Pure blacks appearing red/dark red on iMac 21.5" late 2009 model. Help needed please!

Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi,

As the title explains, the pure black areas on my iMac screen have all of a sudden become a dark red, almost maroon colour. It happens on all parts of the screen and is very uniform, i.e there are no particular areas it affects and there are no dead pixels, it just displays pure black as dark red now....all the other colours are fine.

This occurs when viewing pictures and also videos, basically all the time, but as i said, all the other colours are fine, no dead pixels....it just wont display pure black properly!

Any help with this would be much appreciated, i am certainly not going to pay a repair man a ridiculous amount of money to fix what may be a simple problem as i'm not adverse to taking computers apart and playing around with them, but any advice on what i am looking for would be great.

Perhaps a loose connection somewhere? I haven't got my installation disk with me either so can't run a hardware check....is there any way of doing this without the disk?

Thanks loads for any help you can give, :)

Paul

I've just had a look at a few videos and actually the problem is worse than i thought. The blacks are all red, but there are also flickering red lines around outlines when i zoom into a moving image :(
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
Power Macintosh G4 Not currently working, so i'm using a Windows 7 Quad Core
Take a Screenshot whenever you see a red/black spot or line, or anything out of the ordinary, then examine it on another computer. If they appear in the screenshot, it's a graphics or Hard drive/OS problem. If it doesn't, it's a LED screen problem, and take it to an Apple Store.
 
OP
P
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Take a Screenshot whenever you see a red/black spot or line, or anything out of the ordinary, then examine it on another computer. If they appear in the screenshot, it's a graphics or Hard drive/OS problem. If it doesn't, it's a LED screen problem, and take it to an Apple Store.

That makes sense, thanks i'll do that asap
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
Power Macintosh G4 Not currently working, so i'm using a Windows 7 Quad Core
If it was a Mac Mini or a Mac book or something that doesn't have a built-in 60.72 Type LCD screen, it would be easy to replace. But because it is a Type 60.72 screen, it requires an Apple Store Technician to replace that. If it's a Graphics problem, I would buy a new graphics card from Apple and give that AND the iMac to Apple to install.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
If it's a Graphics problem, I would buy a new graphics card from Apple and give that AND the iMac to Apple to install.

The graphics card on his iMac is surface mounted to the logic board and can not be replaced without replacing the entire logic board. A very expensive repair if the machine is not covered by Apple care.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top