What to Check When Testing a New Monitor

Quick answer: When testing a new monitor, check for dead and stuck pixels, backlight bleed and clouding, colour uniformity, and that it runs at its rated refresh rate — all before the return window closes. Each takes a minute in the browser.

Start here: open the dead pixel test and cycle through solid colours.

Dead and stuck pixels

Display solid red, green, blue, white and black and look for dots that are wrong. Our guides explain dead vs stuck pixels and how to check a monitor for dead pixels.

Backlight bleed and clouding

Show a full black screen in a dark room. Bright patches at the edges are backlight bleed and cloudy lighter areas are clouding — a small amount is normal, a lot is not.

Uniformity, colour and refresh rate

Display solid grey and white to spot tinted patches or uneven brightness, then confirm the panel runs at its advertised Hz — see a monitor stuck at 60Hz if it does not.

Do it within the return window

Run these checks as soon as the monitor arrives so you can return or exchange a faulty panel in time. Re-run the dead pixel test any time.