What Is OLED Burn-In And How Can It Be Prevented?

Although OLED technology produces stunning images, it isn't flawless. Since every pixel produces its own light, the rate of pixel deterioration might vary. The peak brightness of a certain area might change several years later, for instance, if it is brightly lit for longer periods of time than the remainder of the display. This impact extends to sub-pixels as well; if one color is utilized more than the others, years later that specific region may experience a color shift.

This phenomenon is known as burn-in, and while it's not nearly as bad as it was on CRT and plasma TVs in the past, it's still something to be aware of. You'll want to safeguard your investment and extend the life of your OLED panel if you currently possess one or are thinking about getting one. Let's examine some tips you can apply to control the effect.

Which OLED Screens Are Worth Being Concerned About?

The usage of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels is becoming increasingly common in high-end televisions and luxury mobile phones, although the technology is almost never utilized in personal computer monitors. The phenomenon known as OLED burn-in is equally as prevalent in mobile phones as it is in televisions. Because by the time it is discovered, the phone will typically be in need of replacement for other reasons, this is not as significant of a problem as it could otherwise be.

However, televisions are substantially more useful; the average owner keeps theirs for seven to ten years after purchasing it. As a result of this, it is essential to exercise control over how you use it in order to continue having the greatest possible viewing experience even after the warranty on the television has expired.

What Can You Do To Stop Burn-In?

At the moment, LG is the largest producer of OLED panels, and the business has created a few solutions to control burn-in. But the two finest things you can do for yourself to prevent burnout are as follows: Avoid watching the same channel on the TV all day long and turn down the brightness.

Switching between channels has the most impact. Many TV stations feature the broadcaster's logo in one of the corners, which can cause burn-in. While brief individual viewing sessions of a few hours occasionally won't noticeably affect burn-in, years of watching the same channel exclusively for many hours each day will. Likewise, for specific categories of content: A point count is frequently displayed elsewhere on the screen during sports, and even watching the news channel all day might result in the appearance of a human silhouette in color change at the center due to the news anchor.

Reducing the brightness of the TV when not in use can also have a significant impact by lessening pixel damage.

Turn On Integrated Technologies

The effects of burn-in can be considerably mitigated by activating the burn-in management settings that are available on LG televisions. Through the use of a function known as Pixel Shift, you are able to subtly move the entire image in order to dilute the effects of stationary objects such as logos, point counters, and headline banners.

In addition to this, the televisions are equipped with the capability to identify static items that have been left at a high brightness for extended periods of time. It is necessary to minimize the peak brightness of that particular spot in order to prevent any damage from occurring. Additionally, they are equipped with screensavers that, when utilized with the integrated WebOS interface, have the capability to activate thirty seconds after the program has been halted.

In addition, LG televisions come equipped with a technology known as Pixel Refresher, which determines the total amount of hours that certain locations on the display screen are illuminated. By utilizing this information, the feature will periodically carry out an unseen maintenance cycle in order to spread wear throughout the panel in an even manner while it is not being utilized.

It is important to keep in mind that LG's Pixel Refresher does not store data in non-volatile memory. This means that if you unplug the television, the most recent few days' worth of activities will be lost, and it will not function properly when it is plugged back in. Before unplugging the television, you should manually run the Pixel Refresher. This will allow you to move the television accordingly. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that if you fail to do so on occasion, it will not have a significant adverse effect; however, you should avoid making it a habit. To further reduce your impact on the environment, you should refrain from disconnecting the television at night when it is not being used. This is because doing so prevents the Pixel Refresher from functioning in any way.

The elimination of burn-in can be facilitated by the combination of all of these qualities and an understanding of regular usage patterns. The user is responsible for ensuring that all of these functionalities are active and enabled; it is possible that some of these functions were not included in the original product from the manufacturer.

A Brief Word On PC Use

We are aware that, due to the scarcity of OLED PC gaming displays, it may be tempting to use an OLED screen as a huge PC monitor or to set up a PC as a gaming PC in the living room. Additionally, we acknowledge that this may be a tempting option. Under these circumstances, however, you should proceed with an increased degree of caution. It is possible for an OLED display to be prematurely worn out by desktop use, despite the fact that gaming is typically not a major worry (unless you play only one game with a static HUD). Computers typically have a great deal of static content shown on their screens.

Delete desktop icons, enable auto-hiding for the taskbar, configure a screensaver (since the majority of OLED TVs do not automatically turn on their own built-in screensaver when using built-in apps), and have a wallpaper slideshow with a variety of wallpapers and uniform brightness levels. These are the safety measures that are included in this list. In conclusion, it is recommended that you do not leave specific windows in the same spot each and every time.