Stuck pixel fixer
Rapid colour noise, concentrated on a window you place over the stuck pixel, for as long as you choose to run it.
Flashing content ahead
This tool uses rapid randomised colour flashing, changing up to around 60 times a second. Rapidly changing images can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, and can cause discomfort, nausea or migraine in others.
Your device is set to reduce motion, so nothing here will start until you choose to start it.
- Do not run this if you have photosensitive epilepsy.
- Stop at any time with the stop button, or by pressing Esc.
- Sit at a normal distance and turn the brightness down if it is uncomfortable.
Drag the noise window over the stuck pixel, then start the timer.
Your device may sleep during a long run. Adjust your sleep settings if the screen turns itself off.
How to run this test
- Find the stuck pixel first with the dead pixel test and remember exactly where it is.
- Read the flashing-content warning below and choose to continue.
- Drag the noise window over the stuck pixel, or move it with the arrow keys. Hold Shift with an arrow key to resize it, and Alt for single-pixel steps.
- Make the window small, roughly a centimetre across is plenty. A small window concentrates the effect and is far easier to keep in place.
- Start the timer at 20 minutes and leave the device alone. Press Esc or the stop button at any point.
- Check the pixel afterwards. If nothing has changed, you can repeat the run up to about three times, but stop after that.
What a problem looks like
- The pixel frees itself
- The most common good outcome. A sub-pixel that was jammed at one value starts responding again. It can happen within a couple of minutes or take the full twenty. Once free it usually stays free, though some pixels stick again later.
- Nothing changes at all
- Also common. If three runs produce no change, further runs are very unlikely to help, and leaving noise flashing for hours is not a better version of the same idea. At that point treat it as a permanent fault.
- The dot is black on every field
- That is a dead pixel rather than a stuck one, and this tool cannot do anything for it. A dead pixel has a failed transistor, which is a hardware fault no amount of colour cycling will address.
- A whole line or cluster is affected
- A full row or column, or a tight cluster of bad pixels, points at a connection or driver fault in the panel rather than an individual stuck sub-pixel. This tool is not the right approach, and the display is worth returning.
What to do next
If something looks wrong, check it again in a normally lit room and from straight on, then check whether it appears on a second device. If it only happens on this screen and you are still inside the return window, that is the time to contact the retailer.
Questions people actually ask
Does a stuck pixel fixer actually work?
Sometimes. JScreenFix, the original tool of this kind, reports roughly 80 per cent success within 20 minutes, while independent write-ups put the figure closer to 60 per cent. Either way it works often enough to be worth twenty minutes, and it cannot fix a dead pixel at all.
How long should I run it for?
Twenty minutes is the usual recommendation, and it is what the timer defaults to. If that does not work you can repeat it a couple of times. Running it for hours on end does not improve the odds and simply adds wear, so stop after about three attempts.
Can this damage my screen?
A twenty minute run of changing colours is well within what a panel is built for, and is gentler than leaving a static image on an OLED. What it is not suitable for is anyone with photosensitive epilepsy, which is why the warning gate exists.
What is the difference between this and the burn-in fixer?
This one concentrates rapid noise on a small area to free a single stuck sub-pixel. The burn-in fixer cycles full-screen colours to clear a temporary retained image across the whole panel. Different faults, different remedies.
Should I try pressure or the tapping trick?
Pressing on an LCD panel is sometimes suggested and does occasionally free a stuck pixel, but it can also create permanent pressure marks or new dead areas, and it will void most warranties. Software cycling carries no such risk, so try it first.