OLED burn-in test: 30-month update
techspot.com
techspot.com
OLED is unfortunately consumable but it is the highest fidelity consumer panel tech you can get atm. The MiniLEDs in Apple’s MacBooks are reasonable substitutions, albeit subject to blurring. I haven’t seen any other non-OLED compare.
The first thing I do to test any LCD panel is fire up an episode of Star Trek: The Next generation. Invariably, one of two things happens as soon as we are presented with an exterior shot of the Enterprise
1. LCD backlight bleed makes space look dark grey/blue instead of black as originally intended.
2. The localized dimming kicks in, presenting truly black space, but rendering the stars (which are smaller than the smallest local dimming zones) super dim or nonexistent.
These latest generation RGB local dimming LCD panels being touted as OLED killers still fall under the 2nd scenario, they don't actually fix the problem at all. LCD is functionally a dead end when it comes to picture quality.
I think most people run their TVs too bright, usually because they use them in spaces with terrible lighting conditions (i.e. TV mounted too high above a fireplace facing a west-facing window). I think it's easier to control the lighting in my house than it is to make my favorite TV show look good on an LCD.
Obviously that's still a valid use case, and one where LCD genuinely makes more sense than OLED, but my issue is with the displays being touted as "OLED Killers" when they aren't; they are displays that excel in a very different set of circumstances than an OLED. If I replaced the 8 year old OLED in my basement where 2,500 nits of full screen brightness would be downright painful to look at, the RGB miniLED panel would be a straight downgrade.
Still, I probably would work on an IPS if I didn’t have limited desk space and needed my monitor to pull double duty for entertainment as well.
I've not seen any burn-in.
All of these burnout 'tests' I've seen (this one, and RTings as well) purposefully use static content and are basically abusing the panel in a way that is specifically advised against. I find them pretty useless for anything not an office TV on the wall running CNN 24/7, which I will never be doing myself.
I don't think anyone familiar with the tech will deny using these panels in such a way will cause burn-in, even the test here:
> ...static desktop content such as web browsers, document editors, and spreadsheets, along with creative apps like Photoshop and Premiere. We don't recommend using an OLED monitor like this. These displays are best suited to content consumption[...]
I think it's pretty avoidable on a TV, the real issue comes from what you need out of a desktop monitor. I have a Dell/Alienware (Samsung QD-OLED Panel) that's about a year old without any visible issues, but it's still early to tell in that case.
The tech has gotten better, but the problem still very much exists.
Tandem OLED solves the problem of burn-in, but it cost more than standard OLED on large screens which is why Samsung didn’t want to supply Apple so Apple went to LG.
However, recently you can now get OLED panels from LG with RGB stripe sub pixel layouts (matching traditional monitors) which eliminates this problem and text should be just as good as an non-OLED display.
Apple removed it because they have only high-DPI screens left in their hardware and, frankly, they have a tradition of blurry font rendering anyway. GTK did it because they like to remove features and pretend that they're Apple. Apple is being a slight jerk about it because non-Apple external screens exist - the GTK guys are being big jerks because it's a middle finger to many existing users. It doesn't even save that much work for them! FreeType and probably some Harfbuzz are doing the heavy lifting.
3440x1440 (UWQHD) ~4.95MP 134.38%
3840x1600 ("UWQHD+") ~6.14MP 166.67%
3840x2160 (4K UHD) ~8.29MP 225%
You either get more screens, an ultrawide, or a 4K screen and try software scaling lower.
Which is?
If I had the budget and always worked on a Mac I might spring for an Apple Studio but it would have to have the nano-texture glass.
I’ve owned it for 13 months now and it’s been nothing but positive. To be clear about my use case: I don’t watch movies on it, I don’t game much (maybe 10 hours a month), and most of the time it’s just a browser or a few terminals on screen. For terminal work, this monitor is a blessing. In a fully dark room, only the text glows, nothing else, and it’s genuinely enjoyable to look at. I haven’t noticed any issues with text rendering either: at 27 inches, text is crisp from 50–70 cm away, and the pixel density is more than adequate. I suspect the 30+ inch OLEDs are where text clarity starts to become a problem.
It was enough of a magical experience that I sought one out as soon as I could. Now, where do I find more 4K HDR content like that..
(oh, you are probably referring to app windows.. nvm)
I had a quite good panel before but this was a huge step up, best computer-related purchase I've made in a good while.
I also think 4k at 27" is a nice density for a regular desk. I specifically didn't want a 32". I think that mitigates the sub-pixel issue people talk about.
I've been quite fuzzy about blurry fonts and such, but one of the first things I noticed coming ftom a 27" 1440p was how nice and comfortable text looked. Perhaps "regular" sub-pixel layout would make it even better but I'm very happy so far.
I would not resell a LG tv that has been used for anything but content consumption.
Avoid LG at all costs.
Is it perhaps the case that LG TVs do not literally do what you suggest here, i.e. upload literal screenshots of what might be private, confidential or proprietary information and sell those screenshots, and that you are being hyperbolic or repeating without verifying unsubstantiated claims made by someone else?
https://www.reddit.com/r/LGOLED/comments/1lnup1s/if_you_use_...
I've been using network-level limits on all my entertainment devices I don't want accessing the internet. If they truly dump data over foreign WiFi networks, it'd be difficult to understand how they dare to do that in the EU.
edit: I put up a very aggressive version of grey which used to expose full on black spots on the older OLED and I can only see a very faint line where there is a full white bar from one of the applications I use, actually I think that's just my vision since I can't see it anymore.
At least for OLED TVs, rtings.com has been running burn-in tests and has noted that supposed technological improvements on OLED longevity haven't really done much: https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/oled-burn-in-not-improved-as...
AFAIK, burn-in is inherent in the technology; there's only mitigations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H43wnV-v7V0 The only question is whether or not you want to live with the weaknesses.
https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/macbooks/the-new-macbook...
So it's been a while. 18 years with glossy screens.
So it was really only about 6 years in the last four decades that matte was not available. I always advocate for more matte options.
The magazine reviews made a big deal about the matte coatings of the day making the screen a little dimmer, so after years of being dinged on the reviews, Apple finally dropped them.
Most folks cannot prevent every source of light from shining behind them. In my apartment, even sunlight leaking around curtains and indirectly illuminating the Landlord Standard White walls was image-damagingly bright on the handful of glossy-screened monitors I tried.
If you have total control over the lighting situation in your room, then, yeah, glossy screens can work... but most folks want to be able to use their computers and televisions in a wide variety of lighting conditions. [0]
> ...something oily/grainy looking.
I guess you've only seen bad AR coatings. The difference in image quality between the glossy screens I tried and the matte screens I have and have been continuing to use for the past great many years wasn't all that large... and the bonkers reflectivity of the glossy screens nuked what little difference there was.
[0] Most folks also don't like so much looking at their ugly mugs during dark portions of a program... glossy screens are -while not as bad as a mirror- so incredibly reflective.
So oled burn in is not a totally solved issue but it’s not a big enough deal for me to care when the literal worst case scenario of an always on clock face does not cause real issues after years.
and their butterfly keyboards
and the iPhone antenna issue
and Apple Maps (especially on launch)
and this fun artifact: https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2006/08/24/hindenbook-re...
The brighter you run OLED, the more burn in you get.
The QD-OLED standard they tested in TFA is also supposed to be more burn in resistant, but they still saw burn in over time.
It is also the primary reason why Apple, with its native monitors being 5K and 6K, cost more and unfortunately a nasty side effect raised its head 5K and 6K require more info running down the cable, and that is the primary reason Apple moved over to Thunderbolt 5, 5K or higher at 120hz requires thunderbolt five if you want to use a single cable.
The burn-in pattern is a sort of inverse vignette, where the edges of the screen are brighter than the centre. Presumably, the middle of the screen sees more action in general.
I'll never again worry about OLED burn in!
[0] This darkening corresponds to nothing I've had on screen... it looks like the sort of minor backlight or diffuser (or whatever it's called) failure you tend to see on middle-aged monitors.
Eventually I got used to it. Since then I try to deliberately not see any problems on the monitor. This is my way to sanity