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View Full Version : How Many Dead LCD Pixels Are Ok?


Suhit Gupta
07-27-2004, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theInquirer.net/?article=17368' target='_blank'>http://www.theInquirer.net/?article=17368</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Toshiba Europe has a warning on a page advertising its Satellite M30-901 notebook, which says that "small bright spots" which may appear on notebook screens are things you have to live with. The warning, on this page, says: "Small bright dots may appear on your TFT display when you turn on your PC. Your display contains an extremely large number of thin-film transistors (TFT) and is manufactured using high-precision technology. Any small bright dots that may appear on your display are an intrinsic characteristic of the TFT manufacturing technology.""</i><br /><br />It turns out that there is an ISO specification which covers this problem of dead pixels and classifies pixel faults as Types One, Two, and Three, as well as fault clusters. (Read the article to find out more). But it is very interesting that Toshiba has placed this disclaimer on their site which seemingly exonerates them of any dead pixels on the LCD screen. I have had several devices with LCD screens over the years and only two stick out in my mind with dead pixels (a Sony Vaio laptop and a ViewSonic monitor). But both devices are fairly old now. Other than that I have been very lucky. More importantly, I have been under the impression that LCD technology and manufacturing processes had gotten really good over the last few years so as to severely minimize dead pixels. Have any of you had dead pixel problems?

Chris Gohlke
07-27-2004, 04:17 PM
I have had a MAG 17" LCD monitor for about two years that has a single bad pixel that I have noted. I wish it was just off though, it is on and blue. Pretty much have gotten to be able to just ignore it and no one else notices.

Doug Johnson
07-27-2004, 04:31 PM
I had never had any devices with any dead pixels until about one year ago. Since that time:

HP iPAQ 5550: One pixel green stuck ON
Sony 7" Car LCD: One pixel red stuck ON
NEC 17" LCD1712: One pixel red stuck ON
NEC 17" LCD1712: Two pixels blue stuck ON, one pixel red stuck ON 50% of the time

My roommate also recently purchased two Dell 17" LCDs that each have 2-3 dead or stuck pixels.

My impression seems to be that manufacturers are becoming more tolerant of dead/stuck pixels than they used to be. Either that or I was really lucky for a really long time.

Jason Dunn
07-27-2004, 04:49 PM
I have zero tolerance for dead/stuck pixels, but I know that the companies that makes the products don't feel the same way as I do. I do know that if I had any dead pixels on my new Dell LCD monitors, I would have returned them immediately. I refuse to accept a brand new product that has pixel issues, but if something is old I'm a little more forgiving: my two year old Samsung 17" LCDs each developed one stuck pixel, but it's not very noticeable now...

Littleshmee
07-27-2004, 05:59 PM
I worked (briefly) at Staples, and most manufacturers won't replace an LCD screen under warrenty unless there's 7 or more dead pixels, or if there's a cluster of 4 or more that "noticeably blocks out an important part of the screen". Maybe as the production increases the quality decreases...

Doug Johnson
07-27-2004, 06:52 PM
...most manufacturers won't replace an LCD screen under warrenty unless there's 7 or more dead pixels...
I've been told that at least one manufacturer requires at least 15, or a certain number in a small concentrated area.

hang5lngbd
07-27-2004, 08:23 PM
I build laptops and my company will replace any laptop with a dead pixel within the warrantee period. The manufaturer of the whitebox laptop stands by their quality and replaces any that I send in.

Zack Mahdavi
07-27-2004, 11:30 PM
I don't mind having a couple dead pixels as long as they're not noticeable. I bought an Apple 17" Studio display a few years ago for $799 (regular price was $999), but it had about 10 dead pixels. I called Apple, and they quickly switched things out.

I also own a 17" Dell 1703fp, which has 1 dead pixel. It's not noticeable, so I didn't even bother getting it fixed. The display is just incredible.

Jonathon Watkins
07-28-2004, 02:03 AM
I'm with Jason - none on a new device. I got a Fuji digital camera once that had a single pixel that was on all the time. Back it went.....

Suhit Gupta
07-28-2004, 02:59 AM
As I mentioned earlier, I have only had two devices with dead pixels and neither of them were very noticeable. But the interesting thing is that my Sony Vaio F50K laptop (one of my devices that had the dead pixel) came with a dead pixel. I just didn't bother sending the machine back because it was on the bottom edge of the machine and not very prominent.

So while I agree with Jason and Jonathan, the position of the dead pixel matters as well.

Suhit