New LCD Screen Appears Faulty on Arrival

Strange issue I haven't seen before on a recent screen replacement for an iPhone 4s. Everything powered up nice, but it appears near the top half of the screen, the touch sensitivity is gone...it just doesn't respond. Makes it quite difficult since items usually appear with the latest on top as well as an actions are at the top right corner.

The display arrived from iFixit slightly scuffed in that area and I suspect that is the problem. Just to validate I've done the follows:

- Hard Reset

- Complete Restore with Backup restore

- Complete restore and setup as new iphone (to possibly isolate pesky apps)

Nothing has helped...I've also noticed the screen is lighter in that area on a black screen.

Thoughts? I honestly rather have the broken screen back :)