HP Monitor Dead Pixel Test: Check HP's Pixel Policy

Which HP limits apply

HP’s pixel policy covers HP and Compaq LCD monitors, TouchSmart PCs and All-in-One PCs, and two things decide the numbers. The first is the line: every HP Z series and HP Series 7 Pro display carries the Zero Bright Dots guarantee, which allows no bright sub-pixel and up to 4 dark ones. The second is the manufacture date on the rear label: displays made in May 2009 or later may have 2 bright and 5 dark sub-pixels, 5 in total, and older ones 3 bright. Pick the matching line under Your HP display. Notebook screens aren’t covered by this policy.

Whole pixels: HP allows none

HP separates a full pixel defect, a bright white dot or a very noticeable black dot (the entire pixel stuck), from sub-pixel defects, where one red, green or blue sub-pixel stays on or off. Its monitor specification allows no full pixel defects on any line, so a single dot you mark as a bright pixel or a dark pixel is enough for the check to report the display as outside the policy. Colored dots are counted per sub-pixel: a yellow, cyan or magenta dot on black is two bright sub-pixels, so on a standard HP monitor two such dots add up to 4 against a limit of 2.

Dead sub-pixel or contamination?

HP also allows no contamination: a dark stain over one or several sub-pixels, left by a microscopic particle during manufacturing. It isn’t a pixel defect, so it doesn’t count toward the numbers above, but it breaks the policy on its own. A dead sub-pixel is a crisp dot of one tint that lines up with the pixel grid; a trapped particle has a shape of its own, which HP says shows under magnification. A stain is outside HP’s policy on its own, but the check can’t count it, so don’t mark it as a dot: describe it in the notes and take a close-up photo instead.

Taking it to HP

These limits apply during HP’s limited warranty. When you’ve marked everything, copy the model, serial number and manufacture date into the notes box and download the report: it lists the HP line you picked, its limits, and the type and position of each dot. Comparing brands? Dell, Lenovo and ASUS publish tables of their own, each with a matching page here: Dell, Lenovo and ASUS. For any other screen, run the dead pixel test on its own.

HP’s limits at a glance

The most defects each HP product line may have during its warranty and still count as working, as the policy check above uses them. One more than the number shown is outside the policy. HP allows no whole pixels stuck on or off on any line, so a single one is outside the policy too. Source: HP Pixel Policy (HP Customer Support), checked September 2026.