numerous attempts to save my aperture libraries..and though the problem seems worse in the past few days, i've noticed it for quite some time...

    i typically do not leave my machine running without a screensaver.

    should these not work, is this something that would be covered under my apple care?

    Message was edited by: Abbstrack
  • by kguy,Solvedanswer

    kguy kguy Feb 18, 2010 7:38 PM in response to Abbstrack
    Level 2 (420 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 7:38 PM in response to Abbstrack
    Hi-

    Image Persistence is considered to be a user-created problem, and some people report of being unable to get AppleCare service for these problems.

    Running screen savers is great for preventing the problem, however, if you ALREADY have image persistence problems, they may not clear up with screen savers alone.

    Follow the white screen routine to clear the image persistence first, and then keep up a steady diet of using screen savers to prevent the problem from occurring again.

    Message was edited by: kguy
  • by Abbstrack,

    Abbstrack Abbstrack Feb 18, 2010 8:40 PM in response to kguy
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 8:40 PM in response to kguy
    thanks. I did the white screen/screensaver routine, and I've already noticed the problem has cleared up quite a bit. and while I do use screen savers, its apparent i need to change the settings so they are on more frequently. I also think this was the result of having my machine run overnight for the past week trying to upgrade and reupgrade aperture libraries.

    thanks for your help!