Help returning LCD (dead/stuck pixels)

S

Sarah31

Guest
Hello,
I recently purchased an LCD TV as a present which I've subsequently found to have two dead / stuck pixels - not sure which they are. I called up the retailer and told them the unit was faulty and they've agreed to come a collected it.

In the meantime I've mailed the manufacture who told me that the 2 pixels are in fact within the manufactures fault limits. Will the retailer use the same guidelines and report the TV as not faulty or is it possible that they might simply replace it as it within the 28 days purchase period?

TIA
S
 
If the law states that 'goods must be of satisfactory quality' I take the view that this is a subjective assessment to be made by the consumer. If you bought your TV in good faith and were not expecting to have any dead pixels, then In my view you would be within your rights to send it back and ask for a refund.

Not sure if there are any solicitors about who can confirm the legalities of this, but as a consumer in your position I would not take no for an answer.
 
I think, if you purchase over the phone or internet then you have 7 days to return the goods under the distance selling regulations. Dead pixels or not.
 
Put it this way, would you have bought the set if you'd been in a store and seen it in operation with the dead pixels? Of course you wouldn't, becuase it wouldn't have been of satisfactory quality.
 
Dead pixels are a very grey area and it would seem not many people are sure of what your rights are with regards to them. I think it will depend on how obvious they are and how close you have to be to the TV to see them. It will also depend on whether they are in the middle of the screen etc. Most manufactures will have a dead pixel policy. You may need to seek legal advice as you may not legally be able claim you money back if the retailer claims there is nothing wrong with the TV. If the TV though was bought off the net you could said it back under the distance selling rule as has already been stated
 
i phoned a company the other day about this .i was told that if it has one dead pixel in the corner they would not let me return it,if it had one in the middle of the screen i would be able to get another one.you are right it's a very grey area
 
This could be one of those issues that almost encourages you not to mention dead pixels .......

If you have ordered mail order or over the 'net, you can simply return the item in "as new" resaleable condition to the dealer/retailer and get your money back (less any shipping costs).

You can give any reason (such as a simple "I changed my mind") and the distance selling regulations give you this consumer protection.

I see no value in getting into an argument with a dealer over dead pixels, here, there, anywhere, how many, how few, when theres absolutely no need to.

UKBoy.
 
blakey1 said:
Dead pixels are a very grey area

Thought dead pixels were a black, white, red ,green or blue area?...not grey!
 
It probably depends on the retailer but if you tell them you want to return it under the distance selling regulations i am sure they will be willing to exchange the unit rather than lose the sale.
 
There is a policy in the uk, I lost the link for it, but this is for any lcd screen sold. up to 4 dead pixels are acceptable, so the place of purchase/manufacturer is not entitled to give you a replacement /refund, if you have 4 or less dead pixels, on the other hand if they are nice they might help you out, but like I said they do not have to, only if you have more than 4...
 
The thing that troubles me about most of these responses is that they seem to be based on an implicit contract whereby the consimer is supposed to be aware of the fact that dead pixels can and will occur. If this is the case the shop should make this quite clear as part of the contract that you are entering into when you buy the goods.

Some shops do do this, covering themselves by stating that they classify the goods as working or not by defering to the manufacturers specifications. Access to this information is ropey. Samsung, NEC, ILLyama, etc. all adhere to ISO 13406-2, an ISO standard concerning valid failure rates.

The fact that there is an ISO standard points out just how common this problem is. The standard also treats light, dark and partially coloured pixels differently, presumably because they cause varying levels of viewer discomfort.

If its any help, I've had an LCD PC monitor for years, ans it developed a dar pixel right where the 'File' menu pops up in most apps. Very annoying at first, but I'm kind of used to it now. I only notice its there occaisionaly these days.

If you like your TV, and hastle of kicking up a stink for a 'perfect' one seems overkill then maybe you can live with it?
 
just to add, i have just bought a new 19" LCD monitor and it has one green and one red pixil both near the centre of the screen, the box had been opened so i would presume someone else has had this monitor and also taken it back ( im going to do so tommorrow )
 
This has been debated a million times already so ill just jump to the conclusion.

dead pixels are practically unavoidable in manufacturing screens with 1.3million pixels or more. In order to keep costs down and at a practical level for consumers it is a comprimise that some dead pixels will be present. If every TV that came off of production with a dead pixel was scrapped, even a 15'' lcd would cost £1500.

Pixels are so damn small you simply cannot see them at proper viewing distances, and all literature regarding LCD screens clearly states that screens are prone to a few dead pixels.

In this instance the products work to specification and the 'fault' is mentioned (althought it could be made clearer)
 
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Where do you come up a figure of £1500?!?!?
 
presumably because only 1 in 20 or more panel of that size is perfect, and since they cost 70-80 for the panel, if 19 are binned then £1500 is reasonable - so a few dead pixels is standard. At the smaller size/lower resolution end of the market, its not one in 20 its perhaps 1 in 1.50 or less, but bigger panels/resolutions are worse.

The majority of faults are thankfully stuck-off/dead rather than stuck-on and hence are less noticable.

It may also be a case like with PC memory chips which get "binned" into grades and the different manufacturers take from their respectively priced "bins" - buy from a top manufacturer and it will likely be perfect, buy any old carp (AOC) and it will be less so. Caveat Emptor.
 
stuck pixels can be fixed, in some cases.
Some guy invented a small video file for psp users which was about 1 min long and was just cycles of red green blue white and black.
If you left it on repeat for 10 hours it would give all the pixels a very good exercise.
Stuck/lazy pixels were reported to have been fixed by many people.

Other people took this a step further and tried it on TFTs and even their TVs. Again ppl reported success. It wasnt 100% but a lot of ppl got good results whilst a minority claimed it made the problem worse.

I guess it was down to quality components.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom