Of course, it’s hard to look at something like this, and that mountain of keyboards in the background, and not scheme up ways to really automate the whole test process. That required a little effort to get it working with the Arduino, but in the end it works like a charm - plug in a keyboard and whatever you type shows up on the screen. Interestingly, the 16×2 display is an old Parallax unit, from the days when RadioShack still existed and sold their stuff. Plus, of course, a PS/2 jack to plug in a keyboard and power it up.
The video below goes into detail on the build, but the basics are pretty simple - an Arduino, a 16×2 LCD display, and a few bits and bobs to run it off a LiPo pack and charge it up.
Youtube pixel tester portable#
And rather than lug a computer to them for testing, put together this handy Arduino-based portable tester to see which keyboards still have some life left in them. Seriously, there are like thousands of the things. We imagine this is why ended up with a hoard of PS/2 keyboards. When we come across a great deal on bulk equipment, or see a chance to rescue some obscure gear from the e-waste stream, we generally pounce on it, regardless of the advisability.
If it does not move then it is most likely a dead pixel, if it does move then it is probably a mark on the outside of the screen.The hacking life is not without its challenges, and chief among these is the tendency to always be in acquisition mode.
Hint : After placing a Marker you can move about to check if the pixel moves in the area or not.
if your screen is 1680x1050, make sure the resolution for that monitor is set at 1680x1050.ģ) Use the right mouse button to toggle the main menu on and off, so that you can see the whole screen without any interference.Ĥ) Use the left mouse button to toggle through the basic application colours of Black (Check for stuck on pixels), Blue (Check for dead blue pixels), Red (Check for dead red pixels), Green (Check for dead green pixels), and White (Check for dead pixel group)ĥ) Each time you select a new colour, scan your screen carefully looking for defects (Black spots will be dead pixels on any colour screen)Ħ) Use the key to toggle a Marker at any suspect point on the screen.This allows you to scan the rest of the screen and come back to that area/check the screen is clean.
Youtube pixel tester free#
DPT was written to help me check my own screens (Couldn't find one that worked across multiple desktops so had to write my own!) by cycling through the three primary colours used (red,green,blue) and all on (white) and all off (black).ġ) Ensure your screen is free from dirt and marks,if possible clean it with correct recommended products.Ģ) Make sure your screen resolutions are correct for your monitor, e.g. There's only a slim chance that all of these will be perfect more likely, some will be stuck on (creating a "bright" defect) or dead (resulting in a "dark" defect). NEW VER 3.00 - TFT screens have thousands of pixels, on a 1024x768 monitor, there are three cells for each pixel - one each for red, green, and blue - which amounts to nearly 2.4 million cells (1024x768x 3 = 2,359,296).