How bad is the Amoled screen burn-in problem?

[Kevin OQuinn]

I see it all the time actually. Easy to tell either with On Screen buttons or the Status Bar.

However, most users just don't notice it or don't care.

That's a valid point. Could also be that I don't keep my phones long enough for it to happen.

In any case, I don't see it on my 6p, or the Nexus 6 that I used for a year.

 

[Roberto Tomas]

back in the pre 2010 days OLED screens already were above 10000 hours screen on time for the blue channel, which at the time was a weakness —it was so much lower than the red channel, which might have lasted 10-20x as long, about the same as an LCD screen, that people noticed it and that's where the bad name came from. Nowadays I'd be surprised to see numbers below 50000 hours —that's nearly 6 years of at least some power to a pixel before it has a reasonable chance of burning out. Of course spread those odds out over a few million pixels and it might be less, but still, a year or so of nearly constantly on time is probably necessary to be able to see any difference in the screen whatsoever.

 

[Nkky7]

So that little adguard banner that's always on my screen when the phone is not in use may burn in the screen?

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[RichBrown68]

False. Pixels die faster the more you use it. So it is *always* an issue, although most consumers won't be able to tell. The display will change in color over time through use, that's the problem with OLED in general.

Somebody was even able to test it: Do AMOLED phone screens degrade over time? Yes, proof time, but...

And this is the point I don't get about you. You've admitted several times, most people can't see this problem, but it's there. If we're talking about an issue regarding how a screen looks, and if most people can't see it, then why does it matter? What on Earth could possibly be the problem if the Invisible Man wears tacky-looking clothes?

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[jinzen]

And this is the point I don't get about you. You've admitted several times, most people can't see this problem, but it's there. If we're talking about an issue regarding how a screen looks, and if most people can't see it, then why doesn't matter? What on Earth could possibly be the problem if the Invisible Man wears tacky-looking clothes?

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Because I don't like manufacturers putting in an End of Life date for products we buy. Apple does this through business upgrades but their products usually can you last you up to 5 years.

The more you use your AMOLED display, the worse it gets, which means an S7 Edge may look significantly yellower, duller, with "burned in" images in years 2 or 3 of ownership, and they if no one educates consumers on these drawbacks, consumers lose out.

I own so many Samsung products and i go through them quickly, but I am definitely NOT someone who is going to champion AMOLED with its significant lifespan limit, and if continue to be wary, then manufacturers might actually work on this issue more extensively. I'd expect an AMOLED to display to last 5 years minimum with no color changes or "burn in". IPS can so that's what I prefer now.

I actually think one of the major reasons why Laptops, Computers etc are NOT AMOLED (they are more expensive its true) because of this exact reason. Manufacturers look at the AMOLED spec sheet and they realize computer screens are left on exactly like a demo phone would be at a store in normal usage, and that would be disastrous for the computer. We'd be going back to using "Screensavers" again.

 

[MartinMPL]

My Nexus One had terrible burn in, with the icons in the notification bar all on permanently. The Galaxy Nexus went a bit of a dull green shade across the whole screen.

I expect things to have improved since then.

 

[jinzen]

My Nexus One had terrible burn in, with the icons in the notification bar all on permanently. The Galaxy Nexus went a bit of a dull green shade across the whole screen.

I expect things to have improved since then.

Not really, my Note 5 has status bar burn in (actually the rest of the screen aged faster than the status bar, which was black, so now the status bar is just a slightly brighter strip).

 

[xocomaox]

Visit a wireless store and take a look at phones that are 6 months or more old. You will see very serious burn-in. So if you plan on having your screen on, at maximum brightness, for long periods of time showing the same general images... You WILL suffer from this issue.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

My Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and Galaxy Rugby Pro had pretty bad status bar burn in. I noticed slight status and nav bar burn in on my Nexus 6 after about a month. Was able to fix it with Amoled burn in fixer. Now I hide status and nav bar and switch up my widgets.

 

[MartinMPL]

Hmmm, we'll see. I will probably switch when the next Nexus devices come so SE what mine is like then.

I wonder if this is why Samsung stick with off screen home/back/multitasking buttons?

 

[aha]

Thanks guys. It looks like it's a bad idea to use Map navigation on a Samsung phone regularly... that's kind of a bummer.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

In any case, I personally don't like AMOLED at all, but Samsung developed this tech so it uses it. The best IPS displays out there are just as good if not better, with no longevity issues.

I'd love to see an IPS display with the same contrast ratio, viewing angle and maximum brightness of the current SAMOLED displays on Samsung phones. Only problem is they don't exist.

A lot of misinformation in this thread. Looking at a store sample as a meaningful data point is just silly (or stupid). Those phones are on 24x7. No one actually uses their phone that way. Samsung phones don't use the Nav bar icons, so they can't burn in (and modern SAMOLED screens are much better than the old Nexus ones). I recently borrowed my son's Galaxy S3, which was used daily for more than two years. There's slight burn-in on the status bar, but since those icons are normally lit up anyway you don't notice it except under special circumstances.

Navigation? I used nav routinely on my old S3, and there's no burn in from it. The maps are constantly moving, the directions at the top are constantly changing. Not sure what the TomTom app mentioned displays, but there are few static elements on Google Maps. Unless you're using it for many hours every single day It's not going to be a real issue.

Do AMOLED screen colors shift over time? Yeah, very slowly. But LCD's fade and shift over time, too. Unless you're using your phone for color matched photographic or industrial applications where exact color is critical (do you have Pantone color patches stored on your phone?) you'll never notice.

 

[1812dave]

My Note 2 has extensive burn in due to me playing a word game frequently. Consequently, I still use the Note 2 quite often, instead of my S7, to play the same word game, so as not to get burn in on the S7. And when I do use the S7, I turn the brightness down when playing that game.

 

[Darkmatter0603]

Do you guys know how long it would take to burn in my display if I were to leave my phone on 1 image without putting it to sleep?

 

[wrich2005]

Go to Best Buy. The demo units that display the same image for hours with full brightness all have it

 

[xocomaox]

IPS panels can burn images in as well. One model of the Apple iMac suffers from this problem. I had thought only AMOLED had this issue but it can happen on both technologies. Just less common with IPS.

 

[xocomaox]

Do you guys know how long it would take to burn in my display if I were to leave my phone on 1 image without putting it to sleep?

About four weeks. 24x7 at 100% brightness with generally the same static images.

The reason I know this is after about four weeks of the Target demo units being out they started to show visible burn in on all white screens. Target absolutely keeps them powered all night because I know someone that works there. I also saw these same phones when they were first put out with no burn in.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Go to Best Buy. The demo units that display the same image for hours with full brightness all have it

And do you keep your phone screen on full brightness 24x7? :-! I thought not, so the data point is meaningless. If you do, then I agree an AMOLED display isn't for you.

 

[wrich2005]

And do you keep your phone screen on full brightness 24x7? :-! I thought not, so the data point is meaningless. If you do, then I agree an AMOLED display isn't for you.

That's actually not what I was getting at whatsoever but thanks for your input. I was responding to the guy that said he'd never actually seen a phone in real life that had screen burn in

 

[1812dave]

If anyone wants to see a phone with burn in, come see my Note 2. And trust me, I don't have the screen on 24/7, and the burn in occurred more than a year ago. Most of it is due to playing a word game. the letters in the rack are bright yellow on a blue background. Doubters of burn-in just haven't experienced the problem themselves, and they don't want to believe it can happen as it may shake up confidence in their phones longevity??