When black spots suddenly appear on an LCD display or monitor, it is the occurrence of what is referred to as dead pixels. It can be quite an irritating problem, and one that should be looked at by a professional. But if one wants to learn how to fix dead pixels on one’s own, there are a few methods of doing so, although they are not always 100 percent effective.
Before one tries know how to fix dead pixels, it should first be established if one actually is dealing with a dead pixel. Some people tend to confuse dead pixels from hot or stuck pixels. To be precise, a dead pixel is totally black pixel that appears on an LCD monitor. It appears this way because there is no light emitting whatsoever. A hot pixel is one that is constantly stuck on, giving it a completely white appearance. Finally, a stuck pixel varies in color (red, green, blue, yellow, magenta, or cyan) depending on whichever of the 3 RGB subpixels have been stuck on.
Stuck pixels are usually mistaken for dead pixels, but this is of course inaccurate. There are 3 subpixels contained in every pixel; namely, red, green and blue. All these 3 subpixels have to be dead to make an actual dead pixel, which makes it appear entirely black. This is different from a stuck pixel, wherein 1 or 2 subpixels are always stuck either on or off.
There are a number of ways to repair a subpixel type dead pixel. The simplest method is by downloading a specific software program especially created to rapidly cycle the colors on the monitor, sometimes jolting stuck subpixels loose, thus completely repairing the pixel. The second technique is called the pressure method, which involves turning the monitor off and applying solid pressure to the screen using a soft and rounded object like an eraser, covered by a piece of cloth or a towel so that the screen is protected. The stuck pixel should be gone once the monitor is turned back on. The last solution is the tapping method, which entails repeatedly tapping the stuck pixel with an object such as a marker cap in the hopes of jarring it loose.
It is however fairly uncommon to successfully repair a completely dead and blacked-out dead pixel. There are existing software options in place to repair dead pixels by repeatedly flashing colors in a particular sector of the screen, with any luck bringing the dead pixel to life. It could be possible to fix actual dead pixels using the pressure method, but it has a lower rate of success compared to repairing stuck pixels. In general, there is a 60 percent chance that dead pixels can be fixed by combining these 2 methods. In addition, there are certain dead pixels that actually repair themselves in due course of time. However, if a dead pixel was initially set off by a screen defect, there is a risk that the dead pixel would eventually reoccur.
