Defective Pixel - Manufacturer Policy

Manufacturer Policy

In LCD manufacture, it is common for a display to be manufactured that has a number of sub-pixel defects (each pixel is composed of three primary-colored sub-pixels). The number of faulty pixels tolerated, before a screen is rejected, is dependent on the class that the manufacturer has given the display (although officially described by the ISO 13406-2 standard, not all manufacturers interpret this standard the same way, or follow it at all).

Some manufacturers have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to LCD screens, rejecting all units found to have any number of (sub-)pixel defects. Displays meeting this standard are deemed Class I. Other manufacturers reject displays according to the number of total defects, the number of defects in a given group (e.g., 1 dead pixel or 3 stuck sub-pixels in a 5×5 pixel area), or other criteria.

In some cases, a manufacturer sends all screens to sale, and then replaces the screen if the customer reports the unit as faulty, and the defective pixels meet their minimum requirements for return. Some screens come with a leaflet stating how many dead pixels they are allowed to have before the owner can send them back to the manufacturer. Dead pixels may tend to occur in clusters; in most cases, displays with such a cluster problem can be sent back to the manufacturer.