How to run the OLED burn in test
- Turn the brightness up and, if you can, dim the room. Faint burn-in is much easier to see.
- Press Start burn-in test. The first pattern is 50% gray, the most revealing one.
- Look for ghost shapes that shouldn't be there: the status bar and clock, navigation buttons, a keyboard outline, a channel logo in a corner, a taskbar or game HUD.
- Tap through the other patterns. Burn-in often shows a color tint: on white or gray, a worn area can look slightly yellow, pink or darker than the rest.
Look from a normal viewing distance, then from close up and from an angle. Real burn-in stays in the same place when you move your head; reflections and smudges don't.
Burn-in or image retention?
| Burn-in | Image retention | |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Pixels that showed the same bright content for hundreds of hours age faster than the rest | Pixels briefly "remember" a static image after a few minutes to hours |
| Lasts | Permanent | Fades within minutes to a few hours |
| Screens | Mainly OLED (and old plasma) | OLED and some LCD panels |
| What helps | Pixel refresh may reduce it slightly; warranty | Varied content, the color cycle above, or turning the screen off for a while |
If a ghost image fades after you watch varied content for an hour, it was retention. If it's still there the next day on the gray pattern, it's burn-in.
Screen burn in test results: what to do
- Run the built-in pixel refresh. Many OLED TVs and monitors have a panel care or pixel refresher option that evens out wear. It runs automatically after use, but you can start it manually; let it finish without unplugging.
- Check your warranty. Some OLED monitor and TV makers cover burn-in for a set number of years. Take photos of the gray pattern; they help with a claim.
- Phones: burn-in usually appears where the status bar, navigation bar or keyboard sit. Screen replacement is the only real fix; until then, dark mode and lower brightness slow it down.
- Don't rely on "burn-in fix" videos for permanent burn-in. Running bright colors for hours adds wear to every pixel without restoring the worn ones.
How to prevent burn-in
Burn-in comes from the same bright, static content shown for long periods. Auto-hide the taskbar or dock, use a dark wallpaper, let the screen turn off when idle, keep pixel shift and screen saver features on, and lower the brightness for long sessions with fixed elements such as news tickers, game HUDs or work dashboards.
Seeing single dots rather than ghost shapes? Use the dead pixel test. Glow at the edges of an LCD is covered by the backlight bleed test.
How we tested this tool
In a desktop browser and at a 375 px phone width we checked that each pattern fills the screen in the right color, that taps and arrow keys move forward and back through all eight patterns, that automatic mode changes the pattern every 4 seconds, that the color cycle advances every 2 seconds and stops by itself at the end of the chosen time (tested with a shortened duration), and that Esc and the ✕ button close the test.
Frequently asked questions
What does burn-in look like?
A faint ghost of something that was on screen for a long time, such as the status bar, navigation buttons, a keyboard, a TV channel logo or a game HUD. It is easiest to see on a plain gray or single-color screen at high brightness.
Can burn-in be fixed?
True OLED burn-in is uneven wear of the pixels and is permanent. Built-in pixel refresh functions can even it out a little, and warranty may cover it. Image retention, which looks similar, is temporary and usually fades within minutes to hours.
Does a burn-in fix video work?
Not for permanent burn-in. Cycling colors can help temporary image retention fade faster, which is what the slow color cycle on this page is for, but it can't restore worn OLED pixels.
Can LCD screens get burn-in?
LCDs can show temporary image retention, but permanent burn-in is mostly an OLED and plasma problem. On LCDs, uneven patches on a plain screen are more often backlight bleed or clouding.
How do I prevent OLED burn-in?
Avoid static elements at high brightness for hours, auto-hide taskbars and docks, use a screen saver or let the screen turn off, keep the TV's pixel shift and panel care features on, and lower brightness for long sessions.