Burn-in or screen burn is a term originating from old CRT screen technology, describing the phenomenon of image retention (screen burn, ghosting, ghost images) on a smartphone screen even though the original image has been
This condition can affect the readability and color of the display over time and reduce the user’s viewing experience.
On mobile devices, screen burn usually occurs on screens using older AMOLED or OLED panels and is quite rare on newer smartphones.
The phenomenon occurs when users leave an image on the screen for too long, causing the pixels to have trouble changing to another color.
Screen burn can be permanent and is considered a hardware failure, not a graphics software or driver issue.
AMOLED or OLED panels provide sharp images and high contrast, often used on high-end phones such as Samsung Galaxy S23, iPhone 14 Pro Max.
On the Reddit forum, user Nik3m shared an image of the iPhone 14 Pro Max with a burn-in error after only a month and a half of purchase.
Holding a phone just purchased for nearly 30 million VND, no one wants to encounter this problem.
Image shared by Nik3m
Turn off the device
This is the simplest solution and is often effective, especially if you start to notice burn-in early and want to fix it quickly.
Turn off the phone completely and let it rest for a few hours.
This is an advantage of the flexible organic pixel layer used in OLED panel-based displays, with easier error correction than previous pixel technology.
Fix with application
If turning off the mobile device for a while doesn’t completely resolve the problem, the next option is to try `retraining` the pixels on the screen to return them to a balanced state.
For Android devices, Google Play has a collection of screen testing and repair tools, including OLED Saver.
This app cycles pixels through multiple colors and brightness levels, returning them to their original settings.
The phenomenon of saving photos on the phone
Prevention is best
Anyone can proactively avoid or minimize screen burn on their phone.
In addition, users can also prevent it by modifying the settings below.
Lower brightness setting: The higher the brightness setting, the harder the OLED pixels have to work, easily experiencing image burn-in.
If your mobile device is set to high brightness, switch to auto brightness or low brightness level to avoid problems.
Set screen lock and screen off time: Every smartphone has an automatic timer to lock and turn off the screen when not in use.
Make sure these settings are enabled and set to one minute or so.
Remove menu, status, and navigation bars: Burn-in can occur when you use an application that has a permanent image on the screen such as a menu bar, navigation bar, or logo like when playing games
These fixed bars and icons left for a long time will cause image retention after a long period of use.
Turn on dark interface: Although it does not guarantee image retention, using dark interface on mobile devices also somewhat reduces the risk.
Image retention, although rare, is not impossible on LCD screens.
Fixing on this screen will be a lot more difficult, because LCD pixels work differently than OLED screens.
But before giving up all hope, you should still try using LCD Burn-In Wiper, a tool that cycles colors similar to the method applied on OLED screens to repair pixels.
The last resort after not being able to fix the situation is to take it to a repair center.