Tag: screen

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iMac 27 Screen Problems

Screen Busted

There has been a lot of concern online about screen problems with the late 2009 27 inch model of iMacs. Gizmodo has covered this extensively. I recently saw an Arlington, Virginia customer’s 27″ iMac that had developed screen problems. I used PiXel Check to change the screen to one color to see the problem more clearly. I took the photograph below which shows the streaks and smudges that have formed in the top right corner of the monitor. (Note: The fading at the bottom of the screen is only a camera effect of photographing the screen.)

imac_27_screen_smudgeResolution, We Think

Happily, Apple dealt with this well. An Apple representative needs to see the screen problem in person, so a phone call to Apple Care doesn’t help. The customer made a reservation with an Apple Genius at the Clarendon, Virginia store. After looking at the screen, the Apple Genius immediately said that the LCD screen would be replaced free-of-charge.

Unfortunately, the Apple store needed to order the part so the iMac will not be fixed for a few days. The customer opted to bring the iMac back when the part arrived so that he could still use it.

The Apple Genius said that they had seen this problem many times before. So check your screen, especially if you have a 27″ iMac.

Some online reports suggest that Apple has fixed the problem. We hope that’s true and that the replacement will work long term.

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Screen Capure Software for PC and Mac

Capturing a screen or part of a screen is often useful. People capture screen images to:

  • email someone a computer problem or error noticed on the screen
  • capture an image from a web page
  • save that amazing game score you got so you can remember it forever
  • capture something from an application so that others who do not have the application can view it
  • create a tutorial

There are several ways to capture a screen image.

PC Screen Capture

The only built-in screen capture function in Windows is the PrintScreen button.  After you hit PrintScreen, you need to paste the clipboard image of the entire screen into an application such as MS Word. This is clunky and does not produce an image file that you can easily edit.

ScreenHunter 5 is image capture software which comes in Pro, Plus, and Free versions. For most image capturing needs, the free version is all you need (see screen capture of ScreenHunter 5 captured using ScreenHunter 5). It can capture a rectangular area, an active window, or the full screen to a gif picture.

The best print capture software for Windows is SnagIt. It has all the options you could need, but it does cost $49.95.

Mac Screen Capture

Mac OS X has great screen capturing built-in.

  • To capture the entire screen, press Command+Shift+3.
  • To capture part of a screen, press Command+Shift+4. This will give you a draggable crosshair to select a rectangular section.

This Macworld Screen Capture article has a video that demonstrates how to better control your Mac screen capture with the shift, option, and space keys.