Do dead pixels develop over time?

[isd_glory]

I have a 15" PowerBook that I purchased mid-November of last year. With all the complaining about the white spots, I checked out my display pretty thoroughly and found it to be well within my expectations (despite the occasional uneven illumination problems).

Just today I decided to watch a DVD on my laptop (which I don't usually do), and I discovered a whole bunch of stuck pixels throughout the display. My screen is usually fairly dusty, so I may not have noticed these pixels start to malfunction over time, but there are apparently a whole lot of "pixel anomalies." After cleaning the display with a damp cloth and using software to change the color of the display to help find problematic pixels, I've discovered 9 pixels partially stuck red, 7 green, and 22 blue. It's even a fairly conservative estimate, as I didn't count pixels which were stuck grayish or other mixed colors.

Anyway, I'm going to take this up with my local Apple store, but I find it really surprising that so many problems developed in the last 8 months.

 

[MoparShaha]

Yeah, that sounds like a whole lot of dead pixels. It's been my understanding that pixels don't usually just die. They're usually dead from the factory, although I'm sure they can die on their own. Apple has some dead pixel policy about how many dead pixels can be in one inch before they'll consider the display defective. From the sounds of it, they really should replace your screen.

 

[jimthorn]

Wow. I just got my third Mac laptop (I get a new one every 18 months or so), and I've never had any pixels die/stick on any of them. One dead pixel would frustrate the heck out of me, much less the dozen or so you're talking about. I hope Apple repairs or replaces your screen.

 

[JFreak]

pixels DO die over time, that's the way an lcd display ages. i had three in my previous powerbook (667mhz dvi) and apple didn't do anything about it - however, you seem to have a really bad display and that will have to be repaired under applecare.

 

[isd_glory]

Yeah... only a few pixels really stand out, but if you bring your face pretty close to the screen, it's like staring out into the night sky. Lots of little points of light breaking through a solid black background. I guess I might have been more forgiving with this issue if it weren't for the fact that my laptop also has the uneven illumination problem and occasionally fails to wake from sleep.

 

[Elan0204]

I think most companies will replace a screen with 8 or more dead\stuck pixels. This number can be reduced if the pixels are in the center of the screen, or close together. I'm sure with the number of pixel anomalies that you are describing Apple will replace your screen.

 

[wdlove]

I agree, you definitely should take your PowerBook into your local Apple Store. It sounds like you have a display that should be replaced. I have a 17" LCD that is 6 months old so far so good.

 

[jxyama]

i know you cleaned the screen already, but check again. little smudges on the screen can surprisingly mimick dead/stuck pixels.

i also assume you checked using one of those programs that turns the entire display into red, green, blue, white and black, correct?

i've had my 12" PB for a year and a half now. since the purchase, it has developed one dead pixel.

but yours sound a bit excessive...

 

[isd_glory]

Yeah, these definitely weren't dust particles on the screen. After the Apple genius brought it into the back room to look at it where it was a little darker, he pretty much immediately started writing up the paperwork to send it in for warranty repair. Well, until it comes back, I guess I'll just have to use my backup powerbook

 

[isd_glory]

Just as a followup: Apple warranty repaired the display, foam diffuser, and logic board. The turnaround from when they received my powerbook to when I got it back was about 3 days.