Screen Damage Help!

[sanj.rai77]

have recently purchased a VGN-FW21E and have noticed a fault with the screen today. At the bottom of the screen in the centre there seem to be missing pixels. It is unlikely to be the OS since I have run 2 checks on it.

1. I changed the resolution of the screen and the fault stayed in the same place and was of the same size.
2. I took a screenshot of the screen and pasted it into a photo editing suite (Paint.NET and Photoshop CS4) and the damage was not visible.

I have attached a picture of the screen with the damage visible.

Thanks a lot

[nio_7]

Hi!

It looks like a bad pixel there... A macro picture would help even more.. if you can upload one.
In my opinion, sony is proven to really have an issue there (i mean lcd construction & quality). I have 2 vaios, i bought the first 7 years ago and the second one only 2 years ago. They both suffer from a shadowed area in the right corner on the bottom of the lcd!! I mean uneven back lighting. Amazing isn't it??!! All those years, no design progress at all for sony!

It's really irritating that even today's sony 2009, still cannot guarantee for lcd quality in the level that other manufactures do. I'll tell you my own story..
I bought my 2nd vaio 2 years ago and realized the same day that it had a bad pixel in the middle of the screen! Of course in such a case there is typically nothing you can do because sony doesn't accept 1 single bad pixel as a malfunction (while many others do)!
It goes without saying that the shop i bought it from, was refusing to replace it as there was not such an term in the guarantee. After a whole day of calls to the shop and even begging the shop manager myself, i managed to have a second try!!!!
So there i was again back to the same shop with my defective vaio in hand. At that moment, i was given an offer that i normally shouldn't!
They told me "Ok you can change your laptop with another one or with the same model, but of course there will be no other try". They showed me an LG model that was giving zero pixel guarantee, and also some other models/brands.
After taking a long time looking at them all, i still could't get out of my head the beautiful degign of the vaio i had previously chosen. No other model was as nice as the vaio. But i was thinking that that was my last chance.. "what if i take the same and have a bad pixel again??"
But after a long time of contemplating, i decided to take the big risk. To take the same vaio model again from the same batch (there were some 6-7 left). I closed my eyes and picked one. I knew that that would be it, there would be no turning back!
Thanks god this time i was lucky, no bad pixels whatsoever. But from that time on, i've been very skeptical about sony's lcds. It's really annoying they don't meet with the contemporary level of market quality in lcds, and i don't mean what happened to me, i refer to the fact that they don't comprise 0 pixel in the guarantee while many others do.
To be honest i don't know if this guarantee issue has been solved lately.

So i suggest that if there is no coverage from the guarantee, go back to the shop and beg them to have it replaced.

Ohh and something very important!!
IF YOU GET A NEW ONE, DON'T EVER EVER EVER TAKE PICTURE OF YOUR VAIO WITH A FLASH WHILE IT IS OPEN!! IT MAY SOUND STUPID BUT... THE FIRST 10 HOURS OF AN LCD LIFE ARE VERY CRITICAL! IT'S LIKE A NEW BORN BABY, SO DON'T SHOCK YOUR SENSITIVE LCD WITH THE FLASH OF YOUR CAMERA! IT MAY RESULT TO BAD PIXEL(S)!!.

[sanj.rai77]

Thanks a lot for the advice mate. Definately more than one pixel. I have attached the macro picture. I have never used flash on the screen mate.

Will contact PC World who I bought it from.

[nio_7]

Hmmm.. now this is weird... It doesn't seem like what is called "burnt pixel" or "stuck pixel" It looks like some kind of blot over or under the pixels. Like it's something under or above the pixels. The pixels look to correspond to colors and this blot on some pixels covers half of the pixel, which means that it isn't the pixels themselves but something else under or above the pixels.
Have you tried to gently clean it with a 100% cotton cloth and see what happens??
If not, do try it.
Take a 100% cotton cloth that is 100% dry and clean and USING YOUR BREATH (not any kind of liquid) rub it gently to see if it reduces. But it's more likely that this blot will be behind of the lcd surface. By the way can you still see it with the laptop turned off, if so the cleaning may help but i don't think that this is the case.. Anyway give it a try before returning it.. Even if it doesn't seem to be anything to clean, try the cleaning as i told you, with the laptop turned off. Maybe by pushing gently the area will fix the problem but of course chances are very little. Any way, give it a try..
I think that in any case its all about lcd damage and as it affects pixels, it's the same as burnt or stuck pixels, and as you have so many as i can see, you won't have any problem replacing it.

My laptop which had a real bad pixel in the middle, was a pixel that was always white no matter what and it was only one and just in the middle which made it far too heavy for me and it wasn't covered by the guarantee.

[sanj.rai77]

I contacted VAIO 23 hours ago. Had no response. It is nothing on the screen as I have tried to wipe it with a soft cloth. Not visible when the screen it turned off.

Any other possible solutions?

[rich912]

Hmmm.. now this is weird... It doesn't seem like what is called "burnt pixel" or "stuck pixel" It looks like some kind of blot over or under the pixels. Like it's somethong under or above the pixels.

I agree nio_7, this does not appear to be either a dead/stuck/burnt pixel. I do know of one other Vaio owner that had a very similar problem (several such patches) with an AR series.

I suggest that sanj.rai77 takes this up with Support.

[sanj.rai77]

Had no email support yet. PC World are telling me to call Sony. Will call them tomorrow when their call centres are open.

Thanks for the efforts guys!

[sanj.rai77]

It is something under the screen as it has moved to the top of the screen. Any tips? Have replied to Sony's email saying that it is something under the screen.