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Sony Recants on Dead Pixels (Sort Of)
Ayaress writes "As reported on Gamestop, Sony will now warranty PSP units suffering from dead pixels. Sony still insists that dead pixels are a common problem in all LCD displays, saying "A very small number of dark pixels or continuously lit pixels is normal for LCD screens, and is not a sign of a malfunction," and asks that PSP owners use theirs for at least a week or two, to see if it still bothers them. User who encounter, "persistent and aggravating dead pixels," are instructed to contact Sony customer support, and will be allowed to mail in their PSP to recieve a unit with a new screen."
I unit with a new screen does not neccesarily mean a new unit.
The Tools Of Ignorance wanna be a tool?
I love it. How are "not functioning pixels" "not a sign of malfunction"?
I've bought well over a dozen LCD montitors from Apple, Dell, and Philips in recent months and I have not seen a single dead pixel on any of them.
This is just a case of Sony reducing cost by widening manufacturing tolerances. It's fine as long as you manage expectations properly.
All of the dollars I spend on my new monitor work just fine, thank you. So guess what... all of the pixels on that monitor had better work just fine, too.
If a manufacturer doesn't consider "a few dead pixels" to be a warrantable issue, then I'm going to make damned sure that the monitor they get back does have a warrantable issue. Applying 120VAC to the 14VDC power jack for a few seconds should do the trick.
Why does Sony seem to have a higher level of complaints than all the other LCD makers? Was it a rushed process resulting in dropped quality or do they have the same quality as others and the media is just picking up on their problems?
BTW, requisite PA comic on the topic
--
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Wired article as proof
"Yes, it bothers me. Replace it."
How can they say it isn't a defect? Of course it's a defect.
"If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we've solved it." --- Arthur Kasspe
While commonly referred to as a "defect," Sony says the off-colored pixel problem is common in all LCD screens. "A very small number of dark pixels or continuously lit pixels is normal for LCD screens, and is not a sign of a malfunction," a representative for Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) told GameSpot.
How many pixels are we talking? I have no problem with one or two dead pixels (depending on the screen size). I would think that for the size/resolution of the PSP that 1 or 2 would only be noticable and that would depend on what color they are permanently (white would likely be annoying on dark games).
I received 0 dead pixels for the first time in my life when I purchased a 17" LCD panel (I forgot which company as it's not in front of me at the moment). The second time I received 0 dead pixels was on my work computer's Dell 23" LCD. I would think that in this day and age, at that screen size, if I would end up w/0 dead pixels a PSP could too.
My laptop screen is 1440x900px. Of those pixels (1296000) in all, they're all healthy.
Similarly, even the cheaper laptops we get in tend to have fully functional screens to start with.
Sorry guys, but dead pixels are not as common as you might want us to believe. Maybe in a poorly designed portable wherein the manufacturer doesn't care so much about quality, yes... but lately other devices seem to have less pixel-problems.
They're just going to reship the units sent back to them without servicing them, so somebody else will get your dead pixels.
Its not as if they are making it up. Virtually all lcd manufactures accept screens with a "few" bad pixels. Look it up
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
Did you outsource your spelling and grammar on that post?!
To stop those pixels 1-2-3,
Here's a fresh new way that's trouble-free,
It's got Paul Anka's guarantee...
Guarantee void in Tennessee.
Just don't look! Just don't look!
Just don't look! Just don't look!
Just don't look! Just don't look!
I guess Nintendo's stance on the dead-pixel, offering to replace any DS that has a dead-pixel, forced them into this...otherwise it would've been a blackeye for them. Competition is already making the handheld war good for the consumer. It should make this a good handheld war, much like the golden days of SNES vs Genesis...
-sp-
Personally, I find that regardless of how much the industry tries to insist that dead pixels are normal, consumers tend to have zero tolorance for them.
Having worked retail before, my experence is that if you even try to hint that it's not a defect, they'll throw a fit and think you're out to cheat them.
And who can blame em? Anything with a colour LCD on it comes at a price premium and nobody in their right mind would want to pay a premium for something that in their mind is defective.
The iritation from that one tiny discoloured dot alone is enough to wipe out any satisfaction to be had from owning that product.
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
It was meant to read that "Sony still insists that dead pixels are a common problem in all broken LCD displays."
-j.
Maybe: "Life is Random."
Nope. Apple already has used that.
What about: "Sony Introduces PIX, the Personal Identification indeX. In case your PSP is lost or stolen, it can be easily be identified by checking the pattern of unactivated pixels!"
Yeah. That'll do.
My wife - she works at Futureshop (the Canadian arm of Best Buy) - came home last night to tell me of her hatred for the PSP.
On the opening day, about 17% of the PSPs sold were returned due to defect of some kind. Many of them didn't even turn on.
Yesterday, she had person after person coming into the store complaining about dead pixels. With one guy, she went through an entire crate of PSPs to try and find one that didn't have a dead pixel. No luck. He ended up settling for a PSP that had only one dead pixel - rather than the average 3. One of them had an entire vertical column gone.
From what I'm hearing from my wife, it would be much, much better to wait until revision B before thinking about purchasing a PSP. The ones on the shelves today have far too many defects.
It is frustrating, to spend twice as much as other options, to get something that turned out to be lower quality. And what really burned me was their non-existent customer service. It took forever to get a human on the phone, only to be told they could not do anything.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
I see dead pixels.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
Dead pixels ARE a common problem in all LCD displays. Why is this written like Sony is the only company saying this?
Not really.
Firstly, the common ISO thresholds for dead pixels typically range about 1 to 3 full pixels, and up to 7 subpixels on a typical 17" (1280x1024) display (note: cheaper brands may go with lesser quality panels - BenQ, will allow up to 7 full pixels and 17 subpixels(!) before considering replacement). Going for the worst (3 dead pixels == 9 dead subpixels) - there are 1280x1024x3 subpixels on a 17" panel or 3,932,160. If 9 of them are bad before returns, that's ~0.0000023 dead subpixels, or one dead subpixel for every 436,906 subpixels.
The PSP has a nice 480x270 LCD, or 388,800 subpixels. There should be no dead pixels at all on a screen this small!
In a more anecdotal sense, I remember when color TFTs came out and it was really difficult to get 640x480 screens with zero dead pixels (this was over a decade ago). Fast forward a few years, and the incidence of dead pixels dropped quite significantly, and these days, getting a monitor with dead pixels and laptops with dead pixels tend to be a rarity. It does happen, but rarely (unless you just happen to be really unlucky).
I'm pretty sure people don't complain of dead pixels on PDA screens (QVGA and higher, including oddball 320x320 and Half VGA, to full VGA) - and the incidence of dead pixels on these screens is extremely low.
On screens that are VGA or lower resolution, dead pixels are such a rarity that honestly, it shouldn't be tolerated.
Right. Maybe they'll call it the PSP Reduced Pixel Edition.
Can someone please explain to me how having an LCD with dead pixels (even one) is considered "normal"?
Because the manufacturing of LCD displays produces a lot of devices with dead pixels. It is normal. The only thing that alters that is whether or not the company distributing the end product is willing to charge enough for that product (and whether the consumers are willing to pay enough) to cover their having to throw out any sub-perfect displays.
I've paid good money for a good display
Actually, you've paid the price the manufacturer and their dealers have asked, for what it is they say they're selling. If they say they're selling a unit with an LCD display that may have a dead pixel or two, then that's what your money buys. If they say they're selling you a unit with a flawless display (something Sony is expressly saying that they are not providing at that price), then that's another matter.
So is this a classic case of manufacturers trying to get us to accept mediocrity
But we accept mediocrity all the time. That's the only thing that makes life affordable. If everything we made and purchased was "the best," then that would be the new average, or middle-ground (or mediocrity), and we'd just complain because, gee, at that price, shouldn't it be gold-plated and read my mind, too? This isn't about excellence, it's about price. No doubt Sony weighed very carefully the price they expected to get, the distribution costs, the manufacturing costs, and came to this decision. It was probably tone-deaf from a marketing/PR point of view, but it was no doubt a very deliberate decision made to keep the retail price down a notch or two.
Why does everyone even care about this? Because they want the product, and consider it to be within reach, money-wise. If the thing cost $1000, no one would be talking about it. If the thing cost $49, we'd all shrug at dead pixel or two. It's finding that sweet spot, for Sony and for us, that's hard - and Sony probably gambled a little unwisely with this, and didn't have the PR engine in place as well as they should have. They're not idiots, and it's not like they don't want you for a customer. And if you're absolutely sure that this is an evil plot by a mediocrity-driven company, then surely you don't want their entertainment product anyway, right? I'm being rhetorical, but you get my drift. It's price point, price point, price point.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
This sounds like typical Sony behavior. Wasn't there a problem with the first batch of Playstations overheating that Sony tried to ignore and finally, probably at the nudging of large U.S. retailers, began to address? I'm guessing that retailers like Best Buy and WalMart have enough clout to force Sony to change their position. Afterall, consumers are going to return what they think is defective merchandise regardless of what the manufacturer says. That means angry people at the returns section of Best Buy or WalMart, which means unhappy managers and execs. Since WalMart basically runs the world now, when they complain to Sony, Sony listens.
In Sony's defense though, they usually clear up problems with new products without a year or so of introduction. That's one reason I'm in no hurry to buy a PSP right now.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Check your state's consumer protection laws. In Massachusetts, a store is required by law to give the consumer's choice of repair, replacement, or refund if an item is defective upon purchase... and I think bad pixels could reasonably be called "defective".
So, if you bought a PSP in Massachusetts (or a state with similar laws) and it has bad pixels, take it back. They have to deal with it for you.
Yeah, like you'd accept a new car with scratches in the paintwork.
If it's got dead pixels, i'd be returning it for replacement/refund.
-- mr_lab
Back in the day, most vendors would not replace an LCD with a few dead pixels unless they were somewhere intrusive, like the middle of the screen. It was then very hard to make an LCD with all 100 jillion little elements working perfectly, and back then they were a lot more expensive for system vendors to buy. (As recently as 2000 over 1/2 the cost of a laptop was the LCD.) I don't know the actual numbers but I expect that allowing, say, three dead pixels in nonintrusive areas even today may double or triple the production yield.
...) with high resolution LCDs may never notice as they are just pulling menus and writing documents. How long have you worked with a piece of dust or a smudge on the screen before you: a) noticed; b) findlly got irritated enough to do something about it? In my experience many users either never notice dirt or dead pixels, or just put it out of their mind. Therefore I assert that vendors can "get away" with allowing a few dead pixels - most users won't do anything about it, and those picky ones can return for a different one, and costs are kept lower.
Non-demanding users (IOW, not hackers, graphic designers,
A few years back when I could afford such things (and LCDs were no doubt less reliable), I bought an Apple Powerbook. It had (IIRC) three dead pixels in the 800x600 monochrome LCD. When I talked to the Mac shop where I bought it, they checked with Apple. Apple's policy at that time was that fewer than (again, IIRC) five pixels did not constitute failure, because LCDs almost always had a few dead ones. As it happens, shortly thereafter and still within warranty, the wiring between the top and the base got flaky, and they had to send the laptop back to Apple to fix it. (No, I didn't arrange this, it just happened!) Their fix involved a new top, which had a new LCD. It only had 2 bad pixels, and they were in out of the way places.
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
I unscrewed the front of the case from mine and blew some air under the cover (didn't take it completely off as that voids the warranty). Some of the sub-pixels I thought were dead turned out to be just dust. The other spots appeared to be in the clear window of the case itself.
I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but it seems to be the problem with mine.
-Redundancy Man strikes again!
Why people still buy into the myth that Sony==Quality is a mystery. Maybe 20 years ago, but not today.
It might be the same phenomenon as McDonalds. They spend lots of money on kids. They were the first to have happy meals. The first to have place area's in resturants. They market to kids. And when the kids grow up, a part of their childhood is still with McDonalds. Even if they suck, it is like an uncle who once treated you nice.
Sony had the reputation when I was a kid of being the best. If people had the money, they would buy Sony. If they did not have the money, they would buy something else. It was a status symbol.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
But I saw the shirt first, I check for these things. After I know the extent of the defect I purchase the shirt.
Sometimes a few threads off will be acceptable, sometimes not.
Same with furniture and my brick house. I inspected and determined myself if this was acceptable BEFORE purchasing.
Actually when buying a used house or car it is common to use such defects to get a lower price to account for such a defect.
An LCD manufacturer has 4 choices.
1. Make perfect product.
2. Disclose that it isn't perfect.
3. Try before you buy. This gets troublesome with warranties and pixels that die after purchase.
4. The current mess of imperfect product and lack of proper disclosure. At best poor customer service, at worst a fraudulent sales tactic.
Subject: Sale of Goods Rights, Faulty Goods.
Relevant or Related Legislation: Sale of Goods Act 1979. Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994. The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002.
Key Facts
Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).
Goods are of satisfactory quality if they reach the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price and any description.
Aspects of quality include fitness for purpose, freedom from minor defects, appearance and finish, durability and safety.
It is the seller, not the manufacturer, who is responsible if goods do not conform to contract.
If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)
For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).
A purchaser who is a consumer, i.e. is not buying in the course of a business, can alternatively request a repair or replacement.
If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit
In general, the onus is on all purchasers to prove the goods did not conform to contract (e.g. was inherently faulty) and should have reasonably lasted until this point in time (i.e. perishable goods do not last for six years).
If a consumer chooses to request a repair or replacement, then for the first six months after purchase it will be for the retailer to prove the goods did conform to contract (e.g. were not inherently faulty)
After six months and until the end of the six years, it is for the consumer to prove the lack of conformity.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. What is an inherent fault?
Q2. Do I only have rights for 30 [or some other number] days after purchase?
Q3. Do all goods have to last six (or five) years?
Q4. I know I can demand my money back within a "reasonable time" but how long is that?
Q5. After the "reasonable time has passed", what can I do?
Q6. Is it true that I have to complain to the manufacturer?
Q7. Do I have to produce a receipt?
Q8. Can I claim a refund on sale items?
Q9. Must I accept a credit note instead of a refund?
Q10. What can I do to claim damages or if the retailer will not honour my rights?
Q11. The retailer has claimed that a repair is "disproportionately costly" and insists I accept a replacement as an alternative. Must I accept this?
Q12. Neither repair nor replacement are possible. What can I do?
Q13. What will the "reversed burden of proof" mean for the consumer
Q1. What is an inherent fault?
A fault present at the time of purchase. Examples are:
an error in design so that a product is manufactured incorrectly
an error in manufacturing where a faulty component was inserted.
The "fault" may not become apparent immediately but it was there at the time of sale and so the product was not of satisfactory standard.
I used to believe in Sony. I actually didn't buy their products much because they were so much more expensive; however, if you wanted something that would last for 10 years, Sony was often the way to go, especially in audio/video equipment.
Something sorta' happened with their computers. I think they realized that marketing won over with their computers because they became more haphazard. While the equipment was generally pretty good, it was utterly proprietary and had a simple support policy--"Oh, you want to upgrade your equipment to do new things? Sure! Here's a new computer you can buy!" I bought a Sony Clie NX80; although, I knew their generally policy. I figured at least some of their software, if it had bugs, would be fixed. The most annoying thing is that the thing is designed to be upgraded, thanks to flash memory, but they wouldn't even fix the web browser that has some severe flaws. The Clie has a CF slot which can take bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc, but Sony refuses to do anything for it (and this was long before they discontinued the line). In fact, the movie transfer program was so buggy you generally had to convert the movie to a format that the program would be willing to tolerate before you can convert it. And, half the time the converter would just drop sound at some point. When I heard that the PSP was going to use the Clie format for video, I knew people were going to be in trouble. Sure enough, complaints abound.
I used to play Star Wars: Galaxies. If you know anything about that fiasco of a game, they give a whole new definition to "quality control." Just read the forums and you'll see their attitude is "we'll fix it if we feel like its something bother to fix." Half the time the "fix" introduces ten more bugs than what was fixed. And, I am not talking about minor graphic bugs. I'm talking about whole broken professions, personal buildings (with stuff inside) going poof, creatures you are attacking disappearing, and the mobs stop dropping any loot. The very basics of the game mechanics are not reliable and their policies have encouraged griefing and malicious play.
Few months back Sony got rated as the worst of the big name companies for support, and it appears they are quickly added quality to that list. I, for one, refuse to buy Sony. Before, I could at least count on that it worked, so I didn't really need support. Now that the products do not work..
Bel, the mostly sane.. "Of course I can't see anything! I'm standing on the shoulders of idiots." -- Me
We will just stick a feeding tube in the PSP and it will hang on to life forever.
Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting someone else to do the work. --John G. Pollard
I'm on my 2nd Panasonic AE700 lcd projector (1280 x 720) (based on the Epson D-4 LCD chips). 1st unit had 3 clumps of stuck-on greens. Fairly close to even the 1:33 'center of action' (this is a 1:78 projector). Pixels were visible from the couch. Unsatisfactory. Vendor graciously swapped units. Panasonic woulda most likely told me to get bent.
2nd unit has 1 stuck green, out of the way (regardless of aspect ratio being shown). This one's much dimmer, it can rarely, if ever, be seen from the couch, even when you're actively looking for it. I chose to keep this unit. Returning / swapping is a PITA when the object in question is your only HT display.
What irks me is 1) Epson willingly sold defective panels to Panasonic, 2) Panasonic willingly accepted them, and 3) Panasonic has the brass balls to say in the manual "stuck / dead pixels are a by-product of lcd technology and will not affect performance" Such bovine excrement!
Seems to mainly be green pixels, too. I had a Sony Vaio laptop with one lone stuck greenie, but it was as bright as the sun.. sold off on ebay. Then this projector, twice, green panel again..
Is there something inherently evil about green LCD?!
They hide behind excuses, while selling product with visible, known defects. WTF? And then they *tell* you those defects are normal? Double WTF!
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
I mistyped and left out the 'W'.
Musta voted for someone other than Our Dear Leader last election.
(for moderators, especially humorless Republican moderators: This is FUNNY! Trust me.)
Infuriate left and right
In each case that I've had to do this, the pixels would stick a few more times before ultimately giving in in defeat and bowing to my will. They then behaved like good working pixels for the rest of their useful lives.
I know the PSP screen is shielded so that you can't make direct contact with the screen. I wonder just how many "stuck pixel" issues could be fixed with a nice little massage to the pixel area, if only you could get to it...
Just because broken pixels are a common occurrence doesn't mean they aren't broken! Hmph.
-Rich
Everyone knows that PSP markets the psp at 333mhz, but does anyone know that developers can only run their software at 222mhz? Can this be considered as misleading advertising?
Actually I was thinking along the same line. If Nintendo, which had to worry not one but two screens (one of which you'll be pounding on), have the zero dead-pixel guarantee, why can't PSP do the same?
In US, you can easily buy enough major firearms to wipe out your neighbourhood but a few little fireworks are banned.