I'm, at some point, going to replace my CRT monitor for a TFT but i have a slight concern. Dead Pixels. I've been reading up on manufactures guidelines on what they say is acceptable. I'm led to believe that technology is not advanced enough in this area yet to absolutely guarentee no dead pixels. Hence why manufactures have a policy on what they say is the minumum number accepted. These seem to range from 1-2 upto 5. Now a few companies are now offering to send you a new monitor with no dead pixels guarenteed. But for a price. This seems to be around £20. Now because they connot guarentee that every TFT they have has no dead pixels they have to test them before they send you one. If you paid the £20 fee that is. What happens to all the monitors that they find that DO have dead pixels? I'm guessing that if i didn't pay the fee i would be getting one that was tested to have dead pixels. Obviously if they are less than what the manufacturer specifies as minumum accepted then what's to stop them sending me one? So should i be adding £20 to any monitor i look at buying? Otherwise i'm taking a gamble yes? Sorry about the long post
I can't offer much advice on policy, but out of all the people I know who have TFTs (around 20 screens in total) I've never seen one dead pixel. The only time I have seen a dead pixel in fact, was when the screen had been hit and it developed one right on the point of impact. HTH
Mine came with 2 dodgy pixels, they're visible when the whole area is certain uniform very dark colours (like the black screen when booting), but in normal use nobody would know -- specks of dust are more obvious. A single pixel is pretty damn small. Most firms will replace if the dead pixels are clumped together, so a bigger spot.
A few companies have no-dead-pixel policies, Samsung comes to mind. I've got two Dells (1 15", 1 20" WS) and neithger have any problems, and picked up a 17" Acer for a build for my Aunt and it seems fine as well. As is the TFT on every laptop I've used except one (some OLD as hell thing, and I've used MANY different laptops). Policies really depend on the company, but from what I've read, it seems to be a fine-or-horrible type of thing, like it took a good hit during shipping. As for prepaid testing done by some resellers, I'd imagine anything that they can get exhanged by the manufacturers, they will. Intenionally shipping LCDs with dead pixels to their customers really isn't the best way to keep them happy, is it?
When I bought my first LCD, there were many dead or colored pixels. I then returned it and picked up a different model. It too had two always blue pixels. I then went back, exchanged the LCD and they tested another LCD for me in the store, and I went home happy. I recently bought a 19 inch LCD and there were no dead pixels. My gf also went through a similar situation. She bought a budget-brand LCD monitor from a national retailer. She kept returning model after model until she got one which had no dead pixels. Two weeks later, two pixels were stuck on as red. My point? If you are really concerned over dead pixels, go to a retailer you trust which has a satisfaction gaurantee policy. Typically, a new monitor shouldn't have dead pixels, but since there are typically over one million pixels in a monitor, there is some chance of manufacturing error. All in all, go with a strong retailer and you should be safe, even if you get a dead pixel or two (just exchange monitors until you get a flawless one).
tbh you can barely see the dead ones. ive got one that is merely visible. i can only see it when i really look or when im bored while a program is loading with a dark background... i would however spend the 20pounds, its worth it. i wouldnt take the gamble...i mean..whats 20pounds... a round in the pub?
I have one dead pixel on my screen and it's only visible when the whole screen is white/black. Samsung have a zero-tolerance policy on them now, so if you're that worried then they would be the one to go for (oh, they make great screens as well). Manufacturing methods are improving all the time, so it's is becoming less and less of a problem. You might get one dead pixel, but there's a pretty low chance of getting any more than that
Thanks for all your input. Much appreciated! I've always liked Samsung stuff anyway so i may get one of them
I have had to install approx 600 tft's were I work and I would say out of the 600 I reckon 20 have had dead pixels. My first tft I brought had approx 5 dead pixels and LG said go swap it out from the supplier as it was within 30 days, so I sent it back to ebuyer and the feckers said it was within tolerance. But when I unpacked it I heard a rattle inside the monitor so it went back and I got a refund.
Not had any dead pixels on the couple of tft's i've bought (BenQ and Sharp). I suppose an extra £20 on top of a fairly expensive purchase is worth it to guarantee no dead pixels.
Depends on what kidn of dead pixel it is i.e. full dead or sub pixel,a dn course where on the screen it/they are. And if its sub pixel then what colors(s) are they stuck on. Also the dot pitch makes a big difference. Smaller the dot pitch then the smaller the pixel and thus less visible to the eye. But in general if its liek one dead/sub dead pixel, and not situated in the central area of the screen. Then I dont worry about it (my last two TFTs have both had one dead one). Alsoit depends on the screen size. You really shouldnt buy a screen bigger than 19" and *expect* no dead pixels. Just count how many pixels there are, and youll realize that on a mass production scale you cannot avoid them. Obviously manufacturers could test all monitors, and reject bad ones. But then thats two additional costs, which obviously the manufacturers will not bear i.e. we will get higher TFT prices to reflect this. however in the current production of TFTs its gotten so good, that less than 19" and to some extent 19" themselves, should be pretty much near perfect. And I think itsnot so unreasonable to expect a 17" screen which is dead pixel free. Hope this helps.
