Do LCD displays become dimmer over time?

K

Korgun

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Mar 9, 2000
Messages
6,619
Well I have a 2000FP, (2) 2001 FP's and a 2005 fp.

When I got my 2000FP and upgraded to the 2001FP I put them side by side and the 2001FP was so much brighter, which was great because I figured they improved it by A LOT. Then I got another 2001FP (for my brother). and when I put them side by side the older one (that replaced the 2000FP) looked significantly dimmer. A few weeks ago I bought a 2005FP as a secondary monitor to complement my 2001FP and sure enough the 2005FP is also noticeably brighter than both of the 2001FP's (which once again one is brighter han the other one). .

I recall reading somehwere that LCD displays do not degrade over time. Is this a fact?
 
The CCFL backlights in the monitors will degrade over time (becoming more dim). However, they degrade fairly slowly, so unless you leave the monitors on 24/7 for a very long time they shouldn't really lose much brightness.

The 2005 is rated to be brighter than the 2001, so that's not surprising, but I'm not really sure why one 2001 is brighter than the other.
 
LCDs can become dimmer over time and it is usually caused by 2 reasons. The first would be yes the cathode bulb can dim over time and the second is the inverter can "wear out" lowering the voltage it puts out(which is between around 1000 to 1800 volts) which will dim the screen. Most of the time the inveter wears out first and depending on the lcd can be easy or hard to replace. A cathode on a lcd can be a real bitch to replace and it not recomened for anyone but a pro. With both types of failures it usually takes a long time(ie a few years) for this to happen.
 
I have an old viewsonic LCD display that is around 5-6 years old now. I used to have it on for 12+ hours a day for about 3-4 years straight. The LCD is still perfect and looks great! I use it less than I used to, but still use it to this day. The only thing I noticed is it seems to take a while to "warm up". If I turn it on, it takes about 10 seconds to reach it's normal brightness.

It might have always been like that, but I don't think it was.

Either way, I wouldn't worry about the life of an LCD. They last long :)
 
based on the link of the 2nd article, for 12 hr. usage a day, picking the av. life of 25K hr (they said 20K to 30K), it only last 5.7 yr.

Besides if your LCD is dimmer, you won't notice it unless you compares to a new one side by side.
 
I just started my summer internship here at work, and they through together a computer with what they had available at the time (an old Dell 1 ghz... lol :p ). Anyways, I had a choice between an old large CRT or an old 17" LCD. Since I'm doing mostly programming / writing I chose the LCD in an instant. (Most CRTs give me headaches too.) First thing I noticed when I turned on the LCD was how dim it was. I almost had to squint to read it. However, the longer it is on, the brighter it gets. It is kind of strange, but by the end of the day, it seems to be perfectly bright. And I'm almost positive its not just my eyes adjusting because you can see backlighting issues when it is first turned on as well. These go away too. So yes, the screen definitely has dimmed since it is pretty old, however once it warms up a bit, it seems to work ok.
 
CCFL tubes (used in the backlight) can take some time to heat up. Once they warm up they do put out more light (sometimes even 2x). The tubes in your monitor could be taking a while to heat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top