How to test for OLED burn-in
- Use a medium brightness. Burn-in shows best on mid-gray at your normal brightness. Very bright screens can wash faint ghosts out.
- Start on 50% gray. Look for faint shapes that should not be there: the outline of a taskbar, status bar, navigation buttons, keyboard, channel logo or game HUD.
- Step through the colors. Burn-in often shows more clearly on one color. A ghost that is visible on red but not on blue tells you which sub-pixels have worn.
- Check the gradient and near-black screens. Stripes in the gradient point to banding; blotches on 5% gray point to near-black uniformity problems rather than burn-in.
- Compare after the panel rests. If a ghost fades after a few minutes or after the screen's pixel refresh, it was temporary image retention, not permanent burn-in.
Burn-in vs. image retention
Burn-in
Permanent, uneven wear of OLED sub-pixels from showing the same bright image for hundreds of hours. The ghost stays after resting the screen.
Image retention
A temporary after-image from a static picture shown recently. It fades within minutes to hours, or after the screen's pixel refresh cycle.
Banding
Vertical or horizontal stripes on smooth gradients and flat grays, often from the panel's manufacturing rather than wear.
Near-black issues
Blotchy or tinted patches just above black, sometimes called near-black mura. Common on OLED and most visible in dark scenes.
Checking an OLED phone, TV or monitor
On phones, burn-in usually appears as the status bar, navigation bar or keyboard. Turn off dark mode and auto-brightness, set brightness to about half, and view the gray screen in fullscreen.
On TVs, look for news tickers and channel logos. Open this page in the TV's browser, or cast it from a laptop, and view the gray screens from your normal seat.
On OLED monitors and laptops, the taskbar, dock, window borders and desktop icons are the usual culprits. Check the 50% gray and cyan screens closely.
How to prevent and reduce OLED burn-in
- Let the panel run its pixel refresh or compensation cycle. Most OLED TVs and monitors run it automatically in standby; do not unplug them straight after use.
- Hide static elements. Auto-hide the taskbar or dock, use a dark theme and a moving or blank screensaver.
- Avoid maximum brightness for static content such as desktop work, news channels or paused games.
- Vary what you watch. Burn-in comes from the same image for hundreds of hours, not from normal mixed use.
Burn-in itself is permanent: no website or app can reverse worn sub-pixels. Flashing color tools only help with stuck pixels, not burn-in. If your display is still under warranty, check whether the manufacturer covers burn-in; several now do for OLED monitors and TVs.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check my OLED screen for burn-in?
Set brightness to about half, open the fullscreen 50% gray screen and look for faint shapes that should not be there, such as a taskbar, status bar, keyboard or channel logo. Then step through the red, green, blue and cyan screens, since burn-in often shows most clearly on one color.
What is the difference between burn-in and image retention?
Image retention is a temporary after-image that fades within minutes to hours or after the screen's pixel refresh. Burn-in is permanent wear of the OLED sub-pixels that stays even after the panel has rested.
Can OLED burn-in be fixed?
Permanent burn-in cannot be reversed by software. Running the display's built-in pixel refresh or panel compensation can even out mild wear and clears image retention. Websites that flash colors cannot repair burned-in pixels.
Does this burn-in test work on phones and TVs?
Yes. It runs in any modern browser, including phone browsers and smart TV browsers, and supports touch, mouse, keyboard and TV remotes with arrow keys. On iPhone the browser toolbar may stay visible because iOS limits fullscreen for web pages.
Why do I see stripes on the gray gradient?
Visible steps or stripes in the gradient are called banding. They can come from the panel, from limited color depth, or from image processing settings, and they are usually not related to burn-in.
How long does it take for an OLED to get burn-in?
Modern OLED screens usually need hundreds or thousands of hours of the same static, bright image before burn-in appears. Normal mixed use with varied content rarely causes it.