iMac screen problem

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Dear forum-members,

This afternoon I could start up my Imac without any problem.
After a while the screen became more and more blurry and this message appeared: 'your computer needs to be restarted'. Done that, the same problem showed up after a while, but this time starting up was not possible any more. Now I can only boot in Safe Mode but even then the screen is fuzzy and it is hard to read text or menus. Is this problem software related or is there a hardware problem? How can I find out what is the cause? What can I do to fix it?

I already did a 'Apple hardware test'.
Result of the non-extened test: no trouble found.
Result of the extended test: error found, see my pictures below...

https://picasaweb.google.com/108648443876412489250/IMac#

Thank you in advance for your help!

Let's hope the problem can be fixed soon...
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Which iMac do you have? Year and model? Version of OS X?

The uploaded pictures show that it could be a defective display (LCD) or the graphics card. You can try attaching an external monitor to the iMac to see if the results are the same or not. That would eliminate either the display or graphics adapter.
 
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Version of OS X: OS X 10.5.8
My iMac: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 800 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM (2008)

Good idea to connect an external monitor but I don't have a suitable cable to do that...
If there would be a hardware problem concerning the display or the graphics card, wouldn't that be found as 'trouble' by the 'Apple hardware test'?
 
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Various Mac's
If there would be a hardware problem concerning the display or the graphics card, wouldn't that be found as 'trouble' by the 'Apple hardware test'?

Not always. Even Apple's more advanced diagnostics for technicians, ASD and the AST MRI will sometimes pass a defective part. Only yesterday at work MRI passed an iMac video card that was defective, odd distorted graphics following the mouse pointer. AHT will also not fail visual LCD display issues. If I had to guess re your fault, I'd lean towards a video card fault, only as you had a kernel panic, and I've never ever seen this caused by a display. Only chscag's earlier suggestion re adding an external display will prove as near as possible what's causing your problems. If you can't do that you'll need to take the iMac to an Apple store or AASP for diagnosis. You can't always diagnose accurately from a picture and forum post.
 

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