VOGONS


First post, by tikoellner

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I recently bought IBM 370c thinkpad with active TFT matrix. As I finally got appropriate adapter, it seems that the computer is in full working order - but there is something that annoys me.

Near the center of the screen there is a stuck red pixel. It's visible on black and green background, on some backgrounds it gets grey, and on white it's simply white. As I work with DOS, it's visible at all times. I tried some rubbing, etc, but so far to no avail. I still hope there is something that can be done, as the pixel is not dead, but simply stuck.

I have read some manuals - but I would like to learn about your experiences, if you have any. What method do you think would help?

There are those methods with hi-frequency flashing various RGB colors. Is there any DOS program that could work? If not, I could write some simple code in Basic, probably.

Reply 1 of 4, by Sammy

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I think, it's a dead subpixel..

red is always on.

in white (and red) background you don't see it because there the pixel has to be on.

i have an TFT Montior which has an always on green pixel. but i am working most in windows so there the screen is most white and i don't see it.

Reply 3 of 4, by bjt

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My 370C also has a couple of stuck pixels, think it comes with the territory.
Just be happy you have a 486 laptop with a decent TFT, as many were still mono or crappy DSTN at that time.

EDIT: Here's my 370C thread in case you want some ideas of what to do with it 😀
486 Thinkpad with genuine Sound Blaster Pro 2

Reply 4 of 4, by adalbert

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bjt wrote:

Just be happy you have a 486 laptop with a decent TFT, as many were still mono or crappy DSTN at that time.

Exactly, it's really hard to get such displays. I have few old laptops with TFT screens and I'm really happy about that, i don't mind dead pixels or scratches. Treat that screen careful and it will work for long time, if backlight stops working CCFL can be easily replaced.

It took me a year to find two cheap (i mean not industrial-grade costing >2999$) 10.4" TFT screens, and I didn't even look for a particular model, just bought what was available. I replaced the broken screen in Toshiba T3200SXC with one of them, of course connectors didn't fit and I had to solder the cables by hand, but that's the only way you can currently repair old laptops.

Repair/electronic stuff videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/adalbertfix
ISA Wi-fi + USB in T3200SXC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX30t3lYezs
GUI programming for Windows 3.11 (the easy way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6L272OApVg