Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

brsm1990 wrote:

 

For those of you getting them to acknowledge that image retention is a valid reason to replace how are you doing it?  They're telling me it's "normal".

 

Sadly besides the image retention my display has excellent color and brightness.  The image retention is the only problem.  It will suck to replace the IR problem with an ugly color cast. 

Yeah, Apple considers the image retention normal. They have a help file here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5455?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US that explains that you're supposed to set your screensaver timer to 15 minutes to prevent image retention. Of course if you're typing on the keyboard the screensaver doesn't kick in so you're not actually supposed to type on the keyboard or move the mouse/trackpad on your Mac.

I think some people convince the Genius Bar staff of image retention by preloading the image retention. That is, as you're waiting for the Genius, do something you know that causes the image retention so when the Genius comes over you can show him immediately before performing the test.

Then, if you get your replacement, enjoy your yellow tinted screen because you don't need accurate colours anyway. This is a Mac after all that you're not even actually supposed to be using it, just showing a screensaver.

Welcome to the world of Apple.

My IR comes up in as little as two to three minutes - they see it but still claim it's "normal".  Unbelievable.

Mine acknowledged the problem (after I demonstrated, as their sham test doesn't show the problem, but a 2min manual test convinced him just fine), but I'm out of warranty, and didn't buy AppleCare, because I'm careful and expected a "best in class" screen when I dropped as much as I did on this late-2012 retina MBP.  So I'm SOL.

YMMV.  I'll certainly be thinking twice before I buy my next notebook.

bewmIES wrote:

 

Mine acknowledged the problem (after I demonstrated, as their sham test doesn't show the problem, but a 2min manual test convinced him just fine), but I'm out of warranty, and didn't buy AppleCare, because I'm careful and expected a "best in class" screen when I dropped as much as I did on this late-2012 retina MBP.  So I'm SOL.

 

YMMV.  I'll certainly be thinking twice before I buy my next notebook.

I would be dismayed to think that people out of warranty and without Apple Care are spending the $600 it costs for a display replacement only to get a yellow-tinted one.

The moral of this story is always by Apple stuff on a credit card and agressively use the "dispute charge" feature.

bewmIES wrote:

 

Mine acknowledged the problem (after I demonstrated, as their sham test doesn't show the problem, but a 2min manual test convinced him just fine), but I'm out of warranty, and didn't buy AppleCare, because I'm careful and expected a "best in class" screen when I dropped as much as I did on this late-2012 retina MBP.  So I'm SOL.

 

YMMV.  I'll certainly be thinking twice before I buy my next notebook.

My mileage did not vary, this is exactly what happened to me. 2 months after getting a July 2012 model I saw the stories about image retention but it was never visible in normal use - it needed artificial tests like checkerboards for 15 minutes so I took it that the issue was being overblown.

16 months of ownership later and the image retention is getting very noticeable, Apple's artificial test doesn't reproduce it but 2-3 minutes of normal use shows this. Apple Idiot Bar agreed with me but refuse to fix and want 500UKP to replace the screen.

Given the cost of the laptop this is unacceptable and I've had to pursue the retailer for compensation but I feel sorry for them, it's not their fault.

With this and the iPhone 5 black paint flaking issue, I am sadly reconsidering my Apple loyalty.

Yellow Tinit FIX!

JoshD, I got very good whites and perfect grays!!! Yey for me So here is how to do it:

I used the Spyder4Pro sensor in combination with Argyll (http://argyllcms.com/) and dispcalGUI (http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/). Both programs are open source and free! After setting up your Spyder4Pro (I think Express should work just fine too), download and unzip Argyll CMS into a folder on your desktop. Then download dispcalGUI, which is basically a GUI front end for Argyll. Once you run dispcalGUI it will first ask you to point it to the Argyle binary folder, which is the bin/ folder in the Argyll directory. Then it will ask you for your password, the sysadmin password, so it can run commands as root.

Read the docs about how to use dispcalGUI, but it’s very self explanatory, for the most part. After you got all your settings down, like color temp and such, select “Calibrate and Profile.” Make sure to leave your computer plugged in, set to static 50% brightness, and disable sleep. This calibration and profile step is automated, but it’s going to take 2-3 hours!

The difference is in the amount of data Argyll collects, vs. the Spyder4Pro app. Argyle uses 128 data points, and take something like over 300 measurements. The result is a very detailed and accurate color profile. The result is worth the time, all the colors are perfect. The only problem is very slight red tint to the whites. Unfortunately that simply is impossible to calibrate out due to the actual backlight being slightly pink. But, other then that, the rest is perfect. It’s a night and day difference, compared to the stock profile, and significantly better then the Spyder4Pro profile created by the stock software.

x0054 wrote:

 

I used the Spyder4Pro sensor in combination with Argyll (http://argyllcms.com/) and dispcalGUI (http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/).

I'm going to try this too but I'd like to see photographs of your calibrated display next to the display of another machine at an Apple store.

Merch Visoiu wrote:

 

I'm going to try this too but I'd like to see photographs of your calibrated display next to the display of another machine at an Apple store.

Considering how busy the malls are, that's not happening any time soon. But, here is a link to my profile: http://toleap.com/rmbp/DisocalGUI%20Color%20LCD%202013-12-19%20D6500%202.2%20M-S %203xCurve+MTX.icc

It’s probably not going to look great on screen other then my own, but who knows. I have a 2012 15” rMBP with Yellow Tint Samsung Screen.

just came back from my local best buy and they had one 15" rMBP on display. it had a samsung display and very even lighting.  didn't see any IR but only tested for about 2 minutes.  no creaking either!!  i know best buy can be noisy so i was really getting close to the computer by putting my ear down and couldn't replicate anything creaking noise.  i tried to find out when it was built by searching the serial number but even that didn't show up.  Could be so new that serial no. is not registered yet?

Anyhow, good rMBPs are out there!  i was really tempted to buy one from Best Buy but it's $60 more expensive than my EPP discount at the apple store

ah well, maybe I'll wait a few weeks.

x0054 wrote:

 

Merch Visoiu wrote:

 

I'm going to try this too but I'd like to see photographs of your calibrated display next to the display of another machine at an Apple store.

Considering how busy the malls are, that's not happening any time soon. But, here is a link to my profile: http://toleap.com/rmbp/DisocalGUI%20Color%20LCD%202013-12-19%20D6500%202.2%20M-S %203xCurve+MTX.icc

 

It’s probably not going to look great on screen other then my own, but who knows. I have a 2012 15” rMBP with Yellow Tint Samsung Screen.

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I think I'll run this overnight and see what happens. I tried your profile and it's quite good. It's quite a bit pinker than the Spyder4Pro result but it definitely feels like the greys are overall more neutral. Will update soon.

Merch Visoiu wrote:

 

x0054 wrote:

 

I used the Spyder4Pro sensor in combination with Argyll (http://argyllcms.com/) and dispcalGUI (http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/).

 

I'm going to try this too but I'd like to see photographs of your calibrated display next to the display of another machine at an Apple store.

Probably a pic of the calibrated vs default would show the story. You'll see that the default is shockingly green/yellow.    

I have a slightly off topic question about the claibration with spyder.  I asked spyder about the capability of the various models.  I have a macbook pro, mac mini and a couple of external monitors. 

I asked them:

My usages are photography and videography. 

 

I have a thunderbolt, macbook retina, macbook air and some third party monitors and HD TVs around the home and office.  Will the Express do what I need or do I need one of the higher end models?

 

I don't need it to do my TV per se but ti would be a cool added bonus.  I thought of this because I saw that you have a "TV" model.

They said:

thank you very much for your message and your faith in Datacolor products.

 

We are very sorry, the Spyder4EXPRESS will not meet your requirements as it can only calibrate one display per computer and does not have an ambient light measurement to adjust the display brightness correctly (to avoid dark printouts due to a to bright display).

 

It must be at least a Spyder4PRO maybe a Spyder4ELITE.

The Spyder4ELITE will also allow a calibration to the rec. 709 standard that is important in videography, the Spyder4PRO does not have this option.

There are more differences you can find here:

http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyder4elite/#jtabs-4

You said:

I used the Spyder4Pro sensor in combination with Argyll (http://argyllcms.com/) and dispcalGUI (http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/). Both programs are open source and free!

My question, will those third party freeware applications you mentioned allow me to to calibrate more than one monitor?  Those higher end models are kinda pricey!

My mileage did not vary, this is exactly what happened to me. 2 months after getting a July 2012 model I saw the stories about image retention but it was never visible in normal use - it needed artificial tests like checkerboards for 15 minutes so I took it that the issue was being overblown.

 

16 months of ownership later and the image retention is getting very noticeable, Apple's artificial test doesn't reproduce it but 2-3 minutes of normal use shows this. Apple Idiot Bar agreed with me but refuse to fix and want 500UKP to replace the screen.

 

They still will not even acknowledge it's a problem with mine and mine IS under warranty.

brsm1990 wrote:

 

My question, will those third party freeware applications you mentioned allow me to to calibrate more than one monitor?  Those higher end models are kinda pricey!

I am not sure. I just returned my Spyder4Pro today and ordered Spyder4Express from Amazon. It's 1/2 the price of the Pro, so I want to see if express will do the trick. The Express is basically the same unit minus the ambient light sensor. I don’t have a dedicated work space, so the ambient light sensor is not necessary for my use.

The only thing I am worried about is weather or not I can install drivers on multiple machines. As long as Spyder4Express drivers get installed, Argyll should do the rest. It has settings to select which Screen you would like to calibrate, lets you select arbitrary gamma and color temperature, and all kinds of other options. To be honest, it has way more options then I am familiar with. I’ll get to play with it more once I get my Spyder4Express in the mail some time next week.

But, to illustrate the difference, take a look at the color correction curves produced by Argyll (on the left) and Spyder4Pro Software (on the right). http://toleap.com/rmbp/curve-compare.png You can see that the Argyll curves are much smoother.

Any way, sorry, can’t say for sure if Express will work with Argyll, but if it can work, you should be able to calibrate any number of attached displays. I’ll check in next week once I know for sure.