Computer monitors are not “dead pixel proof” yet. Particularly the LCD displays are more prone to dead pixels. Dead pixels occur because of a manufacturing defect, poor handling or over exposure (that’s why we have screensavers!). But before you delve into figuring out the dead pixels I thought a little primer about how LCD’s work would make you aware of the display technology that you deal with.

LCD displays are basically made up of “pixels”. Pixel is an abbreviation for “picture element”. A pixel is a smallest element of the display. Each pixel is made up of red, green and blue valves, RGB Valves. Pretty much all the colors that exist are derived from these base RGB colors. These RGB valves either block or pass the light source. By manipulating the amount of light passed through these RGB valves, each pixel displays a distinctive color on the screen. Pixels consisting of hundreds or even thousands of these valves are what makes up an image that is ultimately displayed on the screen. A typical LCD monitor has millions of pixels. A typical 17 inch monitor contains approximately up to 4 million pixels. These are highly sensitive elements that can easily malfunction to make a pixel a “dead pixel”.

A dead pixel refers to a pixel with a defect in its ability to display the correct color output. It may look like a tiny black spot on your screen, or any other color that does not correspond to what the actual color should look like. So how do you find out about dead pixels on your display?

If you’ve zoomed-in to every inch of your screen but can’t find a single dead pixel, good for you. But a dead pixel might not be visible all the time and might not be caught with a naked eye under normal circumstances. Only when you run the whole display thru certain colors you notice the pixel’s inability to adjust to the color. That’s when DeadPixelBuddy comes in handy.

DeadPixelBuddy is a tiny little program (1.8 MB when running) that paints your entire screen with one of the colors that make up a pixel. You can even define custom colors if you are too investigative. You can also make DeadPixelBuddy auto change the colors on a defined time period. Once it paints the color then you should be able to identify those pixels that are not matching with the overall color.

Download DeadPixelBuddy and make sure your computer displays are in good shape.

Learn more about Pixels.

Learn more about LCD Technology.