Dead Pixels

[Morton]

Yesterday I noticed by accident that my Viewsonic VP930 has a dead pixel. It's pretty bright with hues of blue or green when looked at from the usual viewing angle, but when I look at it from different angles it looks red or more blue or green. I did a more thorough search and found another one, though the second one is less noticeable because it looks red from the usual viewing angle I use. I bought the monitor half a year ago and never actually did a thorough search for dead pixels, so I am not sure how long they've been there. I can notice them mainly on dark background and now that I know about them, I notice them quite quickly in games. It's also nasty that horizontally they are quite in the middle of the screen and vertically quite far away from the edges (the red one below the center and the brighter, more nasty one above the center), though fortunately not right in the center.

Are dead pixels common in LCD monitors, particularly VP930, and can pixels die because you don't play games on LCD's native resolution? I've been playing games on native resolution, but a week ago I got a game which I had to run at lower resolution. Now I suspect that at least the brighter dead pixel might have appeared recently and it was caused by using wrong resolution.

 

[dozebeats]

Did you try to rub the dead pixels out with a soft cloth? Dead pixels are a very common problem when purchasing LCD's.

 

[blueangel]

Dead pixels are common; on my laptop I have 3 or 4. my desktop LCD has 2. The only way I know to "fix" a dead pixel is to replace the LCD screen. To do this contact the manufacturer, and you can get a replacement sent to you, or you can find retailers that sell screens online, make sure to check compatibility before purchasing these. Most Manufacturers will have a replacement plan if the unit is has X number of dead pixels at purchase. As for playing games at non-native resolutions, that does not cause dead pixels or harm the screen in any way. It will just have a less sharp image that is all.

 

[RichPLS]

How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor-Wiki
If your LCD screen has a stuck or dead pixel , it's usually malfunctioning because the liquid in the liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) has not covered the whole screen. This can be easily fixed.
1: Turn off your computer's monitor.
2: Get yourself a damp cloth, so that you don't scratch your screen.
3: Apply pressure to the area where the stuck pixel is. Do not put pressure anywhere else, as this may make more stuck pixels.
4: While applying pressure, turn on your computer and screen.
5: Remove pressure and the stuck pixel should be gone. This works as the liquid in the liquid crystal has not spread into each little pixel. This liquid is used with the backlight on your monitor, allowing different amounts of light through, which creates the different colours.

Tips:
Many people report success with this technique but these instructions won't work in every case.
These instructions will fix "stuck" pixels, not "dead" ones. Dead pixels appear black while stuck pixels can be one constant color like red, blue or green.
An alternative, but similar technique involves gently massaging the stuck pixel on your screen. Another method involves playing a video (available for download in external links below) which changes colors 30 times per second.
If these instructions don't work, you can hopefully get the monitor fixed through your manufacturer. Follow the link at the bottom of the page to the Tom's Hardware article on how many pixels it takes for your specific manufacturer to replace the whole monitor. If your monitor falls under the specifications of replacement, get in contact with the manufacturer to set up replacement plans.
Gently tapping the area can also work in some cases.

Another method:
The second method involves cycling the main RGB colors on every pixel at a very rapid rate. This has recently gained public interest after a video was created to help fix stuck pixels in the PlayStation Portable. This video is said to have been inspired by a DVD that TFT TV retailers distribute to their customers who report stuck pixels, although this is not verified. A portable Java application using the same concept has also been created for PCs, and a homebrew application for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance is available for owners of GBA SP and Nintendo DS systems. Although this method gives no guarantee of success, a rate of up to 60% has been reported by users who left their screens flashing overnight.
http://screenfix.hostyourself.net/

It is strongly recommended to run these videos and programs with the monitor covered, so as to prevent someone with photosensitive epilepsy from being affected, although the Java application at is designed so as not to aggravate sensitive users.

There is also a Windows program called UDPixel, that uses the "RGB flash" method, but it only flashes a single pixel or a small region of pixels (around the dead pixel), to avoid triggering a seizure.
http://udpix.free.fr/

Wiki