Extreme OLED test finds Apple's iPhone X takes much longer to 'burn in' images than Samsun...
OLED technology is prone to image burn-in -- something that Apple worked hard to compensate for in designing the hardware and software of the iPhone X. A new and extreme stress test puts the iPhone X anti-burn-in capabilities to the test, discovering Apple's efforts have, in fact, put it ahead of the competition under the most difficult conditions.
Pitting the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy 7 Edge against one another, South Korean site Cetizen ran a 510-hour marathon test to see how long it takes to burn in an image on a modern OLED smartphone.
Interestingly, the iPhone X began showing very faint, nearly invisible signs of burn-in at the 17-hour mark, but to the surprise of the tester, after that the situation did not worsen. The burned-in images were said to be so light that they would not be seen in average daily use.
By the 62-hour mark, the Note 8 began showing a sudden and noticeable signs of burn-in, despite not having significant signs prior. The tester asked people to identify burned in parts of the screen while displaying a white image, and while they had no trouble identifying it on the Note 8, it was not visible to users on the iPhone X.
The test, first spotted by BGR, eventually ran for a whopping 510 hours, or more than 21 days -- well beyond the amount of time that any smartphone OLED display would ever show a static image in normal daily usage.
In the end, the Galaxy Note 8 showed the worst signs of burn-in after the marathon test. The Galaxy S7 Edge, despite being a 2016 phone, performed admirably, but was still bested by the 2017 iPhone X.
After three weeks of displaying the same image on maximum brightness, all three handsets expectedly had potentially permanent signs of burn-in. But the tests also show that Apple's efforts to reduce the effects of OLED burn-in have paid off.
Apple itself has a public support document on is website acknowledging that there is a possibility of image persistence when a display shows an image for an extended period of time.
"With extended long-term use, OLED displays can also show slight visual changes," Apple's documentation reads. "This is also expected behavior and can include 'image persistence' or 'burn-in,' where the display shows a faint remnant of an image even after a new image appears on the screen."
Apple advises that users avoid continuously displaying the same high-contrast image for prolonged periods of time.
The OLED burn-in "issue" isn't new, and isn't permanent with well-engineered panels. Evidence collected over the last few years demonstrates that retained images are wiped over a brief period of normal time of normal use displaying non-static elements, with the user periodically turning off the device when not in use.
Pitting the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy 7 Edge against one another, South Korean site Cetizen ran a 510-hour marathon test to see how long it takes to burn in an image on a modern OLED smartphone.
Interestingly, the iPhone X began showing very faint, nearly invisible signs of burn-in at the 17-hour mark, but to the surprise of the tester, after that the situation did not worsen. The burned-in images were said to be so light that they would not be seen in average daily use.
By the 62-hour mark, the Note 8 began showing a sudden and noticeable signs of burn-in, despite not having significant signs prior. The tester asked people to identify burned in parts of the screen while displaying a white image, and while they had no trouble identifying it on the Note 8, it was not visible to users on the iPhone X.
The test, first spotted by BGR, eventually ran for a whopping 510 hours, or more than 21 days -- well beyond the amount of time that any smartphone OLED display would ever show a static image in normal daily usage.
In the end, the Galaxy Note 8 showed the worst signs of burn-in after the marathon test. The Galaxy S7 Edge, despite being a 2016 phone, performed admirably, but was still bested by the 2017 iPhone X.
After three weeks of displaying the same image on maximum brightness, all three handsets expectedly had potentially permanent signs of burn-in. But the tests also show that Apple's efforts to reduce the effects of OLED burn-in have paid off.
Apple itself has a public support document on is website acknowledging that there is a possibility of image persistence when a display shows an image for an extended period of time.
"With extended long-term use, OLED displays can also show slight visual changes," Apple's documentation reads. "This is also expected behavior and can include 'image persistence' or 'burn-in,' where the display shows a faint remnant of an image even after a new image appears on the screen."
Apple advises that users avoid continuously displaying the same high-contrast image for prolonged periods of time.
The OLED burn-in "issue" isn't new, and isn't permanent with well-engineered panels. Evidence collected over the last few years demonstrates that retained images are wiped over a brief period of normal time of normal use displaying non-static elements, with the user periodically turning off the device when not in use.
Comments
I just spent a few minutes looking at a Mac Rumors Q&A article carefully explaining the battery issue and many posters there felt the need to post their uninformed opinions. Now my head hurts from all this 🙄
it seems that Apple’s technology has helped noticably. Burn-in is one reasoning wasn’t in a rush to see Apple go to OLED. Lack of brightness was the other, but they seem to have made strides there too.
Results are a mixed bag really. What is worse, a slight problem after a "short" period of time or a worse problem after a long time? Neither really as it shows that under extreme testing that no one would ever replicate in real life, all three phones are fine as the "burn" in isn't permanent. Just don't hang a phone on your wall displaying one picture.
The way I see it, certain natural things become more or less important once Apple does it. Things that have been happening for years will suddenly rear their ugly heads if it shows up on an Apple product. Apple is always under that microscope and something nasty is definitely going to be found. Apple had better find the solution to change the laws of physics because even if something is a natural cause, Apple is going to be held responsible. If a Samsung OLED display goes bad in an Apple product, Apple is going to be held at fault and not Samsung. Why? Because Apple is expected to meet the highest possible standards, no matter how unreasonable that may be.
It makes some sense that if a smartphone's OLED display doesn't burn as bright, it won't burn in as fast. I've always kept my computer displays brightness lower to try to avoid that. I always used screen-savers and early display sleep mode to stop burn-in. But if Apple doesn't want early burn-in then they would be wise to cut back on that brightness. Some critics will complain that the iPhone X display isn't as good-looking as the Galaxy S8 or Note 8. That's a bad Apple.
Typical.
Summed up nicely I think.
these tests are perfectly fine. They’re called “accelerated aging”. It’s standard in industry. There was a major difference between these phones, and those differences will be seen in “real world” conditions after some time. The slight problem after a short time, which according to the testers, could hardly be seen is much better than the easily seen problems from the other phones which took somewhat longer to develop. Remember also that the burn-in didn’t seem to get much worse with the iPhone X. After the tests were done the differences were significant.
i know you don’t like these results, based on what I read of your posting, but they are real.