how to fix dead pixels

That annoying dead or stuck pixel on your TFT, OLED, or LCD screen might be easy to fix. Stop staring at your screen, wondering how much time you'll lose when sending your monitor for a repair or replacement. You've wasted enough time grieving over something as unimportant yet highly irritating as a "dead" pixel.

Take things into your own hands and try to fix the dead pixel yourself! This, if done carefully, will not hamper your warranty and might save you a lot of time and worries.

So, let's see how you can fix dead pixels on your screen.

How to Test New Screens for Stuck or Dead Pixels

Yes, you should test any new LCD, OLED, or TFT screen for dead or stuck pixels. You can simply run your monitor through a palette of basic colors, as well as black and white in full-screen mode using a tool like EIZO Monitor Test.

1. EIZO Monitor Test

EIZO Monitor Test is an online tool that lets you find and eventually fix stuck pixels. It packs many options into a single test window, but it's easy to use once you have an overview.

To test your screen, check all the boxes you want to include in your test. We recommend the default setting of having all boxes checked. If you're testing multiple monitors, you can open the test on an additional monitor. When you're ready, click Start test to launch the full-screen test window.

Below you see the first test pattern. Each screen has an explainer in the bottom right detailing what you should look for. Next, you'll see a menu that lets you go from one test to the next on the left. Move through the black and white screens and all the solid colors (green, blue, and red) and check our screen. To exit, press the ESC key or the exit symbol in the top right.

If you discover a stuck pixel, we recommend using a tool like UDPixel or JScreenFix to flash it.

2. Online Monitor Test

This is a very thorough test not only meant to identify bad pixels but also powerful enough to test the quality of your monitor. Unfortunately, with Flash no longer supported by most browsers, you'll probably have to use the executable version to make it work.

You can choose between three different modes to test your screen. When you run the executable, here is what you should see:

Move the mouse to the top of the test window, and a menu will appear. There is an info window that you can turn off with a button in the top right corner of the menu. Then click on the Homogenuity test point and move through the three colors as well as black and white.

Fingers crossed, you won't discover anything out of the ordinary. In the unfortunate case that you do, let's see whether it's a stuck or a dead pixel and what you can do about it.

Is It a Stuck or Dead Pixel?

So what if you spot an odd pixel? Is what you see just a stuck pixel, or is it, in fact, a dead pixel?

A stuck pixel will appear in any of the colors that its three sub-pixels can form, i.e., red, green, or blue. In a dead pixel, all sub-pixels are permanently off, which will make the pixel appear black.

The cause could be a broken transistor. In rare cases, however, even a black pixel may just be stuck.

So if you're seeing a colored or white pixel, you might manage to fix it. And if you see ablack pixel, chances are low, but there is still hope.

Let's turn to the methods to fix a stuck pixel.

How to Fix Dead or Stuck Pixels

Unfortunately, you can't fix a dead pixel. You can, however, fix a stuck pixel. As I explained above, it's hard to tell the two apart. Either way, these are the methods you can try:

First, identify dead or stuck pixels by viewing your monitor in different color palettes.
To fix a stuck or dead-looking pixel, use a third-party tool to flash the pixel with multiple colors. We recommend UDPixel (Windows) or LCD (online).
Finally, you can try a manual method that involves rubbing the stuck pixel with a damp cloth or a pointy but soft item, like the rubber/eraser at the end of a pencil.

Let's look at these methods and tools in detail.

1. JScreenFix (Web)

JScreenFix won't help you find a stuck pixel, but it can help you fix it. Just click the Launch JScreenFix button at the bottom of the page.

The tool will load a black browser window with a square of flashing pixels. Press the green button in the bottom right to go full-screen. Drag the flashing square to where you found the stuck pixel and leave it there for at least 10 minutes.

By triggering each pixel's different sub-pixels, the graphic may massage a stuck pixel back into life.

2. UDPixel (Windows)

UDPixel, also known as UndeadPixel, is a Windows tool. It can help you identify and fix pixels using a single tool. The program requires the Microsoft .NET Framework. If you're not on Windows or don't want to install any software, scroll down for the online tools below.

With theDead pixel locator on the left, you can easily detect any screen irregularity that may have escaped your vision until now.

Should you spot a suspicious pixel, switch to the Undead pixel side of things, create sufficient amounts of flash windows (one per stuck pixel), and hit Start. You can drag the tiny flashing windows to where you found odd pixels.

Let them run for a while and eventually change the Flash interval.

3. PixelHealer (Windows)

Aurelitec built this Windows app as a companion to its InjuredPixels tool to detect dead, stuck, or hot pixels.

The PixelHealer lets you flash a combination of black, white, all basic colors, and a custom color in a draggable window with customizable size. You can even change the flashing interval and set a timer to close the app automatically.

To close the app, click the Close PixelHealer button in the bottom right.

4. Dead Pixel Test and Fix (Android)

This Android tool can both test and fix dead or stuck pixels on your Android device.

Let it run through all colors in Auto mode to spot whether you have any weird pixels on your screen. If you do, start the fix, which will rapidly flash your entire screen with black, white, and basic color pixels.

5. Manually Fix Stuck Pixels

Should none of these tools resolve your stuck or dead pixel issue, here is one last chance. You can combine any of the tools detailed above and the magic power of your own hands. There is a very good description of all available techniques on wikiHow. Another great step-by-step guide can be found on Instructables.

Let's go through one technique real quick:

Turn off your monitor.
Get yourself a damp cloth so that you won't scratch the screen.
Apply pressure to the area where the stuck pixel is. Try not to put pressure anywhere else, as this may trigger the creation of more stuck pixels.
While applying pressure, turn on your computer and screen.
Remove pressure, and the stuck pixel should be gone.

This works because, in a stuck pixel, the liquid in one or more of its sub-pixels has not spread equally. When your screen's backlight turns on, different amounts of liquid pass through the pixel to create different colors. When you apply pressure, you're forcing the liquid out, and when you release the pressure, chances are the liquid will push in, spreading around evenly as it should.

All Pixels Report to the Screen

Should all of these approaches fail to fix your dead pixel warrior, at least you'll now know it's not simple to fix, and, you might actually have to replace the screen.

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