Is a small white spot on a dark screen normal? (1 Viewer)

[Doug Smith]

I just bought a 32" Sharp High Def LCD for the bedroom. Picture is great when hooked up to my high def cable box with HDMI cable. However there seems to be one annoying white pixel when the screen is dark. As I have not owned a LCD before, I was wondering if this is normal. When watching T.V. the dot is not noticable. Also the HDMI cable, when tugged slightly, disturbs the picture (eg, turns the screen to green for a second or two).

 

[David Ruiz]

Doug, I do not own an LCD TV, but I can tell you my experiences with old (like 3-5 years old) LCD projectors that I have personally borrowed and have used and those LCD projectors had exactly what you described. People call them "dead pixels" and they are dead because they don't change color the way they are supposed to with every scene change.

These LCD projectors all had different warranties reguarding dead pixels and some companies would accept returns while others wouldn't. Others still, would only accept returns if a certain number of pixels "died." (Like 15 pixels or so).

With that said, none of the newer LCD projectors I've seen have this problem, epecially not my Z4 (LCD projector) that I just bought 2 weeks ago.

Like I said though, I've only heard about and seen dead pixels on LCD projectors. I've never heard about this happening on LCD TVs, so you'll have to wait until someone else familair with LCD TVs chimes in with their knowledge on the subject.

What I can say though, is that this is probably a TV related issue and no amount of changing HDMI cables (or using component cables instead) is going to make a dead pixel come to life.

 

[Parker Clack]

Doug:

I agree. Sounds like a dead pixel. I would see if you can return it for a new set.

Parker

 

[Doug Smith]

Thanks for the advice. I did take it back and they quickly replaced it. They told me it happens to Sharp sets - infrequently - but it does happen. Apprently most people wouldn't bother taking their's back. The Sharp LCD is rather stunning in High Def isn't it? I now see what other LCD owners are talking about when they talk about not being able to get a deep black. By the way is there any way to tone back the background brightness on these Sharp's?