There aren’t many worse feelings than saving up for a premium display, placing your order, and then receiving it only to find a bunch of dead or stuck pixels right in the sweet spot.
Unfortunately, dead pixels are a fact of life and no monitor or screen manufacturer can ever guarantee that your display won’t have them.
For that reason, we always recommend checking your new display thoroughly for dead or stuck pixels as soon as you receive it. This is important not only for peace of mind but also because many retailers provide limited returns windows for electronics so you need to act fast to initiate a return.
It’s also important to note that screen manufacturers have different tolerance levels when it comes to accepting returns because of dead pixels and Asus is no different in that regard.
With that in mind, we’ve put together this article to explain what Asus’ dead pixel policy is so you know where you stand when it comes to making a return to them.
What is Asus’ Dead Pixel Policy? Explained
Before accepting returns for displays, Asus allows up to a total of 5 dead pixels combined between bright and dark dead pixels.
Individually, this is reduced to 3 if it’s just bright pixels that are affected and 5 if it’s just dark ones.
In other words, you would need 4 bright dead pixels (0 dark) or 6 dark dead pixels (0 bright) before Asus will consider your return.
A bright dead pixel is one where light is still emitting but it does not change color with the rest of the pixels so you are left with a pixel that stands out.
Dark dead pixels are ones that do not emit light and come across as black so stand out when the background is white or lightly colored.
Dark dead pixels are less noticeable than bright ones, hence why most manufacturers will tolerate more of them than bright ones.
Here is a summary table of when Asus will accept a return and when they will not which will hopefully help you make sense of their policy:
| Number of Dead Pixels | Will or Will Not Accept Return |
| 4 bright dead pixels and 0 dark dead pixels | Will accept return |
| 3 bright dead pixels and 0 dark dead pixels | Will not accept return |
| 3 bright dead pixels and 3 dark dead pixels | Will accept return |
| 2 bright dead pixels and 3 dark dead pixels | Will not accept return |
| 1 bright dead pixel and 5 dark dead pixels | Will accept return |
| 1 bright dead pixel and 4 dark dead pixels | Will not accept return |
| 0 bright dead pixels and 6 dark dead pixels | Will accept return |
| 0 bright dead pixels and 5 dark dead pixels | Will not accept return |
What is Asus’ Laptop Dead Pixel Policy?
We couldn’t find anything from our research to indicate that Asus’ laptop dead pixel policy differs from its monitor/display dead pixel policy so we believe the information set out above will still apply.
However, we would advise checking the warranty if you have any doubts about this.
What to Do if You Don’t Fall Under the Policy
If you’ve received a display, monitor, or laptop with dead pixels but you don’t fall within Asus’ policy (i.e. there are dead pixels but not as many as Asus require) then you still have some things you can do:
- Return the unit under the retailer returns policy. Many retailers allow returns up to a number of weeks following purchase and often you do not need to provide a reason for your return, which means you can keep the dead pixel issue to yourself. We understand that Asus’ own stores allow returns up to 30 days, although they do ask you to contact them to make a return within 7 days if you intend on doing so. However, please note that they do charge a 15% restocking fee. In addition, here’s a breakdown of the returns policies for some of the major stores we know sell Asus gear:
| Retailer | Returns Window |
| Costco | 90 days |
| Best Buy | 15-45 days |
| Walmart | 30 days |
| Micro Center | 30 days |
| Target | 30 days |
- Sell your display. There is a fairly steady market for used monitors, even ones with a few dead pixels. Some people don’t notice them and have lower tolerances for minor defects meaning you can often get decent resale value;
- Check your insurance policies. Many home insurance policies come with refund and defective goods protection which you can submit a claim through;
- Get your monitor repaired. This is an option for some units, although it can often be uneconomical to do so if the repairs cost close to the price of a new unit.
How Does Asus’ Dead Pixel Policy Stack up to the Competition?
If you’re in the market for a new monitor, display, or laptop but haven’t yet pulled the trigger, it’s probably worth checking out how Asus’ competitors’ policies compare.
Here is a handy comparison:
| Competitor | Dead Pixel Policy |
| MSI | More than 3 bright dead pixels and/or more than 5 dark dead pixels |
| LG | Allow between 4 -12 bright pixels and 4 – 12 dark dead pixels depending on the model |
| Acer | <2 for bright pixels and <5 for dark pixels (i.e. you can’t return the monitor if it has dead pixels less than that figure) |
| Dell | >0 dead bright pixels for their premium monitors or >5 dark pixels. This is increased to >5 and >8 for their D series monitors respectively. |
| Samsung | No official publicized set policy for its monitors |
Final Thoughts
In summary, Asus’ dead pixel policy is fairly bog standard and a little bit underwhelming in our view.
You’ll need a minimum of 4 bright dead pixels, 6 dark ones, or a combination of 6 dead pixels combined between both bright and dark before Asus will accept returns.
The best dead pixel policy on the market is generally with Dell monitors which offers a 100% no bright dead pixel guarantee with its premium models, albeit not with its budget units.
However, Asus does provide a static dead pixels policy across its range which is quite helpful in our view as at least you know where you stand no matter which monitor, display, or laptop you buy!
