Monday, October 23, 2006
Stuck Pixels on an LCD: What Worked for Me
(Scroll down to jump to the methods I used). After months of trolling on forums and waiting for the best deal, I took the plunge and bought a 1080p LCD. Not a stranger to stuck pixels from my PSP experiences, I was horrified when I saw not just one pixel stuck on my new display but 3 large blocks consisting of 4-6 pixels on the lower left corner of the monitor. I bought my TV brand new and the box was still factory sealed. How did this get past quality control? After a "nice" conversation with customer service, I was told that I would have to ship the TV to them to get it fixed. Coming in at about 70lbs, I didn't really feel like dropping another $100+ on my 2 hr old LCD.
At this point I decided to take matters into my own hands. I started by running the PSP pixel flashing videos on the screen. After about 24hrs with no success, I moved onto gently rubbing the area with a microfiber cloth while the video played. These pixels are "stuck" meaning they are cyan, red, or green and are not to be confused with "dead" pixels. Anyway, I pretty much tried all the methods out there to no avail. Because the TV has over 2 million pixels, the 3 blobs looked just like 3 dots from the viewing distance. With no other options short of shipping my TV back, I took a very low-tech approach and covered the stuck pixels with a black dry-erase marker. Surprisingly it did a pretty good job of masking the problem. Instead of bright green and blue pixels that you could see no matter what was being shown, I had a few black blobs that could really only be seen on a white or other very light backgrounds. The most important part was that I could no longer see the stuck pixels in my peripheral vision when I was concentrating on the center of the screen. I put up with this for a couple weeks and frankly, it wasn't that bad. After deciding to clean the screen, I was shocked when I rubbed the marker away. All of the stuck pixels were gone! I double and triple checked by running blank white and black screens. My TV was healed! While I don't really know what fixed the problem, the most logical conclusions are the rubbing and just plain breaking the TV in. The moral of the story here is don't freak out like I did if your new LCD has some dead pixels when it arrives. Give it a few weeks and mask them if you need too. While I'm sure there are some pixels out there that will never become "unstuck", there is hope!
Fixing Stuck Pixels: Here are all the methods that I could find on the web
Method 1: Video or Program that flashes RGB screens to fix the problem.
Step 1: Get the video (via PSP-Vault by: Nick Toohill) or the
freeware program (via DPS) if you have an HTPC or its an LCD monitor.
Step 2: Run the video on loop for at least 12-24 hours. (I did this numerous times) There is a supposed 60% success rate using this video.
Step 2-A(HTPC): If you have an HTPC use the freeware program to get more options. It works on the same principle as the video
Method 2: Gently Massaging/Tapping the Screen. (WARNING!: This method has been reported to work but there is small a chance that you may damage your LCD)
Step 1(optional): Play the video or run the program on the screen.
Step 2: Get a soft cloth preferably microfiber. Wet the cloth slightly and gently rub the affected area. Use intervals of 15-30 seconds. Remember to be careful when performing this step.
Step 2-A: If you don't want to rub you can first try tapping the screen
with the cloth.
Method 3: Apply Pressure and Power Cycle
Step 1: Put your finger over the stuck pixels and turn off your lcd.
Step 2: Knowing where your stuck pixels are, use a the same slightly wet cloth from the last method and apply pressure to the area.
Step 3: Turn your monitor on and release.
Method 4: The last resort/I'm waiting for customer service to process my return, method.
Step 1: Use a black DRY-ERASE marker and place black specs over your brightly colored pixels to help "mask" them.
I used all of these methods and just plain watched the TV, whatever it was that did it, I overcame a pretty sick pixel situation. I hope one of these methods will work for you.
Labels: guide, lcd, stuck pixels
Friday, October 20, 2006
Is a 1080p Flat Panel TV Worth it?
In short, yes, definitely. The level of detail at 1920 x 1080 is quite impressive. Don't be fooled by the fact that lesser panels accept 1080i. These models most commonly have a native resolution of 1366 x 768. They call this "native" 720p even though broadcast hd (720p) is 1280 x 720. This means you'll basically be scaling ALL HD content whether its 720p or 1080i. (Yes, I do realize that 1366->1280 scaling is probably not noticable). Even so, the majority of HD content is of the 1080i flavor. There is clearly a noticable difference between watching 1080i on a 1080p screen vs. that same signal on a 720p monitor. The difference by the numbers is quite staggering. Working out the multiplication, 720p offers roughly 1 million pixels where 1080i/p provides a resolution of approx. 2 million pixels. Thats quite a difference despite many claiming there really "isn't" one. Don't fall into the "accepts" 1080i trap , you're missing out on quite a bit of resolution. While I won't discount that 720p looks great compared to standard def, it can be quite a bit better.
Currently there are a number of 1080p LCDs on the market, however, there are very few plasmas. Expect more of both varieties this holiday as prices will continue to drop. When it comes time to take the plunge, be sure to check out the TV in person. The specs the manufacturers supply these days are a joke and should be taken worth a grain of salt. The best judge is of course, your own eyes. Just make sure you've seen 1080i on a native 1920 x 1080 screen before you buy a 720p version. You may not think the extra money is worth the difference but you should definitely see it for yourself.
Let me know what you think!
In short, yes, definitely. The level of detail at 1920 x 1080 is quite impressive. Don't be fooled by the fact that lesser panels accept 1080i. These models most commonly have a native resolution of 1366 x 768. They call this "native" 720p even though broadcast hd (720p) is 1280 x 720. This means you'll basically be scaling ALL HD content whether its 720p or 1080i. (Yes, I do realize that 1366->1280 scaling is probably not noticable). Even so, the majority of HD content is of the 1080i flavor. There is clearly a noticable difference between watching 1080i on a 1080p screen vs. that same signal on a 720p monitor. The difference by the numbers is quite staggering. Working out the multiplication, 720p offers roughly 1 million pixels where 1080i/p provides a resolution of approx. 2 million pixels. Thats quite a difference despite many claiming there really "isn't" one. Don't fall into the "accepts" 1080i trap , you're missing out on quite a bit of resolution. While I won't discount that 720p looks great compared to standard def, it can be quite a bit better.Currently there are a number of 1080p LCDs on the market, however, there are very few plasmas. Expect more of both varieties this holiday as prices will continue to drop. When it comes time to take the plunge, be sure to check out the TV in person. The specs the manufacturers supply these days are a joke and should be taken worth a grain of salt. The best judge is of course, your own eyes. Just make sure you've seen 1080i on a native 1920 x 1080 screen before you buy a 720p version. You may not think the extra money is worth the difference but you should definitely see it for yourself.
Let me know what you think!