Flat panel display rot - "tunnel vision" in electroluminescent and other displays- bad seals.

[Ian Finder]

No, I'm not convinced the EL repro isn't a driver electronics issue.

I'm just a little confused about why the issue congregates at the edges of
the displays. Any ideas why that might be?

I may try swapping the panels around this evening if I am feeling brave.

On Wednesday, July 20, 2016, Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> wrote:

> On 2016-Jul-20, at 12:52 PM, Ian Finder wrote:
>
> > I have a few GRiD compass systems and some are suffering from massively
> > decreased contrast on the edges of the displays:
> >
> > [See the system on the left]
> > https://www.instagram.com/p/BIGGzUzgat-/?taken-by=tr1nitr0n
> >
> > [Or this one:]
> >
> http://www.ripstick.com/USCM/images/Grid_Compass_1101_Laptop_in_Box_002.jpg
> >
> > Meanwhile, other EL systems I have- like my HP integral PC- haven't
> > succumbed to this.
> >
> > I have seen similar issues on amLCD displays in my Tadpole, Toshiba and
> > other machines, so this is something we all may have to confront.
> >
> > -------
> >
> > I was wondering if the folks here had theories?
> >
> > I'm thinking moisture (or air) might be leaking in from the edges of the
> > glass panes, perhaps from a compromised seal- sorry for the silly picture
> > but you can see the composition of the display here:
> >
> > https://www.instagram.com/p/6BXaLBtSzd/?taken-by=tr1nitr0n
> >
> > Does anyone know how one might prevent this from progressing- storage
> tips?
> >
> > Could it be reversed?
> >
> > Better yet, does anyone have ideas on how to rapidly dehydrate the
> display?
> > Perhaps there is even a way to re-seal them.
> >
> > I think all two-glass-pane displays that don't have a vacuum may
> eventually
> > succumb to this.
> >
> > Perhaps it is just oxidation and not moisture, but I'd love to hear any
> > theories.
>
>
> Are you convinced this is a panel problem rather than a driver electronics
> problem?
>
> In one picture it looks like the sort of thing that happens when you have
> to turn up the brightness (for some types of display), resulting in partial
> illumination in other areas of the screen.
>
> I've never had opportunity to repair or work on EL flat-panel displays,
> I'm not familiar with the driving techniques and requirements, so this is
> just a query/guess. (I see it's an X/Y matrix drive scheme, but the
> voltages & timing & phasing I don't know about.)
>
>

-- 
   Ian Finder
   (206) 395-MIPS
   ian.finder at gmail.com