My iMac Screen Suddenly Has a Green Tint

Suddenly, my 2009 iMac (10.11.2) screen has a green tint and slight pixilation. I've restarted, which is the limit of my expertise. No help. Any ideas?

Only suggestion was to reset PRAM. Again, no help.

is it stuck on a solid green screen? Or does it start up fine and then show your normal desktop with a green tint?

Works fine except that there's a green tint to all fields which should be gray. Also, there's a tiny checkerboard pattern there. For instance, my post above should have a gray field but it's free. 

Starts up with tint. Apple logo at startup is even green-tinted as is that little progress bar that fills as it boots.

Are you seeing green tint here or is it just my display..

My trash icon has green highlights...like it's a radioactive glow.

Thats kinda crazy. That sounds like a hardware problem. If it wasn't an iMac I'd guess a bad monitor cable. Since it is, maybe a quick fix would be to go to disk utility and run a test on the hard drive. Second thought before you do that you might also go to the display icon under system prefs and reset the display resolution. Just switch it to another setting and then back to the original one.

Thanks for your efforts, but no luck. Disk utility says everything's fine.

No luck with resetting the display either? Only other thing I can think of is starting up from the system disc if you still have it. Put the disc in and shut off the computer. When you start it back up hold down the "C" button and run the hard drive check again. Other than that it may also be the video card or the capacitors on the motherboard. And yeah, all that means money. I had a similar problem with an iMac and a computer nerd friend told me that the capacitors on the iMacs are notorious for failing.

Good luck!

Thanks.

I was interested in this because I have an iMac of about that vintage that developed vertical lines on the display, so I spent a lot of time researching display issues. In my situation, Apply acknowledged the hardware defect that caused the lines. They would have fixed it for free if I'd reported it sooner, but they had ended support for that model and no longer had the parts.

I turned up these links in a Google search:

http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

http://imac.squeaked.com/yellow_tinge.php

Does the yellow tinge sound like your problem? To test, it looks like you need to download the free Screen Utility from the app store. I might try it later when I have time, but I have a Mac Mini and an old Apple cinema display, so I'm not sure the results would be meaningful.

kthnry, on the yellow check, the "two grey bars" aren't even visible. I get an evenly lit green screen on the whole display.

Thanks for your thoughts, links, and suggestions here. The Apple online chat tech tried a few things and thinks it must be hardware too. 

Graphics card is shot.  

dave said:

Graphics card is shot.  

I'll be back to confirm this diagnosis after my visit to Apple store. Thanks.  

GL2 said:

dave said:

Graphics card is shot.  

I'll be back to confirm this diagnosis after my visit to Apple store. Thanks. "> 

Well, Dave's right - graphics card. And since Apple no longer makes them for old machines (2009), I'll need to go 3rd party, to a place that cannibalizes old Macs. Wondering if it's worth it or whether I should just cough up the $1500 or so and buy a new one. Thanks again.

Buy a new machine. You'll get more use out of your money that way.

Tom_Reingold said:

Buy a new machine. You'll get more use out of your money that way.

Thanks Tom, I value your advice. My limited research tells me the 3rd-party card could cost upwards of $400. Does that sound right to you? I've been telling myself that I'd set a cutoff of $500 for the card & installation. 

So I'd probably go for either the 21" ($1500) or 27" iMac ($1800). My only serious use is video editing (FinalCutPro).

And I'm assuming the migration tool will work flawlessly  

The migration tool works surprisingly well most of the time, and I mean over 90% of the time.

Check ifixit.com for a decent price on the cost of the card. $400 could be right. After six years, you can't complain much. It would have been nice if it had lasted longer, but the best way forward is with a new machine.

Thanks Tom. I did try ifixit when I was researching price. They have an 11-step process, complete with photos, on how to replace card. Seems like a good source in general.

Again, I appreciate your advice.

Took the plunge - new iMac/new superdrive. On to migration challenge.