Dead Pixel on Monitor

How to Fix a Dead Pixel

A pixel is like a tiny light bulb that can illuminate with one or more colors. Just like a light bulb, a pixel can burn out, leaving a dark spot on your screen. A pixel can also become stuck in the "on" position, injecting light that is too bright or the wrong color into your on-screen view. There are millions of pixels in a monitor screen, so inevitably some leave the factory defective in one way or the other. It's a good idea to test a monitor for defective pixels before you buy it.

Retailers don't make it easy to detect defective pixels in their showrooms. Generally, they put some complex image on the screens to attract interest and show off the monitor's capabilities. But to detect defective pixels you really need a totally blank screen that can change from one color to another. Color-changing allows you to spot pixels that are defective in just one color.

InjuredPixels is a simple, small program that runs a dead pixel test by displaying a blank screen in multiple colors. Run it on your current monitor or download it to a USB thumb drive and take it with you when you shop. Test the actual monitor you plan to bring home, if at all possible, or run InjuredPixel as soon as you install the monitor and check for bad pixels. InjuredPixels won't fix a dead pixel, but there is another tool that may help.

Fixing a Dead, Stuck or White Pixel

A stuck pixel shows up as a spot on the screen where color doesn't belong, particularly a bright dot on an image that is supposed to be totally black. It could be a black pixel, a white pixel, or some random colored one. Pixels stuck in the "on" position often come unstuck after a time as electricity is turned on and off to the stuck pixel during normal operation. You can sometimes hasten the "jarring loose" of a stuck pixel with JScreenFix, a free Java application that rapidly exercises a screen's pixels.

I ran JScreenFix on an LCD monitor of mine that had three stuck pixels near the center of the screen -- one red, one green and one white pixel. After a few false starts, I discovered that you have to disable the screensaver AND temporarily disable the setting in Control Panel / Power Options that turns off the screen after a specified number of minutes. After letting JScreenFix do it's thing for an hour or so, the white pixel was fixed (gone) but the other two persisted. Your mileage may (hopefully) vary.

I've also read that turning an LCD screen off and back on, while putting a little pressure on the affected area, will sometimes fix a stuck pixel. The theory goes that somehow this will slosh around the "liquid" part of the liquid crystal, and unstick whatever is stuck in there. It sounded a bit hokey to me, but I tried it anyway, using my fingertip and also a pencil eraser to apply pressure to the spot with the nixed pixels. No luck there, either.

Burn-in is another occasional pixel problem. If you leave a particular pattern or image on a screen long enough, it persists after you switch images. Basically, pixels left on long enough get stuck in the on position, or do not shut off completely. The purpose of screensaver programs is to keep shifting the images on a screen so that burn-in does not occur. JScreenFix can also mitigate burn-in, although it may not eliminate it totally.

Defective pixels of all kinds are a subtle nuisance. It's best to avoid buying a defective monitor; use screensavers; and periodically check your screen for defective pixels that you can fix. If your monitor is still under warranty, and the problem annoys you that much, check and see if it can be replaced by the manufacturer.

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