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zorinlynx

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 31, 2007
8,173
17,708
Florida, USA
I've noticed screen burn-in (well, persistence; it goes away after a different image is displayed for a while, and doesn't seem permanent, but it's easier to say burn-in) a lot more lately on my iMac17,1 (late-2015, 27") and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this. It seems to happen more near the edges of the screen.

I don't remember burn-in when the machine was new, and I've always had a lot of static content on the screen even early in the machine's life so this definitely seems like a more recent phenomenon.

Has anyone else seen burn-in on their late-2015 or other iMac models? This machine is out of warranty so I'm probably boned but I was just wondering if this was a common problem.
 

poked

macrumors 6502
Nov 19, 2014
267
150
Do you have a picture example of the issue? I’m curious as to what it means. Most users have pink around the edges, but I’m not sure that’s your issue.
 

wilberforce

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2020
2,889
3,161
SF Bay Area
I've noticed screen burn-in (well, persistence; it goes away after a different image is displayed for a while, and doesn't seem permanent, but it's easier to say burn-in) a lot more lately on my iMac17,1 (late-2015, 27") and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this. It seems to happen more near the edges of the screen.

I don't remember burn-in when the machine was new, and I've always had a lot of static content on the screen even early in the machine's life so this definitely seems like a more recent phenomenon.

Has anyone else seen burn-in on their late-2015 or other iMac models? This machine is out of warranty so I'm probably boned but I was just wondering if this was a common problem.
Yes, I had image persistence on my 2014 27" iMac, and it gradually got worse. It was one of the reasons I traded it in for a 2020 iMac. It is a very common problem on 2014 and 2015 27" retina iMacs, especially around the edges. It is not permanent like burn-in, but occurs after only a few minutes of use. Many users are probably not even aware they have it. The easiest way to check for it is to click on Launchpad, and a shadow of the menu bar will persist at the top of the screen.
It is apparently a result of the sub-pixels being overdriven. (It had nothing to do with how bright the screen is turned up, as the brightness is the intensity of the backlight, not the intensity of the pixels.) A workaround that appears to help is (found on Reddit):

Go to System Preferences -> Displays -> (Built-in Retina Display) Colour tab -> Calibrate...

In Calibration, drag the white point slider to the far right (most blue light). This causes the screen to become extremely blue, so to cancel this out:

Select Night shift, adjust warmth to preferred level (far right for best results), and set up the night shift schedule to always be on.

Essentially what this does is makes the display dimmer by applying two filters that counteract each other. As a result, the pixels themselves emit less 'light' or color, and are not driven to the point at which color retention occurs. The disadvantage is that it makes the display less color accurate.

The other common issue with 2015 iMacs is pink edges:
 
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Ledgem

macrumors 68020
Jan 18, 2008
2,034
924
Hawaii, USA
Yes, and as noted above, it's an issue with the panels used. I have a LG Ultrafine 27" 5K display (revision A, I think, so one of the originals) that I use as a secondary display with my iMac, and it has the same problem. It's more of a nuisance than anything else, but doesn't get in the way of productivity for me. Glad to hear it's been fixed on later monitors.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,649
4,051
New Zealand
Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but has anyone else run into this issue with a 2020 iMac? I have a "ghostly" menu bar and part of a Discord window that I can see when the screen is filled with colours such as light blue.

You should be able to make out part of the menu bar in the attached photo (it doesn't show up in screenshots).

IMG_3135.JPG
 
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