Burn-in Test (Screen Image Retention)
Check your display for burn-in and image retention. Step through full-screen solid colors to spot faint ghosts of a taskbar, logo, or game HUD, then run the pixel refresher to help clear temporary retention. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Step through solid full-screen fields and look for a faint ghost of static content.
← → to change field
Run a pixel refresher that cycles colors and rolling bars to help clear temporary retention.
Photosensitivity warning
The pixel refresher flashes rapidly changing colors and moving bars. Do not use it if you or anyone nearby has photosensitive epilepsy or is sensitive to flashing light.
Runs full screen. Press Space to pause, Esc or Done to stop.
A temporary ghost that fades on its own once the screen shows varied content.
Permanent, uneven pixel wear — most common on OLED, AMOLED, and plasma.
Screensavers, pixel shift, lower brightness, and hiding static taskbars and HUDs.
Image retention and burn-in look alike but differ. Retention is a temporary ghost left after a static image sits on screen; it fades on its own within minutes to hours once content varies. Burn-in is permanent, uneven wear of the pixels themselves — most common on OLED and AMOLED, where hard-driven sub-pixels age and dim faster than their neighbours. A ghost that clears with mixed use was retention; one that never fully goes is true burn-in.
Burn-in risk by panel type
| Panel type | Burn-in risk |
|---|---|
| OLED / AMOLED | Highest — each pixel makes its own light and ages with use; common on phones and high-end TVs |
| Plasma (older TVs) | High — notorious for it, now largely obsolete |
| LCD / LED-backlit LCD | Very low — a shared backlight rarely burns in; expect only temporary retention, plus backlight aging over years |
How to test for burn-in?
- Dim the room and raise screen brightness so faint ghosting stands out.
- Step through each solid field; 50% grey is often the most revealing for OLED wear.
- Look for a static shape that stays put as the field changes — a taskbar, status bar, logo, or HUD outline.
- Red, green, and blue fields expose uneven wear in a single color channel.
- A ghost that fades after a few minutes of varied use is retention, not burn-in.
Preventing and reducing burn-in
- Use a screensaver or blank-screen timeout so static images never sit for hours.
- Enable pixel shift / screen shift if your TV or phone offers it.
- Lower overall brightness — hard-driven pixels age fastest.
- Auto-hide the taskbar, dock, and on-screen HUDs where you can.
- For temporary retention, run the pixel refresher below or play varied full-screen video for a while.