Ok, so are these lines software or hardware related?

[Anthony8720]

Just curious. I got my new pb and am overall very very happy with it. But i am a biologist and work that i do requires up close scrutinay of several photographs. These horizontal lines make that very annoying. If this is a software problem i wont be that discouraged, but if it is hardware i may have to get a pre-october refurb. Anyone have any insight into this issue?

 

[g0gie]

All signs point to a hardware issue, although theres a possibility of it being a firmware issue, but at this time its most likley hardware

 

[ITASOR]

Personally, I think it's a refresh rate issue which I think is a software issue. If I put any of my LCDs on the wrong refresh rate, they have identical lines to those of the powerbook.

 

[kjellhar]

If it is a software problem (which I also suspect), it should be possible to make it disappear by installing linux and tweeking the video settings. It may also be a firmware issue, and it won't be fixed until Apple address the problem.

So, has anyone tried the new PB with Linux??

Personally I don't see it as a problem. I have to get as close as 15cm from the screen to actually see the effect. I know that would give me a headache, lines or not

 

[Spectrum]

ITASOR, the lines you see when you put other LCDs on the wrong refresh rate: do they _really_ look like the alternate 1 pixel wide static horizontal lines on the PBs?

I only ask, because the PBs also show a variety of wider horizontal "interference" banding and wavy dynamic diagonal banding in some colours, which is worse in the top left of the screen. And I wonder if this is what you refer to.

Cheers!

p.s Not got your pixelmurder to do its trick yet on one rouge sticky pixel - but it's fun all the same

Personally, I think it's a refresh rate issue which I think is a software issue. If I put any of my LCDs on the wrong refresh rate, they have identical lines to those of the powerbook.

 

[pubwvj]

Just curious. I got my new pb and am overall very very happy with it. But i am a biologist and work that i do requires up close scrutinay of several photographs. These horizontal lines make that very annoying. If this is a software problem i wont be that discouraged, but if it is hardware i may have to get a pre-october refurb. Anyone have any insight into this issue?

Another possibility is that the problem is in the wetware. Some uses see it others don't. It might be that some hardware has it. It might be that Apple had it in the initial machines but not now. I say that because I just got a PowerBook 15" and the screen is beautiful. No lines. No flicker. No waves. Bright and crisp. I love it.

 

[emw]

This is being debated ad nauseam in this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/158751/

 

[hsaybasili]

There must be a config file by which refresh rate is adustable. I am going to try to find it out. (yes I just have an ibook , but I am a very curious person )

In linux it is /etc/X11/xorg.conf (was /etc/X11/XF86Config) in which you can set all the display properties including refresh rates. As OS X is based on UNIX, there must be a config file to edit manually. Or let say I hope

Trying with a Linux live cd (for power pc architecture of course) may give some ideas. There are a lot of distributions: Ubuntu and Yellow Dog for example... If it works in linux without lines, then this is a software problem. If the lines exists, you can (I am not very sure but worth to try) also change the xorg.conf even if this is a live cd version. You can edit these files and restart Xserver afterwards.

If it is a software problem (which I also suspect), it should be possible to make it disappear by installing linux and tweeking the video settings. It may also be a firmware issue, and it won't be fixed until Apple address the problem.

So, has anyone tried the new PB with Linux??

Personally I don't see it as a problem. I have to get as close as 15cm from the screen to actually see the effect. I know that would give me a headache, lines or not