All about the iMac vertical lines issue.
Issue: Many vertical lines apearing on LCD screen on a very large number of 17″ Intel iMac Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models.
Cause: Delamination and oxidation due to poor manufacturing in a particular factory. This is evidenced by the vast majority of the affected units comming from a particular factory in China.
Manufacturer Solution: There was a time when Apple would cover this repair well out of warranty. It has been confirmed that this extension has been canceled and Apple will now only replace the LCD at a substantial cost to the customer.
RealMacMods Solution: With the help of others in the community a plug and play adapter board has been developed. This is used to swap a standard laptop style lcd screen in place of the very hard to find and expensive original model.
This issue can be quite annoying and will only get worse over time. Most report a single vertical line appearing after about 4 years of moderate use. After this, the lines continue to appear until the screen is so obstructed it is useless. One can replace the screen with one of two compatible models without modification
LM171W02-TL B1
LM171W02-TL B2
These screens are very hard to come by, and the cost will often outvalue the iMac if it can be found.
Our repair involves using a specially designed PCB inline with the LVDS cable. This will adapt the signals and route them to the pinout of a standard 17″ laptop screen. These screens can often be purchased for less than $100.
All of our iMac Vertical Lines repair kits include mounting brackets and mounting hardware.