# Touching LCD screens bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210 "2002-07-03T16:26:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Krurst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b77776/32.png) [@Krurst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krurst)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/1 "2002-07-03T16:26:35Z")
Is it bad for the LCD screen of laptops, calculators etc to drag your finger over it and make all those wavy colours appear? ---
**Author:** ![Sands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sands)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/2 "2002-07-03T17:14:35Z")
oh yes! somebody please answer this. I’ve been wondering the same thing since forever! this is so exciting. I can hardly take the suspense… ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/3 "2002-07-03T17:16:21Z")
I think if you place too much pressure on it you can cause problems and permanent discoloration with the display. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/4 "2002-07-03T17:26:38Z")
In general yes…it is bad to poke your LCD screen. You may notice on some LCD displays a bright pinprick of light. Sometimes this is from a manufacturing error but sometimes it is caused by poking at your screen. You are essentially popping one of the tiny resolution dots. This doesn’t always happen when poking a screen but it can. Given how expensive a new LCD color display is it is best if you don’t touch it. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/5 "2002-07-03T17:32:51Z")
Not to put too fine a point on it, yes, it is bad. Not so much for the effect on the active display components producing the amusing effect, but because it is easy to damage the fairly polarizing filter / polymer film which covers the display. Most LCD screens which are not intended to be touched also have very easily scratched plastic surfaces which are also more difficult than glass to clean finger smudges off of. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/6 "2002-07-03T17:38:22Z")
“fairly polarizing”? … darn. Proofread. I didn’t completely erase “fairly fragile”. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/7 "2002-07-03T19:28:15Z")
I completely agree with **Whack-a-Mole** and **yabob**. My library system was just beginning to invest in LCD screens for our public computers when I was transitioning out of primarily being a tech-support guy to being a “real” librarian. The tech-support guy at one of the first branches to get LCD screens took an instant dislike to them because little kids simply cannot be told “not to touch” and will _mash_ their fingers into the computer screens. He had some that were practically unusable within a couple of months. ---
**Author:** ![Krurst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b77776/32.png) [@Krurst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krurst)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/8 "2002-07-03T19:43:19Z")
Why can they put some sort of protective layer on the screen if its so fragile? It’s just begging to be touched because it’s so damn fun! Unrelated question, how do I fix a dying fan? Its keeps spinning up and down and is getting very annoying. I tried unplugging it but my computer crashed after about 10 min. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/9 "2002-07-03T20:02:40Z")
> [@](#): > > how do I fix a dying fan? If it’s the power supply fan, you’re almost certainly going to have to replace the power supply. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/10 "2002-07-03T20:52:49Z")
Egad, I’ve been avoiding touching computer screens for something like 30 years just because of the dirt issue. (Fingerprint oil is bad alone but it also gives dust a place to stick.) The idea that someone would just _play_ around touching a screen is beyond me. Don’t touch them period. Any type. People are really bad about this. In computer labs I act properly horrified when a student points to something on the screen and touches it. I point out why that is really bad. They do it again 2 seconds later. Hopeless. Cheap LCDs in public places are going to be seriously abused. ---
**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touching-lcd-screens-bad/117210/11 "2002-07-04T13:31:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Krurst_ > **Unrelated question, how do I fix a dying fan? Its keeps spinning up and down and is getting very annoying. I tried unplugging it but my computer crashed after about 10 min.** Don’t run your computer without a working fan, it will damage your processor! (I assume you’re talking about the fan on the CPU.) The heatsink alone can’t give sufficient cooling. Just replace it, fans aren’t made to be repaired. They’re cheap enough not to think about it, even if they were.