I ran diagnostics & everything checked out. I upgraded to latest OS. Still the display looks crappy. Can it be some setting? I am not a techie (but I spawned a few) so I would appreciate some advice on where one might look for culprits. OH, and I just upgraded to el Capitan hoping to shake off some malware but it's still here. Can that be the problem I need to first resolve?
MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11)
I'd get rid of the malware first, because it's generally very annoying to have on your computer (I suppose you get all sorts of pop-up ads and/or your computer is slowed down). It's also possible it influences different settings, your Display settings for example. What is the malware you found? Have you tried running Malwarebytes to remove it?
You can get Malwarebytes here (it's free) : https://www.malwarebytes.com/antimalware/mac/
If Malwarebytes doesn't help, don't worry, you can still remove it, it just means you'll have to find the files to delete yourself. Tell us which malware you have and we'll help you.
As for the screen, I would try different screen resolutions. When you go in your System Preferences, in Display, you should be able to select a resolution. I recommend reading this article : http://www.imore.com/how-change-display-settings-your-mac
Just to make sure, are you only using the display that is part of the Macbook or are you using one or more external displays?
SI have couple of strange Issues, some may be gone since I upgraded to el Capitan. I was surprised to see the same display issue - which may simply be a display setting (I am just using the built-in display.) Desktop still looks primitive: sharp contrast, indistinct lines, etc - just as I have seen in 'Safe Mode'
Right now, rather than seeing just BLACK & WHITE type here, I am actually seeing colors in the text [Ever have one of those colored pencils with different hues in the lead, so part of a line may be blue, red, green, etc?] I don't know that it would show up in a screen shot... but we'll give it a shot:
Oh, the malware was 'Jimbrie' I guess & malwarebyte took care of that. I also had 'Advance Mac Clean' that was demanding! I accidently allowed an 'upgrade' of adobe Flash last week that I think was one culprit at least. I ordinarliy use Chrome but am now using Safari since my el Capitan upgrade this morning...
The screen shot shows black on white, as it should be.
Have you tried resetting the NVRAM How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support?
This article was written for people who use external displays, but I think the "If you see contrast or color issues" section can be useful for you : Get help with video issues on external displays connected to your Mac - Apple Support
It could also be a hardware issue with the display or video card. Have you tried to run Apple Diagnostics? Using Apple Diagnostics - Apple Support
That was interesting. The desktop display was perfect after the NVRAM reset - for nearly a second then relapsed! So I did it twice more... same thing. Now I've run the diagnostic again & the same "No issues Found"! I didn't see anything in the other article that I could relate to... Nothing connected to the laptop but the power cord.... The type here now does look just BLACK again... No interesting color effects... I think I am still in diagnostic mode though. Thanks
Try running this program and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.
Well, I just had my 'SCREENHERO' (my techie son) resolve the problem and it seems that it was a setting in 'Assessibility' in my system preferences. The 'Display Contrast' was set near the maximum. He could not see it that way on his monitor by the way. He took a screen shot of what he was seeing and I compared my monitor to his. He found the solution here I guess https://fatmixx.com/2007/11/02/washed-out-colors-on-a-macbook-pro-or-any-mac-os- x-computer/
Don't know why or how the setting got changed, but I am so thankful it's back to normal! Thank you all for all your help! Now I'll get to see what I think of el Capitan I guess. Thanks again! Enjoy your week! ~ Sue
My MacBook Air display looks like 'safe mode'
