The Pixel Reanimator

September 19, 2005 4:06 PM

Bring dead LCD pixels back to life! Did you know you can often fix dead LCD pixels by forcing them to rapidly cycle through red, green, and blue? Neither did I, but the video linked here worked on one of my older screens after a few hours of looped playback. YMMV, but what have you got to lose?
posted by pmbuko (32 comments total)

Excellent! I've got one dead pixel on my bigger screen at home and maybe this will make it go away.
posted by fenriq at 4:20 PM on September 19, 2005

Didn't work for me ("stuck," not "dead" pixels).
posted by rxrfrx at 4:22 PM on September 19, 2005

maybe the dead plxel element somehow fuses itself back together with repeated application of voltage?
posted by wakko at 4:23 PM on September 19, 2005

and yeah, mine are all stuck pixels, which are a hell of a lot more annoying.
posted by wakko at 4:23 PM on September 19, 2005

Bleh... Just looks like happy fun seizure video to me.
posted by boo_radley at 4:27 PM on September 19, 2005

Shh! There's a goatse at the 03:33 mark.
posted by keswick at 4:36 PM on September 19, 2005

oops. You're right. Supposed to work on stuck pixels, not dead.
posted by pmbuko at 5:07 PM on September 19, 2005

Just fixed one of mine. Brilliant.
posted by jmgorman at 5:15 PM on September 19, 2005

Sweet.
posted by caddis at 5:20 PM on September 19, 2005

Well rather than run a movie over and over with my hard drive thunking, I wrote a small C/SDL app to do the same thing in specific places, rather than everywhere, and switch between r g and b randomly. Amazingly enough, it fixed the one pixel on my laptop that's always bothered me.
posted by adzm at 5:21 PM on September 19, 2005

Apple M8893ZM/A 20" Cinema Display STILL has not a single dead or stuck pixel, two years on.


I've got a few clients with samsung, envision, and viewsonics I'll probably try this out on though.
posted by stenseng at 5:37 PM on September 19, 2005

Wee! More fun than a light switch rave party!
(or until someone has an epileptic seizure.)
posted by idiotfactory at 5:38 PM on September 19, 2005

Same thing exists for GBA / NDS (some method of running homebrew code on your GBA / NDS required, like a flash cartridge or the GBA Movie Player)
posted by chuma at 5:47 PM on September 19, 2005

Don't pat Apple's arse too hard, stenseng.
posted by Kwantsar at 5:59 PM on September 19, 2005

Apple M8893ZM/A 20" Cinema Display STILL has not a single dead or stuck pixel, two years on.

And my PowerBook has had a single stuck pixel since day one.
posted by oaf at 6:02 PM on September 19, 2005

Kwantsar : dont pat yourself on the back too hard, many large vendors choose the best of the runs for their OEM devices, as they have the purchase quantity to do so. This happens with ram.
posted by MrLint at 6:09 PM on September 19, 2005

How dare you bring facts to the argument, MrLint!
posted by keswick at 6:13 PM on September 19, 2005

How dare you criticize Apple on MetaFilter Kwanstar!
posted by eyeballkid at 6:28 PM on September 19, 2005

How about the dead pixels on my digicam? Pretty damn annoying to have green and magenta dots on my photos.
posted by Jawn at 6:32 PM on September 19, 2005

adzm-might you consider sharing your app?
posted by evariste at 6:44 PM on September 19, 2005

I've had a lone stuck blue pixel on my Sony from day one. Ran it the video through four times over that spot.

Dice dice. =(

I had a stuck red pixel on my laptop that I managed to "massage" out.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:26 PM on September 19, 2005

For what they charge for Cinema Displays, it better work right.

/got mine half price
/haha
posted by fungible at 7:28 PM on September 19, 2005

Had a stuck pixel on my laptop that I was able to "massage" out as well. It was a tabletPC, so I wasn't sure if it would even work. It came back about a month later, I "massaged" again, and I haven't seen it since.
posted by mystyk at 8:09 PM on September 19, 2005

Jawn: If you really want to eliminate that on pictures you're posting or sending or printing or whatever: take a picture of complete darkness, save it on your hard drive. It'll have nothing but your stuck pixels in it. Then, when you take other pictures, use Photoshop's 'subtract' function to subtract your stuck-pixels-only picture from your good picture. Voila, no stuck pixels.
With my last camera, I wrote an Action in Photoshop to do this when I hit some key. It worked pretty well. But you have to be kind of anal to set it all up, probably. I should have just not bought the cheapest camera I could find.
posted by blacklite at 8:58 PM on September 19, 2005

" Don't pat Apple's arse too hard, stenseng."

actually, the new G5 series (aluminum bezeled) cine displays are made by Sammy, but I have this bad mofo



which on further research is apparently a 23" display made by by LG for Apple.

And I got it for $600 including a free ADC to DVI adapter
posted by stenseng at 9:09 PM on September 19, 2005

nope, the panels for the newer ones are also by LG.Philips. Dell uses the exact same ones (with similar quality control and return policy) on their 2005FPW and 2405FPW displays.
posted by tumult at 9:29 PM on September 19, 2005

what exactly does "massaging" entail?
posted by heeeraldo at 11:04 PM on September 19, 2005

evariste, and anyone interested, can get my app (and source) from http://www.ramtoolohio.com/PixelPhoenix/
posted by adzm at 12:29 AM on September 20, 2005

stenseng:

I got a 19" LG LCD as my primary monitor about 14 months ago--and not a problem with it yet. (Of course not, I bought a service plan/damage cover, so why would there ever be a problem?) There are two dead pixels on a co-worker's machine at the office, though, which I think I'll try the video cycle out on (it's a Dell, whoever makes their displays) and report back.
posted by trigonometry at 12:56 AM on September 20, 2005

'what exactly does "massaging" entail?'

No strawberry flavoured body lotion thats for sure...or cream...

I get worried about you people and your relationships to your screen.

Lick.
posted by rawfishy at 2:00 AM on September 20, 2005

Massaging the pixel is merely using your fingertips and pressing gently around the stuck element. It works, sometimes, for stuck but not dead elements.
posted by bz at 12:05 PM on September 20, 2005

"Massaging the pixel" is merely using your fingertips and pressing gently

Yay!
I just have to find it first!
posted by CynicalKnight at 11:13 PM on September 20, 2005