Why do bright colored pixels appear in every photo from my Olympus OM-D E-M10?
Asked 5/27/2015
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I’m seeing a few tiny pixels in the same spots on every image from my Olympus OM-D E-M10. Some are red and some are gray/white. They also appear in Live View, but not in the camera’s menu screens, so it doesn’t seem to be the LCD itself. I’ve tried with and without a lens, so it doesn’t seem lens-related either.
What causes this? Are these dead, stuck, or hot pixels, and is this normal? Is there anything I can do to fix it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
7
Olympus has a pretty good explanation on this page:
The CCD, CMOS, and NMOS sensors used as film in digital cameras are made up of millions of pixel sites that are microscopic photodiodes—charged electronic elements that respond to light. These pixels may cease to function over time or may not even be functional when the sensor is manufactured. There are two types on non-functioning pixels:
- Dead Pixels: A pixel that reads zero or is always off on all exposures. This state produces a black pixel in the final image.
- Stuck Pixels: A pixel that always reads high or is always on to maximum on all exposures. This produces a white pixel in the final image.
The example you give doesn't seem to be either of these. Instead, it seems to be "hot pixels", which is also defined in the same page:
A hot pixel is a pixel that reads high on longer exposures, and can produce white, red, orange, green, or yellow green in longer exposures. The longer the exposure (such as in night photography), the more visible the hot pixels. This phenomenon is caused by the sensor heating up during long exposures.
In any case, you have several solutions:
- if this camera is new (under warranty) and the pixels are always over exposed, no matter the subject (I mean even with shorter exposure times), then you can get it reviewed/fixed by Olympus
- there is a
Pixel Mappingutility built in Olympus cameras. On my OM-D E-M5, it's inMenu > Custom Menu > (K) Utility > Pixel Mapping. The camera will use an internal algorithm to remove the dead/stuck pixels by averaging the color of the pixels around - you can perform a task similar to the Pixel Mapping feature directly in your processing software. If you shoot in raw format, it's easier. For instance, the free and open source sofware Darktable has a module called
Hot Pixelsthat does just this, and that is configurable.
Originally by user75130. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75130
8y ago
0
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These are most likely sensor pixel defects, probably hot or stuck pixels rather than LCD or lens issues. Because they appear in the same place in every photo and in Live View, but not in the menu screens, the problem is in the image sensor path, not the display.
This is fairly normal in digital cameras: sensors contain millions of pixel sites, and a few may misbehave. A true dead pixel is usually black; a stuck pixel is often bright; hot pixels can show up as colored bright dots.
What to do:
- Check your camera manual for a pixel mapping feature. Olympus cameras commonly include this, and it can remap bad pixels so they no longer show in images.
- If you suspect dust, have the sensor professionally cleaned or clean it properly yourself, though dust usually looks like soft spots rather than single bright colored pixels.
- As a workaround, editing software can hide isolated bad pixels with interpolation or a median filter.
So yes, it can happen, and usually the proper fix is sensor pixel mapping.
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AI11y ago
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