Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

Got my first replacement today (ordered originally June 12th, this is really starting to eat into productivity.) 

Screen is another LG, same week.  I could tell it was the same kind immediately, compared to the Samsungs I've seen, and the terminal command confirmed it.  This one is about 5-10% darker and a good deal more yellow than the previous LG.  My wife, who is definitely less fussy than me, spotted it immediatlely when we had them side by side.  Couldn't have hoped for a worse result, barring some bonus stuck pixels / muras / case chips, which it was free of. 

It doesn't exhibit much IR, but it does show some.  The thing is the other laptop started like that, and within three months it's now showing full colour images clearly enough to read any text after a few minutes.  So after an hour's use, it's back in the box, and another mail has gone off to Apple Executive Relations. 

I'm either going to accept a replacement with a Samsung screen, or an LG one that genuinely has no issues (does such a thing exist?), or a refund at this point.  I really hope they don't try and force me to keep this new dud.

Hello Apple0229,,

I have a dev license and have been using 10.8.2 on my rMBP (with my second LG display on the same machine).

Still IR, it's a hardware problem, not a software one.

IPS panels used by LG all look yellow, of lower brightness, and *some* have IR, compared to Samsung ones.

Worth noting is that the LG IPS panels are pretty much a completely different technology than the Samsung ones, too.

I have not seen one Samsung panel which did not look great at the Apple Store (notice the double negative here). On the other hand, all the LG panels I have seen, including the two I had, exhibit IR after 5 minutes (using windowed apps on a dark desktop wallpaper), to some varying degree (mild to severe).

I'm waiting on my third panel to come to the Apple Store and hopefully it will be either a proper LG panel, or just a plain awesome Samsung one (one can only wish!)

I hate the yellow 'white point' on LG screens, I tried to calibrate the screen but it never looked as good as the same picture on my Apple Cinema Display :-(

Dr Sly

Superflatsonic,

it has been my experience that LG screens with IR do have some varying degrees of IR severity, but also that it might get 'exacerbated' over time...

My second yellowish LG screen with milder IR managed to get a wee bit worse a week later...

Now awaiting a third screen. And a fourth one if needed. And so on until this is fixed.

This is my 18th Apple computer in less than a decade (I buy and resell at every new update, I need the extra CPU cycles and RAM whenever I can get some), and I have rarely had that much trouble with Apple devices as I have had over the last year (iPhone problem, iPad problem, MacBook Pro problem).

I'm not getting pickier, methinks. I was always expecting perfection.

Dr Sly Montreal, QC, Canada

IPS panels used by LG all look yellow, of lower brightness, and *some* have IR, compared to Samsung ones.

 

Worth noting is that the LG IPS panels are pretty much a completely different technology than the Samsung ones, too.

 

I have not seen one Samsung panel which did not look great at the Apple Store (notice the double negative here). On the other hand, all the LG panels I have seen, including the two I had, exhibit IR after 5 minutes (using windowed apps on a dark desktop wallpaper), to some varying degree (mild to severe).

 

I'm waiting on my third panel to come to the Apple Store and hopefully it will be either a proper LG panel, or just a plain awesome Samsung one (one can only wish!)

 

I hate the yellow 'white point' on LG screens, I tried to calibrate the screen but it never looked as good as the same picture on my Apple Cinema Display :-(

 

Weird you say LG AH-ISP panels all look yellow, as I don't see that on current laptop which is using a LG panel.   I seen LCD's with a yellow tinge before but I'm not seeing it on the two I have had hands on.   I have multiple Mac's (not just laptops) and I compare the white point and don't see what you are seeing, but not saying the samples you got don't have a yellow tint.  Hopefully you find one your satisfied with.

Hello,

Image Retention problem here, it's interesting because it only appeared AFTER i installed 10.8.1. With 10.8.0 i had no problems, checked it more times. It's disturbing to see

Now, it seems that it takes more than 10 minutes for the image retention to fade, i'm quite clueless what to do.

Panel info:

Color LCD
LP154WT1-SJA1
DCN22530079DMJ0A1

Isn't Apple going to do something with this anytime?

Thnxx sir for the prompt reply but I have an amazing LG panel with the only issue being the IR one.Could you plzzzz switch off the automatic graphics switching mode and run dedicated graphics and visualize the results.I still very much feel that it's a software issue otherwise the image wouldn't have never faded away.Plus I would be really thankful if you could reset the gray profile in color sync utility and seriously the panel I have is amazing.Whites look white and so do blacks and every other thing.Brightness is on par with Samsung panels out their and every other wallpaper except the dark gray one looks exuberant.Plzzzzz it's my humble request.

Thnk u in advance

Warm regards.

Today I went to the reseller (FNAC) and told them this IR problem. Luckly I found someone who is already aware of the issue on the "After sales service desk". And he helped me to send back my 4 days old rMBP to Apple for a replacement. I asked him to put as a comment my preference to have the rMBP with a Samsung panel and to upgrade the memory to 16GB and the CPU to 2.6. However I have to be patient till 2 to 3 weeks to have the replacement.

I too hated the white point of my LG screen - tried calibrating it but when I got the colour looking a bit better, it was only much darker, and still not "right". Since photo editing is one of my main passions, this just won't do! Add in the IR issue and the perfect grey background in Photoshop and things just get even more annoying!

That was my first  MBPr - and it went back today (Day 11 of the 14 day period). Fine with respect to IR on Day 1, but I used it for about 10 hours a day and by Day 5 I noticed the outline of a safari page on my background when I closed the window. Not good and a sign of worse things to come - by today the IR was appearing very clearly after 5 minutes.

I didn't ask for a replacement, just a full refund. I am probably going to order again but it really is like playing the lottery. Which is ridiculous! I know that deep down I won't be happy without a Samsung screen - unless Apple gives us some official statement about the LG situation. But I really hate that yellow white point - if that doesn't improve either then I guess I won't be getting a MBPr after all... not  unless I win the Samsung lottery!

Shame as this was my first mac and I'm really sold on mac now - I had been using one at work for the last year, which made me want to switch. Now I'm back to typing this on my god-awful 3 year old Acer Sad days!

Color LCD

LP154WT1-SJA1

DCN232202Z6DMJ0A1

C02J73NJDKQ2

LG display

Week 34, ML

2.6/8/512

ordered from Amazon, 8/25/12

Test Retention negative so far, Day 1.

Color LCD

LP154WT1-SJA1

DCN2295021DDMJ0AZ

Test Retention negative so far, Day 2.

I think that the problem is a software one. Just an opinion from someone who have seen the problem to a demo Retina in a store.

There are also some artifacts in various windows due to driver errors. Choose AirDrop for example and try to resize it.

Be patient and keep faith.

I'm at home right now, I have 6 screens for three computers total, including the displays of a MacBook Air, my rMBP, two Dell displays, and my wonderful Apple Cinema Display.

All are 'colder' in display temperature, whereas my rMBP screen is definitely on the 'warmer' i.e. yellow side.

I have attempted to calibrate it, no good came out of that.

My iPhones 4 and 4S at home are also on the yellowish side, butt ugly coloration compared to my earlier models.

If you're old enough to know the joke about the NTSC system for televisions back in the days, this might be used as an analogy. PAL/SECAM was far superior to NTSC, which Europeans and Asians used to joke about by saying that it meant 'never twice the same color'...

The manufacturing of displays for Apple products has increased exponentially over the last few years, sadly also did the quality control issues...

I still love my Apple products, but I'm less and less impressed by what I purchase as time goes by. My Apple honeymoon is over.

Apple0229, how can people still claim it might be a software issue, if:

- 1 - *some* LG panels are reported as fine, and more importantly

- 2 - nearly *all* of the Samsung panels are described as image retention-free and spectacular, compared to the LG ones?

It seems to me, as a person trained in philosophy and logic, that the statements above invalidate any claim of software issues. Of course it involves subjective evaluation of displays, across a number of people with different degrees of sophistication in visual discrimination, and degree of satisfaction, yet this latter proposition does nothing to substantiate a potential software flaw.

Go to an Apple Store, put a rMBP with an LG display and another with a Samsung display, and do the test. It's actually pretty embarrassing to Apple employees when you do the test whilst all those potential customers are looking at the 'puters. Makes some potential customers slighlty less inclined to pick their wallet and shell out the dough...

Peace out

Dr Sly

This is not software.

As you said, not all displays show this. Seems to be exclusive to LG. It's also reproducible on Windows too.

Image Persistence is not a new concept and it has always been a hardware thing.

Thats not to say you couldn't negate the IR problem with some FW update that changes the screen refresh in some manner against model of panel?

I just ordered one on-line. If my display is not Samsung, I will simply return it. I don't have the patience of some to try and see if the screwed up LG display is really screwed up or really really screwed up. Mine is supposed to arrive Sept 5th. It is just a total shame that this is happening and that Apple's quality control has deteriorated. Looks like Samsung is winning the quality battle after all !! Thanks everyone for bringing this to light. You guys are awesome.