What usually ends its life

Displays don’t “wear out” like gears—but their backlights, touch layers, and communication interfaces degrade. Common failure patterns include flicker/dimming, ghost touches, dead spots, and comms errors that mimic PLC issues.

Replace it when you see

• Unresponsive touch, delayed inputs, phantom touches, or dead zones

• Dim/flickering/backlight fading that returns after reseating power/cables

• Repeated communication failures (screen errors, missing tags) after verifying network/power integrity

The replacement line

If the issue follows the display (not the cable/port/system) and persists after firmware/config checks, replace it—because intermittent HMIs create “invisible downtime” (operators working blind or ignoring alarms).