A pixel sized phoenix down anyone?

[Little Blue]

I've recently noticed that one of my laptop's screen pixels is not working anymore. When I stare at it it sometimes appears blue, other times red depending on the angle I look at it at.

I've heard that flashing images can help fix stuff like this. Any recommendations?

[rubah]

You could try gently poking it, but I think that's for when they're just black.

[Discord]

R.I.P. pixel on the monitor.

[crono_logical]

If it stays after a reboot, especially into a different OS e.g. using a Knoppix CD, then it's probably dead and there's little you can do about it :p Better than the whole screen failing, unless it annoys you I suppose :p

[Little Blue]

You could try gently poking it, but I think that's for when they're just black.

Didn't work...


If it stays after a reboot, especially into a different OS e.g. using a Knoppix CD, then it's probably dead and there's little you can do about it :p Better than the whole screen failing, unless it annoys you I suppose :p

It stays after I reboot into windows like normal, I haven't tried other OS's, though that's cos I haven't a clue about other OS's. I'm guessing the pixel is very dead though... :(

Thanks for the help. :)

[blackmage_nuke]

I believe it's called a dead pixel, I dont think it's the kind of thing software can fix (IE you'd have to open your computer).

I'm not sure about this but it may mean your computer is faulty, you might be able to return and get a replacement it if it's new or something and the pixel was dead when you got it.

[Baloki]

I'm not sure about this but it may mean your computer is faulty, you might be able to return and get a replacement it if it's new or something and the pixel was dead when you got it.

Your computer isn't faulty, no. However most LCD monitors have a dead pixel warrenty of which you will need to check your manufacturers handbook, usually it's 2 or 3 dead pixels round the edge of the screen or one or two in the center.

[Little Blue]

I'm not sure about this but it may mean your computer is faulty, you might be able to return and get a replacement it if it's new or something and the pixel was dead when you got it.

Your computer isn't faulty, no. However most LCD monitors have a dead pixel warrenty of which you will need to check your manufacturers handbook, usually it's 2 or 3 dead pixels round the edge of the screen or one or two in the center.

I've still got about three months on the manufacturers warrantee for my laptop, so I'll contact them to see what they say, but its just the one about a cm from the top of the screen about a third of the way across, so whilst its pretty damn noticeable in firefox with it just being above the address bar, I'd probably need a few more to die for them to do anything.

[o_O]

You have a stuck pixel, not a dead one. A dead pixel appears completely black and cannot be fixed, but a stuck pixel is stuck in the "on" state and appears blue, red or green.
The good news is that stuck pixels can be repaired, the bad news is that it doesn't always work, and when it does, it can take a long time.
You were on the money when talking about flashing colours rapidly, as it delivers voltage to each pixel, prompting it to change state.

I can't recommend any program to do it for you, because I wrote my own in Java (very easy), but you'll find heaps of programs and videos of flashing colours if you google for them.

I've repaired stuck pixels in my laptop, flatpanel and PSP with this method, but bear in mind some took days to come right. Sometimes doing what rubah said will fix it but I've had more success with the colours.

[Little Blue]

Thanks o_O. I've been googling this a bit this morning and I came up with a few things. Namely DPS -> Freeware -> DPT (http://www.dps.uk.com/freeware_DTP.htm) and JScreenFix - Fix stuck pixels and screen burn-in (http://www.jscreenfix.com/). The DTP one has a function where it can make the screen a uniform colour, and for the three main colours and white, this pixel is visible, and it can't be seen at all on a black background, so I'm guessing its a dead one not a stuck one. I must've been seeing things when I thought I saw it different colours, neighbouring pixel cells perhaps?

Anyway, I'm going to leave those colour things running for the rest of the day, and probably overnight too to see if it helps, but from what I've read today about it, I don't have much hope :(

[rubah]

You have a stuck pixel, not a dead one. A dead pixel appears completely black and cannot be fixed, but a stuck pixel is stuck in the "on" state and appears blue, red or green.

Sometimes doing what rubah said will fix it but I've had more success with the colours.
I did that with a black pixel on my MBP:p

[o_O]

You have a stuck pixel, not a dead one. A dead pixel appears completely black and cannot be fixed, but a stuck pixel is stuck in the "on" state and appears blue, red or green.

Sometimes doing what rubah said will fix it but I've had more success with the colours.
I did that with a black pixel on my MBP:p

Well, technically a stuck pixel can be black or white as well. I left that for simplicity, but the main difference between the two is that a stuck pixel has one or more subpixels stuck in one voltage state (r, g, b, on, or off) while a dead pixel is actually dead and no amount of voltage will turn it on.

If the pixel is just stuck off it can be fixed but usually a black pixel is dead. :p

The DTP one has a function where it can make the screen a uniform colour, and for the three main colours and white, this pixel is visible, and it can't be seen at all on a black background, so I'm guessing its a dead one not a stuck one.

The fact that you can see colour behind the pixel suggests that it is on and not dead. Keep in mind that if a pixel is stuck on red, for example, and the blue subpixel is turned on, it will have the same effect as writing on a piece of red paper with a blue pen - the pixel will appear black. It's definitely worth a try to fix it, but as I said earlier it can take forever, or not work at all. Can't hurt to check the manufacturer's dead pixel policy.

[Roto13]

Am I strange for finding this whole thread very interesting, even though I don't have any dead or stuck pixels, and I never have?

[Little Blue]

The DTP one has a function where it can make the screen a uniform colour, and for the three main colours and white, this pixel is visible, and it can't be seen at all on a black background, so I'm guessing its a dead one not a stuck one.

The fact that you can see colour behind the pixel suggests that it is on and not dead. Keep in mind that if a pixel is stuck on red, for example, and the blue subpixel is turned on, it will have the same effect as writing on a piece of red paper with a blue pen - the pixel will appear black. It's definitely worth a try to fix it, but as I said earlier it can take forever, or not work at all. Can't hurt to check the manufacturer's dead pixel policy.

But if the blue sub was stuck on wouldn't the whole pixel blend in with a blue background? The only colour that this pixel isn't visible on is black... Regardless, I'm still going to try and fix it though, and check with the manufactures.


Am I strange for finding this whole thread very interesting, even though I don't have any dead or stuck pixels, and I never have?

If I say yes, it makes you strange, would you be happy?

[rubah]

But if the blue sub was stuck on wouldn't the whole pixel blend in with a blue background? The only colour that this pixel isn't visible on is black... Regardless, I'm still going to try and fix it though, and check with the manufactures.

This is where mikeface was getting into the theory of light.

Say you had a red sheet of transparent plastic you were holding through your face. All the objects that are cyan (that's kinda a blueish green) would be shown as dark or black through the plastic. All you'd see brightly would be the red, and you'd see about half of magenta or yellow objects.

Usually a manufacturer will require a certain number of pixels to be affected.

Roto, I was very interested in this stuff back when I just had a CRT monitor, but it came in handy when I got my macbook and a pixel turned black!