Flaws in LCD Displays? 23
jaredreimer asks: "Having just spent a sizeable amount of money on a top-of-the-line Sony VAIO notebook PC, I am extremely dismayed to find a single red pixel stuck on in the middle of the screen. While this is virtually unnoticable when running regular Windows applications [white backgrounds hide it well], it is unbelievably irritating when trying to watch DVD movies [which tend to have dark backgrounds].
The question is this: How good is good enough? Many vendors won't touch a screen unless it has six or ten bad pixels; is this fair, given that we spend thousands of dollars on their product? Barring a remedy from the manufacturer, has anyone heard of a software fix for this problem? (Preventing the pixel from ever lighting would be far preferable to having a red one stuck on.)"
Evaluation.... (Score:1)
I did this recently with a Toshiba 4260dvd who's display thought it was actually a strobe light several times during the day.
I had a new unit on my desk via airborne the next day before even sending the defective one back.
Re:Flat CRT's - is it possible? (Score:1)
I have a Nanao CRT with a total of three "dead spots" - very small points (smaller than pixels on any LCD I've seen) that stay stubbornly black. I've thought about asking Nanao to replace it, but it doesn't really bother me that much.
Re:Build from blocks? (Score:1)
I also believe that failure rates would be just as high, since you would actually have to run the traces that drive the individual display components around in an odd fashon (i.e. how would you get the wires up to the center block of pixels?). It's these fragle traces that go bad and cause stuck pixels and stuck lines, not the actual element on the display itself.
Flat Panel Yields and Reliability (Score:1)
My current laptop had its display replaced twice due to gross defects when it was new. The third display worked fine until recently, when a complete vertical line of pixels stopped working. Now it is no longer under warranty and it would be too expensive to replace the display.
Stuck "On" pixels vs. Stuck "Off" (Score:1)
One in five (Score:1)
Citrix
Re:One in five (Score:1)
I meant to say:
If that is true I'm can see why the manufacturers don't wanna replace them but it doesn't make me sympathize with them any.
Hopefully this one doens't .. as much :-)
Citrix
Re:Go PC World! (Score:1)
As far as I know - most displays upto 1024*768 seem to be defect free.
When the resolution is increased beyond this - the defects become more common (I hate to think how many components these things have!)
Go PC World! (Score:1)
They didn't bat an eyelid when I took it back the next day and replaced it without charge.
You can't say fairer than that, can you?
(PS. I don't work for them
flat panels (Score:1)
Re:Build from blocks? (Score:1)
Possible fix for a dead pixel. (Score:1)
Re:They go bad over time, too! (Score:1)
Weird, sorry for the off-topic post.
Replacement policy (Score:1)
Re:Stuck "On" pixels vs. Stuck "Off" (Score:1)
A REAL software fix! (Score:1)
Sony policy (Score:2)
So, might as well call whomever you bought it from and tell them there are bad pixels on the display, and that you need a replacement unit. If they tell you that you need X number of bad pixels, just start being an asshole about it, and they'll probably see it your way
BTW, I had them ship me a new unit before I sent the old one back. My thought was to just swap the HDDs so I didn't have to re-setup the new machine. BIG mistake. Find some other method of backing up the drive (Ghost it to a fileserver?) before attempting to swap the HDDs. The unit I had (505?) had the HDD nestled deep, deep within the unit.
Re:They go bad over time, too! (Score:2)
Actually, it's better to give the screen a tap about 2 inches away from the bad pixel, horizontally or vertically. That has yet to fail to turn the pixel on.
Anyway, after that experience, from now on, I'm buying all my laptops at stores, so I can check out the screen before I take them home.
I will not spend $2K for anything that is defective, regardless of what they conscider acceptable.
Re:Build from blocks? (Score:2)
If it's an active matrix (TFT) display then there's something wrong with it, like a bad trace or damaged display cable.
They go bad over time, too! (Score:2)
You can't necessarily tell a display will be perfect for you based on firing it up once in the store to test it. That's for sure.
Re:How about... (Score:2)
Perhaps they could ship the laptops with duct tape over parts of the case, to give it that kewl X-Files kind of look...
=P
How about... (Score:2)
All the best films, such as BladeRunner and Aliens, have really dirty displays; with flickering, distortion and "we're losing your signal!" type-effects.
Perhaps manufacturers could follow this lead. Perhaps that's why all the computers in the future do have dodgy displays.
How about a window manager to handle this?
That way the inherent defects in the screen will simply add to the overall effect.
(I think I ate too much for lunch)
How flawed does it have to be? (Score:3)