Computer Hope

Scenarios

1. You notice a small patch of screen is permanently white, most noticeable on black.
2. Same as #1, but it's black and noticeable on white.
3. An area of monitor screen is somewhat darker, or an outline of an image can be seen on the screen

(For the record -- I currently experience #3)

Description

A stuck pixel is a common defect in any LCD monitor. LCD pixels are sub-divided into three sub-pixels: Red, Green and Blue (RGB) (some monitors use BGR, but this is rare). stuck pixels occur when, for whatever reason, a particular sub-pixel continuously fires as long as the monitor is on. When in any color, it can be hard to see a stuck pixel because it blends with the other colors. However, when exposed to black, the stuck pixel is easy to notice.



(Collected off the Internet.)

Dead pixels are another defect, but with the opposite effect. The pixel in question remains unlit. Dead pixels are easily noticed on white or other light colors. It cannot be seen on dark colors.



(Internet)

LCD burn-in, perhaps the most noticeable, is when an area of pixels is either a little darker than the rest of the screen, or there is an image burned into the monitor.



(Internet)

Possible solution to problems 1 & 3

There is a handy tool called JScreenFix, found at http://www.jscreenfix.com/. It's a neat little Java applet that continually fires random RGB pixels to stimulate the region. An excerpt from their FAQ:

JScreenFix re-energises stuck pixels on LCD screens and removes burn-in from plasma screens by randomly switching on and off red, green and blue colour cells very rapidly. The time between on and off is random which helps bring stuck pixels back to life through resonance and repetition.

The site owners claim they can fix 65% of stuck pixels. No figure for burn-in.

This is not a guaranteed solution, but it can help and should be tried first; it's free, after all.

There is no cure for dead pixels, however, and CRT monitors are out of luck; different technology entirely.