How common are dead pixels?

[Viper87227]

I have been thinking of picking up two BenQ 931FP LCD's, but all this dead pixel talk has me nervous. Newegg doesnt take a return unless their are more than 8, and BenQ's site will only RMA more than seven. IMO even one dead pixel on eithe rmonitor woudl be the most annoying thing is the world. How common are they? Getting two montiors, whats my chances of either one coming with a dead pixel?

 

[dextr3k]

happy user of a benq fp931, no dead pixels for me...

 

[BillLeeLee]

Chances are if you actively look for them, you will most likely have at least one. Some panels won't, some do, so they're pretty common.

If you really can't stand the idea of having even 1 (I wouldn't accept it either), then you will probably want to buy from MonitorsDirect, who I think has a very good Dead Pixel policy (have to check up on that). However, they will be more expensive compared to most other retailers.

Maybe you could look into local stores as well, I think some product service plans cover this stuff.

 

[Viper87227]

THe only local store by me that has LCD's is circuit city, and hell if I am paying their prices. I need two decent monitors in under $1k, and the 931FP seems like the best route.....MonitorsDirect looks great, I love the return policy. I would order from there BUT I need somewhere that does financing, I dont have $1000 sitting in my back pocket. TigerDirect does it, which is where I currently plan on getting the monitors. If MonitorsDirect had financing, I woudl purchase there hands down.

 

[Zardoz]

I would say if you can not agree and are worried that much about dead or stuck pixels, Then LCD is prolly not for you...

 

[HardD99]

THe only local store by me that has LCD's is circuit city, and hell if I am paying their prices. I need two decent monitors in under $1k, and the 931FP seems like the best route.....MonitorsDirect looks great, I love the return policy. I would order from there BUT I need somewhere that does financing, I dont have $1000 sitting in my back pocket. TigerDirect does it, which is where I currently plan on getting the monitors. If MonitorsDirect had financing, I woudl purchase there hands down.

y not get a credit card and buy from anywhere?? also if ur not happy with 1 dead pixel then an lcd isnt for you, i havent met anyone that is completely annoyed with 1 pixel anyways, have u ever even seen a dead pixel? it doesnt stick out like a sore thumb unless it's right in the middle, u usually have to look for it, now if there are a couple in the same general area then i could see someone not being happy with it....

 

[Viper87227]

y not get a credit card and buy from anywhere?? also if ur not happy with 1 dead pixel then an lcd isnt for you, i havent met anyone that is completely annoyed with 1 pixel anyways, have u ever even seen a dead pixel? it doesnt stick out like a sore thumb unless it's right in the middle, u usually have to look for it, now if there are a couple in the same general area then i could see someone not being happy with it....

Well, my parents are paying for these, not me, but I would assume that the intrest is greater when just paying it all on a credit card. Etiehr way, thats what they wanted. Now, as far as a dead pixel goes, yes I have seen them and they are annoying as hell. I baught a Cannon SureShot A310 and it came with a dead pixel. I cannot stand it, but circuit city wouldnt let me return the camera coz of it. Thats just on my camera, on a monitor im using to paly games, it would really bother me. And just coz I am annoyed by dead pixels, lcds arent for me. I know alot of poepel who are annoyed by them. I wouldnt care if its like off to the edge or something, but if its near the center of the screen, it would really bother me.

 

[Elledan]

Realize that there are 'dead' and 'stuck' pixels. The former means that a pixel is completely dead, so that all (well, most) light is blocked. The pixel is therefore black.

The latter means that the pixel lets through light to some extent, and is stuck in this position. Sometimes it's the entire pixel which is stuck, but often it's a sub-pixel. This type of defect shows up as a bright spot on the display when it should be black and can be anything from white to red in colour.

Due to the inherent difficulties in creating perfect LCD displays, dead or stuck (sub-)pixels are a fact of life unless you either get lucky, or pay a lot of money and buy a guaranteed 'perfect' LCD display.

In other words: did you ever win the lottery?

 

[Zardoz]

Realize that there are 'dead' and 'stuck' pixels. The former means that a pixel is completely dead, so that all (well, most) light is blocked. The pixel is therefore black.

The latter means that the pixel lets through light to some extent, and is stuck in this position. Sometimes it's the entire pixel which is stuck, but often it's a sub-pixel. This type of defect shows up as a bright spot on the display when it should be black and can be anything from white to red in colour.

Due to the inherent difficulties in creating perfect LCD displays, dead or stuck (sub-)pixels are a fact of life unless you either get lucky, or pay a lot of money and buy a guaranteed 'perfect' LCD display.

In other words: did you ever win the lottery?

I dont think it's that bad... I mean jezz I got 2 LCD with nothing worng. it's not like I can go out and buy two lottery tickets and win both times. I would say that most often LCDs are going to be ok.

 

[rolo]

I went through 4 (or maybe it was 5) Dell 2001 FP's and this is my 3rd Viewsonic VP201s ... dead pixels are very very common, at least for this panel (the Dell and Viewsonic use the same panel). This one I finally settled on does have some, but they're very difficult to spot unless you're really looking for them.

Basically if you end up with one or two green ones, fine. You can have several blue ones and you won't notice at all. If you have a pixel that's stuck red though ... game over. Those are the brightest.

Dell is pretty good to order from because their return policy is liberal. All you have to do is e-mail them and say you want a new one and you'll have it. Viewsonic is full of incompetent assholes, so I recommend staying away from them.

 

[Viper87227]

I went through 4 (or maybe it was 5) Dell 2001 FP's and this is my 3rd Viewsonic VP201s ... dead pixels are very very common, at least for this panel (the Dell and Viewsonic use the same panel). This one I finally settled on does have some, but they're very difficult to spot unless you're really looking for them.

Basically if you end up with one or two green ones, fine. You can have several blue ones and you won't notice at all. If you have a pixel that's stuck red though ... game over. Those are the brightest.

Dell is pretty good to order from because their return policy is liberal. All you have to do is e-mail them and say you want a new one and you'll have it. Viewsonic is full of incompetent assholes, so I recommend staying away from them.

The ones I am getting are BenQ. I cant afford Dells. At BenQ's site, the RMA policy is 7 dead pixels. I am not sure waht Tigers is, they do not specify like newegg does. I guess ill find out.

 

[gwu168]

Heh, I got 2 Dell 2001FPs and had to go through 6 of them before a got one with no dead pixels and even back light. There was one that was a close to being perfect (very even back light and no defective pixels) before a huge blue line of dead pixels appealed after watching a movie... I still have one LCD with 2 red fixed pixels that I'm trying to replace. Another thing to watch out is the back lights since on one of the LCDs the upper right corner was very bright. All in all it is very hard to get a perfect LCD monitor.

 

[Elledan]

I dont think it's that bad... I mean jezz I got 2 LCD with nothing worng. it's not like I can go out and buy two lottery tickets and win both times. I would say that most often LCDs are going to be ok.

Heh, I got 2 Dell 2001FPs and had to go through 6 of them before a got one with no dead pixels and even back light. There was one that was a close to being perfect (very even back light and no defective pixels) before a huge blue line of dead pixels appealed after watching a movie... I still have one LCD with 2 red fixed pixels that I'm trying to replace. Another thing to watch out is the back lights since on one of the LCDs the upper right corner was very bright. All in all it is very hard to get a perfect LCD monitor.

While the chances of getting a perfect LCD display may be higher than winning the lottery, some luck is still required

By the way, are you absolutely certain that your 'perfect' LCD display doesn't have some dead (not stuck) pixels? What about sub-pixels? Did you ever run one of those tests?

 

[Kakyoin]

If you are worried about dead pixels, BestBuy's policy (If you buy the extended warranty play, also called the PSP, Protection Service Plan) covers 1 or more dead pixels. You might pay more for the moniter and the extra cost of the warranty plan, but you'll never get stuck with a moniter with a dead pixel.

You can just return the moniter to bestbuy, they check it for the dead pixel and tell you to get another which is hopefully free of dead pixels, but you can keep returning them until you get one without dead pixels.

I even got better model on one of the exchanges and a $50 rebate somehow for exchanging a moniter

 

[FunkStar]

Samsung LCD's are kinda pricey but they've got a 2 pixel policy i think, plus they're good quality. But if you get a dead pixel just slap your monitor and youll get a second so you can RMA it anyway

 

[Viper87227]

If you are worried about dead pixels, BestBuy's policy (If you buy the extended warranty play, also called the PSP, Protection Service Plan) covers 1 or more dead pixels. You might pay more for the moniter and the extra cost of the warranty plan, but you'll never get stuck with a moniter with a dead pixel.

You can just return the moniter to bestbuy, they check it for the dead pixel and tell you to get another which is hopefully free of dead pixels, but you can keep returning them until you get one without dead pixels.

I even got better model on one of the exchanges and a $50 rebate somehow for exchanging a moniter

Awesome.... I am gunna have to check them out. Anyone know if Circuit City is the same? For me CC = 5 minute drive, BB= 45 minute drive.

 

[Kakyoin]

Awesome.... I am gunna have to check them out. Anyone know if Circuit City is the same? For me CC = 5 minute drive, BB= 45 minute drive.

Call the CC near you and talk to the people in the computer department about extended warranty plans they offer. I usually shop at bestbuy since I have the reward zones card and i get money back