Need technical explanation of LCD monitor damage problem

[Navaros]

I noticed that my LCD monitor suddenly has black marks on it near the bottom, combined with "streaks of light" in the same area.

I usually have my taskbar dragged up a lot more than the default, usually ~5x more.

When I look at the damaged area of my monitor, it does not go any higher than how high I usually have my taskbar dragged up. And the black marks seem to correspond with where the quicklaunch icons on my taskbar usually are.

The odd thing is, when my taskbar is dragged up to it's usual position, then all of this damage is 100% un-noticeable (but becomes noticeable if I drag my taskbar down). It is also 100% un-noticeable when I run PC games. It is also 100% un-noticeable when I set my desktop to background to certain colors. The damage is noticeable with my desktop set to the turqoise color and most other colors I can change my desktop to. However, if I change my desktop color to white, black, light red, or a certain light blue, then the damage is un-noticeable.

Questions:

1. Is this a burn-in problem? Or something else?

2. What exactly would a technican have to do to fix this problem? Previous I had my panel replaced on this monitor when dead pixels formed, and then they replaced it with a new panel with another dead pixel right out of the box. Then I exchanged for a refurbished monitor with a stuck pixel on it, which was even worse than the first two with dead pixels! Which I then RMAed for a brand new monitor of the same model which finally was fine. I would prefer not to have to go through all that nonsense again. Therefore, is it possible for me to keep the panel part of my monitor and have this problem fixed, so that they don't replace the panel with one that may have dead or stuck pixels on it?

3. Why is the damage only noticeable with certain desktop background colors, and not noticeable at all when my taskbar is dragged up over it or when I run PC games?

4. What has caused the black marks?

5. What has caused the "streaks of light"?

6. How do I prevent these types of damage from happening in the future?

Here are some links of pictures to what it looks like, kinda hard to see from the pictures, but it looks a lot worse in person.

Turqoise Background
http://i81.photobucket.com/alb...35/NavarosX/lcdwtf.jpg


Light Purple Background
http://i81.photobucket.com/alb...5/NavarosX/lcdwtf2.jpg

 

[Shmalls]

first I am by no means an expert, if any one disagrees with what I say don't hesitate to correct me.
That bar of light on the bottom, does it vary in color? if so I dont think it would be burn in (wait, do LCD's have burn problems?).
Well its a sort of burn-in, what "I" think has happened is that the wires or the board itself that control certain pixels in that section are bad. So instead of displaying RGB they are only displaying one or two colors. this would explain why some times it still looks ok, because the monitor is not trying to display the color that is bad.
unfortunately I dont know how or if this can be fixed without replacing the panel.

 

[Navaros]

I called NEC Tech Support about this. They told me it could be image persistance, and to shut the monitor off for 2 days and leave it uplugged, and if it is image persistance that should fix the black marks part of the problem.

They told me that the light streaks may be image persistance too, or may be a separate issue relating to the matrix.

They also told me it may indeed be burn-in, and if that is the case then it's better to just buy a new monitor because to replace the part required to fix the burn-in problem is the most expensive part of the monitor. And my warranty doesn't cover burn-in since it is a rare condition on LCDs. But of course it being "rare" doesn't help me feel any better if it causes me to get screwed out of ~$800 due to it happening to me. :|

This ticks me off a lot because a couple of years ago when I was researching LCD monitors, I read on many tech-oriented sites that LCD monitors cannot get burn-in, when in fact, they can!

Why do people post false information in tech articles on the 'net when they don't know what they are talking about. This is misleading to consumers like me who may have a fubared monitor based on that crap misinformation I digested during my purchasing research. :disgust:

 

[ch33zw1z]

The way I understand it, LCD Image Persistance is like CRT Burn-In because it is caused by static images on the screen for long periods of time. The main difference is that Image Persistance is not permanent like Burn-in. Try the turnin off and turning on suggestion and see if that fixes your issue. It may not be that at all, and NEC might be yanking your chain.

 

[Navaros]

They weren't going out of their way to say it's burn-in, they only acknowledged it could be after I asked about burn-in specifically. They told me that image persistance is way more common than burn-in in LCDs, and that burn-in doesn't happen during "normal operation" with an LCD monitor which apparently is how they are able to not have it covered under warranty; but that it does happen in some cases.

Guess I'll find out in a couple of days which is the case with my monitor.

In doing a web search about this problem I've also encountered some other posts on the Internet of users complaining of definitive burn-in on their LCD monitors (not image persistance).

I still am not sure what the technical reason is why burn-in (not just image persistance) can sometimes but rarely happen on LCD monitors?

I suppose there is no way to identify the problem as which of the two (image persistance or burn-in) before the couple of days with it off and unplugged are up?

 

[ch33zw1z]

I haven't seen either Burn-in or Image Persistance on LCD's yet, but judging from your pictures I'd say it's not either. The description I've seen do not include giant streaks of light.

 

[Navaros]

In that case what are the possible causes of the black marks damage, and what part of the monitor would I need replaced in order to correct that?

 

[Navaros]

I left my monitor off for over 5 days. The problem didn't go away.

I called NEC Tech Support back and this time I got another support rep who told me that what the first NEC Tech Support rep stated to me was incorrect. He told me that LCDs never get burn-in.

The latest rep told me that in order to correct the image persistance problem, the monitor needs to be unplugged and off for as long as the problem has been there. He said that 2 days would not do it and that if the problem was there for a year, then the monitor would have to be unplugged and off for a year to correct this problem.

Is this true? Isn't there a maximum cutoff point at which image persistance would go away no matter how long it's been there if the monitor has been unplugged and off?

If what he said is true and there is no cutoff point, is there any other way to correct this problem?

When I asked him if the blotches of light that appear are a separate issue from the black marks of my image persistance, he told me that he does not know, and they will not do anything for me unless the image persistance is gone first; since image persistance is not covered under warranty.

How else can I isolate all this to find out of it is two issues or just one issue? Maybe if it's two issues I can get warranty service but if it's just the image persistance issue it seems I'm up the creek without a paddle.

I'd appreciate very much if someone who is an expert specifically on LCDs would answer these things for me. Or if none post here, if you guys could refer me to where I can ask some LCD experts that would also be very much appreciated.