Image Retention vs Burn-In: How to Tell Them Apart and What Fixes Each

Image retention vs burn-in: the difference

The two terms get used as if they mean the same thing, and the symptom looks the same on day one: a faint shape of something that is no longer on screen. The difference is what happens next.

RTINGS, which runs long term display tests, puts it simply: once image retention is completely gone it does not affect anything else you watch, while burned-in pixels are permanently damaged and cannot be fixed.

What image retention is and why it happens

Image retention is a short term memory in the panel. RTINGS describes the cause on LCD monitors as voltage retained in the pixels for too long after a static, high contrast image, so they stay slightly in their old state after the image changes. Operating system interfaces, taskbars, windows, game HUDs and news or sports graphics are typical triggers.

How long it lasts depends on the screen and on how long the image was there:

• Most modern monitors: RTINGS found that most monitors showed no retention at all two minutes after a 10 minute high contrast test video, and only a few still showed some after 10 minutes. They stopped testing for it because it is rarely a problem now, though it can vary from unit to unit.
• LCD rule of thumb: EIZO says LCD afterimages are reversible and usually take about three times as long to disappear as the image was displayed. An image left for two hours may need around six to fade fully.
• OLED phones: Apple says image persistence on iPhone OLED displays is temporary and disappears after a few minutes of normal use.
• OLED TVs: LG describes image retention as a faint ghost that, on most TVs, fades after a moment or two.

What burn-in is and why OLED screens get it

On an OLED screen every subpixel makes its own light, and it ages a little every time it is lit. If one area shows the same bright image for a very long time while the rest of the screen shows changing content, that area ages faster. The screen is then uneven, and the shape of the static image shows as a darker (or sometimes lighter) ghost on flat colors. That is burn-in, and it builds up slowly over months, not in one evening.

RTINGS ran a two year, 20 hours a day test on an OLED and two LCD TVs and found:

• Long periods of static content cause burn-in on OLED TVs, and the effect is cumulative: even a logo that came and went burned in, only more slowly.
• In that test the red subpixel degraded fastest, then green, then blue. That is why burn-in can show a color tint and why solid red, green and blue fields help reveal it.
• Black letterbox bars shown for almost 5,000 hours left bands that were starting to be visible on full screen test slides, but not in normal content. There the black areas had aged less, so they looked brighter than the rest.

In RTINGS' newer longevity test, a CNN logo and ticker burned into a Samsung S95C OLED after up to 20 hours a day for 30 months, which RTINGS itself calls an extreme example. With varied content, it says, you will not see this even on an OLED. Apple likewise says burn-in on iPhone can occur "in more extreme cases", such as the same high contrast image shown at high brightness for prolonged periods.

Can LCD screens get burn-in?

Permanent burn-in on LCD is rare. EIZO explains that LCD afterimages are reversible, unlike the phosphor burn of old CRT monitors, and RTINGS calls image retention rarely a problem on modern monitors. If you see a lasting pattern on an LCD, it is more often a uniformity problem that was always there, such as backlight bleed or clouding, than true burn-in.

Ghost image on screen: retention, burn-in or something else

• A faint copy of what was just on screen, that fades: image retention.
• The same shape every day, in the same place, on flat colors: likely burn-in. Classic shapes are the taskbar or dock, browser tabs, a phone's status bar or keyboard, a channel logo, a news ticker and game health bars.
• A trail or blur behind things that move: not retention at all. EIZO points out that afterimages are different from the ghosting or blur of motion caused by slow pixel response. See monitor ghosting.
• Bright patches at the edges or blotches on a dark screen: backlight bleed or clouding on an LCD.
• A shape that shows in screenshots: it is in the picture, not the screen.

Screen burn test: how to check step by step

1. Remove the suspect. Close the app or change the channel that showed the static element.
2. Open the burn-in test in full screen. Screen brightness up, room lights a little lower.
3. Step through the gray fields first. Mid and dark gray show uneven wear best. RTINGS measured retention on a 15% gray image in its monitor tests and photographed burn-in on 50% gray in its TV tests. Use the custom gray slider too: a shape invisible at one level can be clear at another.
4. Then red, green, blue and white. Because the subpixel colors wear at different rates, a ghost may show on only one of them.
5. Look where static content lives: the taskbar or dock edge, the top and bottom of a phone, the corners where TV logos sit, the center where a game HUD sits.
6. Take a photo of anything you see, with your phone, from the same spot each time.
7. Wait and test again. Use the screen normally with varied content, or leave it off. Give it at least a day, or about three times as long as the static image was shown. Then repeat the test and compare with your photo.

Faded or gone: image retention. Unchanged: burn-in. Fainter but still there: repeat the fixes below once more before you decide.

How to get rid of image retention

1. Switch the screen off for a while. RTINGS and EIZO both list turning the screen off as a way to let retention clear.
2. Show something that changes, such as ordinary video. RTINGS' own test flashed red, green and blue after the static video to help pixels return to normal.
3. Or show a neutral field. EIZO suggests running the monitor with a gray pattern. The burn-in fixer has a slow color cycle and a black and white wipe that do this without flashing; set a timer of 10 to 30 minutes and look again.
4. On an OLED TV or monitor, let the automatic panel care run. LG says its Pixel Refresher runs by itself when you turn the TV off after more than four hours of total use, and Samsung's OLED monitors run a Screen Optimization of about 10 to 15 minutes after four or more hours of cumulative screen time. Turn the screen off normally and give it time rather than cutting the power.

If a ghost is still there after all of this and after a few days of normal use, treat it as burn-in.

How to fix screen burn-in: what works and what does not

Is burn-in covered by warranty?

It depends entirely on the maker and the product, so read the warranty terms for your exact model before you assume either way. Coverage for OLED monitors and TVs varies, and the terms can differ by region and by where you bought it.

• One example: Dell states that its QD-OLED panel technology on Alienware monitors has a warranty term of up to 3 years that includes burn-in.
• Search your maker's support site for your model number plus "burn-in", and read the warranty card that came in the box.
• If you claim, include photos from the burn-in test on the gray and color fields, how the screen is normally used, and whether panel care ran.

How to prevent OLED burn-in

OLED burn-in comes from long hours of the same bright content. These habits spread the wear more evenly:

On a TV

• Keep the panel care features on. Samsung recommends keeping Pixel Shift on for content with static images (on its OLED monitors it is on by default); LG's version is called Screen Shift. Both brands have a logo brightness feature that dims static logos, and their OLED TVs start a screensaver after about two minutes of a static image.
• Let pixel refresh run. Turn the TV off with the remote after watching so the automatic routine can run.
• Avoid Vivid mode and maximum brightness for everyday viewing. LG lists a very high brightness or vivid mode, static news channel logos and games left paused as causes.
• Do not leave a paused game or a news channel on for hours when nobody is watching.

On a computer monitor

• Hide the taskbar. In Windows 11, right-click an empty part of the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, then Taskbar behaviors, and select Automatically hide the taskbar.
• Lower brightness and contrast to a comfortable level. RTINGS lists both as ways to reduce retention and, on OLED, long term burn-in.
• Use a screensaver or let the display sleep when you step away. RTINGS suggests a slideshow screensaver; switching the monitor off is better still.
• Watch video in full screen so browser and player controls are not on screen for hours.
• Consider a dark theme. On OLED, black pixels are off. RTINGS' letterbox result shows that areas which are dark most of the time age less than the rest.

On a phone

• Apple recommends auto-brightness, a shorter Auto-Lock time, and avoiding static images at maximum brightness for long periods.
• Using an old phone or tablet as a bedside clock? The night clock keeps digits dim on pure black and moves them a little every minute so the same pixels are not lit all night.

Ghosts are not the only thing that makes a screen look faulty: for dots that never change, see dead vs stuck pixel.