Digital precompensation for faulty D/A converters: the "missing pixel" problem

In some contexts, DACs fail in such a way that specific samples are dropped. For example, in flat-panel video displays, some of the pixel LEDs can malfunction and get permanently set to particular values. We refer to this as the "missing pixel" problem. Under certain conditions, it may be possible to compensate for the dropped samples by preprocessing the digital signal. The paper describes a number of such compensation strategies. Each strategy is analyzed and results from numerical simulations are presented. Of particular interest is the relationship between compensation and the class of discrete prolate spheroidal sequences.