What is a screen burn-in?

OLED displays are known for the rich colours, sharp contrasts, and deep blacks that they can recreate. This allows for an immersive and comfortable viewing experience, whether on your smartphones, laptops, tablets, or TVs.

However, OLED displays are also equally notorious for screen-burn-in issues which can severely hamper your viewing experience, depending on the extent of the damage. If you’re wondering just what screen burn-ins are, why they occur, and how to prevent them, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to know more.

What are screen burn-ins?

Now, the term “burn-in” doesn’t refer to burns per se. Instead, it refers to discolouration that appears over time, on any part of your devices’ display panel.

These discolourations could show up in many forms including the outlines of text or images, a general fading of colours, or other such patches. The display even with these burn-ins, continues to function as per usual. However, they are annoying all the same.

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On smartphones, they most usually appear when bright wallpapers are frequently used, or in places where text constantly appears on the ambient display, the status bar on top, or the navigation buttons on the bottom.

The primary cause for screen burn-ins is simply the limited lifespan of an OLED display’s light-emitting diodes. As they age, their brightness levels change, due to which colour reproduction shifts. This shift in the colours in one area more than the other, leaves these burn-in marks behind.

How to prevent them?

Screen-burn ins can be prevented easily. Just a couple of steps you can take to do the same are as follows:

1. Always use the adaptive brightness setting to ensure your phone’s screen has to work no harder than it needs to.

2. Use a shorter screen-timeout limit – two minutes or less. As diodes won’t have to light up for any longer than required, this will help extend their lifespan.

3. Use dark mode on your phone as far as is possible. This will ensure fewer pixels having to light up constantly, thus helping extend their lifespan.

4. Use wallpapers that aren’t too bright. This helps greatly reduce the risk of burn-ins over time.

Screen burn-ins usually don’t appear on your devices for a good few years when they’re new. You will in all likelihood, change them before they appear anyway. That being said however, if in case you plan to use your devices for beyond a year (or three), it is a good idea to take preventive measures to help avoid screen burn-ins.