After 6,500 hours of heavy productivity use, we revisit our intentionally abused 4K QD-OLED monitor to see how burn-in has progressed under one of the worst-case scenarios for OLED panels.
The OLED Burn-In Test: Two Years Later
- Thread starter Scorpus
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Eldrach
Posts: 589 +760
I think the conclusion at this point is - if you use anything close to the recommended settings. Using an OLED for mixed workloads / gaming is a non issue.
Oled monitors have also moved past the generation you're testing to a point where they are even more resillient to burn-in
Oled monitors have also moved past the generation you're testing to a point where they are even more resillient to burn-in
daffy duck
Posts: 1,075 +989
Please start doing a torture test on the new 5th gen TANDEM panels. One of their claims was better longevity of the blue OLED. Next big thing will be phosphorescent OLED's rather than fluorescent OLED's.
BadThad
Posts: 1,734 +2,003
I'm 46 months into my Dell AW4323DW and still see no burn-in whatsoever with mixed use. 6-8 hours of daily use. I did help it along with the usual tweaks and habits:
- dark screensaver set for 5 min
- auto hide task bar
- assigned an F10 shortcut to my mouse to toggle full screen easily
- dark mode for everything (my pref anyway)
For my mixed use, this monitor is stunning, and showing no signs of wear! This model was the very first QD-OLED released and it still rocks
- dark screensaver set for 5 min
- auto hide task bar
- assigned an F10 shortcut to my mouse to toggle full screen easily
- dark mode for everything (my pref anyway)
For my mixed use, this monitor is stunning, and showing no signs of wear! This model was the very first QD-OLED released and it still rocks
You either have a bad panel or need better light control in the room. Even with the matte coating on that monitor the contrast should be stellar
Thatsdisgusting
Posts: 503 +587
I have a few things to mention that OLED apologists tend to forget, looks like:
- As an example, I have 34GN850, which has power on count that says 23000 hours. That's HOW LONG one actually can use the screen if it is cool enough. Compare to reviewers 6500 hours
- More often than not, even in action-driven games you find yourself in dark-lit places and night locations that you traverse for a prolonged time. The most recent RE Requiem, a perfect example.
That said, I have plenty of time to look at IPS glow "eye pleasure", even though I have variable backlight, full screen, faaaar cry from what OLED can offer with it's per-pixel dimming, but it does help with IPS backlight bleed.
Anyway, what I mean is that I DO notice all screen drawbacks even during the game, not only when lazy-doing some dull work in dark-mode VSCode. And that comes with a moderate late IPS panel glow, softened by backlight dimming.
What it would feel like if it was a freaking kingbolt in the centre?
- As an example, I have 34GN850, which has power on count that says 23000 hours. That's HOW LONG one actually can use the screen if it is cool enough. Compare to reviewers 6500 hours
- More often than not, even in action-driven games you find yourself in dark-lit places and night locations that you traverse for a prolonged time. The most recent RE Requiem, a perfect example.
That said, I have plenty of time to look at IPS glow "eye pleasure", even though I have variable backlight, full screen, faaaar cry from what OLED can offer with it's per-pixel dimming, but it does help with IPS backlight bleed.
Anyway, what I mean is that I DO notice all screen drawbacks even during the game, not only when lazy-doing some dull work in dark-mode VSCode. And that comes with a moderate late IPS panel glow, softened by backlight dimming.
What it would feel like if it was a freaking kingbolt in the centre?
Some of the conclusions in this article (that I liked) aren't entirely accurate. My Samsung TV S95B is in daily use 4/5h with mixed content (so, conservative for a TV). Mostly SDR but sometimes HDR too, as expected. Pixel refresh is on and works when the tv is off, as the TV internally automatically runs. After 3.5 years I already clearly notice some areas of burn in, despite the mixed content, not to mention something you didn't test, the MAXIMUM brightness decreased too. That means most panels are meant to pass the warranty and call it a day. If I used my TV as many people does, 6-7h/day with mixed content but also news and sports channels, it would be much worse.
When an electronics manufacturer releases an OLED panel based product, I expect that it holds at least 5 years in impeccable conditions, with at least 8 hours a day of unworried content. These tests and my personal with this TV, shows that OLED screens will degrade pretty quickly if you aren't taking care of them like a baby. An old Samsung TV I had (great VA panel, 1080p) was used intensively for 7 years, then I sold it and overall (and specially the panel) was like new. That doesn't happen often these days and TVs (and most consumer electronics...) are made to last 3-5 years and then make you buy a new one. Repairability laws in the EU (and world in general) are a joke.
Example: most LCD TVs have very sensible LED units and after 5 years get damaged pretty quickly. That would be a repair for 50-80€ in parts but most manufacturers only sell the complete panel, which can cost more than 250€ + labour, making most families buy a new TV set. Unforgivable
When an electronics manufacturer releases an OLED panel based product, I expect that it holds at least 5 years in impeccable conditions, with at least 8 hours a day of unworried content. These tests and my personal with this TV, shows that OLED screens will degrade pretty quickly if you aren't taking care of them like a baby. An old Samsung TV I had (great VA panel, 1080p) was used intensively for 7 years, then I sold it and overall (and specially the panel) was like new. That doesn't happen often these days and TVs (and most consumer electronics...) are made to last 3-5 years and then make you buy a new one. Repairability laws in the EU (and world in general) are a joke.
Example: most LCD TVs have very sensible LED units and after 5 years get damaged pretty quickly. That would be a repair for 50-80€ in parts but most manufacturers only sell the complete panel, which can cost more than 250€ + labour, making most families buy a new TV set. Unforgivable
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godrilla
Posts: 2,252 +1,692
My LG G4 came with a standard 5 year warranty on the G lineup. Also My almost my almost 6 year old CX 48 inches is still bright enough and has no signs of image retention burn in with maximum brightness.
DAOWAce
Posts: 335 +68
I still think everything Tim is doing is completely reasonable, because likely many people exist who don't want to be bothered by the 'features' OLED monitors need or the drawbacks they suffer. They'll just get a new monitor and treat it the same way they have for the last 20 years. Not all tech savvy people are going to make sure they preserve their monitor either. Let's take me as an example:
My 34GK950F is at 38294 hours (1,595 days) of runtime.
Auto-sleep has been disabled forever, as it's annoying and causes display to drop out of Windows, potentially locking up the system (has happened across multiple NVIDIA GPU's and OS versions).
Screensavers were for CRTs, and I didn't use them back then anyway. Will never.
I don't use dark theme, as I've been using PC's since Win 3.1, and can't mentally adjust to it (autism).
As I'm at the PC all day, I will never let the compensation cycle run unless it's short enough to do during food prep or a bathroom visit.
Monitor is only shut off when I leave the house or sleep.
For a user like me to go from this type of usage pattern to what's required to preserve an OLED for even 5 years, it's a gigantic difference.
My 34GK950F is at 38294 hours (1,595 days) of runtime.
Auto-sleep has been disabled forever, as it's annoying and causes display to drop out of Windows, potentially locking up the system (has happened across multiple NVIDIA GPU's and OS versions).
Screensavers were for CRTs, and I didn't use them back then anyway. Will never.
I don't use dark theme, as I've been using PC's since Win 3.1, and can't mentally adjust to it (autism).
As I'm at the PC all day, I will never let the compensation cycle run unless it's short enough to do during food prep or a bathroom visit.
Monitor is only shut off when I leave the house or sleep.
For a user like me to go from this type of usage pattern to what's required to preserve an OLED for even 5 years, it's a gigantic difference.
Thanks for keeping us update for all us OLED users. Now, is there no IPS monitor being compared because IPS never gets burn in even under extreme usage? Just curious, because I imagine any monitor under extreme usage will get some burn in, not just OLED. Or is that not the case?
godrilla
Posts: 2,252 +1,692
Anyone living in Europe FYI Phillips is coming out swinging with it's 2026 oled tv lineup with 4500 nits peak brightness and Dolby atmos 2.0 from 48 inches and higher.
Philips’ new OLED TVs are the world’s first with Dolby Vision 2 — and I'm so excited for the follow-up to the model I called ‘best value on the market’ | TechRadar https://share.google/1v0MoDviODqNMkRIn
Philips’ new OLED TVs are the world’s first with Dolby Vision 2 — and I'm so excited for the follow-up to the model I called ‘best value on the market’ | TechRadar https://share.google/1v0MoDviODqNMkRIn
