LCD fades when turning it on Help Needed!!!

Quantum3

Hi guys, I need your help.

I have bought an Apple Cinema Display of 20" and something weird happens when I turn it on. The screen fades quickly when I turn it on. Not too slow, not too quick, but noticeable (around 0.5 secs from off to on). I would like to know if this strange behavior could be considered a technical problem of the display or a sign of malfunction. I'm concerned that LCD displays have not a visible delay between going from off to on. Please, I will need a quick reply, since the guarantee of my Display is attempting to expire.

Thanks in advance,

Mart

Newsy

Quantum3 wrote:

Hi guys, I need your help.

I have bought an Apple Cinema Display of 20" and something weird happens when I turn it on. The screen fades quickly when I turn it on. Not too slow, not too quick, but noticeable (around 0.5 secs from off to on). I would like to know if this strange behavior could be considered a technical problem of the display or a sign of malfunction. I'm concerned that LCD displays have not a visible delay between going from off to on. Please, I will need a quick reply, since the guarantee of my Display is attempting to expire.

Thanks in advance,

Mart

More info please.... I have several questions rumbling around.

Specific model number?

Is this a new monitor? How old?

Backlight - CCFL or the new LED type?

Do you have any calibration software loaded that would adjust the monitor's brightness for a lower white luminence level?

How much does it fade - to black? to barely visible? to half brightness?

.

Quantum3

Newsy wrote:

More info please.... I have several questions rumbling around.

Specific model number?

Is this a new monitor? How old?

Backlight - CCFL or the new LED type?

Do you have any calibration software loaded that would adjust the monitor's brightness for a lower white luminence level?

How much does it fade - to black? to barely visible? to half brightness?

.

I'm sorry, here is the info:

I have bought an LCD Apple Cinema Display 20". I don't know the model, but here is a photo http://www.macexperts.gr/zcn/images/Apple_Cinema_Display_23.jpeg

The monitor seems to be new, but I don't certainly know about that because I already bought one in December 9 year 2008 but I asked to the mac store a change because the monitor got an stuck pixel. They changed me the monitor about 4 days ago, so I assume this is a new monitor.

I have the EyeOne, but the profile I did it's not installed. However, I have never seen a fade when turning on an LCD monitor.

Well... that's all the info I can give...

I'm awaiting your reply,

Thank you very much

Mart

rhjf

Sounds to me like a hardware problem. I have a 30-inch ACD (Apple Cinema Display) and have never seen this problem; previously I used a 20-inch version and no problems there, either. Assuming you have it connected to a Mac, the only time when you might see any visible 'change' in colour/brightness resulting from a colour profile would be after logging in (or just after starting up if you are the only user on your machine): that is the moment when the OS applies the user's chosen colour profile. If you're already logged-in when you wake the computer from sleep, no change should visibly occur as the system comes on because it's already loaded your colour profile. So, if you're seeing your 'dimming' phenomenon at different moments, then it's not related to colour profiles (presumably).

What computer is it connected to? It could feasibly be a problem with your video card rather than with your display. At this point you should either take the whole system to Apple for warranty repair, or else start a process of elimination: plug your display into another computer (or at least another video card), then try a different DVI display connected to your computer. Of course all that is dependent on your being able to beg or borrow someone else's equipment if you haven't got alternatives yourself.

Quantum3

rhjf wrote:

Sounds to me like a hardware problem. I have a 30-inch ACD (Apple Cinema Display) and have never seen this problem; previously I used a 20-inch version and no problems there, either. Assuming you have it connected to a Mac, the only time when you might see any visible 'change' in colour/brightness resulting from a colour profile would be after logging in (or just after starting up if you are the only user on your machine): that is the moment when the OS applies the user's chosen colour profile. If you're already logged-in when you wake the computer from sleep, no change should visibly occur as the system comes on because it's already loaded your colour profile. So, if you're seeing your 'dimming' phenomenon at different moments, then it's not related to colour profiles (presumably).

What computer is it connected to? It could feasibly be a problem with your video card rather than with your display. At this point you should either take the whole system to Apple for warranty repair, or else start a process of elimination: plug your display into another computer (or at least another video card), then try a different DVI display connected to your computer. Of course all that is dependent on your being able to beg or borrow someone else's equipment if you haven't got alternatives yourself.

That's a very good idea! I will plug it in other computer

You know, I already bought an Apple Cinema Display in December 2008. Around the week number 3 the monitor got an stuck sub pixel so I went to the Mac Store and asked for a change or repair. They rejected my both things saying that Apple only changes monitors with more than 5 dead pixels. I already knew a friend of mine got an Apple Cinema Display 1 month ago and they changed him the Display because one dead pixel, and, the monitor they gave him also suffered the death of 3 pixels: they were liying to me. I told them "Hey! You already changed 2 times the monitor to a friend of mine! which wasn't with 5 dead pixels!". They negated that as well. After 3 months, this Mac Store phones me and changes my monitor for a new display (the one which has this problem when turning it on).
It's not a matter of profiles because it's not the behavior when the computer loads the profile, when the brightness and color things gets like updated when the calibrated ICM is loaded. It's that the monitor fades from 0% brightness to 100% in a bit less than a second. With the old monitor, the one with 1 dead sub pixel turned it on, meaning to 100% of brightness, meaning to 100% fully on without fading, like any LCD does, it goes to 100% on so fast that we cannot see the process, all the oposite of CRT monitors. Well, my new LCD behaves like a CRT when turning it on but it doesn't take the same amount of time than a CRT, but the behavior is the same. What do you think about this? I'm pretty sure I will get same results when plugin the display in other computer. Also, I have a PC and that's not the problem, as far as I know, since the other Apple cinema display worked perfectly. So I don't think it could be a Video Card problem. Please, let me know what do you think. I will try it in other PC anyway. I don't think these guys from Mac will change my monitor again since the first time was just "No will not change". I'm decoided to start a law process if I must do it.
I'm from Argentina, Mac Stores are authorized by Apple here but tehse stores don't take care of these things more than sell stuff. Also, their technical support sucks. Last time I went to the store I had to point where was the stuck sub pixel!!! They didn't know what the hell was an stuck pixel!!! So imagine... It's not the first time I have to use a lawyer because of these things.

Well, thanks for replaying

Mart

Newsy

Are you using a converter to go from the PC's DVI port to the Apple's DisplayPort ?

.

rhjf

Newsy wrote:

Are you using a converter to go from the PC's DVI port to the Apple's DisplayPort ?

Given that Quantum3 said that he's dealing with a 20-inch display, we’re talking about one with DVI-in. The new models with mini DisplayPort are only available in a 24-inch size.

Quantum3 wrote:

It's not a matter of profiles because it's not the behavior when the computer loads the profile, when the brightness and color things gets like updated when the calibrated ICM is loaded. It's that the monitor fades from 0% brightness to 100% in a bit less than a second. With the old monitor, the one with 1 dead sub pixel turned it on, meaning to 100% of brightness, meaning to 100% fully on without fading, like any LCD does, it goes to 100% on so fast that we cannot see the process, all the oposite of CRT monitors. Well, my new LCD behaves like a CRT when turning it on but it doesn't take the same amount of time than a CRT, but the behavior is the same. What do you think about this?

This certainly sounds like faulty hardware, possibly a backlight issue. I'm sorry to hear that you're going to have such trouble in persuading your local reseller to swap it, especially given that you've already had it swapped out once. But your timeline sounds like you've had this screen for about two months already: is that right? Good luck with getting it sorted!

Quantum3

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

rhjf wrote:

Given that Quantum3 said that he's dealing with a 20-inch display, we’re talking about one with DVI-in. The new models with mini DisplayPort are only available in a 24-inch size.



This certainly sounds like faulty hardware, possibly a backlight issue. I'm sorry to hear that you're going to have such trouble in persuading your local reseller to swap it, especially given that you've already had it swapped out once. But your timeline sounds like you've had this screen for about two months already: is that right? Good luck with getting it sorted!

Yeah, yeah!!! You got the message in every single word!!! Thanks a lot you got the idea! Sorry for my bad English, by the way ^^!

What do you mean with "backlight" in this context? I know the meaning of that word, but not inside this context. I would appreciate some explaniation about that. I figure is related with the screen, but wondering what

Anyway! Thanks a lot for the help!

Mart

rhjf

Quantum3 wrote:

What do you mean with "backlight" in this context? I know the meaning of that word, but not inside this context. I would appreciate some explaniation about that. I figure is related with the screen, but wondering what

Mart, I'm no expert, but I'll try to explain. An LCD monitor has to have two principal elements in order to work: first, the matrix of translucent liquid-crystal pixels which change colour independently to display your image; second, something which goes behind this matrix of pixels to shine light through so that you can actually see what the pixels are displaying. This is the backlight (a light at the back of the crystals); without it, your image would appear very faint indeed. When you are adjusting the brightness of your display, you are in fact adjusting how much light the backlight is producing. On Apple and other notebooks you can in fact turn the brightness all the way down to turn off the backlight; you can only see anything on the screen then if you have a very bright light shining on to the screen, and of course your colour definition and contrast will have gone to pot.

As so often, Wikipedia can be your friend. The backlight on your display is CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps); more recent displays have LED backlights which use less energy, last longer, and produce a whiter light.

Looking at what you've posted about how your display is behaving, my layman's take on the matter is that there is some electrical problem with how your CCFL backlight is behaving which means that it cannot maintain a constant brightness level. This is definitely something that you need a qualified technician to repair.

Good luck!

Quantum3

rhjf wrote:

Mart, I'm no expert, but I'll try to explain. An LCD monitor has to have two principal elements in order to work: first, the matrix of translucent liquid-crystal pixels which change colour independently to display your image; second, something which goes behind this matrix of pixels to shine light through so that you can actually see what the pixels are displaying. This is the backlight (a light at the back of the crystals); without it, your image would appear very faint indeed. When you are adjusting the brightness of your display, you are in fact adjusting how much light the backlight is producing. On Apple and other notebooks you can in fact turn the brightness all the way down to turn off the backlight; you can only see anything on the screen then if you have a very bright light shining on to the screen, and of course your colour definition and contrast will have gone to pot.

As so often, Wikipedia can be your friend. The backlight on your display is CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps); more recent displays have LED backlights which use less energy, last longer, and produce a whiter light.

Looking at what you've posted about how your display is behaving, my layman's take on the matter is that there is some electrical problem with how your CCFL backlight is behaving which means that it cannot maintain a constant brightness level. This is definitely something that you need a qualified technician to repair.

Good luck!

Hi there, long time without being here... I have been quite busy working

I finally bought a MacPro and things are going perfect. I think that problem was with the PC because the screen now works perfect

Thanks a lot for your and other people time

Mart