The dead Pixel Thread...

Message

JohnV · #1 Post by **JohnV** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:51 am

Ok everyone I just got my T42 2379DXU today and after hoping that I would be the select few with no deal pixels. Well I hate to report, but I found one bad one on the lower left of the screen when I make the background red. Well now I have to decide whether to RMA it or not? One part of me feels like I just paid $2000+ for a brand new laptop and it should be perfect. The other side of me says what if the second one I get is worse. What would you guys do?

Thanks,

John

Leon · #2 Post by **Leon** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:52 am

Is there a tool/procedure out there that makes it easy to check for dead pixels?

JohnV · #3 Post by **JohnV** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:57 am

I just set the background color to red, blue, white and yellow. When it was red it would show the bad pixel. SO i am guessing it is a bad red pixel.

John

pramit · #4 Post by **pramit** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:59 am

http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/DeadPixels.html

dclee012 · #5 Post by **dclee012** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:01 am

run a powerpoint with solid colors: white, black, red, blue, green

taphil · #6 Post by **taphil** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:02 am

Here's an easier way -

http://www.monitorsdirect.com/toolkit/index.shtml

Click on Launch Calibrator at the bottom of the page.

JohnV · #7 Post by **JohnV** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:26 am

Ok i have one more question. I know that IBM has a 30 day no questions return policy. When you guys got yours RMAed did you state it was because of a bad pixel or did you tell them some other reason? Did they give you and hassles? Oh and I suppose they wont send a new unit until yours gets back to IBM right? Unfortunately I dont have the extra room on my CC to charge another unit.

Thanks for the info,

John

cynic · #8 Post by **cynic** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:05 pm

>Ok i have one more question. I know that IBM has a 30 day no questions return policy. When you guys got yours RMAed did you state it was because of a bad pixel or did you tell them some other reason?

You don't have to say anything and they won't usually ask. Just say you purchased it less than 30days ago and you'd like to return it.

>'Did they give you and hassles? Oh and I suppose they wont send a new unit until yours gets back to IBM right?

They won't. You'll also want to tell them to leave the amount in credit with IBM, otherwise there will be some down time for processing. You can even inform them you plan to order another one.

tselling · #9 Post by **tselling** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:50 pm

PC Doctor (comes with your new thinkpad) has an LCD monitor test. It basically just shows red, green, blue screens and you look for bad pixels.

akerman · #10 Post by **akerman** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:02 pm

taphil wrote:Here's an easier way -

http://www.monitorsdirect.com/toolkit/index.shtml

Click on Launch Calibrator at the bottom of the page.

Have any of you tried the ghosting test? Can you see any trails behind the four squares.. because I can't! Maybe 0.1mm or so...but nothing to be sure of.

kano · #11 Post by **kano** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:10 pm

Test programs for monitors, mostly freeware:
http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/be_monitor.html
I highly recommend Monitors Matter CheckScreen
KaNo

Conmee · #12 Post by **Conmee** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:24 pm

akerman wrote:
taphil wrote:Here's an easier way -

http://www.monitorsdirect.com/toolkit/index.shtml

Click on Launch Calibrator at the bottom of the page.
Have any of you tried the ghosting test? Can you see any trails behind the four squares.. because I can't! Maybe 0.1mm or so...but nothing to be sure of.

I didn't notice any ghosting/shadowing on my T42 15" SXGA+ Flexview screen, but I DID notice the shadowing on other high-contrast (light on dark) screens. Take a look at webmail.att.net if you have a Flexview, and you'll see the shadowing below the white logon box in the dark blue area of the screen.

Daniel.

pramit · #13 Post by **pramit** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:41 pm

I ran the screen tests and I've lucked out with a perfect screen. No dead pixels or sub-pixels.

I have the 1600x1200 UXGA and boy is the FlexView awesome. Pictures etc coming soon.

JohnV · #14 Post by **JohnV** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:51 pm

Well mine is RMAed. Funny thing is the address I am returning it to is on my way home from work in North Carolina. To bad they wont let me drop it off personally

Hopefully the next one will be better!!

John

Bitterman · #15 Post by **Bitterman** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:24 pm

Well, I thought I had a perfect screen.... but I just ran the tests, and there she was. A red pixel I hadn't noticed.

Well... as much as I am a perfectionist, I just can't see sending this thing back for one bad pixel. Of course now I'm going to notice it all the time.

Wish it was in a corner....

Bitterman

JohnV · #16 Post by **JohnV** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:33 pm

Bitterman...I hate to say it, but you should replace your unit. You paid alot of $$$ to have something new. To me new is not with dead pixels. Trust me you will hate yourself if you dont resolve this..it will eat at you slowly!

John

taphil · #17 Post by **taphil** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 5:32 pm

akerman wrote:
taphil wrote:Here's an easier way -

http://www.monitorsdirect.com/toolkit/index.shtml

Click on Launch Calibrator at the bottom of the page.
Have any of you tried the ghosting test? Can you see any trails behind the four squares.. because I can't! Maybe 0.1mm or so...but nothing to be sure of.

There is noticable ghosting on my T41's 14" SXGA+ . Little that I can really see on my Samsung 213T (21.3" LCD, 25ms response time), and likewise on my Dell 1900FP (Samsung-made 19" LCD, 25ms).

Maybe a more practical way to test for ghosting is to load www.arstechnica.com on an IE window that's not at full size. Drag the window around the desktop, and you can see the orange letters fade and white strips blink. Not only that, you'll even see big gray rectangles out of alignment with the rest of the gray rectangles.

I think what you're seeing on that att page is artifacts, not ghosting since there's no motion. Artifacts=bad, IMO.

Conmee · #18 Post by **Conmee** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:43 pm

taphil wrote:
akerman wrote: Have any of you tried the ghosting test? Can you see any trails behind the four squares.. because I can't! Maybe 0.1mm or so...but nothing to be sure of.
There is noticable ghosting on my T41's 14" SXGA+ . Little that I can really see on my Samsung 213T (21.3" LCD, 25ms response time), and likewise on my Dell 1900FP (Samsung-made 19" LCD, 25ms).

Maybe a more practical way to test for ghosting is to load www.arstechnica.com on an IE window that's not at full size. Drag the window around the desktop, and you can see the orange letters fade and white strips blink. Not only that, you'll even see big gray rectangles out of alignment with the rest of the gray rectangles.

I think what you're seeing on that att page is artifacts, not ghosting since there's no motion. Artifacts=bad, IMO.

taphil,

I should have been more precise, and said "shadow" or "shadowing" effect. I think "artifacts" would characterize the remnants of textures/graphics/video that remain in place after changes in motion/direction, etc... essentially, where you see the graphics/screen combo not being able to completely refresh a scene with new textures, and bits and pieces of the previous texture remain, etc. That was my take on artifacts v. shadowing v. ghosting, the last of which are the trails made by moving graphics/video, as you mentioned. Maybe I should consult a video card dictionary for precise definitions.

Daniel

Bitterman · #19 Post by **Bitterman** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:34 pm

I have heard a rumor... on another forum, that stuck pixels (not dead ones) can sometimes be fixed by rubbing the spot where they occur with a cloth. Anyone ever heard of this?

I'll give it a go when I have a chance and post my results.

-B

The Human Cow · #20 Post by **The Human Cow** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 10:57 pm

No dead pixels here...I saw a bright white dot and rubbed it with my finger, and it disappeared. I was happy.

Lmax · #21 Post by **Lmax** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:02 pm

My question is can you get dead pixels in the future if you didn't have any at all when you got your machine. I have never heard of anyone with a perfect screen getting dead pixels later on. I assume that if they are good when you buy it they will always be good. Me and a friend tested an older dell 15" LCD that our office was getting rid of and it was perfect. We punched it, squeezed it, rubbed it, pounded it, all on the surface of the screen and after a few minutes it still looked perfect, no dead pixels or anything.

I can only assume from that, that some accidental screen pressure and a slip of the thumb onto the surface every now and then won't make a perfect screen go bad. Am I right, anyone had personal experience with a perfect screen going bad?

Regards,
Max

G-Man · #22 Post by **G-Man** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:03 pm

I just checked mine with this program, and NO DEAD OR STUCK PIXEL!

But my TP is "only" a T40. I knew I've got the perfect machine.

Regards,
G-Man

trodriguez · #23 Post by **trodriguez** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:04 pm

No dead pixels! But...does anyone else notice a difference in brightness/color warmth(?) from one side to the other? I'm wondering whether this is normal or should I take a chance with another laptop...

csv96 · #24 Post by **csv96** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:05 pm

My T40p had no pixel defects when I first turned it on. After about 1 year, it has three stuck subpixels. I've also had a 570E that had two transient pixel defects. Rubbing them had no effect.

tselling · #25 Post by **tselling** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:09 pm

Well, if you guys wind up returning a bunch of T42 and T42p models, there should be some refurbished ones on the market soon. I might just have to cancel my barebones model and get a refurbished one if they become available before my 2373EZU ships and have a good price. Of the two refurbished T41p's i have now, one has a perfect screen and one has a dead green subpixel (doesn't light). Its not even noticeable unless I look for it... the dirt spots are more visible than the dead pixel

#26 Post by **K. Eng** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:40 pm

I have 2 defective pixels on my T40

Unfortunately, I purchased from a 3d party dealer before I discovered this site, and could not return the unit without incurring a hefty restocking fee.

Luckily, the pixels are in the lower left hand corner. Since I use my ThinkPad mostly for MS Office, MP3s, and Widescreen DVDs, the pixels don't get in the way. However, if I played games, I would probably be very annoyed.

NecessaryEvil · #27 Post by **NecessaryEvil** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 5:40 pm

mine's perfect.

I've been lucky, I've only had 1 Tpad in the past w/ bad pixels...and that one wasn't bought for me.

Roy_W · #28 Post by **Roy_W** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:16 am

I have been reading various dead pixel forums and cannot determine if I have some dead pixels or simply "a foreign object" stuck behind the faceplate.

Its a small greyish line, a little bit squiggly, 1/4 of the way up the screen and bang in the middle. The width is roughly the same as the standard windows mouse pointer. Its not extremely obvious but now that I have seen it, it has become irritating.

I have tried the various options of red, green, blue, white and black screens to detemine if this is dead, stuck or unlit pixels. But I have the feeling that it is neither.

How black are "dead pixels", are they as black as standard text fonts.

I have great difficulty trying to take a photo of it , as my camera does not have a superb resolution.

What can I do next to determine if these are dead pixels, some inside dust
or a scratch on the inside of the screen.

I really would like to avoid having to send my machine to IBM.

superiorlobe · #29 Post by **superiorlobe** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:17 am

Do dead pixels occur more often on SXGA screens vs. XGA screens?

The dead Pixel Thread...

The dead Pixel Thread...

Easy test

2379DYU- perfect screen

1 Red Pixel

Massage: Good for the Pixels?

No dead pixels either but...

Who is online