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Screen Burn-in Test
Free online burn-in test for OLED and AMOLED phones, TVs and monitors. Show flat grey and solid colors full screen, spot ghost images of the status bar, keyboard or logos, and rate where they appear.
What Is Screen Burn-in?
Screen burn-in is a permanent ghost image left on a display when some pixels have aged more than the ones around them. It shows as a faint, slightly darker or tinted outline of something that stayed on screen for a long time, such as a status bar, keyboard, taskbar or channel logo.
On an OLED or AMOLED screen, every sub-pixel makes its own light, and the organic material slowly loses brightness the more it is used. When the same bright, static element sits in one place for hours a day, the pixels under it wear faster than the rest. Later, when the whole screen shows one even color, that worn area cannot keep up and its shape shows through.
The test works because a flat grey or solid color removes everything else your eye could focus on. A mid grey shows overall wear, while red, green and blue show which sub-pixel color has aged most. Blue OLED sub-pixels have historically aged fastest, which is why burn-in often looks slightly yellow or pink.
Burn-in
A permanent darker or tinted outline of static elements. It does not fade after a rest or a pixel refresh.
Image Retention
A temporary ghost of the last image, often lighter than the background. It fades within minutes or hours.
Not Burn-in: Banding
Even vertical or horizontal stripes across the whole panel. A uniformity trait of the panel, not a ghost of any image.
How To Test For Burn-in In 6 Steps
Burn-in is often faint, so give it the best chance to show: high brightness, a flat color and a close look at the usual spots.
Turn Brightness Up
Set brightness high and turn off auto-brightness, night shift and dark mode filters so colors stay true.
Open 50% Grey Full Screen
Press Full Screen Test. Mid grey is the single best color for spotting worn areas.
Check The Usual Spots
Look at the top and bottom edges, where status bars, navigation bars, keyboards and taskbars sit.
Cycle Through The Colors
Step through red, green, blue and white. Burn-in often shows as a tint in one color only.
Rate And Tick What You See
Turn on Rate, tap each zone with a ghost and tick the elements you recognise in the side panel.
Rule Out Retention
Run the wiper or leave the screen off for an hour, then test again. Anything still there is burn-in.
Burn-in Vs Image Retention Vs Panel Banding
Not every mark on a grey screen is burn-in. The shape and whether it fades tell you what you are looking at.
Where Burn-in Shows First
Burn-in follows whatever stays still on your screen the longest. These are the shapes people find most often.
Phone Status And Nav Bar
Clock, battery and signal icons at the top, and the navigation or gesture bar at the bottom.
PhonesKeyboard
Rows of keys in the lower half of the screen, from hours of typing in a light keyboard theme.
Phones and tabletsTaskbar And Dock
The taskbar, dock or menu bar, plus app icons pinned in the same place every day.
OLED monitors and laptopsLogos, Tickers And HUDs
Channel logos, news and sports tickers, and game health bars or minimaps.
TVs and gamingWhich Screens Get Burn-in?
Burn-in depends on how the screen makes light. Screens where each pixel lights itself are the ones at risk.
OLED And AMOLED
Most at risk, because every pixel ages with use. Modern panels reduce it with pixel shift, refresh cycles and brightness limits.
OLED testLCD And IPS
True burn-in is rare because the backlight ages evenly. Temporary image retention can appear and usually fades.
LCD testMini LED
An LCD with many small backlight zones. Not prone to burn-in, though it can show blooming around bright objects.
Mini LED testPlasma And CRT
Older technologies with phosphors that age with use. Both were well known for burn-in from static images.
TV testCan Screen Burn-in Be Fixed?
Temporary retention can clear. Permanent burn-in cannot be reversed, only hidden or replaced.
Let The Panel Refresh
Most OLED TVs run a short compensation cycle in standby after use, so leave them plugged in. The longer manual pixel refresher is meant only for retention that will not clear.
Run The Retention Wiper
Slowly moving colors exercise every pixel evenly and help temporary retention fade. Run it for 10 to 20 minutes, then test again on 50% grey.
Check Your Warranty
Some OLED monitor brands cover burn-in for a set period. Keep your report and a photo of the ghost on grey for the claim.
Full monitor testDo Not Trust Miracle Fixes
No app or video can restore worn pixels. Burning the rest of the screen to match the ghost only ages the whole panel faster.
How To Prevent Screen Burn-in
Burn-in builds up from habits. Spreading wear evenly and keeping brightness sensible protect an OLED screen for years.
Keep Brightness Moderate
Higher brightness ages pixels faster. Use auto-brightness on phones and avoid running static content at maximum.
Hide Static Elements
Use dark mode, auto-hide the taskbar and navigation bar, and switch to a dark keyboard theme.
Leave Protection On
Keep pixel shift, logo dimming and panel care features switched on. They are designed to spread wear.
Use A Short Screen Timeout
Set the screen to turn off after a minute or two of no use, and turn off TVs rather than leaving a paused image.
Screen Burn-in Test FAQ
Answers to what people ask most when they suspect burn-in on a phone, TV or monitor.
What is a screen burn-in test?
A screen burn-in test fills your screen with flat grey and solid colors so faint ghost images stand out. On a worn OLED screen you may see the outline of the status bar, navigation bar, keyboard, taskbar or a TV channel logo that should not be there.
How do I check my phone for burn-in?
Turn brightness up, open the 50% grey pattern full screen and look closely at the top and bottom of the screen, where the status bar, navigation bar and keyboard sit. Then repeat on red, green and blue, because burn-in often shows as a tint in one color.
What color shows burn-in best?
A flat mid grey around 50% shows burn-in best, because worn areas look slightly darker or tinted against it. Solid red, green, blue and white help confirm which sub-pixel color has worn the most.
What is the difference between burn-in and image retention?
Image retention is temporary and fades after a few minutes or hours of normal use. Burn-in is permanent because the pixels in that area have aged more than their neighbours. If the ghost is gone after a rest or a pixel refresh, it was retention.
Can screen burn-in be fixed?
Permanent burn-in cannot be reversed, because the worn pixels have lost brightness for good. Temporary image retention can be cleared by normal varied use, the built-in pixel refresher on OLED TVs and monitors, or the retention wiper on this page. A screen replacement is the only fix for real burn-in.
Do burn-in fixer tools and videos work?
Only for temporary image retention. Moving colors and pixel refresh cycles help retained images fade, but no app or video can restore brightness to pixels that have worn out.
Do LCD screens get burn-in?
True burn-in is rare on LCD screens, because the backlight does the aging rather than individual pixels. LCDs can show temporary image retention after a static image stays on for a long time, and it usually fades on its own.
How long does it take for an OLED to burn in?
There is no fixed time. Risk rises with brightness and with how long the same static image stays in one place, such as news tickers, game HUDs or a taskbar for many hours a day. With varied content and the built-in protection features on, many owners never see it.
Is burn-in covered by warranty?
It depends on the brand and product. Several OLED monitor makers now cover burn-in for a set period, while many phone and TV warranties do not mention it or treat it as normal wear. Check the warranty terms for your exact model and keep your test results.
How do I prevent screen burn-in?
Keep brightness moderate, use dark mode, auto-hide the taskbar or navigation bar, leave pixel shift and panel care features on, and set a short screen timeout. Mixing content through the day spreads wear evenly across the panel.
Ready To Check Your Screen For Burn-in?
Turn brightness up, open 50% grey full screen and look for ghost images.