New 3GS - Backlight is blaring from one corner

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dorino

Weaksauce
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Apr 15, 2011
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I got a 3GS from AT&T, upgrading into the smartphone realm finally. 49 bucks! New contract, and it costs just about the same as my old contract on a different carrier.

I'm taking it into AT&T later today, too, and hopefully exchanging it for another 3GS. The issue is thus:

It's painful to look at.

I'm coming from an iPod Touch 2G, that I'm using as reference, and the screen on the 3GS is undeniably warmer and brighter -- and that's fine. I like the warmer tones, it's not piss yellow by any means, and whites aren't blue. That's nice.

Now, about half the screen (emanating from a corner) is about 50-75% brighter than the rest of the screen. I don't notice this when the whole screen is white, but when I'm reading white-on-black text, it's obvious and painful. For instance, when playing Zynga's Poker app (I enjoy some casual Hold'em!) the "Fold" button's text ("Fold") is just really, really bright. I can flip the phone over, but then the person sitting in the top right corner's name is painful to look at.

If I turn down the backlight to the point that the bright corner isn't so bright it hurts my eyes, the rest of the screen is too dull.

I'm just curious, is this a common problem?
 
I'm scheduled to get a replacement tomorrow. One side of the screen was yellower too.
 
The new iPhone got here and it's a lot nicer. The colors are a bit warmer, but I don't notice that unless they're side-by-side. I'd say I prefer the new one's colors! The backlight is definately more uniform -- When I go to the settings screen, both sides look the same!

No blaringlybright corners thus far! So far, satisfied!
Apple's support was a tad mucky to work with though... Otherwise, loving it.

EDIT:The bottom of the screen seems to display whites a bit warmer than the top. Not sure if it's my eyes... It might be!
 
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Aaaand when I started using it, I noticed that half the screen is a LOOOOT warmer, and is actually like a piss yellow tint :(

Is this worth returning a second time?
 
dorino said:
Aaaand when I started using it, I noticed that half the screen is a LOOOOT warmer, and is actually like a piss yellow tint :(

Is this worth returning a second time?
Click to expand...
Yes, it is worth returning until you get a product that functions correctly. Don't feel guilty because they didn't supply you with a screen that works properly.
 
Blown 89 said:
Yes, it is worth returning until you get a product that functions correctly. Don't feel guilty because they didn't supply you with a screen that works properly.
Click to expand...

I hate my eyes. I have a friend that deals with computers all day (like me!) but not as good of eyesight and he can't see the problem. He's got 20/20 vision, I've got 20/15 (better than perfect haha)


It makes LCD imperfections stand out so much... I always feel guilty.
What really hurts is it cost me 30USD to get this phone here today (I need a phone!) and it's still fucking broken.
 
dorino said:
I hate my eyes. I have a friend that deals with computers all day (like me!) but not as good of eyesight and he can't see the problem. He's got 20/20 vision, I've got 20/15 (better than perfect haha)


It makes LCD imperfections stand out so much... I always feel guilty.
What really hurts is it cost me 30USD to get this phone here today (I need a phone!) and it's still fucking broken.
Click to expand...
You're preaching the the choir man. I did color correction and retouching for a number of years before business ventures. That industry ruined me for life, I can't look at a magazine cover without seeing color errors and bad retouching.
 
Blown 89 said:
You're preaching the the choir man. I did color correction and retouching for a number of years before business ventures. That industry ruined me for life, I can't look at a magazine cover without seeing color errors and bad retouching.
Click to expand...

And it's all "acceptable" in the manufacturer's eyes!

Perfection is something to strive for, but something I'll never achieve with an iPhone, I'm thinking
 
the screens before the iPhone 4 are just painful for me to use.

The retina display is amazing compared to my GFs iPhone 3G
 
dorino said:
And it's all "acceptable" in the manufacturer's eyes!

Perfection is something to strive for, but something I'll never achieve with an iPhone, I'm thinking
Click to expand...
For that kind of money you should get perfection IMO.
 
86 5.0L said:
the screens before the iPhone 4 are just painful for me to use.

The retina display is amazing compared to my GFs iPhone 3G
Click to expand...

The retina display is nice.


The price tag is not. This is a cell phone, I am not shelling out that kind of money!
Especially not based on my experiences with apple phones thus far...
 
Apples QC has gone down the tubes lately. The Chinese are making these things as fact as they can and that's a recipe for disaster. Even the imac is plagued with screen issues and overheating problems, but I don't feel sorry for the people who returnd 6 imacs. They deserve what they get for sticking with a company with such terrible qc.
 
Hey, I actually had this problem with a replacement iPod touch they gave me. I didn't think much of it and it works just fine. I ended up giving it to my Mom though so I don't know if it has gotten worse or not.
 
I just want to chime in on what I ended up doing.

Apple didn't recognize the iPhone as defective and I ended up returning it to AT&T, and getting a cheaper phone.

Finally, AT&T spiked my pricing and I dropped them as my carrier. I'm now with Cellular One in Montana, using a dirt-cheap-it's-great-for-the-money Alcatel OT-806a, and I plan on getting a Motorola Cliq off ebay or something, ultimately. (The main thing I do on my phone is texting and social networking -- I have a computer for work!)

A cheap phone like those, I can stand these kind of problems. An iPhone, not as much!
 
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