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[osX]RTouris · Oct 16, 2003, 02:56 PM

Anyone else noticed this? I've just installed the 2.1 and the display of my iPod appears to constantly flicker...it's a strange effect really as if the current driving it is not ...stable anymore...

bracken · Oct 16, 2003, 03:32 PM

I had that too after updating. Try turning up the contrast, that helped for me. I think it's part of the fix to enhance the battery life. Having the screen refresh less lowers the battery usage.

jersey · Oct 16, 2003, 04:01 PM

cant say i'm having that problem.

[osX]RTouris · Oct 16, 2003, 04:52 PM

I guess they could've reduced the refresh rate to gain a bit on baterry life, however it does seem to affect the display accross the whole range of the contrast values. I might put up a movie in a while to showcase the issue...Hang on

[osX]RTouris · Oct 16, 2003, 06:36 PM

Granted a bad example this one captured with my digital camera, still the best I could come up with given the time restraints

http://homepage.mac.com/rtouris/.Pub...2.1refresh.MP4

bracken · Oct 16, 2003, 07:03 PM

Originally posted by [osX]RTouris:
Granted a bad example this one captured with my digital camera, still the best I could come up with given the time restraints

http://homepage.mac.com/rtouris/.Pub...2.1refresh.MP4

Exactly what I'm having. It's worse at the bottom of the screen I'm noticing.

shrink · Oct 16, 2003, 07:08 PM

Having the same problem here, too. Noticed the battery indicator is different as well - no more 4 bars, just a solid battery.

adamberti · Oct 16, 2003, 07:29 PM

I dont always get the flickering, just sometimes. I've only had it so far while playing parachute, and then it's a vertical flickering where the turret is and where the helicopters are. STRANGE.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Oct 16, 2003, 07:50 PM

What lighting environments is it doing it in?

jersey · Oct 16, 2003, 08:08 PM

man.....glad i dont have that problem. sorry to hear that you do. my ipod has been on nonstop since the update.....and i have watched it for some time....and havent witnessed the flickering once. do you have a gen 2 or 3? yeah i know that probably has nothing to do with it, but i'm just curious.

I Me Mine · Oct 16, 2003, 08:28 PM

My 30Gb iPod is flickering - at the bottom of the screen like Bracken said. Upping the contrast masks it a bit though.

jersey · Oct 16, 2003, 09:20 PM

ah i suck. saw it, but only when the contrast is low(er). now its gonna drive me crazy.

schk · Oct 16, 2003, 09:34 PM

No flickering on mine (or I'm just not noticing it), but contrast did go down compared to 2.02. But it looks good with backlight on and off at 40% now, had it set at like 20% before the update.

[osX]RTouris · Oct 17, 2003, 03:01 AM

Originally posted by jersey:
man.....glad i dont have that problem. sorry to hear that you do. my ipod has been on nonstop since the update.....and i have watched it for some time....and havent witnessed the flickering once. do you have a gen 2 or 3? yeah i know that probably has nothing to do with it, but i'm just curious.

It's a 3rd generation iPod (15GB)...The light conditions are pretty much irrelevant, it can be observed under any conditions...Still trying to figure out what's going on here...I'll probably leave it like this though, it's not a big issue, just caught my attention right after the update.

bracken · 05:36 AM

Originally posted by adamberti:
I dont always get the flickering, just sometimes. I've only had it so far while playing parachute, and then it's a vertical flickering where the turret is and where the helicopters are. STRANGE.

I had this problem before the update too.

Originally posted by jersey:
man.....glad i dont have that problem. sorry to hear that you do. my ipod has been on nonstop since the update.....and i have watched it for some time....and havent witnessed the flickering once. do you have a gen 2 or 3? yeah i know that probably has nothing to do with it, but i'm just curious.

I have the latest, 20 GB.

The problem is I already have my contrast to 95% and now I have to have it at 100% to avoid the flicker. It's only two weeks old.

(A 3rd gen 10 GB I just updated too did not have this problem.)

There's a thread about this at http://discussions.apple.com/ in the iPod, Usage forums. It's called "new firmware & backlight".

gheff · Oct 17, 2003, 07:55 AM

Originally posted by bracken:
I had this problem before the update too.

I have the latest, 20 GB.

The problem is I already have my contrast to 95% and now I have to have it at 100% to avoid the flicker. It's only two weeks old.

(A 3rd gen 10 GB I just updated too did not have this problem.)

There's a thread about this at http://discussions.apple.com/ in the iPod, Usage forums. It's called "new firmware & backlight".

That's really funny. I read here and in the Apple discussions that people are cranking their contrast controls all the way up to combat this. On my 3G 10GB, I've got it firmly in the middle. The viewing is comfortable there and I can't perceive the flicker. If I crank it up to 100% and turn on the backlight then I can see the flicker.

I'll be interested to see the resolution on this one. Not because I need a fix but because I don't understand why there are such differences.

DigitalEl · Oct 17, 2003, 08:44 AM

Good to see I'm not alone with the flicker. It's slightly annoying, but not any kind of a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination. If it extends battery life by even 15 minutes, it's fine with me.

As for the battery meter, the solid meter is better, because it has more "points" on its scale than just the four of the original meter. I've worked out for nearly an hour with zero bars on the old meter, thinking it'd die any second and it never did. At the same time, I'd not recharge, because there were three bars showing... Only to have my battery drained before lunchtime. That meter didn't really tell you anything.

cowicide · Oct 17, 2003, 12:54 PM

Has anyone noticed if battery life has actually improved with 2.1?

Has anyone contacted Apple about the flickering to see what's up?

cowicide · Oct 19, 2003, 01:58 AM

Still wondering about this flickering business... anyone talk to Apple about it? I'm going to go to the Apple store and check to see if any of the iPods there are flickering and are running 2.1... I'll report back here w/ results...

erw · Oct 19, 2003, 08:09 AM

cowicide- have you spoken to apple yet? I would like to install the new firmware to see if it really does improve the sound but don't want a flickering iPod...

cowicide · Oct 19, 2003, 09:25 AM

Originally posted by erw:
cowicide- have you spoken to apple yet? I would like to install the new firmware to see if it really does improve the sound but don't want a flickering iPod...

I'm too chicken to update to 2.1. BAWK! BAWK! I'm going to the Apple store today and check on the dozen or so display models they have there. If they aren't flickering and are updated to 2.1, I will update my 3rd gen 15 Gig iPod.

If the Apple store hasn't updated their display iPod's to 2.1.. it will be very telling, I think.. and I'll get to the bottom of that situation if I can.

I'll report back here later today on my findings at the store, etc.

cowicide · Oct 19, 2003, 06:18 PM

Went to Apple store. The only iPod there (a 20 Gig 3rd Gen) with 2.1 on it was flickering as described here. All the others with older firmware did not flicker.

Well, I had a worker update another 20 Gig 3rd Gen iPod on a different computer up to 2.1 and guess what? No flicker.

Why one flickered and the other didn't... who knows? Maybe they were a different batch of the same model... one w/ display issues the other without? I dunno...

Considering you can just erase everything and go back to an older firmware version, I'll go ahead and try it. If I get the flicker and it annoys me, I'll just downgrade later.

erw · Oct 20, 2003, 06:23 AM

You can't go back to 2.0.2 just 2.0.1. Thats whats stopping me...

cowicide · Oct 21, 2003, 12:53 AM

I updated my iPod to 2.1. Very slight flicker, but you really gotta stare at it to notice. The flicker of one of the two iPods at the Apple store with 2.1 was much more severe... so it appears everyone's mileage will vary with this flicker issue. All in all, I can't really notice the flicker on my iPod unless I tilt it at an awkward angle and stare at it... so it's really not a problem for me and I'm going to stick with the 2.1 update.

I also experienced that battery update lag that everyone is talking about where the battery indicator takes a little bit to show that it's at full capacity. As long as battery life isn't hampered, this doesn't bother me.

Aside from my (very minor) flickering and the battery indicator lag... no problems. The main thing I wanted to do was finally be able to synch my "On-The-Go" playlists with iTunes. Once I test that and some other stuff, I'll post my findings on this board with everyone else's.

Good luck with your updates.

erw · Oct 21, 2003, 01:46 PM

cowicide, thanks for getting back! I haven't updated yet. I will leave it a week or so and if a new one doesn't show I will go for it.

Wish I had the fall back of 2.0.2 tho

shrink · Oct 21, 2003, 03:20 PM

Turning up the contrast actually solved the problem for me; however, I think I'm having another problem. The max volume seems lower after the update. I changed the sound check option, but I still think overall that the volume seems reduced. Has anyone else noticed this?

adamberti · Oct 21, 2003, 11:32 PM

Well, after having the update for about a week now, the flickering has started. I updated the day the new software came out, and it was just find aside fom some vertical flickering in parachute. But now it's happening in the menu's. I don't really care about it too much, but I'll have to wait and see if it gets worse as it has already after a week.

cowicide · Oct 22, 2003, 12:57 PM

Originally posted by adamberti:
Well, after having the update for about a week now, the flickering has started. I updated the day the new software came out, and it was just find aside fom some vertical flickering in parachute. But now it's happening in the menu's. I don't really care about it too much, but I'll have to wait and see if it gets worse as it has already after a week.

If the flickering gets worse over time that would explain some things. Including how bad the flickering was on the previously updated iPod at the music store compared to the one I had the worker update as I was there.

I'm not sure, but I think mine didn't flicker at all at first, and now it seems to flicker a little. If it gets worse I'll report it here. I'm hoping I just didn't notice the slight flicker before.

It will be interesting to go into the Apple store again and check on that iPod that was updated to 2.1 on the spot to see if it has started flickering. I'll check in in a week or so and report that too (unless Apple releases something new, etc.).

dvdnet · Oct 24, 2003, 01:02 AM

Doh!!! I see the flickering too now. Never noticed it until I read these posts. I've a 3G 30GB model.

One other thing I did notice too was the battery indicator is now solid rather than 4 small blocks. I was searching for posts to see if anyone else had made mention of this then stumbled across the flickering issue.

Oh well.

Steve.

EvanV · Oct 24, 2003, 02:17 AM

I cant seem to update?

At least I dont think so.. I go to the games and I have none of the "Name the Song" crap. Although when I open my iPod manager, it doesnt give me option to update. Only restore. Am I doing something wrong?

cowicide · Oct 24, 2003, 02:30 AM

Originally posted by EvanV:
I cant seem to update?

At least I dont think so.. I go to the games and I have none of the "Name the Song" crap. Although when I open my iPod manager, it doesnt give me option to update. Only restore. Am I doing something wrong?

May not support your iPod. Do you have an older one?

EvanV · Oct 24, 2003, 09:22 AM

Originally posted by cowicide:
May not support your iPod. Do you have an older one?

No I have the 40 GB iPod that I just got two days ago via FedEx.