Pink tinting on new Apple LCD displays (#2): more reports; calibration issues; bad video cards

Yesterday we covered a report from a user whose two new 23" Apple Cinema Displays both display pink/magenta tinting on the edges of the screen. We've since received a good amount of feedback from readers with the new displays; the vast majority of these reports have been positive -- "perfect" pictures with good color balance.

However, we've also received a few reports confirming this problem. For example, Eric Letourneau writes:

"I recently bought a 23" display which had the pink tinting problem. I calibrated the display using SpyderPro and it reduced the pink casting. After a few days, the pink came back. Also the colors weren't uniform [across the screen]. On a 50% gray background, it goes from gray/pink to gray/blue to a more neutral gray.

"I returned the display and just received a new one yesterday. The pink casting is slightly better, but overall it has the same problem, the colors aren't consistent (pink mostly on the left). I'm a graphic designer so I need a calibrated monitor and for 2K, this one should be perfect. I'll return this one as well before I get too attached. Hopefully, Apple will fix this soon, because other that, this monitor is gorgeous."

Another reader, "HSD," is experiencing the same problem and even saw it on the display models at the local Apple Store:

"Mine is pink and requires weekly calibration to keep it usable -- if I go back to Apple's CD profile, the display is now glaring pink. Going to the Apple Store all three 23" displays which were set up were pink. (This is very noticeable by opening Safari -- the brushed metal is pink.)"

Yet another reader posted a photo attempting to demonstrate the color balance issue. (The photo is grayscale to better illustrate the contrast between different parts of the screen.) A translated excerpt from the text on the website: "[The photo] shows cut outs from the left half and the right half of the display...It cannot be calibrated [evenly] over the entire [screen]."

This issue is also being discussed in several threads (1, 2, 3) on Apple's Discussions forums.

Calibration helps? Although Eric (above) and many others haven't had long-term success recalibrating their displays, a few readers who have experienced pink/magenta color issues have found that by recalibrating the display via the Displays pane of System Preferences (specifically, the Color tab), they were able to get rid of this tinting permanently. (We should note that we've received reports of varying degrees of pink/magenta tinting, so it's possible that users are experiencing the same issue with different degrees of severity -- perhaps some displays are able to be calibrated to eliminate the issue but those with more severe cases of "pink screen" are not.)

Bad video cards may exhibit similar behavior In at least one case, the real culprit appears to be not the display but the video card in the computer using the display. Reader Fred Levick writes:

"There was a long discussion on the dpreview.com Mac forum regarding pink tinting on a new 23" monitor. The user reported her woes, and it turned out that she needed to replace her video card and the monitor was fine. See these links: 1, 2, and 3.

Drop us an email with your new Apple Cinema Display experiences at Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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