Guides & articles
Practical help for testing, troubleshooting, and buying displays.
How to Test a New TV for Dead Pixels and Uniformity
Use your TV's browser or a phone to run solid-color and gray tests that reveal panel defects and dirty-screen effect.
How to Test a Laptop Screen for Dead Pixels
A step-by-step guide to checking a new or used laptop display for dead and stuck pixels before it's too late to return it.
How to Fix a Stuck Pixel: 4 Methods Worth Trying
Flashing, the pressure method, and tapping — how to try each on a stuck pixel, how long to give it, the honest odds, and when to claim warranty instead.
Dead Pixel Warranty Policies, Explained
How many dead pixels does it take to get a replacement? A practical look at ISO 9241 class limits, how brand policies count faults, and why returns win.
Color Gamut Explained: sRGB vs DCI-P3 vs Adobe RGB
What gamut percentages on a spec sheet actually mean, how sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB differ, and which one matters for the work you do.
Color Accuracy and Delta E (ΔE), Explained
What ΔE numbers mean, what counts as 'good enough' for print and for web, and why accuracy matters more than vividness in creative work.
How to Set Up a Monitor for Photo Editing
Gamut, brightness, calibration, and room-lighting choices that keep your edits looking right on other people's screens and in print.
Blue Light, Night Mode, and Color Temperature
What color temperature does to your eyes and your color work, how night modes change it, and how to balance comfort against accuracy.
Refresh Rate Explained: 60 vs 120 vs 144 vs 240Hz
What Hz actually means, where the jump from 60 to 144 is most noticeable, and how to confirm your screen runs at the rate you paid for.
Screen Tearing, V-Sync, G-Sync, and FreeSync Explained
Why a frame splits across your screen mid-motion, and which sync technology — V-Sync, G-Sync or FreeSync — fixes it without adding input lag.
How to Enable Your Monitor's Full Refresh Rate (Windows & Mac)
Bought a 144Hz monitor but it still feels like 60? It probably is. Here's the two-minute fix in Windows and macOS, plus the cable to check.
OLED Burn-In: Causes, Prevention, and How to Check
OLED panels can retain static images over time. Here's what causes burn-in, how to avoid it, and how to tell permanent burn-in from retention that fades.
What Is PWM Flicker and How Do You Test for It?
Many screens dim by flickering the backlight faster than you can consciously see — but your eyes may still feel it. Here's how to test yours.
PPI and Pixel Density: How Sharp Is Sharp Enough?
Resolution alone doesn't tell you how sharp a screen looks — pixel density and viewing distance do. Here's how to work out what you need.
HDR Explained: What Makes a Display Actually HDR
Most monitors labeled 'HDR' aren't. Here's what real HDR needs — peak brightness, local dimming, contrast and wide color — and how to check.
How to Test a Used Phone Screen Before Buying
Buying secondhand? Run these quick checks for dead pixels, OLED burn-in, touch dead zones and tint before you hand over any money.
Setting Up an External Monitor Right (Mac & Windows)
Resolution, refresh rate, scaling, and color-range settings people miss when plugging in a second screen — on both macOS and Windows.
Why Are There Lines on My Screen? (Vertical and Horizontal)
Vertical or horizontal lines usually come from a cable, the graphics card, or the panel's own driver connections. Here's how to tell which one you have.
Why Is My Screen Flickering? Causes and Fixes
Visible flicker usually comes from a cable, the refresh rate, adaptive sync, a driver or a failing backlight. Here's how to work out which one you have.
Is It the Screen or the Graphics Card? How to Tell
Lines, artifacts, flicker or strange colors? A screenshot, a second display and the monitor's own menu tell you whether the panel or the GPU is to blame.
Why Do Blacks Look Grey? Full vs Limited RGB Range
Washed-out blacks or crushed shadows over HDMI are often an RGB range mismatch, not a bad panel. Here's how to spot it and how to set it right.
Contrast Ratio Explained: What the Numbers Really Mean
Static, dynamic and "infinite" contrast ratios measure very different things. Here's what each panel type really delivers and how to judge it yourself.
Cracked Screen: Just the Glass, or the Display Too?
A cracked screen can mean a cover-glass repair or a full display replacement. These quick checks tell you which one before you pay for the fix.
Do You Still Need a Screensaver?
Screensavers were invented to stop CRT burn-in. Here's what they still do for OLED, LCD and TVs today, and when sleep or a black screen is the better choice.
Harmless Screen Pranks: Fake Cracks, Crashes and Boot Loops
How to pull off a convincing fake cracked screen, blue screen or endless boot prank, and the simple rules that keep it funny rather than upsetting.
The Complete New-Device Screen Test Checklist
A 10-minute routine to inspect any new laptop, monitor, phone, or TV for dead pixels, bleed and tint before the return window closes.
What Causes Dead Pixels (and How to Avoid Creating Them)
Manufacturing defects, pressure, heat, and age all kill pixels. Here's what's actually in your control, and what makes a new one appear.
How to Calibrate Your Monitor Without a Colorimeter
Get noticeably better color and contrast by eye using built-in OS tools and test patterns — no hardware required, and no guesswork either.
What Is Color Banding and How Do You Reduce It?
Those visible steps in a sky or gradient have several causes. Learn which come from the panel, which from the content, and how to reduce both.
Gamma Explained: Why Your Shadows Look Wrong
Gamma controls how brightness is distributed between black and white. Here's how to check yours, why 2.2 is the standard, and how to set it.
What Is Ghosting and How Do You Fix It?
Trails behind moving objects come from slow pixels — and the cure, overdrive, can overshoot into inverse ghosting. Here's how to balance it.
Response Time vs Input Lag: They're Not the Same
One is how fast pixels change; the other is how long until your click reaches the screen. Both affect how a display feels, in different ways.
Motion Blur Reduction: BFI, ULMB, and Backlight Strobing
How black frame insertion and backlight strobing sharpen motion, what they cost you in brightness and flicker, and whether to turn them on.
IPS vs VA vs TN vs OLED: Which Panel Should You Get?
Color, contrast, response speed and viewing angles compared across all four panel types, with the right pick for gaming, work and movies.
What Is Backlight Bleed and Is It Normal?
Light leaking around the edges of an LCD is common, but not always acceptable — when to shrug it off, and when it's grounds for a return.
What Is IPS Glow (and How to Reduce It)?
That silvery corner shine on IPS panels is a viewing-angle effect rather than a defect — how to tell it from bleed, and how to reduce it.
Mini-LED vs OLED: Which Is Better for You?
Brightness and burn-in resistance versus perfect blacks and zero blooming — the real trade-offs between Mini-LED and OLED, and who each suits.
The Screen-Door Effect: Why You See a Grid
A faint mesh over the image, most common in VR headsets and on big screens viewed up close. Here's what causes it and what actually reduces it.
Why Does My Screen Have a Dark Spot or Patch?
Pressure marks, ink blobs, and backlight shadows all look similar but have different causes — and very different chances of recovery.
Why Is Part of My Screen Discolored or Tinted?
Yellow, pink, or rainbow patches usually point to a cable, pressure, or panel fault. Here's how to narrow it down before you pay anyone.
How to Clean Your Monitor or Laptop Screen Safely
The right cloth, the right liquid, and the mistakes that permanently damage anti-glare coatings — plus what you should never spray on a screen.
How to Test a Monitor Before (and Right After) Buying
What to check in the store and at home so you don't keep a monitor with dead pixels, bleed, or the wrong refresh rate.
Dead vs Stuck vs Hot Pixels: How to Tell Them Apart
Three different defects look similar but behave differently. Identify which one you have — and whether it's fixable.
Backlight Bleed vs IPS Glow: What's the Difference?
Both show up as light on a black screen, but they're different problems. Learn how to tell them apart and what's normal.