General information on dead pixels

The biggest downside to LCD screens is the fact that they may have one or more dead pixels. Fixing these white (TN + film) or black dots (dead pixels) is not possible - which is a serious problem, since they can really be distracting. So before actually buying an LCD monitor, it's a good idea to find out how comprehensive a warranty your dealer offers - in other words, how many dead or stuck pixels do you need to have before you can trade in your monitor for a new one?

 

Some dealers will exchange your monitor even if it only has one dead pixel, which is an ideal situation, but most of them won't. There's a very real risk that your display won't be considered defective until it has eight dead pixels. That's eight too many. Faced with this prospect, the best thing to do is to start looking around for another dealer who offers you a better warranty.

Stuck versus dead pixels

Stuck pixels are similar to (and often falsely labeled as) a dead pixel, whose 3 sub-pixels are permanently off, producing a permanently black pixel. Dead pixels can result from similar manufacturing anomalies as stuck pixels, but may also occur from a non-functioning transistor resulting in complete lack of power to the pixel. Dead pixels are much less likely to correct themselves over time or repaired through any of several popular methods.

Fixing dead pixels

Unlike stuck pixels, dead pixels can not be fixed.