Bug 140039 – Large scale pixelation

• Status: NEW
• Component: New Bugs

[Jim Oase]

Version 8.0.2 (10600.2.5, r177855) pixelates sections in large blocks

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

Could you please attach a screenshot? Are there any particular steps to reproduce?

I just tried nightly r177986, and couldn't see anything obviously wrong.

[Jim Oase]

Created attachment 244152 [details]
upper left quadrant

The screen shot you requested.

[Jim Oase]

I think I have found the culprit causing the picture to pixilate.  I have a MacBook Pro (early 2011) that, based on my research, is famous for its graphic processor problems since its first public release.

Apple created a firmware change that slowed the discrete processor's, Intel HD Graphics 3000, performance thus hiding the heat problem and postponing the failure.  It worked on my MacBook because it failed after my AppleCare warranty expired.

According to many recent articles failure have been increasing since I first noticed and reported this pixelation issue thinking it was related to WebKit.  Instead it's related to switching over to the Intel graphic processor and the resulting heat buildup which happens automatically when certain sites are accessed.  The failure increases in severity over time according to my experience and the reports others have posted on the web.

The "fix" most reported as Apple's cure is replace the mother board.  Unfortunately those replacement mother boards are probably from the same production run that produced the current epidemic.  So the fix is to install another time bomb.

There is a class action suit on this issue making its way through the courts.  Unfortunately my state is not represented so if it succeeds I am still out the big bucks.  The problem has been remedied in recent years, but that is of little relief for the older, long term, repeat customers.  ARGH!!!!