Top 4 Most Common Display Problems With Samsung Galaxy S4

If the screen of your Galaxy S4 is flickering, visit this post: How to fix Samsung Galaxy S4 screen flickering, blank display & unresponsive screen.

We did receive a lot of emails regarding Samsung Galaxy S4 display problems and based on those reports we were able to come up with 4 possible display issues. Software-related display problems often have solutions and owners can manage to troubleshoot them. However, physical screen problems would always end up sending the device for repair or replacement. Unlike any other components, display panels are disposable that when they are damaged, they need to be replaced.

Unresponsive Display

This issue may be caused by software and/or hardware glitch. Again, you would be lucky if a third-party app caused the display to become unresponsive because if it were a hardware issue, you have no choice but send it for repair.

Possible Causes

• Third-party app has gone rogue.
• Phone froze without apparent reason.
• A component caused glitch.

Possible Solutions

Solution 1: Reboot the phone. If it were a temporary device problem, a simple reboot would solve the problem. In case the phone won’t respond to the Power button, pop the back panel up and take the battery out for 30 to 60 seconds. This would soft-reset the phone and would eventually solve the problem.

Solution 2: Disable / uninstall the app causing it. If it were an application that caused it, you have two options: disable it or uninstall it. But first you need to know for sure that it’s an app that’s causing it by booting the phone to Safe Mode. If the problem doesn’t occur when in Safe Mode, you already confirmed the cause so go ahead and disable the app first. If the problem persists after that, you should consider uninstalling it.

Solution 3: Make sure it’s not the phone that has a problem. One thing about unresponsive display is that it’s hard to know if it’s only a problem with the display or the phone. If the device won’t respond when you press any of the buttons including the Power key, it’s the phone that’s freezing and not just the display becoming unresponsive. Troubleshoot the phone’s problem and you might fix it.

Solution 4: Send for repair. For people who don’t want to void the warranty of their phone, it is strongly recommended they send it for repair rather than opening it and mess with its components.

Blank Screen

It is a common problem not just to Samsung Galaxy S4 but to all smartphone owners. Blank screen problem happens all the time and there’s nothing much a user can do when it occurs.

Possible Causes

• An app or feature froze.
• Not enough battery to power the device up.
• Physical damage.

Possible Solutions

Solution 1: Reboot / soft-reset the phone. If the problem occurs right after you tapped on a certain app, it could be that it is taking so long to load it or the app simply froze. Either way, you would need to reboot the phone if you can’t wait or soft-reset it if it doesn’t respond at all. Many users who reported the problem happen to be gamers so it has something to do with the length of hours the phone was being used extensively.

Solution 2: Plug the charger in. There are times when there is a little amount of power left in the battery that the best it can do is power up the LEDs or the backlight. In fact, it is common to Super AMOLED displays considering it would take more power to turn the screen on. In case you encounter this issue, don’t hesitate to recharge the phone and see if that helps.

Solution 3: Have a tech look at it. In case you dropped your phone then the problem happens, it could be that the panel was damaged. If the damage was from the outside, you would see some cracks or broken components. However, if the damage is from the inside, you’ll get a blank screen instead. Don’t trouble yourself no more, have a technician check your phone.

Dead Pixel

When you can see a small dot(s) on your screen and it won’t go away, that could be a dead pixel. Like the first issue, it could have been caused by an application or small part of the screen was damaged.

Possible Causes

• Third-party app lags and freezes.
• Screen has a small damaged area.
• GPU has issues with some apps.

Possible Solutions

Solution 1: Verify if apps are causing it. Upon seeing a dead pixel or a black dot on the screen, close the app immediately and open another. Check if the dead pixel is still in the area where you first saw it. Try as many apps as you can to make sure. If it disappears and reappear while jumping from one app to another, then it occurs only when triggered by certain apps. You need to find those. However, if it remains on the screen whatever you do, I’m afraid it’s a component problem. You can either live with it (and be disappointed every single day) or send it for repair or replacement.

Solution 2: GPU problem. If the issue occurs only when you load a heavy game, then it may have something to do with the memory or the graphics processing unit (otherwise known GPU). The best course of action is to clear the RAM cache, close running apps in the background and soft-reset the phone.

Broken, Cracked and Bleeding Screen

Among the first components to be damaged when a smartphone fell is the screen; either it will totally be broken or just crack. If the display panel is compromised, liquid might flow out of the screen.

When this happens to you, there’s no other option than to send the phone for repair or bring it to the store to claim warranty as long as it’s covered. Please note that each retailer has its own terms as to the claiming of warranty.

Tell us your phone problems

We are among the very few online communities that is open to receive questions from our readers about the problems they’ve encountered with their phones. Don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected] and tell us your problems and we will do our own research to be able to provide you with solutions and / or ideas that may lead to the resolution of your problems. That’s for free. All we ask of you is to mention all possible details so we’ll know where to start.