My new MacBook display has a pink-ish tint

Question

My new MacBook display has a pink-ish tint

I just got a white 1.83 MacBook yesterday. I do some graphic design work (nothing major). While comparing the same shots of a creme-colored building on both the MacBook and an Intel iMac, the 'Book displays the color as orange-pink rather than the ivory/off-white that it should be. I notice that it just seems to distort any light colors but doesn't affect darker earth tones.

Lovely.

intel iMac Core Duo 20", MacBook Pro 2.0 Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

intel iMac Core Duo 20", MacBook Pro 2.0 Ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on May 17, 2006 12:25 PM

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Answer 1

May 20, 2006 10:07 AM in response to Northoak

Looks like this is the exact same issue:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=437448

including the fact that it won't let me calibrate. I'll try rebooting, as according to that thread, and report back after the calibration.

I work with color every day at work, so I'm very sure that the color is off right now, and that it actually change overnight. Maybe these displays "settle in" or something.

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Answer 2

Jun 3, 2006 1:02 PM in response to Susan Dennis

Susan, how is it going?

I was in the market too for a MB, but came across this:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=506608&tstart=0

It appears (if you click on his link www.john...... you will see he went through 3 MB before deciding on a refurb g4.

I hope this gets sorted out - may have to go with a different GPU or offer a dedicated GPU. The problem, if heat/hardware related could be due to the GPU core being so close to the CPU whereas the Pro lines GPU dedicated are further away from the CPU and heat (95C).

Hope this gets resolved!

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Answer 3

Jun 3, 2006 1:03 PM in response to Susan Dennis

I decided to return my original Macbook (there were a
couple of other issues as well, so that was that) and
received the replacement yesterday. The screen looks
better and brigher overall, but still has a faint
pink tint, but not quite as noticeable. I am hoping
that it will get a little better as the screen
"settles". Also, the speakers are much louder on this
one (thank goodness, I could barely hear the other
ones). This replacement came from a completely
different warehouse, so it's from a different batch
of Macbook's all together which leads me to think
that they may all have this tint...perhaps it's
because of the glossy screen coating. Truly, I never
would have noticed it if it weren't for the fact that
I have three other Macs to compare it to. I would
imagine that most people don't or won't even notice
it.

So, I've decided to keep this one barring other
things cropping up (I have thirty days from date of
purchase to return of replace). Everything else is
great so far.

Susan, how is it going?

I was in the market too for a MB, but came across this:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=506608&tstart=0

It appears (if you click on his link www.john...... you will see he went through 3 MB before deciding on a refurb g4.

I hope this gets sorted out - may have to go with a different GPU or offer a dedicated GPU. The problem, if heat/hardware related could be due to the GPU core being so close to the CPU whereas the Pro lines GPU dedicated are further away from the CPU and heat (95C).

Hope this gets resolved!

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Answer 4

mhunter

Level 6

9,191 points

May 17, 2006 12:47 PM in response to Benjamin Radparvar

You should be able to change this in the screen calibration.

Go to preferences, the Display, then color.

Choose calibrate, and play with the settings in there.

They have a variety of settings in there that you can use to tweak the display to your preferences / conditions.

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Answer 5

May 17, 2006 2:25 PM in response to mhunter

I've tried it myself and even took it to an Apple Store where one of the Geniuses played with it. He claimed to have a background in graphic design and noticed the pink/peach tint as well. After fiddling with the advanced calibration settings, it just doesn't look good compared to the iMac sitting beside it. I can't seem to get a true yellow but only pink or peach.

I understand that not all displays are uniform, but I'm wondering if it should be this different between the MacBook and iMac. It's hard to describe but obvious if you look at it.

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Answer 6

May 17, 2006 3:13 PM in response to mhunter

Embarassingly, I didn't look close enough to discern. The Genius claimed to have "calibrated" the MacBook for me and essentially sent me on my way. It wasn't until I got back to the office and began comparing the same screen and image across various computers when I noticed that all he did was make the colors "cooler" (bluer) to offset the pink.

To illustrate, the Airport menubar when it is not active should have gray "reception waves" to show that they are dimmed. Well, mine aren't gray but more like a dirty gray or bronze.

I've tried to adjust every calibration setting in advanced mode in every which way to no avail. I just cannot seem to replicate the tones on the iMac or even a Dell on one of my colleague's desk. Furthermore, I took into account that the glossy display might be an issue here with regards to the angle, but even adjusting the tilt didn't change anything.

Anyway, Apple tech support has agreed to allow me to swap the machine. Others should be aware of this potential defect -- assuming it's not an insignificant anomaly.

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Answer 7

May 18, 2006 12:06 PM in response to Benjamin Radparvar

Agreed. the ones i saw on display had the pink tint as well. This same problem plagued the Hi-Res PowerBooks but thankfully it could be easily re-calibrated. My MBP also had a yellowish tint and was extremely hard to calibrate because it kept giving me blue tints instead which isnt what i want.

I dunno whats up with apple display calibrations lately.

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Answer 8

Only XM

Level 2

371 points

May 20, 2006 6:42 AM in response to El Presidente

First of all, it's magenta, not pink. This is not the problem that plagues the 23-inch cinema display. If you are not familiar with it, open iTunes on a 20 and and 23 next to each other and look at the whites. You will see it.

I had the MB and MBP next to each other and opened the same programs. The tint in the MBP is very subtle and did not have much impact at all. I opened iPhoto on both and paged through the photos as the same time on both machines. Unless you were looking for the slight tint, you wouldn't notice it. I also noticed that it was even more slight when looking at the screen head on, rather than from above, as the units are on display at an angle you would never use it.

Just my 2 cents....

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Answer 9

May 20, 2006 9:21 AM in response to mhunter

I got a replacement and it, too, exhibits the same peach/pink tinting. Again, no amount of fiddling with the expert calibration settings can get it to look like the same image I see on my iMac and on other machines.

My feeling is that this might have something to do with the glossy coating on the new MacBooks, perhaps? I don't remember seeing anything this dramatic on the non-glossy MBPs.

Nevertheless, given that I won't be using the MB for any serious graphic design work, I'm prepared to live with it because it performs well in every other aspect.

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Answer 10

May 20, 2006 9:44 AM in response to Benjamin Radparvar

I just got a new MB yesterday, and initially the display was fine. Same colors as my other Macs, but brighter and crisper. However over the last 12 hours the display has started to tint seriously towards Cyan. At first I thought it was just me, or maybe the viewing angle, but when I finally put it side by side again with my Powerbook, it was clear that the display has gone very Cyan.

I'm going to try some calibration stuff, but I may very well bring it in for a swap if this holds up.

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Answer 11

May 20, 2006 10:21 AM in response to FlunkedFlank

Well whaddya know, upon rebooting the display was totally fine again. I haven't even done the calibration yet. (Although it is correct that upon rebooting there is a new "Color LCD" profile that is now calibratable.)

I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for this and see if it becomes a recurring problem. One thing is that I was doing a bunch of fast user switching between two accounts. Looking back, it may have been triggered by that since I noticed it pretty soon after doing a bunch of switching. Although I was getting up and moving from the computer a lot, so I'm not positive about that at all.

AlumBook 15" Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Answer 12

May 20, 2006 10:44 AM in response to FlunkedFlank

If you open and view Apple's new adds on your MB, you'll probably notice pink squares popping up in the (what should be completely white) background. I think the problem is in the integrated graphics. Every Macbook I've seen displays this though... not really a HUGE problem since this isnt a pro-level machine.

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Answer 13

mhunter

Level 6

9,191 points

May 20, 2006 11:03 AM in response to Pablo Santa

As mentioned by someone else, connecting an external monitor would help to determine if it is actually the fault of the integrated graphics chip or the glossy LCD panel.

That would be the most telling test.

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Answer 14

zwarbo

Level 2

160 points

May 20, 2006 12:33 PM in response to FlunkedFlank

Mine also showed a slight pink tint.
However I only noticed it when compared to my iMac G5.
Its not noticable when using the Macbook alone. I guess its my eyes have colour balanced to the one screen.

I really think its true that Professional Photo & graphic editors need the Pro line Apple hardware & the Macbook is aimed just for the consumer market where colour grading is not required.

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Answer 15

May 20, 2006 11:25 PM in response to FlunkedFlank

I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for this and see
if it becomes a recurring problem. One thing is that
I was doing a bunch of fast user switching between
two accounts. Looking back, it may have been
triggered by that since I noticed it pretty soon
after doing a bunch of switching.

Ahah! I'm not crazy! This is exactly what I was seeing:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060103162354164

It was definitely the Color Profile getting unset from the fast user switching, because the colors I see when I switch profiles manually (to either Generic RGB or Adobe RGB) are the same blown-out blues that I saw before.

I guess this bug still exists in 1.4.6. It might only happen before the first (or second) reboot when using a new computer, because until that reboot the "Color LCD" profile doesn't exist in the list for some reason. Or at least that's what I noticed.

AlumBook 15" Mac OS X (10.3.9) MacBook 1.83 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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