Display Test

How to test a display

1. Open this page on the display you want to check: in the laptop, tablet or phone browser, the TV's own browser, or on a computer connected to the TV or projector.
2. Turn off night mode, blue light filters and dynamic or vivid picture modes for a fair result.
3. Press Start full-screen display test. Tap, click or use the arrow keys to move through the 12 patterns.
4. Read the tip on each pattern. Most faults show on the solid colours (pixels), the gradients (banding) and the grid (picture not fitting the screen).

What the results mean

A good display shows clean solid colours with no odd dots, gradients without steps, every square on the black and white level patterns, crisp single-pixel lines and all four edges of the grid.

• Odd dots on a colour: dead or stuck pixels. Check them on the dead pixel test and try the stuck pixel fixer.
• Steps in the gradients: banding from a low bit-depth panel, a video mode with fewer colours, or a heavy picture mode.
• Missing dark or bright squares: brightness or contrast set wrongly; see monitor calibration.
• Blurry or fringed text: the display is not at its native resolution, or sharpness is set too high or too low.
• Grid edges missing: overscan. The display is cropping the picture and scaling it, which also softens it.

Testing a TV or projector

Smart TVs have a browser, usually called Internet or Web Browser, that can open this page directly. Otherwise connect a laptop by HDMI and set it to the TV's native resolution (usually 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160). Pick a picture mode called Movie, Cinema, Filmmaker or Calibrated for the most accurate colours, and set the picture size to Just Scan or Screen Fit so the grid edges are visible. Projectors also show focus problems on the sharpness pattern and keystone distortion on the grid, where the circles turn into eggs.

Laptop and phone displays

Laptop screens are often set to 125% or 150% scaling, which is fine for daily use but makes the single-pixel patterns look uneven; that is the scaling, not the panel. Phones and tablets cannot always go fully full screen in the browser: rotate to landscape, or add the page to the home screen. For specific checks, use the touch screen test for touch dead zones, the screen resolution page for the real pixel count, and the refresh rate test for the hertz.

Common problems and fixes

Colours look too strong or too blue

Switch off Vivid, Dynamic or Sports picture modes and choose Standard, Movie or sRGB. On phones, choose the Natural or Standard screen mode, and check that night light or eye comfort is off while testing.

Text looks soft on a laptop or monitor

Set the display to its recommended (native) resolution and use the system scaling setting to make things bigger instead. On Windows, run ClearType Text Tuner for sharper text.

The picture does not fill the TV or is cut off

In the TV picture settings set Picture size or Aspect ratio to Just Scan, Screen Fit, Full Pixel or 1:1. On a PC with AMD or Intel graphics, also check the overscan / underscan slider in the graphics settings.