What exactly is a dead pixel?

mbstuff

mbstuff

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Can someone give me details of a dead pixel by answering some of my questions? I got a PSP, and in the green option menu, there seems to small particles underneath the glass/plastic. They are dark. When I look at a black screen (credits of spider-man 2 movie), I don't see anything wrong, it's all black.

I've fast-forwarded through the movie, and often when some of the area of the screen is lit, I can see dark dots at the same spots I've noticed particle-like things in the green option menu.

There are about 10-15 of these spots, some more noticeable than others, and they all seem to disappear if I hold the screen in certain angles.

What do I have? dead pixels? dust?
 
[quote name='mbstuff']Can someone give me details of a dead pixel by answering some of my questions? I got a PSP, and in the green option menu, there seems to small particles underneath the glass/plastic. They are dark. When I look at a black screen (credits of spider-man 2 movie), I don't see anything wrong, it's all black.

I've fast-forwarded through the movie, and often when some of the area of the screen is lit, I can see dark dots at the same spots I've noticed particle-like things in the green option menu.

There are about 10-15 of these spots, some more noticeable than others, and they all seem to disappear if I hold the screen in certain angles.

What do I have? dead pixels? dust?[/quote]

TEN to 15!?!?! Damn I'm so glad I didn't buy this today.
 
Dude... I really hope you're going to get a refund on that thing..

until then, try to walk around in public places with it to see if you can shoot a disc at somebody's neck
 
A dead pixel is just a pixel that doesn't light up. If you look at any tv or comp monitor really close, you can see really tiny squares---the pixels. 1024x768 is 1024 pixels across, 768 pixels down.
 
I just posted this in the other thread, but hopefully you'll find it informative.

There are two types of LCD defects: dead pixels and stuck pixels

1) A dead pixel, as the name implies, is completely dead. No power can be sent to that pixel, so it can never turn on. It stays black no matter what. With that in mind, the easiest way to check is to display a white screen, and look for black spots.

2) A stuck pixel, is stuck on a certain color. This is because the power has been shorted to one or more of the three colors that make up the LCD pixel. These can be red, green, blue, white (if all three colors are stuck), etc. A good way to check for these pixels is to display a black screen, and see if you see any colored spots.

In either case, both of these problems occur in manufacturing. Possible causes are a dead transistor, broken metal line, etc. They are not problems that "get worse" with use, anymore than a CPU can "get worse" with use.

The problem is that when one of these faults happen in a CPU, they are very easy to check, because you just trun on the CPU and start giving it instructions. If it has a broken transistor, it will give you the wrong answer. But an LCD screen will work fine, except for that particular pixel. As far as I know, there is no easy way to automatically check for dead pixels without adding circuitry and test time, both of which cost big bucks.
 
I have a quick question about the pixels on my DS. One of them on the top screen is almost always the wrong color. When I play GBA games its white instead of black (its in the boarder area). When I use Pictochat its black instead of white. When I'm walking on grass in Mario 64 its blue.
Anyone know what could be wrong with my screen?
 
[quote name='spaceloaf']2) A stuck pixel, is stuck on a certain color. This is because the power has been shorted to one or more of the three colors that make up the LCD pixel. These can be red, green, blue, white (if all three colors are stuck), etc. A good way to check for these pixels is to display a black screen, and see if you see any colored spots.[/quote]

Thank you for the explanation. I bought two units today. One has a pixel stuck on red. Right in the middle of the screen. I'm so pissed. Luckily, the other unit is fine, so at least I can play that one if it takes a while to replace the other one.

It's disappointing, but not the end of the world. I just hope I don't have any problems getting it exchanged.

-DM
 
[quote name='mbstuff']Now I feel bad :( Bestbuy probably won't have new ones to exchange for mine at least until next week.[/quote]
You shouldn't have a problem going tomorrow and exchanging it. There are still plenty to go around, at least from what I've seen. At 7PM today, there was still a lot at my closest one. Either Best Buy didn't push it enough or the demand isn't there right now.
 
How can you tell if it's not dust stuck under the screen? I've been agonizing over it, but no one else I've shown can see the thing. Should I bring a magnifying glass to Target just in case? There's only one I can see but hell, for $250 I don't want to see a single one.

I've been eyeing it from every angle: if you tilt it to a certain angle it SEEMS like the block thing is above the actual picture but head-on, needless to say, it looks like it is a dead pixel. The clincher is the fact that it looks like a perfect square.

Any help's appreciated.
 
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