Screen Discoloration?

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Garrett

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Well, the first night I had my iPod, I got it a wee bit too close to my flatscreen computer monitor. A few minutes later, I looked at it from a side angle and noticed some major discoloration on the screen. It looked a lot like what a calculator looks like when you press down hard on the screen, like a dark rainbow.

It's not noticeable from the front at all, and when the backlight is on, I can hardly even see it from the side.

It's not really bothering me at all, but I'm just wondering...

Why did my monitor do this to my iPod?
Does it have any other bad effects I should know about?
Any way to fix the discoloration?

Thanks :D
 

RottenApple

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i think in the faq on the site, solves ur questions.

its normal, just the way the screen is. well i hope it is cos mines like it too.

something to do with the light refracting, total internal refraction? no cos that would make it like a mirror,

have u ever done the experiment in class, light through a block of glass, triangle shape, u get the raindow. this is because the light slows down in more dense matierals. ok im on holiday, not in class so i am gonna shut up.
but the above might have something to do with it.
 

mkko

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i'm having the same problem. i got mine yesterday, and this morning i noticed some discoloration on the screen. i have no idea where did it come from. is it possible that is has been there from the beginning? i'm thinking about the warranty...

it looks to me like something is pressing the screen down. as garrett expressed
It looked a lot like what a calculator looks like when you press down hard on the screen, like a dark rainbow.
can this kind of damage be done by magnetic fields?

any help would be welcome :)
 

mkko

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from the FAQs : iPod General

Q: I can see a rainbow colored pattern on my iPod screen. Is it faulty?

A: The rainbow effect (photoelasticity - the effects of stress, such as double refraction, on the optical properties of transparent materials) is well documented with the iPod - some suffer from it more than others and your ambient light conditions will make it appear worse. In a nutshell - stresses in a clear material cause polarized light to bend and colors to seperate as it passes through the material. Thus, if you have a defect of some sort in your iPod's screen, when you are in polarized light, you will see a rainbow appear across the iPod. It just so happens that when the sun is lower on the horizon, it tends to polarize (read- wintertime sun).
does this mean that the 'fault' has been there from the beginning? and that it is something that just happens, you can do nothing about it...?
 

Kamikazefurball

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I noticed this one morning after leaving it sitting next to my 19" CRT monitor. Naturally I freaked out, being a $500 toy that I've had for 4 days, but I set it a few feet away, and within 45-60 minutes the discoloration was gone, and hasn't returned. Just keep it away from things with big magnetic fields. :)
 

mkko

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Kamikazefurball said:
...within 45-60 minutes the discoloration was gone, and hasn't returned...
actually now that you said that, i feel like it is fading away... i totally freaked out. if i had a bad heart, i'd have a heart attack already ;) now that the rainbow colors have cleared there's nothing to worry about anymore :D words can't express how big a load it was off my mind it was ;)

how is your iPod Garrett? it'll fade away, just believe in it... good luck :)
 

EGT

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Re: Re: Screen Discoloration?

mkko said:
i'm having the same problem. i got mine yesterday, and this morning i noticed some discoloration on the screen. i have no idea where did it come from. is it possible that is has been there from the beginning? i'm thinking about the warranty...

it looks to me like something is pressing the screen down. as garrett expressed

can this kind of damage be done by magnetic fields?

any help would be welcome :)
Yeah it can. I have quite a lot of this discolouration on my ipod screen and i thought it may have been caused by the Ipod earphones. They have magnets in them. When i was younger i used to put a magnet up to the TV screen in my parents living room and turn it blue and purple etc :D I think you can see why i now have an Ipod :rolleyes:

I remember reading about this in physics class, it is quite normal. Photo-elasticity or something (spelling?)
 

mkko

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Re: Re: Re: Screen Discoloration?

EGT said:
I think you can see why i now have an Ipod :rolleyes:
:D

i actually never though that the earphones could do this, but it must have been the earphones since the pod wasn't near any magnetic field sources... thanks :)
 

kalub88

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Have you noticed that you can only see it when the suns out, or from the side....your iPods arnt faulty, it just because of the LCD pannel is covered with a thin peice of glass, then a thin peice of plastic to make it fluck with the rest of the case. So rest easy :D
 

kalub88

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P.S NEVER touch the iPod, or ANY computer montitor (even CRT) with a magnet it will atact the electrons and PERMANITTLY discolour your device, this also applys to Televisions
 

Bob

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The neck of a CRT is actually surrounded by a big magnet - three electron guns generate narrow beams of electrons. Anodes accelerate the electrons. Deflecting coils produce an extremely low frequency electromagnetic field that allows for constant adjustment of the direction of the electron beams. There are two sets of deflecting coils: horizontal and vertical. So when you introduce a magnet near the screen you are unbalancing the setup of the coils. Remove the magnet and they should return to their settings. But leave the magnet there and it will affect the display eventually.
Also if the adjusting screws are loose this can nudge the deflecting coils and produce the purple patches in the corners.
That is why speakers in TVs use shielded magnets.

The magnets in your earbuds are not strong enough to affect your iPod screen. The effect is indeed photoelasticity and is covered in the FAQ's.

Tomorrows lecture will be on partical acceleration... :D
 

EGT

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kalub88 said:
P.S NEVER touch the iPod, or ANY computer montitor (even CRT) with a magnet it will atact the electrons and PERMANITTLY discolour your device, this also applys to Televisions
I know from experiance!!! Listen to the man!!!! My parents old TV is permenatly green!!!
 

Garrett

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Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm enjoying my iPod a ton, thanks for asking :D I'm really not worried about this at all, though hopefully it will fade eventually.

Thanks again :)
 

20Gig3g

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Thats wierd my dock is right beside my 19" CRT and its fine, maybe its just if you put your ipod on your monitor or something cause mine is less than 4 inches away and i've never had a problem with that =p
 
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