Use this burn-in test to compare a suspected mark on uniform screen fields. The useful evidence is whether the same recognizable shape stays in the same physical location across more than one field and outside this page. ScreenDetect records what you report seeing; it does not measure pixel wear or prove that a mark is permanent.
How to check your screen for burn-in
Run the test on the affected screen itself. Start with mid-gray, compare the same physical area on lighter and colored fields, then check normal content or another source before deciding what the mark may be.
Open the test on the affected display.
A screenshot or a different screen cannot show a physical artifact on the panel you are checking.
Clean the panel and control reflections.
Remove fingerprints and obvious glare before judging a faint shape. Do not use flash while inspecting the screen.
Start with mid-gray.
Use the brightness where you normally notice the mark. Maximum brightness is not required.
Identify a shape, not general unevenness.
Look for a keyboard, taskbar, navigation bar, logo, scoreboard, app panel, or other recognizable outline.
Compare the same location on lighter and colored fields.
A repeated shape is more useful evidence than a blotch that appears on only one background.
Check normal content or another source.
Confirm that the mark stays on the physical screen when the app, browser, input, or image changes.
Document the result if it repeats.
Photograph the full screen before running manual panel care or changing settings permanently.
What each burn-in test screen can reveal
Uniform fields remove the detail that normally hides subtle screen artifacts. Each field changes contrast in a different way, but no color identifies the cause by itself.
How to use each screen field
Swipe sideways to compare columns.Scroll table to view all columns.
| Test field | Most useful for | Do not conclude from it alone |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-gray | Faint fixed shapes and broad unevenness | Gray non-uniformity is not automatically burn-in |
| Near-black gray | Dark-screen patches and low-level uniformity | Banding or blotches can have another cause |
| Light gray or white | Darker retained shapes, tint, and broad dim areas | Reflections and brightness controls can alter the view |
| Red, green, and blue | Whether a fixed mark changes with the displayed color | A color difference does not measure subpixel wear |
| Black | Bright pixels, edge light, and source overlays | Black is not the best first field for faint retention |
| Moving gradient | Whether an artifact stays fixed behind moving content | A fixed artifact still needs another-source check |
Is the mark burn-in, temporary retention, or another defect?
One viewing cannot establish permanence. Shape, physical location, repetition across fields, behavior outside one source, and change over time provide the evidence needed for the next decision.
The same shape stays fixed across several fields
A recognizable outline that remains in the same panel location on gray, white, color, and normal content is consistent with a panel-level artifact. The connection is stronger when the shape matches content that repeatedly occupied that area, such as a taskbar, status bar, channel logo, scoreboard, keyboard, or game HUD. It is still not proof of permanent OLED wear from one browser session.
The afterimage fades, moves, or changes
A mark that weakens or disappears is more consistent with temporary image persistence or another changing display condition. Apple describes image persistence as temporary and distinguishes it from burn-in caused by more extreme long-term display conditions. Do not relabel a fading afterimage as permanent damage simply because it was visible on gray.
The mark appears in only one app, input, or browser
Change the content source before blaming the panel. An overlay, video artifact, scaling problem, app interface, browser rendering issue, cable, or connected device can stay in one screen position while that source is active. A physical panel mark should remain when the source changes.
A dot, line, edge glow, or pressure-shaped patch points elsewhere
Solid fields reveal several display problems that are not burn-in. Classify the symptom before choosing another test or repair path.
- Single black, white, or colored dot: Use the pixel test. A point defect is different from a retained image.
- Straight vertical or horizontal line: Check another source and document it. A line may involve the panel or display path.
- Glow near an LCD edge or corner: Use the backlight bleed test and compare normal viewing position.
- Cloudy or bruise-shaped patch: Treat pressure or physical panel damage as a separate possibility.
- Broad bands visible mainly near black: Compare normal content before judging OLED uniformity or compensation behavior.
How to retest a suspicious screen mark
A useful retest repeats the viewing conditions and changes one variable at a time. Replaying the same browser sequence immediately does not establish whether the mark is temporary or permanent.
Record the first conditions.
Note the display, brightness, picture mode, room lighting, source, field, location, and shape.
Return to normal varied content.
Do not begin with an aggressive animation or repeated manual refresh.
Let automatic panel care finish normally.
For a TV or monitor, leave the display connected to power and follow the manufacturer’s shutdown instructions.
Repeat the same fields under the same conditions.
Changing brightness and room lighting at the same time makes the comparison harder to interpret.
Compare the shape and physical location.
Record whether the mark disappeared, changed, or stayed fixed.
Check another app, input, or source.
A source-independent result is more useful evidence of a panel-level problem.
How to test an OLED phone, TV, or monitor
The fields are the same, but the static areas, source checks, and panel-care behavior differ by device. Use the instructions for the screen you are actually checking.
OLED and AMOLED phones
Open the test on the phone itself and rotate only if landscape makes the full panel easier to inspect. Check the status bar, navigation or gesture area, keyboard position, always-on display elements, and fixed controls from heavily used apps. Compare at the brightness where the mark appears in normal use; outdoor brightness boost and auto-brightness can change how visible it looks.
A visible ghost image is different from taps or swipes the phone reports by itself. Use the touch screen test for unintended input.
OLED TVs
Use the TV browser only if it fills the panel correctly. With a connected source, remove menus, captions, test-player controls, and overscan before comparing channel-logo, scoreboard, subtitle, news-ticker, letterbox, and game-HUD locations. Check whether the shape remains on a different input. Let the TV complete its normal automatic panel-care cycle after shutdown before deciding whether a mark persisted.
OLED monitors and laptops
Check the taskbar, browser tabs, window boundaries, editing timelines, IDE panels, and fixed game HUDs. Use the scaling, picture mode, and brightness you normally use, then compare another application or connected source where possible. Near-black banding or a split-screen boundary on one field needs confirmation in normal content before it is treated as burn-in.
LCD displays
An LCD can show temporary image persistence, but it does not age through the same self-emitting pixel mechanism as OLED. Use the same fixed-location and source checks, then let the display rest or return to varied content. Edge light, clouding, viewing-angle glow, and pressure marks should be evaluated separately.
What this browser test can and cannot establish
What a repeatable result supports
The test can show that you saw a recognizable mark, that it occupied a particular physical area, and that it appeared on selected uniform fields. A controlled source check can add evidence that the artifact belongs to the display rather than one app or input.
What the test does not measure
The browser does not measure luminance, color difference, pixel age, organic-material degradation, remaining panel life, or the electrical cause of an artifact. It cannot determine warranty eligibility, quote a repair, or prove permanence from one session. The result is a structured visual observation, not a laboratory measurement.
What to do after the retest
Choose the next action from what changed. Stop repeating the same test once the result is stable; another identical pass will not identify the component or improve the evidence.
Route the result by what changed
Swipe sideways to compare columns.Scroll table to view all columns.
| Retest outcome | Reasonable interpretation | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Mark disappeared | Temporary retention or a transient condition is more plausible | Return to normal use and monitor |
| Mark changed substantially | Brightness, viewing conditions, or the source may affect it | Change one condition and compare |
| Same shape remains across fields and sources | A persistent panel-level artifact is plausible | Document it and check model-specific support |
| A different symptom becomes clear | Burn-in is probably the wrong category | Use the matching display test or damage guide |
Use panel care only as the manufacturer directs
Automatic compensation, Screen Optimization, Pixel Cleaning, Pixel Refresh, and Panel Refresh do not mean the same thing on every display. Availability, timing, and limits vary by model. Sony warns against running manual panel refresh more than once a year on affected models because it may reduce usable panel life. Samsung notes that its Pixel Refresh feature is not available on every OLED monitor. Check the instructions for the exact device before starting a manual cycle.
A browser animation cannot reverse physical OLED wear. If you are considering mitigation, review what the burn-in fixer can and cannot do before running it.
How to document a repeatable screen mark
A screenshot records the image sent to the display. It normally will not capture a physical mark in the panel. Use an external camera and preserve enough context for another person to locate and compare the artifact.
Photograph the entire screen.
Show where the mark sits in relation to the panel edges. Avoid flash and obvious reflections.
Capture mid-gray and normal content.
Use the same brightness, camera position, and room lighting for both photographs.
Take one closer photograph.
Keep enough surrounding screen visible to show that the close-up is the same location.
Record the test conditions.
Include the model, picture mode, brightness, input, source, date, and the static shape you suspect.
Record what changed after the retest.
State whether the mark faded, changed, or stayed fixed after normal use or automatic panel care.
Keep the original files.
Camera exposure, white balance, PWM bands, and moiré can exaggerate or hide a faint mark, so avoid editing the only copy.
These records support a return, warranty, service, resale, or trade-in conversation; they do not decide the claim. Use the screen-damage documentation checklist when you need a complete evidence set.
Sources and test methodology
The guided test displays seven uniform fields: mid-gray, near-black gray, light gray, white, red, green, and blue. Black and a moving gradient remain available as optional single-field checks. ScreenDetect stores the visitor’s field-by-field choices for the current session and asks what happened outside the test before interpreting the observation. It does not assign a numerical severity score.
Manufacturer documentation supports the distinction between temporary persistence and burn-in, examples of recurring static content, and model-specific panel-care limits. Long-duration independent testing is useful context for OLED aging, but it does not turn one browser inspection into a measured lifetime test. Sources were reviewed on the dates shown below.
- About the Super Retina display and Super Retina XDR display on your iPhone · Apple SupportChecked September 7, 2026. Supports the distinction between temporary image persistence and burn-in on iPhone OLED displays.
- LG Support: Run Pixel Cleaning to remove screen burn-ins · LG SupportChecked June 3, 2026. Supports OLED burn-in, pixel-cleaning, picture-test, and service handoff language.
- Prevent burn-in on Samsung OLED Monitor · Samsung SupportChecked September 7, 2026. Supports model-dependent panel-care features and automatic Screen Optimization behavior.
- Samsung Support: OLED TV image retention troubleshooting · Samsung SupportChecked June 3, 2026. Supports static logo, UI, and image-retention examples for OLED TVs.
- Image retention on OLED TVs · Sony SupportChecked September 7, 2026. Supports OLED retention risk from recurring static content and automatic panel-care behavior.
- What does the panel refresh do on my OLED TV? · Sony SupportChecked September 7, 2026. Supports the warning against repeatedly running manual panel refresh outside manufacturer guidance.
- Dell Support: OLED image retention or burn-in on Alienware monitors · Dell SupportChecked June 3, 2026. Supports OLED monitor-specific image retention and burn-in context.
- RTINGS: Temporary image retention testing · RTINGS.comChecked June 3, 2026. Secondary testing reference for temporary image retention, not a manufacturer source.
Burn-In Test FAQ
Can running a burn-in test damage the screen?
A short visual inspection should not require prolonged exposure. Stop when the suspected mark is clear, and do not leave bright static test colors running for an extended period. ScreenDetect’s guided check advances through short comparisons; it does not require maximum brightness or a long stress pattern.
Can a screenshot capture OLED burn-in?
Usually not. A screenshot records the image produced by the operating system or app, not the light output or physical condition of the panel. Use an external camera to document a mark that remains on the screen. A screenshot can still help when the artifact is part of the software or source image.
Can an LCD screen show image retention?
Yes. Some LCDs can show temporary image persistence, although the mechanism differs from uneven aging in a self-emitting OLED panel. Check whether the mark fades, changes with viewing conditions, or remains tied to one source before deciding what it may be.
Should I run Pixel Refresh or Panel Refresh more than once?
Follow the instructions for the exact display. Panel-care names, timing, availability, and limits vary by manufacturer and model. Some routines run automatically after shutdown, and Sony warns against running manual Panel Refresh more than once yearly on affected models.
Does a clean burn-in test rule out a screen problem?
No. It means you did not report a fixed mark on the fields checked during that session. A faint issue may depend on brightness, room lighting, source, picture mode, temperature, or content. Retest when the symptom is visible and change one condition at a time.