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WHAT ARE THOSE
BLACK DOTS
ON MY SCREEN?
Fetch
a black armband, prepare a heartfelt speech,
dig out those
Celine Dion CDs: we’re sorry to tell you that one or more of your
screen’s pixels has passed away.
Today’s computer displays are made
up of millions of tiny dots,
called pixels. If one of those pixels fails or gets stuck (we’ll come to
that in a minute), you’ll either see a tiny, permanent black dot on your
screen or one that’s stuck on a particular colour.
They’re easier to spot when your screen is displaying a single
colour. Visit
color.aurlien.net in your web browser and press F11
(in Windows only) to make the browser window full-screen and the
display will flip through various single colours, helping you to identify
if a pixel has passed away or needs life support.
There’s not much you can do to rescue a completely dead pixel.
Most screen and laptop manufacturers will have a dead pixel policy
in their warranty that allows you to replace the device if a certain
number of pixels fail. That’s why it’s important to test new screens
and laptops when you first buy them, before the warranty expires or
your right to return faulty products lapses.
Stuck pixels that are locked to a particular colour can be rescued,
however. There are various utilities that blast the screen with lots of
different colours to unjam stubborn pixels. One of the simplest to
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use is
jscreenfix.com – you simply drag the square over the stuck
pixel area and leave the utility to work its magic for ten minutes.
With any luck, you’ll have a fully restored pixel by the time you’ve
made a brew.
Even if you’re lumbered with a dead or stuck pixel, it’s generally not
the end of the world these days. Screens are now so high-resolution
that even one or two faulty pixels are barely noticeable. But like that
mark on a freshly painted wall, once you’ve seen them, you can’t stop
looking at them…
