You close a game or quit a long session and notice it: a faint ghost of the HUD, the taskbar, or a channel logo still hovering on your OLED. Cue the panic. Is the panel ruined? Is this the dreaded burn-in? Will it fade, or is it stuck forever? The forums are full of scary photos and conflicting advice, but almost nobody gives you a way to actually test which one you have.
I published the full guide on KeyboardTester.click with the live burn-in test, a temp-vs-permanent comparison table, the recovery refresher step, an RMA decision tree, source links, FAQ schema, and localized versions:
OLED Burn-In Test: Image Retention vs Permanent Burn-In
This Dev.to version keeps the practical test-and-recover workflow.
Fast answer
Image retention is temporary and fades; burn-in is permanent and does not. To tell which you have, show a faint even shade like 50% gray, note the ghost, then run varied content or a scrolling refresher for 10–60 minutes. If the ghost fades, it was retention — no damage. If it stays in exactly the same spot, it is burn-in.
A browser test can reveal visible wear and run a pixel-refresher, but it cannot certify permanent damage on its own, so route the final call and any warranty claim to the manufacturer. Start with the OLED Burn-In Test in fullscreen.
Run the test: what to look for
Open the burn-in test, press Fullscreen, and use three things:
- Solid colors (reveal retention and uneven wear) — cycle white, black, red, green, blue, then linger on a mid gray. ~50% gray is the most revealing for faint ghosts.
- Checkerboard (expose stuck or dead subpixels) — a different defect from burn-in; follow up with a dead pixel test if you find isolated dots.
- Scroll mode (the pixel refresher) — a full-screen scrolling bar pattern that exercises every pixel evenly. It is the on-demand version of your OLED's overnight pixel-refresh, and it is your recovery step.
The honest limit: a browser test shows what is visible right now and lets you run a refresher. It cannot, on its own, certify that damage is permanent — only the fade-or-stay retest plus the manufacturer's panel-care process can.
Image retention vs permanent burn-in
| Trait | Image retention | Permanent burn-in |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent? | No — temporary | Yes — irreversible |
| Does it fade? | Fades with varied content or a refresh | Never; stays in the same spot |
| Typical timeframe | Minutes to about an hour | Thousands of hours of static content |
| Looks like | Faint, fuzzy ghost of recent content | Fixed, defined logo/HUD/bar, dimmer or color-shifted |
| Cause | Short-term pixel-state lag | Physical, uneven aging of pixel material |
| Fixable? | Yes — varied content, refresher, time | No user fix; mitigate or RMA |
The one-test rule: show 50% gray, note the ghost, then run varied content or the scrolling refresher for 10–60 minutes and re-check. Faded = retention (no damage). Still there, unchanged = burn-in (permanent).
What causes it
OLED pixels are individual organic light-emitters that dim slightly every hour they run. Burn-in happens when some pixels run far harder than their neighbors and age unevenly:
- Static high-contrast HUDs and UI (a fixed game HUD held for hundreds of hours is the classic culprit).
- Taskbars, docks, and desktop elements.
- Channel logos and news tickers.
- High brightness (wear scales with brightness).
- Letterbox bars and aspect-ratio borders.
What is not on the list: a few hours of mixed movies, games, or browsing. Long-term testing consistently shows burn-in is uncommon under normal varied use.
Recover it: the scrolling pixel-refresher
If the retest says retention, there is a real recovery step — and it is built into the test:
- Show varied content for 10–60 minutes — clears most light retention with no tool.
- Run the scrolling refresher in fullscreen; leave an even moving pattern running for a few hours for stubborn retention.
- Lower brightness on static content so pixels are not over-driven.
- Run the built-in pixel-refresh (often triggered overnight in standby) — the manufacturer's own recovery cycle.
When it is permanent: the RMA decision
If the ghost survives varied content, the scrolling refresher, and a full built-in pixel-refresh cycle, it is most likely permanent burn-in. There is no user fix that restores aged pixels.
An RMA makes sense when the ghost is clearly permanent, visible during normal use, and the panel is still inside its warranty or burn-in coverage window. Run the manufacturer's pixel-refresh first (some require it before honoring a claim), capture evidence, and contact support — the authoritative call on permanent burn-in comes from their panel-care process.
Pair the burn-in test with a screen uniformity test, a color test, and a dead pixel test so you are not chasing the wrong fault. If your worry is motion smear rather than a fixed ghost, that is a different issue — check the monitor ghosting test instead.
Prevent it going forward
- Lower brightness for static content.
- Enable pixel shift / orbit.
- Auto-hide taskbars and docks.
- Vary your content.
- Let the panel-refresh run in standby.
Full guide with the live test, decision tree, sources, and FAQ: OLED Burn-In Test: Image Retention vs Permanent Burn-In
