Sony answers PSP dead-pixel gripes

Discussion in 'News and Article Comments' started by syngod, Mar 29, 2005.

  1. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    Soon after Sony's PlayStation Portable launched in Japan last December, reports surfaced that some units' LCD screens suffered from "dead pixels," or pixels that were either permanently light or dark.

    Within 24 hours of the PSP's North American launch, similar complaints began to reverberate around the Internet.

    Some gamers' outrage over the perceived dead-pixel problem was fueled by an e-mail allegedly sent out by Canadian game retailer Video Games Plus. The e-mail said the company was "informed by Sony that they will not be warranting any dead-pixel units. They are only warranting hardware defects, i.e. broken buttons, malfunction with drive and so on."

    An informal survey of the dozen-odd PSPs in the GameSpot offices found that half had at least one problematic pixel. While these dots were almost all invisible while playing games, they stood out when displayed against a black or white screen.

    Read the rest of the article at News.com
     
  2. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    Did you get any dead ones Syngod? I think it’s quite poor that so many have had dead pixels! But why, when you can buy 17" monitor and have no pixels and on a tiny screen you have loads, it should minimize the chance of having no dead pixels because of the smaller area.

    I contacted at least 15 eBay sellers before I found someone who was willing to check the PSP before he sent it, so mine has none so far.
     
  3. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    I've bought 2 now.

    First had no dead pixels, second has 23.

    Worst part on the second one though is I have dirt and what looks like a hair in the screen which is fairly distracting.
     
  4. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    23? dam! I'd go mad if I had that many. Have you tried returing it?
     
  5. ninja fetus

    ninja fetus I'm a thugged out gangsta

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    damn that sucks.
     
  6. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    I deal with Sony as a supplier on the IT side of things so I knew to try going directly through them.

    I got the standard reponse to check page 13 I think it is in the manual where it states that it is a common problem with LCD's.

    The dead pixels don't bother me so much as the dirt and hair under the screen, dead pixels I can only notice 1 when playing or watching a movie, but the hair I can always notice.
     
  7. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    yes, its common problem Syngod but 23 dead pixels? theres must be a range after which they would replace it! like 10 dead pixels?
     
  8. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    Not sure if they've changed their policy but all I was told was to read page 13 and they basically gave an overview of what it said in the book and that I should try it for a week or two to see if the problem alleviates itself.

    I'm not sure how a pixel is suddenly going to wake up from being dead but that was basically the response I got.
     
  9. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    I have read about the pixels starting to work, the method people used by people is to rub the lcd with a bit of pressure.
     
  10. matttibb

    matttibb Geek Trainee

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    I'd go crazy if i bout a new gadget like that and it had dead pixels and they more or less told me to wait for them to "come back from the dead" as it were
     
  11. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    It's not that big of a deal, especially since I bought it for my brother so he'd leave mine alone :).

    The dead pixel thing like I said you can only really see on a pitch black screen so isn't a big issue, but I'd still like to know what ISO standard they are using in manufacturing when dust and hair is able to get into the screen.
     
  12. matttibb

    matttibb Geek Trainee

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    Yea that must kinda suck...

    Syngod, can I be your brother? :chk:
     
  13. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    Hehe can't afford it. The one I have right now costs me a fortune.

    A couple months ago he decided he was going to come over play on my Xbox while I was at work. He tried turning it on and no picture to the screen since I had the receiver set to DVD.

    Ended up ripping all the wires out from the projector, Xbox, PS2, receiver, dvd player, dvd recorder, wireless ethernet game adapter and line doubler. When he did this ended up pulling on the Toslink cable so hard on the back of the receiver ripped the back off, board came out and destroyed the unit. And of course to top it all off he had to rip the screen while he was playing around with everything.
     
  14. matttibb

    matttibb Geek Trainee

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    Sell him to a slave trader to pay for it all :D
     
  15. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    Wish I could :). Really hurt that month having to pay close to $5000 to replace everything.

    But he has a 10 month old to support so can't really get anything out of him either.
     
  16. ninja fetus

    ninja fetus I'm a thugged out gangsta

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    he has a baby and he just did that too all your equip?! :swear: !
     
  17. Addis

    Addis The King

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    Hold the baby hostage. I hate it when something like dust or hair gets in screens cause i hate things being unsymetric and imperfect.
     
  18. matttibb

    matttibb Geek Trainee

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    "The female of the species can become very aggresive when her young are threatened"
     
  19. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    please stay on topic.

    sony are now willing to offer replacements

     
  20. ninja fetus

    ninja fetus I'm a thugged out gangsta

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    that's good they aren't totally backing out of the situation
     

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