LCD backlight hours/life expectancy?

Hecktec

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
197
A couple of questions:

- What is the life expectancy of a regular LCD backlight? My HP w2207 currently has around 9,400 hours. Though I'm not 100% sure but I think it's starting to dim just a bit, but then again it could be placebo.

- Just in case it goes out, is it easily replaceable? Any online tutorials/videos to do so?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
You'll replace the monitor before noticing an appreciable dimming.

Have some LCDs at work going on roughly 10 years and still usable.

More likely for it to fail than just wear out. To replace them is no big deal, I've done a few. The lamp is generally cheap ($5-$10 on ebay) and just open the case up and look for the same part and switch it out. On a scale of 1-10 difficulty, with a 2 being replacing ram, and 9 being something really hard, it's about a 3.5.
 
Usually about 50,000-60,000 hours is a typical quote. But it can be anywhere between 30,000 and 80,000+ hours. Depends on the components, the conditions it's being used (full brightness in a warm environment might not expect to last as long), and the all important element of luck.

At about 10,000 hours you probably are starting to notice some dimming. If you've ran your screen at a low brightness you should be able to nudge the brightness up a bit, and maybe turn down red/green if whites are starting to look a bit yellow. That's one big drawback of using really bright settings on an LCD. When it starts to dim it doesn't leave you with anywhere to go since you can't turn the brightness up any higher.

Easily replaceable? I would say not, personally. But I suppose it's possible, if you could find exactly the right component and are comfortable with taking the screen apart. Worth trying, at least, if the part is available for a reasonable price and the alternative is buying an expensive new screen.
 
That isn't placebo, it is certainly getting dimmer with nearly 9400 hours. I don't know where they huge 80000 hour numbers are coming from, but they don't reflect anything I have read or witnessed.

CCFLS dim significantly with time. Not sure about LED decline, but lifespans are similar AFAIK.

I have been measuring my NEC 2490.

At 12000 hours it is just about exactly half as bright as when new.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1037263703&postcount=1504

If another 12000 hours cuts it by half again, it would probably be done for most people.

That would be more like 24000 hours life, some consider half brightness the end of life, in which case at 12000 hours I am already there.

Most manufacturers don't mention backlights at all. Eizo does and the limits are fairly stringent, 10000 hours at low brightness:
http://www.eizo.com/global/support/warranty/index.html
The warranty period for the backlight is limited to three (3) years from the date of purchase but with the following conditions or exceptions:

For the ColorEdge models listed below, the backlight shall be warranted only if the monitors are used with the color temperature between 5,000 K – 6,500 K and limited to three (3) years from the date of purchase subject to the usage time being less than or equal to 10,000 hours and used within the recommended brightness as follows.
120 cd/m2 or less: CG223W, CG241W, CG242W, CG243W, CG245W, CG275W, CG301W, CG303W
 
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Not all backlights decay at the same rate, but this should give you a general idea:

lamp.jpg
 
Not all backlights decay at the same rate, but this should give you a general idea:

Based on what source? Because that really doesn't line up with Eizo 10000 hour warranty, and this is only if you keep it at low brightness, or my own measurements. That hit the 50% at only 12000 hours at low brightness.

I would really like to see more people testing their monitors, to see what is really going, as opposed to vague manufacturer claims.

Look at what they claim, then look at what they actually Guarantee like Eizo...

I would take 50000+ hour claims with a huge grain of salt.
 
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I don't know where they huge 80000 hour numbers are coming from, but they don't reflect anything I have read or witnessed.
CCFLS dim significantly with time. Not sure about LED decline, but lifespans are similar AFAIK.
I know Mitsubishi sell panels rated at 80,000 hours, and I've seen 80,000 hours quoted on some LED back lights. EG A quick search shows up this product http://www.tescoh.com/THM260.html

I have been measuring my NEC 2490.
At 12000 hours it is just about exactly half as bright as when new.
Yes, that seems closer to reality. The hours quoted on that graph are probably significantly over-optimistic, at least as far as the typical non-LED desktop monitor is concerned.

From the limited experience I've observed it does seem like LED based lighting might fair better in regards to loss of brightness over time vs CCFL.
 
I have been using a CCFL based monitor for well over 5 years now, and have noticed no dimming.

The PWM flicker does get annoying though.
 
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well to me 3 - 5 years is good enough a life for a monitor that gets constant use
 
Thread necro ahoy, but google search led me here in search of answers on how long this thing has before it craps out. As someone with an HP LP2475w with 17,800 hours on it (always kept at low brightness) it's still brighter than most crappy panels I see people using. Still, I have noticed slight dimming. Here's hoping I get another 5 good years out of this thing, even if it gets retired as my main panel before that.
 
The company I work for has a bunch of old dell 19" square lcd monitors, they have been on 24/7 for the entire time they have had them. For what ever reason when they set up the computers they only set a screen saver and don't have the monitors actually sleep/turn off, so they are just constantly on. I'm not entirely sure on the age as I don't know when they were bought but the model came out in 2009 so I would bet they are around 5 or 6 years old. That puts 43,000 to 52,000 hours on them. I don't have specific measurements but I can tell you they have significantly dimmed to the point they are almost not usable. At 100% brightness they cannot match a new monitor at 0 brightness (obviously this is very model dependent but these are just my observations). If you try to pair them with a new monitor they always look too dim and are hard to read in a office setting.
 
My LP2475w has about 30,000 hours on the backlight... got the monitor in 2008 or 2009. But I've always calibrated it for pitch dark viewing. So that's about 18 out of 100 in the brightness scale. I still have plenty of room to increase it. During the day for a few hours, I sometimes run it up to 60%.
 
I still have and use daily a 2005fpw that I’ve had I think since 2004.
Soooo, generally I wouldn’t worry about it. I run it at much lower brightness than probably most people though. I think it’s at minimum brightness right now as I have all my monritors calibrated to 80cdm for photo editing reasons.
Just to give complete info, I don’t retouch on it, but obviously I want to have it match what I do edit on as having one bright monitor next to a much dimmer one makes no sense.
 
I think you can reasonably expect about 30K hours from a modern LED backlight, possibly up to 60 or more before 50% brightness depending on your brightness settings and the particular backlight.

I think that 10-20K hours to half brightness is older CCFL lifespans. Eizo's warranty mentioned above is conservative, after all, they warrant the newer CG3145 with the HDR backlight for 10k hours at 800cd/m^2 brightness, which is 80% of the as-new rated maximum. Newer LED backlights should be comparable in longevity(that is, 10K hours will only drop 20% brightness at most).

I have two LCDs that have been used for 12 and 15k hours respectively (Acer XB270HU and Asus PQ321) and neither have substantial brightness decreases, despite me running them at high brightness setting(>80%) 12 hours a day.
 
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I still have and use daily a 2005fpw that I’ve had I think since 2004.
Soooo, generally I wouldn’t worry about it. I run it at much lower brightness than probably most people though. I think it’s at minimum brightness right now as I have all my monritors calibrated to 80cdm for photo editing reasons.
Just to give complete info, I don’t retouch on it, but obviously I want to have it match what I do edit on as having one bright monitor next to a much dimmer one makes no sense.

Since you have calibration gear, could you measure what it's current peak brightness is so we can see how much it's declined since it was new.

PS the 05 in the dell model number suggests it was a 2005 release and the dell marketing material has 2005 dates on it; the earliest mention I can find for it was late 2004 but that looks like reporting a product announcement as news not an actual release.
 
If your monitor supports DDC/CI then you can use a program like softMCCS, it may show you the exact usage time.
Mine's at 17653 hours now. The min. life expectancy for LEDs nowadays is usually either 30k or 50k hours.
 
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Interesting, I gave soft MCCS a run, the 2 old displays on my system (both ~decade old NEC 2090s) don't return that field unfortunately.

My new ACER XB321HK is reporting 1408 hours; which is right on for the amount of time it's been plugged in the wall but about 2x high for the the time it's been displaying an image. (Assuming it was in fact new as advertised on Amazon.) I'm definitely going to be checking reading again in a few more days.
 
Whatever variable softMCCS is reading definitely doesn't seem to account for sleep time, so it's of limited use. All it does is confirm the number of days since I purchased my monitors, pretty much.
 
Since you have calibration gear, could you measure what it's current peak brightness is so we can see how much it's declined since it was new.

I don't have much of an interest in doing it. But I can tell you at minimum brightness it's above 80, which for me is annoying.
Additionally, I wouldn't put much stock into trying to compare decline of my particular monitor with anyone else's. After 13+ years, there are so many variables even if we were comparing the exact same monitor it would give wildly different results (things like brightness setting, screen on time, even the power source). The difference in using the monitor for 1 extra hour a day would result in over 4745 additional hours at this point. And obviously there is no real concrete way of knowing how many hours I have or have not used the monitor for. The amount of years I've had it matters precisely zero. The only thing that matters is on-time and brightness setting. And like I say, I have no way of knowing that information (especially since I've only been calibrating my monitors for a relatively short 2 years of time).
Also, although it isn't talked about much, difference CCFLs are clearly constructed differently. It would be hard to compare even backlight to backlight without knowing that information. As many later CCFL backlit monitors got brighter, they obviously must be constructed differently. Also meaning that their longevity is also different (whether positive or negative).
Honestly, I think it's all a crap shoot. I'm sure many more people with 2005fpw's have had their power supplies or backlights burn out at this point. And I would probably be way more worried about the backlight or PSU just burning out, long before dimming became an issue.


PS the 05 in the dell model number suggests it was a 2005 release and the dell marketing material has 2005 dates on it; the earliest mention I can find for it was late 2004 but that looks like reporting a product announcement as news not an actual release.

Released November 1st, 2004. I'm aware of how the numbering system works.
https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-2005fpw/specs/

Second source:
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dell+Stretches+Multimedia+Experience;+New+Display+Allows+Customers+to+...-a0123924441
 
My backlight has seen 36700 hours, and I've overclocked it to 80hz. I haven't been able to notice any dimming or color shifting, though I have had it running at 50 brightness. Bought the monitor brand new at best buy when it came out.
 
My backlight has seen 36700 hours, and I've overclocked it to 80hz. I haven't been able to notice any dimming or color shifting, though I have had it running at 50 brightness. Bought the monitor brand new at best buy when it came out.
It's sad seeing a comment like this from nearly 6 years ago. Maybe if we can just wait another 6 years....
What is affordable tho? I find OLEDs have become affordable already. You can find 55" OLED under $1000. If you waiting for OLED to get down to cheap garbage LCD TV you will never buy one. OLED will be obsolete and replaced before that happens. OLED are arguably the best display tech atm. Even if they do get to say $500 for a 75" you are not getting a good OLED. There w huge difference between a cheapo LCD and a high end LCD.
 
I have a Philips 200WB monitor that shows 54,000 hours of use, it already looks a bit yellowish, but it still has a good brightness. Of course, the screen has a red vertical line, but it does not affect its operation.
The only thing I had to do was change the capacitors.
Here is an old screenshot.
photo_2021-05-18_23-42-44.jpg

In the photo you can see 2 red vertical lines, but from one day to the next they disappeared and only one line remained hahaha.
 
Yep, rate and type of decay can vary throughout a lights life. EOL is generally specced as when it reaches 1/2 brightness and may become unsatisfactory to use before then.
Usually there is rapid dimming from new to a seemingly stable state, from there onward the decay rate is much slower but can vary in colour spectrum.

RE: OLED light power
If OLED were capable of being a lot brighter, the normal use wear rate would be much lower (reducing static image retention issues as well) and HDR would look a lot better.
In a dark room HDR can be acceptable but I like a more dynamic image in absolute terms.

I liken this to a hifi that produces a decent bass response but wont go very loud.
To get real punch it needs much more headroom.
For this reason I'm looking forward to next gen hybrid LED/OLED displays where LEDs take over bright images, saving the lifespan of OLEDs.
Or a microLED display once colour volume is wide enough to get near full REC2020 and colour/grey uniformity is good out of the box.
 
Yep, rate and type of decay can vary throughout a lights life. EOL is generally specced as when it reaches 1/2 brightness and may become unsatisfactory to use before then.
Usually there is rapid dimming from new to a seemingly stable state, from there onward the decay rate is much slower but can vary in colour spectrum.

RE: OLED light power
If OLED were capable of being a lot brighter, the normal use wear rate would be much lower (reducing static image retention issues as well) and HDR would look a lot better.
In a dark room HDR can be acceptable but I like a more dynamic image in absolute terms.

I liken this to a hifi that produces a decent bass response but wont go very loud.
To get real punch it needs much more headroom.
For this reason I'm looking forward to next gen hybrid LED/OLED displays where LEDs take over bright images, saving the lifespan of OLEDs.
Or a microLED display once colour volume is wide enough to get near full REC2020 and colour/grey uniformity is good out of the box.
It's corious that my monitor's CCFL tube is lasting much longer than average.
I believe that the long durability is thanks to its very good quality inverter, it probably achieves a stable arc without severely damaging the cold cathodes and it does not wear out the mercury, phosphorus quickly.
 
My RGB-LED monitor HP LP2480zx has 28539 hours on it and it got quite a bit dimmer over the years. 250 nits -> ~180 nits max. Those panels were known to get tired fast. Not even sure if the backlight really got this much dimmer or the monitor gets dimmer because of some algorithm.

Good I have another one with 4K hours and even one broken (failure due to power surge) for spare panel with 10K hours.
 
I have a Philips 200WB monitor that shows 54,000 hours of use, it already looks a bit yellowish, but it still has a good brightness. Of course, the screen has a red vertical line, but it does not affect its operation.
The only thing I had to do was change the capacitors.
Here is an old screenshot.
View attachment 461905
In the photo you can see 2 red vertical lines, but from one day to the next they disappeared and only one line remained hahaha.
Last Sunday he decided not to turn it on anymore, and it turned out that 2 Nichicon capacitors couldn't take it anymore, the poor guys, almost 60,000h worked next to a mosfet at high temperatures, and on top of that, put in a cabinet working over 36 degrees of ambient.
I swapped them out, and it's back to life, and will continue to run until I finish my CCFL tube lifespan experiment.
 

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My in-laws have a 15 year old LCD monitor that's a CCFL. It has to be pushed but still calibrated to 105 nits at almost full brightness control and has a < 1 delta E average for 6500K. Gamma tracks perfectly still at 2.2. Pretty incredible. No idea on hours but it was left on a lot just sitting there, so I would imagine it's been racking them up. Hell, my work monitors are just barely 4 years old and already have 6200 hours on them. :eek:
 
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