01-11-2007, 05:33 PM

Whenever I move the angle of my screen or if I put my MBP down on a table (causing a slight jostle), the middle of the image on my screen ripples like the surface of water when a pebble hits it. It is a circle about the size of a quarter and it does not happen everytime I move it, but it does occur quite frequently. Is this normal?

Do any of you know what is causing this?

01-11-2007, 05:41 PM

My best guess without seeing it would be that theres something trapped between your lid and your panel thats putting pressure on the screen. I've seen it before and eventually it will crack your panel from behind. Although, in all honesty the one time i saw this problem it was caused by the user trying to repair a screen by himself (moron).

Thats a pretty weird problem, sorry i dont have any more suggestions.

I hope this helps

01-11-2007, 05:49 PM

The odd thing is that it is right behind the apple image that lights up on the other side. And this is new, so I know that it cannot be something stuck in there.

01-12-2007, 02:25 AM

Has the apple logo had any kind of impact on it? Perhaps something has come loose and lodged itself behind the panel. This could be the early warning sign of something much worse. I suggest that you have someone look at it.

Just to clairify, how would you describe the "ripple" is it like you tapped the LCD with your finger?

01-12-2007, 02:29 AM

old lcds used to do this all the time. i remember the ones we used to use on all the old server racks we had for kvms, you could run your finger across them and ripples would trail your finger. it was kind of neat. i have to admit, i did it a lot...

newer ones though, probably shouldn't do this to any real noticable extent.

01-12-2007, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by eric

old lcds used to do this all the time. i remember the ones we used to use on all the old server racks we had for kvms, you could run your finger across them and ripples would trail your finger. it was kind of neat. i have to admit, i did it a lot...

newer ones though, probably shouldn't do this to any real noticable extent.

Eric, thats exactly what i'm thinking, you can put pressure on the back of LCD panels and get that same effect on the viewable part of the screen. So its pretty logical that something stuck inbetween the lid and panel could do that.

I Havnt taken apart a MBP so i dont know what kind of components are inbetween the panel and lid. Unless a Mac Tech can shed some light on this...

01-12-2007, 02:52 AM

yeah, you may be right...
rpmgatech, does the ripple appear to eminate from the same place in the middle every time? if so, i'd agree with the concensus.

01-20-2007, 11:24 AM

I know what you guys are thinking, but it doesn't do that when I press with my finger. For instance, right now if I move my screen, it won't ripple. But maybe in about a few hours it will. It is kind of weird. The only difference that I have been able to discern between when it does it and when it doesn't is the temperature of the room I am in. If the room is extremely cold, it will ripple, if it is normal temperature, it will be fine.

01-20-2007, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by rpmgatech

I know what you guys are thinking, but it doesn't do that when I press with my finger. For instance, right now if I move my screen, it won't ripple. But maybe in about a few hours it will. It is kind of weird. The only difference that I have been able to discern between when it does it and when it doesn't is the temperature of the room I am in. If the room is extremely cold, it will ripple, if it is normal temperature, it will be fine.

The Apple logo is a piece of transparent plastic that allows the backlight ( which lights the LCD screen) to show through to provide the glowing effect. Conversely, if there is a source of bright light in the room, it can show through the Apple logo and you will notice the result on the screen when it is dark or black. Maybe what's happening is that as you move the lid, you're catching an ambient light source on the back of the panel and it's just showing through onto the screen. If that's the case, it might be completely normal.

Just a guess...