How bad is the Amoled screen burn-in problem?

[ThrottleJohnny]

Has anyone here had problems with burn in on their S7 or Edge devices?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[tss2009]

For me its a non issue. I have always had amoled screen phones(since the galaxy captivate). i have never had any screen burn in issues. Not one of my friends have had any either.

 

[nvelez]

I've only had burn in issues with 2 Amoled screens I've owned.
One of my Nexus Ones had notification bar burn in and my Galaxy S 4G had massive burn in from an app I always used.
At the same time I had a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate and had no burn in issues whatsoever. Since then I've owned plenty Amoled screen phones and none have suffered from burn in.

 

[Art Ramirez]

The only burn in issue I had was with a Galaxy S4 that I bought used. The notification bar was visible on light-colored backgrounds like when using the browser. Probably kept the screen on all the time. I've not had issue with other AMOLED devices that I have owned.

 

[M Stuart]

Amoled has a limited lifespan and progressive degradation, it's just the nature of the technology. Whether it's a problem or not, well, YMMV.

My own experience, there's no burn-in whatsoever on any of my Amoled devices but I've had them for less than a year so it's too soon to tell. Particularly on my tablet, which I use at night, even if it lasts for just two years I'll simply go buy another one if/when burn-in shows up. The difference with a regular LCD is simply out of this world and I wouldn't go back to LCD, ever. It's hard for me to even watch content on regular TVs anymore, once you get used to the backlight not being there, you can't just unsee it when it is. Folks saying they don't notice much difference between the two technologies, well, they must be watching their content in full daylight. Otherwise, it's simply night and day.

 

[erica_483]

Had the S3 for 2 yrs --> Didn't notice any burn in
the Note 4 for 2 yrs --> no burn in noticed
the note 5 for one year --> no burn in noticed
(Even if there is it's not really bad to the point where it affects daily usage of surfing, youtube/netflix, whatsapp etc

 

[RichBrown68]

Amoled has a limited lifespan and progressive degradation, it's just the nature of the technology. Whether it's a problem or not, well, YMMV.

My own experience, there's no burn-in whatsoever on any of my Amoled devices but I've had them for less than a year so it's too soon to tell. Particularly on my tablet, which I use at night, even if it lasts for just two years I'll simply go buy another one if/when burn-in shows up. The difference with a regular LCD is simply out of this world and I wouldn't go back to LCD, ever. It's hard for me to even watch content on regular TVs anymore, once you get used to the backlight not being there, you can't just unsee it when it is. Folks saying they don't notice much difference between the two technologies, well, they must be watching their content in full daylight. Otherwise, it's simply night and day.

Totally agree with this point. I had been using Amazon's Fire HDX 8.9 tablet for a long time when someone suggested I get the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. When I looked at the specs, I noted that the HDX had a higher-resolution screen, so I wondered why I would want to downgrade to a lower resolution screen. But once I saw it in person, the AMOLED screen is so much more vibrant, so much more Dynamic than on the HDX, even with a slightly lower resolution. So yes, I sold the HDX and got the Samsung.

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[tlacour]

Just tried that on my 1.5 year old Note 4, even turned screen brightness to max and I can honestly say I see absolutely zero ghosting or any type of artifact indicating screen burn in of any kind. Then again, even though it's been used heavily it's never had any kind of static content on the screen for any long duration and screen brightness has always been left on auto (only maxed out from time to time when in full sunlight), as well as its most used app, the stock Samsung browser, has always been set to hide the notification bar.

I think, just like battery life, usage is key. You can't paint broad strokes about many things. I will admit that my usage plays a big part in this and battery issues. I just don't agree with people suggesting that this is a non-issue or that it can not happen outside of demo phones in the store.

I usually leave the brightness at 100%, use the GPS a couple hours a day, and it sit's in a charging cradle for hours at a time where I often forget to turn the display off. Consequently, my usage is definitely the main contributing factor.

If anyone has concerns about this issue, look at how you plan to use the phone. If you keep brightness down, don't have the display on for hours at a time, and are mindful of it, you will most likely not see any burn in. If you are like me, and push the phone to it's limits daily, you may consider an LCD screen phone if this will bother you.

Mine is only noticeable on my Turbo 2 if I am looking at a full screen solid picture or a bright shot in a movie. My wife's old Note 4 has it much worse. I can see the large app drawer icon burned in to the bottom right corner in every screen. Very distracting.

 

[Dorian Anreiter]

Who cares? Phones are only needed for 2 years, then it's time for a new shinier model. As long as the screen last 2 years it doesn't matter.

 

[monsterdonutkid]

I haven't had a problem with burn in since my S2. There is a problem alright. And that problem is assuming every one experiences the exact same issue with their phones.

Posted via the Android Central App

Amen to this! My Galaxy S5's screen still looks crisp despite it being 2 years old. No burn-in, no ghosting, etc.

 

[Ronnie Brewer]

if you fall asleep and lay on the phone creating the phone to come on will cause burn in. I know, trust me

 

[jinzen]

Who cares? Phones are only needed for 2 years, then it's time for a new shinier model. As long as the screen last 2 years it doesn't matter.

Not for the general consumer. They could easily be on a 4 year old iPhone and be way better off than buying an Android phone.

 

[Reg Joo]

Burn in, or burn out. Lcd, and led panels are backlit, so burn in can happen. Oled, l'd figure, is burn out. Same result, different way, the organic pixel dies, from constant voltage, and being in the "on" state. amoled , is the better technology, except for the durability of the organic pixel. when the screen's off, no power is supplied to the pixels(hence, black levels, are great)' so it's very efficient. Constant power, to the pixel, may damage it, and it will stop working, if measured in hours, to days(months?). Lcds have somewhat the same problem, as the backlight is always on, and may burn the image into the screen(constant heat, no matter how insignificant, reduces durability). IPS, led , have their problems with burn in too, it's still the more mature tech, so durability, and lifespan, is better. I expect oled(organic light emitting diodes) to increase their durability, it's come a long way, and getting closer to backlit solutions. The overturn of phones, are quick, and oled mfgs count on you not having that same phone two years down the road, so they may plan on a shorter lifespan, than other tech.

 

[Reg Joo]

Android's a operating system, that has nothing to do with screen durability, as mfgs use whatever screen tech they want. That's like saying your PC monitor, will burn out, because it uses Windows.

 

[jlgraham]

I agree with most of the other posters, screen burn-in isn't something to worry too much about anymore with normal usage patterns.

I did have problems with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and my 2013 Moto X. Both of them had noticeable burned-in areas where the status bar and onscreen buttons are. On the Galaxy Nexus, which I still have, it's pretty bad. On the Moto X it was only noticeable when watching videos, when the onscreen buttons disappear.

 

[RifterAD]

I plan on searching and/or testing for myself, but does the S7 Edge's "night clock" move around like the always-on display does? I like that we can set a start/stop time that the edge clock will display, but now I am nervous that it'll burn in that edge of the screen...

I wish they would allows us the option to set start/stop times for when the always-on display will display!

 

[ThrottleJohnny]

Not for the general consumer. They could easily be on a 4 year old iPhone and be way better off than buying an Android phone.

But that's why we have choice. I don't care which phone you buy, there is a risk of some sort of problem or defect. Think you're going to always escape it depending on what brand you buy? Think again.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[lafountain]

Who cares? Phones are only needed for 2 years, then it's time for a new shinier model. As long as the screen last 2 years it doesn't matter.

Depends on the person, co worker of mine is still on the Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S2) and has no plans to upgrade until he has to.

 

[RichBrown68]

Depends on the person, co worker of mine is still on the Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S2) and has no plans to upgrade until he has to.

...which goes to show that even after 5 years, his phone is not experiencing the problem. Awesome!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Jason Bringhurst]

Yes, AMOLED burns in and yellows over time as blue subpixel organic material wears out.

Reading articles for long periods of time with on-screen nav buttons usually causes the worst burn-in. Since Samsung doesn't use on-screen buttons, there's not much issue. However, you should periodically use the invert colors accessibility option to reduce notification bar and icon burn in. Since the notification bar is small, most people don't notice slight ghosting in all white screens.

Quantum dot and diamond grid array (an evolution of Pentile) help. RGB stripe AMOLEDs like the Note 2, and closely related screens like the 2013 Moto X with the same subpixel layout, usually suffer the worst burn-in. So, it all depends.