Deliberately Burning In My QD-OLED Monitor - 9 Month Update

[@monitorsunboxed]

I've assessed the footage this time and good news! The images look very close to the "raw" results in KZbin's compressed 4K mode, so you should get a pretty accurate representation of burn in this time (most of the time it's not compression artefacts)

[@sylvainh2o]

Seems like companies don't release much MiniLed specially MiniLed Ultrawide. I want to play a lot of Poe2 with static skill bars and watch youtube a lot. Having a better quality with Oled but paying quite more for something that wouldn't last anywhere near a Miniled sounds like a terrible idea for a budget conscious consumer.

[@pratyushpatra9043]

PLEASE REVIEW BENQ PD3205U (most monitors u recommend are not available in India so is it possible to recommend monitors available Amazon India)

[@KING_DRANZER]

I use monitor for good 14-16hrs per day. And have static apps and programs always on. And the Taskbar. That is my regular usage. Yeah am worried getting an OLED. But seriously the Picture quality makes me want to get one.

[@WeLLeSaMa]

Hello @Monitorsunboxed , I have an OLED for 1 Year now! AW3423dwf. And I can also report: (Tldr: Still works fine. Use OLED Panel Maintenance Funktions (Monitor Options.) Let it clean itself every night after shutdown.) 1. I have the newest driver! I installed the newest driver "M3B107" shortly after i bought it. I started with 105 or 106. I bought the Monitor ca. 6 months after realese. 2. I use my screen like I used my old one ( Dell U3415W ) which I used for 8 - 9 years. Still worked, when I soled it. 3. I use my screen weekdays 1 - 6 hoors and weekend 6 - 12 hours. 4. I have the selfcleaning maintenance option on. So after PC shutdown it cleans it self for 6 - 8 minuts. NEVER remove your oled from energy! Or the maintenance doesn't work. 5. The more intense PANEL REFRESH option started while using the PC ONCE so far! I took a few hours! The timing was lucky for me. 6. I used "True black 400 nits" for some time. And now "HDR Peak 1000" for ca. half a year alredy. 7. So far no problems :D !!! yay. It needs to last minimum 5 years!

[@kaiserfakinaway5909]

​@@KING_DRANZERget a cheap 100 dollar monitor for productivity work and an OLED for media, win-win

[@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026]

"We'll keep monitoring things". I see what you did there.

[@jacobgames3412]

Pun intended

[@tanmayhembram9249]

This is such a good way of showing usage of OLED by giving constant experience updates or few intervals. Thanks a lot really.

[@MidWitPride]

It's always good to get the "worst case scenario" for comparison, instead of the usual "Ehh, it's probably going to be fine unless you abuse it." -judgments, as people use these monitors in very different ways and have different standards for what counts as unreasonable. Someone who plays casually on the weekends and for the rest of the week the monitor is off is not exactly in the same league of "monitor abuse" as someone who works from home, stares at bright white spreadsheets for 8 hours a day and then uses the screen for entertainment on top of that. In latter case burn-ins aren't just paranoia anymore, if you want the screen to last for 5 years.

[@sparketech]

Great giving updates, but what has stopped me from getting OLED are those pixel and screen refresh cycles that may take several minutes but would annoy the heck out of me.

[@RAZGR1Z]

@@sparketech I've got 4783 hours on my LG 27GR95QE-B using it as my main monitor and the refresh cycles are not intrusive or annoying. I have no visible burn-in or ghosting. I'm using it just like I use an LCD monitor with simple preventitive measures like hiding the taskbar, dark mode, wallpaper cycling and inactive sleep mode. I play a lot of games and do a lot of web browsing with no issues. I think OLED is the best upgrade you can make right now.

[@theendurance]

@@MidWitPride its not even worst case scenario tho...he still ran the refresh cycles once a day. even with OLED burn in care features, it still burns in super fast. I'd bet by 1.5 years the middle line burn in will be super visible...OLED is just not ready.

[@darreno1450]

@@theendurance I set a black screensaver to come on after 2 minutes of idle time. Since I do a mixture of gaming, content consumption and static work, I expect at least 5 or more years without any issues. OLED is more than ready.

[@mercurio822]

This is the best unboxed series.

[@kevanpoeschek]

I love that “Monitors Unboxed is monitoring unboxed monitors” can be an accurate description for this video series.

[@mort996]

Damn time flies... Feels like 6 month update was yesterday

[@FJaypewpew]

swear second half of the year always goes quicker

[@jayzn1931]

I just watched it a few days ago :D

[@lew_7]

we’re all getting old :(

[@jacobgames3412]

​@@FJaypewpewagree

[@WhoIsKryp]

The funny part in my case is that I watched the 6 month update literally yesterday, since I was researching an OLED monitor to buy for Black Friday, haha

[@lamardoss]

Thank you for your service.

[@Accurian]

Very reassuring to hear these results!

[@ThereisNOpandemicWAKEUP]

That his screen burns in? very reassuring indeed...

[@Blue-bf8lv]

how? knowing your monitor will have burn in by the end of year of normal usage, 8hrs a day for 5 days a week is not alot of hours for any gamer

[@Jay-xq1dc]

So in case anyone dont know (like me before googling this). This monitor is third gen QD OLED (most recent gen). Great video. QD-OLED (and prob WOLED) seem to really mature..

[@The11devans]

Monitor's Unboxed has been popping off these last few weeks. Good stuff 👍

[@EwokEight]

This experiment is SO valuable! Thank you so much!

[@Slenddaz]

Very interesting, thanks for experimenting and showing this off!

[@GregKealey]

Thank you for running this test

[@GoldenSW]

I agree OLED is amazing (since I own an OLED TV myself) and at least in the monitor area LCDs don't come close in terms of picture quality, but I wish people realized how much of a colossal difference in longevity is between the two techonolgies. I think I've bought like 10 monitors for myself, friends and family since the early 2000s and none of them ever broke and the displays work just as well as the day they arrived. One of them was like 200 euros in 2008 and it saw 5 day a week heavy office use for about 15 years and there's no sign of image degradation or noticeable brightness decrease.

[@Batman-bh6vw]

That's really the big hangup for me. A 4-figure (more or less) monitor should not have a comparatively very limited lifespan. My current monitors are 8 and 5 years old and there's nothing wrong with them. That won't be the case with OLED.

[@GoldenSW]

@Batman-bh6vw yeah... exactly

[@lizardx6504]

What's wrong with the image quality of IPS? It is perfect, the difference with OLED is only in the black color, but the visibility of dark shades is much more important and IPS has excellent visibility

[@GoldenSW]

@@lizardx6504high end LCDs can be very close to OLEDs. But infinite contrast aside, it has instantaneous response time and perfect panel uniformity (no light bleed for example) which can be a big deal depending on the type content

[@brugj03]

@@lizardx6504 Black is not a color, OLED tech is far superior to any backlit tech. Oled response is way faster. It`s about contrast, and ips sucks at blacks and black detail. No wonder, it`s only 1 to 900 contrast. Oled 1 to 1000000 contrast. See the diiference.

[@M_LittleRivers]

Great testing as always!

[@Alipro0077]

Trying to see his 32URX burn in whilst using my own 32URX and wondering which is his and which is mine xD

[@soldonwish]

How long have you had yours

[@huzaifavawda8383]

lmfao!!!

[@Alipro0077]

@@soldonwish like 3 weeks. No burn in, using all the tools provided, but also I literally can't see his burn in without the enhanced filter anyway

[@bagerklestyne]

Same, hahahah

[@76sagman]

hahaha

[@aflyingmodem]

The test results are looking very promising

[@malguskerensky]

Thank you for continuing this series, this is really useful information! To tag on to this, I'm still running the 32" Alienware slight curved OLED, though more carefully. I do hide the taskbar, I will toss a YT video that is safe for OLED displays if I will be away from some time, and run in dark mode. I have not seen any noticeable burn in using the current gen OLEDs, which gets 8+ hours of use a day on mixed content.

[@Tom_Quixote]

My date: So what do you do for fun? Me: I'm watching videos on KZbin. Her: Interesting videos? Me: Let's change the topic.

[@keppycs]

Wouldn't have to change the topic if they were also a tech nerd :D

[@The11devans]

The modern day "I collect mold, spores, and fungus."

[@phipsi3922]

This is such a great series. Thank you alot. I just got my oled monitor and you tests really help me knowing how to treat it properly

[@omarali6651]

Been waiting for this video ever since the last update

[@berndkemmereit8252]

Thanks for this very helpful test, it explains exactly what I needed to know in relation to my daily use. I'm happy that I can get an OLED without worrying to much about burn in.

[@IIIlllIIIIIIIIIIIIl]

Thanks for these videos. Gave me the confidence to use a LG OLED TV as my main monitor for both work and games.

[@bumperxx1]

Yeah dude I got on board in 2020 with a LG 48ich oled cx tv 120hertz gsyinc as my main monitor amd I have never looked back. I only recommend like 37 to 40inch away from your eye. I got slight burn in but I blast the colors full and use dynamic lights. It's fine I dont even see it in games or movies. Remember to have a 2nd monitor for web search ect so you don't get bar burn in. I play up to 10hr or more some days it's gtg

[@gte879p]

Thank you so much for doing this, i was initially worried a bit over burn in risk... but after weighing the risk and watching some of your videos on how to make a more informed decision... I leapt in and bought an ASUS PG32UCDM. (i love it.)

[@geebsterswats]

Great info. I just picked up an MSI 271qpx 240hz QD-OLED from Newegg. $499 for Black Friday sale, I couldn’t pass it up! Glad to see mixed use isn’t a huge concern right now. Plus, MSI has their 3 year burn-in warranty, for what that’s worth

[@marksouthall3871]

Great in depth analaysis. Actually comforting to know after buying an MS oled recently.

[@Arkenas99]

I am using an LG CX 48" for around 4 years now as a Monitor and there is no noticable Burn In yet. It's running for about 7500 hours now with mixed usage: Gaming, Streaming and also for my studies. I have to say that i didn't put on test screens to look for Burn In, because if I don't see it in my everyday use, it doesn't bother me. I'm using Wallpaper Engine for animated backgrounds and a hidden task bar, though. Idk, maybe this information is usefull for someone :)

[@nicerhabara]

I just bought a QD-OLED monitor which I plan on using for work & gaming so this video is releasing at the perfect time

[@dinvsl]

Don’t worry, mine looks fine after 4 years of extensive use. Just avoid static images for too long.

[@theendurance]

@@dinvsl literally impossible for work and gaming lol.

[@SpenserFL]

Very high-value video review for consumers. Thanks for the work!

[@Kocan7]

What a great timing, I'm just about going to pick some ultrawide QD-OLED. Thanks Tim.

[@inceptionsd]

If you plan on playing ultrawide games exclusively, then go for it. Otherwise I wouldnt recommend it since the panel will see a lot of letterboxing on the sides, which will burn in.

[@JoeGrizz1y]

just remember, he is using it in the worst case scenario. this isnt an actual use test. Just showing what happens when you dont use the OLED safety features and treat it poorly.

[@joechapman8208]

@@inceptionsd You are massively overstating the problems or what to do about them. After two years of playing mixtures of content including quite a lot of 16:9 KZbin every day on my QD-OLED, there is no sign of letterboxing and I don't expect that to be the way it comes in either (probably more of a scattered dimming towards the screen centre). Obviously, you buy any OLED knowing it has a limited life but mine clearly has years more to go. And as Tim points out, when the degradation comes, that doesn't mean your screen is going to look terrible; your most-displayed content type is going to mask its own issues to some extent.

[@Kocan7]

@@JoeGrizz1y Yup, I run only games and some AI stuff on my personal rig and always preferred dark theme. Still I was a bit hesistant a few months ago, but made up my mind about a week ago, still if Tims OLED is that well after 9 months of abuse, mine should be fine for at least 5-6 years.

[@Kocan7]

​@@inceptionsd True, but, I just can't set up my current 27" miniled + 27" LCD, I've tried every configuration and it never worked for me, in recent months OLEDs got much cheaper and I've got a 150$ coupon, so it's pretty much a free upgrade to me. Fortunately my personal PC is mainly gaming rig, and I'm going to buy 15 in portable screen as a 2nd screen, it will be under 21:9 OLED. I have a large TV for movies etc.

[@AgrippaMarcus]

You're a legend Tim ! I love my QDOLED

[@Apocrypha303]

Thanks so much for doing this. Now I’m not too worried about upgrading my monitor to a oled. Just waiting for the 1k models to be more around 800.

[@RismusR]

My friend's LG TV burned out in three years. We are waiting for your monitor... Very interesting.

[@TenaciousTomato]

What? That’s wild. Mines been perfect for years. They were using at as a productivity monitor I presume

[@FPSdoug888]

I've been adamantly following this series. I really want an OLED, but the monitor would be used 75% for productivity and the other for gaming. So far the results seem pretty decent as long as you take a lot of precautions. Thanks for the update video!

[@Phil_529]

A lot of companies are giving 3 year warranties with these 4K QD OLED panels. It's worth it imo. Picture quality is outstanding.

[@mygotiger]

Thank you for your efforts. I appreciate it!

[@mhult5873]

Thanks for another, as always, great video! Will there ever be a software update to Windows / Cleartype so that OLED will display text-characters as well as LCD? Br

[@Sarsour_]

Awesome series, really appreciate the commitment for science!!!

[@brugj03]

Got a WOLED from lg, 3100 hours after 18 months. Still clean as a whistle, as new. It`s the curved 45 inch.

[@ye-rochawkins5432]

14,000 hours on my C2. No pixel shift or LLA either. Most of those hours run without GSR and TPC. Not a single issue to speak of….. YET. Tbh, the uniformity has seemingly improved on the panel with use, not gotten worse. I often wonder how a QDO would fair in my use case, being it’s clearly a more demanding use case than yours, considering I’ve racked up 14k hours in two years or so. My CX also had about 13k on it, in the same time span. Now my CX saw noticeable degradation in that same time, mainly in the ways of dead pixels, but also some grayscale uniformity issues. It also got worse with its grid patterns in bright whites, which is ultimately why I ditched that set. It just felt way too pushed to the limits, and that seemed to pan out in the real world fme, on the CX. The C2 was clearly and plainly obvious a step in the right direction when it comes to OLED longevity. The EX/WBE panels are definitely more efficient.

[@noer0205]

There seems to be a bit of backlight bleed on your T-shirt 😉 Jokes aside: Thanks for this great series and all the other MUB and HUB content, Tim! ❤️

[@emp1985]

This actually eases my mind about using OLED monitors for mixed usage. Deliberately trying your best to kill the screen for 9 months, and burn in is minimal. I guess taking considerable care of a mixed usage OLED monitor would push the image quality for quite long. Time will tell.

[@s7r49]

Thanks for making compelling content. Very awesome

[@darreno1450]

I'm very pleased with this monitor. Best purchase in a long time.

[@ferfeenix]

I recently bought an Alienware 32-inch 4k Oled monitor. I love it. I hope I don't get any problems with it.

[@Voivod74]

What amazing informative video and analysis because I am thinking to switch oled from IPS for productivity. You are the best channel for monitors. hands down

[@randxalthor]

Thanks for the informative updates on this! In completely unrelated news, I'm looking into mini LED backlit IPS monitors...

[@03chrisv]

As someone who has owned OLEDs for 10 years, from my experience you won't really notice burn in until you reach the 2000 to 2500 hour mark, and even so it'll be relatively faint and only visible under certain conditions. Once you get into the 3500 to 4000 hour mark it'll become more noticeable, but not necessarily too bad and your brain can usually ignore it. At 6000 to 7000 hours is when it'll get bad enough that you might consider replacing the display depending on your tolerance. At 10,000 hours I think most people would be annoyed by the burn in and would definitely want a new display.

[@newguy1122]

my c1 has an almost perfect screen after 10k hours under the worst circumstances, all safety features in service menu turned off. Theres only a few dead pixels that you have to put your eyes completely up to the screen to see and it has to have HDR on to see.

[@papiertoilette-pb9lf]

Good thing then that it was 10 years ago and now you need 5000 jours minimum to even see something on a 5% grey image

[@voyagerrock1137]

I'm at 5000 hours and don't see any change at all from stock on a LG C3

[@TheDude50447]

So for some people an oled might not even last a single year if youre running it 24/7.

[@papiertoilette-pb9lf]

@@TheDude50447 rtings are running them 18 hours a day since 22 month and you only see burn in in grey area and it's because of the logo so you will have to go really hard on them and not do a single compensation cycle for it to happen

[@danieloberhofer9035]

If early next year after 12 months of Tim stressing the crap out of QD-OLED things look about the same as they do now, I'll pull the trigger, because that'd be good enough for me. Thanks a bunch, Tim, for doing this!

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

Sure it might be less than what you expected, but still... I'm still on a monitor I bought over a decade ago, and there's not a hint of burn in. This is a huge improvement over the CRT screens we used to have as those were likely to show some burn in within a decade, if they survived that long. Now as old as it is it's not a great monitor today. The big disadvantage is the refresh rate and text betting a bit blurry while scrolling. But it's a IPS monitor and that was one of the things I looked for when I bought it. It's also a 16:10 aspect ratio monitor instead of 16:9 which was something I really wanted. I still think 16:9 monitors are just to darned wide compared to their height. I have a few 4K displays and I just don't like them. I bought a 1440p monitor and it was just not for me. It had to high a PPI. Having counted on it a 32" 1440p screen should probably be about right for me. If I were to go 4K it would have to be over 40" to reach a decent PPI of about 100. But a monitor that big would either be hard to use or sit so long from me the PPI would need to be even lower. So say 50" screen, perhaps more. Now about OLED... I want a monitor with the abilities of an OLED, but it can't have any tendency for burn in and it has to have a color layout that works with clear type features. I spend over 90% with static elements on the screen. I hate dark mode and I spend about 16 hours a day at my computer every day of the week. So for the moment OLED is not for me. My next monitor will most likely be a 32" 1440p IPS monitor.

[@keppycs]

In what universe is a high PPI a bad thing? Is UI scaling not an option for you?

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

@@keppycs No it's not. The scaling in windows isn't really that good. It require that applications use the "right" way of handling text and a lot of them doesn't. Another thing is games where text are often presented in bitmap format and not always is scalable. besides my eye sight has a hard time handling text when the PPI goes above about 104 and my eyes are not getting younger. So I want to keep the PPI at no more than 100 if possible. My current monitor has a PPI of 94 if I remember correctly, and more than that is really not feeling good for me.

[@CitrusChrome]

After 2 years my Alienware aw3423dw has horrendous burn in from only video game usage while using all the built in precautions. Even worse, Dell has refused to honor the 3 year burn in Warranty stating "there's something wrong" in broken English. Other's experiences may differ but I would highly suggest considering another manufacturer based on my experience.

[@TypeErrorDubs]

I was an owner of this monitor doing 1.5+ years of the exact type of work described in this video. I also got bad burn in, but Dell was actually great at honoring the OLED panel warranty for me. You have to keep pushing support. After a very in-depth proof process with their support agent, I got a brand new replacement shipped to me overnight, so it was a good experience. I actually decided to stay with Dell and get a AW3225QF when it came out because of this support. I’ll say that I believe the 3423dw being a 1st gen QD-OLED did not help and I am positive the panel maintenance cycles are fundamentally broken in firmware and not running when they should be. I had one of the first versions though, and the monitor does not allow firmware updates because of the G-Sync module, so perhaps yours is a little newer firmware, but I still wouldn’t trust it on 3423dw. The AW3235QF is a 3rd-gen panel, and I know for a fact the compensation cycle is running every ~4hrs as it should be.

[@ChopperKrios]

I came here to say my DWF is at 2 years of mixed use and has no visible burn in. It sees 8 plus hours a day of use.

[@JOKEMMM]

My 240hz ips panel that I bought for €750 when it came out had had a driver update 3 weeks after my 2year warranty expired, I installed it and instantly got a blue line of dead pixels on the far right side of the screen. Contacted support multiple times without succes

[@CitrusChrome]

@@TypeErrorDubs Unfortunately they have some bug with my Warranty that non of the support can bother to deal with, I've had 3 reps tell me I'll have my exchange monitors in a few days then they just ghost and won't respond. I think this shows that when things don't go smoothly they are unwilling or unable to move you up to someone who can actually fix things. As far as the firmware, you actually can update the original models through a DP connection, it was added after the F model released and is a bit sketchy but can be done.

[@CitrusChrome]

@@ChopperKrios I'm glad it's going well for you brother, mine's fucked though.

[@youcrew]

Sooooo, OLED is better than it was few years ago. Buuut, until I can have a phone for a year without seeing burn in. OLEDs are still a no go for people who are not mindful in running the maintenance for mitigation. More than occasional maintenance a couple of times a year I cant see it being ready for the masses. --- I think most people watch content in a browser window so outside of gaming there will be static images on the screen. I am excited to see the 1 year recap. I am super happy you are doing this test.

[@chengong388]

I have an LCD side monitor where the task bar and all desktop icons sit, it's very practical because I can easily access them even when my main display is occupied by a game or something.

[@Kaze_o]

I don't know why I can't stop watching this MSI MPG 321URX QD OLED advert.

[@NBWDOUGHBOY]

This video is right on time. I recently got a 65 inch LG C4 OLED and I really like it. But, I'm so scared of Burn In. I used my last TV as a Secondary Monitor and I usually kept it on basically 24/7. I never turned it off. It was a 55" El Cheapo Walmart Black Friday Special so going from that to this OLED is like going from a Pinto to a Lamborghini. But, Again, I've literally had it less than 24 hours and I'm considering returning it to Amazon and possibly going with something like a QD Mini LED because I wont have to worry about Burn in at all and Although it wont be as good as the OLED It will be a Massive Upgrade over my Walmart TV and I can get a smaller size 55" for my wall because this 65" looks insanely too big for my area. Im just so torn right now. I think I will live with it for another few weeks and see how I feel. I have that Holiday Return Policy from Amazon so, If I dont have to pay a Restock Fee I might just do it.

[@trakaiszeks]

well done! 4 years and 3 months to go (what i expect a monitor to last as a minimum)

[@mpauls85]

More like 9 years and 3 months...

[@GoldenSW]

​​​@@mpauls85I've seen budget LCD monitors last longer than 15 years with 5 days a week heavy office use. They were eventually replaced, but only because they looked outdated. Picture quality was still like the day they arrived. There's a massive difference in longevity.

[@bassyey]

I've had my BenQ 144Hz since 2018. No burn in lol. Though it's just for the home server now. Still works!

[@lukephillips5618]

I've had my monitor (LG 32GS95UE-B) for about 6 months now. It has 1410 hours of screen-on time and still no sign of burn-in despite having the brightness set to 100% and peak brightest set to high

[@samserious1337]

He just wanna see the world burnin!

[@SportsIncorporated]

Thanks!

[@notit6659]

Man, I'm glad this is being done by someone.

[@kiekiek]

I use my Alienware Qd Oled only for gaming, I repetively play some games (flightsim, race sim), but nothing close to WOW marathon or anything like that. Of course I sometimes watch movies and occasionally browse internet (I can be a bit lazy switching back to my ips monitor). Gaming and other content/usage ratio is probably like 4:1, averaging I think under 4 hours a day since the day I bought it (when I am not gaming during a day, I usually wont use my qd oled) I never use a brightness more than 60 percent, and hide the taskbar. I have my qd-oled for 7-8 months now, did every 4 hour cycle, planning to do the long refresh around a year of usage. Got zero visible burn in so far. Long story short, I think users like me can use qd-oled monitors for more than 5 years easily without even getting a little bit distracted by visible burn in while gaming. So to anyone on the fence, buy it! It absolutely blows ips out of the water, seriously, it is an absolute gamechanger.

[@TheSpiritof76]

Thank ou for doing this bro

[@kilnerdyne]

Cheers Tim, thanks for your sacrifice.

[@RFC3514]

"Compensation cycles" disguise burn-in by burning the _rest_ of the panel, so it would be more informative to do this with no compensation cycles (for at least 6 or 12 months) to see the real effects of burn-in, then do some compensation cycles until the burn-in becomes unnoticeable, and see how that affects the panel as a whole (i.e., any changes in gamut / gamma / contrast).

[@theendurance]

yeah people think its just burned in pixels when in reality its also worse color volume and lower brightness. insane how anyone thinks OLED is good when it has such horrible downsides like this

[@RFC3514]

@@theendurance - Yep. And it degrades even if you only use it for gaming and watching videos, it just degrades _more evenly,_ so it's not as obvious. I guess it's "okay" for people who don't mind replacing their monitor and generating a ton of e-waste every 3 years or so (because replacing just the OLED panel costs more than buying a new monitor). Meanwhile, my LED-backlit IPS LCD monitor has 40k hours of use and still looks and works fine.

[@MrXaniss]

Had once of these since launch... I use dark mode, use it primarily for gaming and content, I just do about 4-5 hours of video editing a week. And I have windows to put my display to sleep after 5 mins of inactivity. There is 0 burn in of any kind.

[@danielainsley8017]

What brightness do you have the panel set too? Been mulling over whether to get this or not. I browse the Web a lot. Play games with quite a bit of static HUD elements. (Jrpgs, arpgs, etc.)

[@tiagopinheiro1568]

@@danielainsley8017 You shouldn't worry about it, MSI has a bunch of protections on their OLEDs (Oled Care 2.0) which will make it almost impossible to have burn in, especially if you let it do the Panel Protect (pixel refresh) every 4 hours or so. This and the Pixel Shift will prevent 99% of burn-in even in those static elements. Also, you have 3 years of warranty with burn-in included. This video showcases an unrealistic scenario where the same image is constantly being displayed and the Panel Protect isn't even running half the times it is supposed to.

[@casta55]

The thing I am noticing from a lot of these videos is that burn in exists, but is only noticeable in certain use cases and at worst where static content is usually displayed on fringes of monitor it almost looks like it gets closer to a state of very mild "IPS glow" which usually exists on those panels from the first day you buy it. I think it's almost a non-issue when most people live in a world where their TV's and older monitors always had uniformity issues due to backlight tech. The only reason people notice it is because they get used to the perfection that OLED offers from factory. It's not unusual to expect a product, whether it be the paint on your car, or the battery and oleophobic coating on your smartphone to degrade as it ages. Expecting OLED's to be perfect over the entire lifetime in that perspective is a bit unrealistic of an expectation.

[@ASadTeddyBear]

Fwiw Ive been using an OLED for a htpc for about 4 years and I’ve been doing all the things to reduce burn in such as hiding taskbars, bookmark bars, dark mode, auto switch off etc. and I’ve got literally no visible burn in after viewing various test patterns. I mainly use the htpc for web browsing, KZbin and twitch and the main content I watch is league esports but still no burn in anywhere.

[@fearisthemind-killer]

I'm not sure which is more cool; the test or the shirt.

[@PindleofKujata]

Watching this on my brand new MSI MAG 271QPX 240hz QD-OLED. Don't let me down, Tim.

[@andyderp6473]

The legend we needed

[@StuffedCake]

Using a small program like TranslucentTB without even hiding it would go a long way to avoid a large part of the task bar burn it when 95% of it is invisible.

[@POVwithRC]

This is a very important series.

[@mellowmelee5024]

Hopefully this will reassure some of the timid OLED prospects frequently found in the comments. The Burn-in Boogeyman doesn't seem so scary as long as they aren't completely reckless with the panel.

[@gijoeljamesmaldonado]

does room temp make a difference, it has too, right? colder better or warmer? does it change the transition time?

[@victoriasteel6930]

Did you have the 3 month and 9 month locations swapped a time or two? With the enhancement filters? Watched this on several different screens and could barely see the 9 month burn in but the 3 month burn in looked properly bad. How bizarre. Thank you for the content!

[@milczen]

I'm not so sure that the vertical line in the middle is burn in, i never use my FO27Q3 that way(as in dividing the screen in the middle with two applications) and i can still see that line faintly on a 5% grey screen. It could be an inherent quality of these oled monitors from manufacturing or from how they work.

[@orhnackgz]

I have got same center vertical line in my Samsung OLED G8 when I got it newly. Heard some people say it's normal to see vertical lines in %5 percent grays and it would be less visible after the more usage and pixel refresh cycles are done. After 9 months of careful consumption, I still see it faintly from time to time. I would assume it would be manufacturing problem like you described.

[@spankeyfish]

The panel manufacturer needs to fire that guy on the production line who keeps folding them in half 😁

[@Zeali]

LG C2, 5315 hours(6.8 hours a day) with mixed use, task bar hidden and dark mode. No visible burn in.

[@elias9074]

Thanks Tim.

[@zj7845]

I have 1500 hrs of usage on my oled and so far everything is fine. I code and read papers on a daily basis.

[@theendurance]

1500 hours is nothing...thats like less than 6 months. I'd hope such an expensive monitor lasts for atleast 15,000 hours not just 1500.

[@kwazar6725]

Nice work. Will buy oled when this is better

[@theolong6689]

What about 8 years later lol. That is how long I have been using my pg279q and its still in perfect condition. As much as I want oled as someone who does alot of mixed usage I don't think I can justify the cost knowing a few years down the road burn in is inevitable.

[@jamesstevens3993]

May I suggest if you do a part 2, with another monitor, please set the screen saver to come on after 1 hour. I know why it's set to 2 hours for this worst-case test, but I feel most people have screen savers closer to 1 hour. Thanks for all the testing you guys do! 👍

[@atariplayer3686]

Not all monitors coming out of the factory are made equal, some batches are a bit worse than others. Generally high end expensive monitors, use better quality components & go through better QA testing. The same goes for MSI MPG 321URX.

[@Guwapo77]

Thank you! I've been babying the hell out of my MSI URX... maybe I can ease up a little. I have a 3 monitor setup, I have no static images on the OLED with auto-hide feature. If I'm playing Overwatch, I'm alt tabbed until a match is selected. When it comes to World of Warcraft tho... pray for the monitor...so many static images. I always run the Panel Protect upon completion. I bought my son the AOC QD-OLED for Christmas, he's unit will be the test case. I won't say a word, I want to see how the panel stands up to a 13 year old gaming - Roblox.

[@roB3rnd]

As I see it, there are two options. 1. heavily use it and RMA it before 3 years, or 2. rub a second monitor alongside it for static content e.g.: browsing, working, chat

[@jimbles5071]

I would like to hear from MSI users who have used the 3 year warranty. I feel like it will be a right pain the arse to deal with their customer service, return and get a new one.

[@misericorde360]

I've been using the Alienware AW3423DW for 2 years now. Almost 10.000 hours clocked in, for both productivity and entertainment (coding, web browsing, games, KZbin & movies). Lots of static content. I've used dark mode, hiding task bar, and screen saver after 3 minutes. Only one Panel refresh at around 7.000 hours. Happy to report that burn-in remains minimal. Being a 34 ultrawide, the only burn-in I can spot is side bars (out of the 16:9 aspect ratio), only on a 5% Greyscale screen. If I really look for it, I can spot it in some dark movie scenes, but I really need to focus on it, not an issue otherwise. For the amount of static content I use my monitor everyday, that's quite impressive ! Plus, the monitor is still under warranty until November 2025. Don't be afraid of OLED for productivity, guys!

[@ThereisNOpandemicWAKEUP]

Id return it by november 2025 for any burn in you see, it is your right.

[@justinbroniszewski]

The burn in anxiety I felt from owning an Alienware AW3423DWF for a few days was horrible. I like to browse the web, work in Photoshop, and play games with several HUDs and I just know it would ruin the monitor.

[@BaroK-f5n]

We need to see these monitors after 2years

[@la7dfa]

60 hours a week is a lot. So after one year that will equal 2-3 years of normal PC usage, and even more if you are not using desktop at peak brightness.

[@firstname9845]

60 hours a week isn’t a lot if u wfh

[@la7dfa]

@@firstname9845 Well then I assume miniled would be a better choice, even if it can have some blooming

[@greenbow7888]

It's encouraging that if using the correct amount of pixel cleaning, then these monitors might have a chance. ... Given OLEDs will likely only get better going forward, then there is reason to be hopeful. At the moment it feels like OLEDs monitors used heavily with desktop and gaming use, are e-waste in three years. (If not bright enough that is.) Have even seen comments from folk saying, "Yeah well, will get a new monitor when it burns in."

[@angelispawn]

I have LG CX for over 4 years now and have accumulated over 20k hours on it. Still yet to see burning that would impact my day to day usage of the thing. I did disable ABL and other burn-in prevention features about half a year into using the TV and have used it in HDR mode for over a year straight at one point without bothering to switch to and from SDR. On single color patterns I do have some signs of different wear levels, but in normal content that is invisible. The only reason I am considering switching to a newer mode is increasing number of dead pixels around the edge of the screen

[@EspHack]

OEMs are so terrified of burn in that they almost certainly limit brightness to the extent that this sort of use isnt rendering the screen unusable within a month, compare this to phones where display models always get a keyboard so well done you can even smell it, they're nearing 3000 nits fullscreen there, longevity be dammed

[@R0x0r]

This is pretty much how I use my monitor too so seeing it would be pretty much unusable after 2/3 years means oleds are still a no-go for me. I would like my monitor to last at least 5 years with my usage like they have till now. Maybe in a few more years some breakthrough happens, hopefully

[@manhdepzai2k3]

best review channel

[@UbergamR447]

great video! thank you :)

[@Soandnb]

I do have to wonder if it's a "slowly, then suddenly" kind of ordeal. I have to imagine one of the compensation measures manufacturers include is simply having extra headroom in the OLED pixel output, that you can then take advantage of as the display is degraded from use. But once that headroom is gone, the display will begin to degrade much more quickly.

[@hoofhearted4]

This is nice to see. I'm still debating if I want to go 21:9 (34") or 32:9 (49") for my next monitor. I dont play competitive games. but I still hear that 32:9 isnt good for gaming. since not everything natively supports it, and you can get stretched pictures trying to fit.

[@Ahnii]

Really appreciate the in depth testing and regular updates on this one! Could you maybe do a video about (preferably high end) 4k and ultrawide monitors suitable for mixed to office workloads (like the one you showed in this video)? I'm studying computer science and want to upgrade from my (10? year) old 24" IPS but given the amount of coding/ productive work I do, I don't feel comfortable buying an expensive OLED knowing it will probably only last the 3-year warranty at max at the same time I really struggle to find good IPS monitors with 120hz+, good color accuracy (native 10bit and low delta e). I tried looking for reviews from you and while you always say OLED aren't suitable for mixed workloads, there don't seem to be any viable alternatives... Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this:)

[@andrewvirtue5048]

What about 5k monitors? The 3rd level of 720p. 720 -> 1440 -> 2880 x 5120 monitors. Edit in model: ASUS 27" IPS PA27JCV as an example. 900$ US after taxes.

[@StaySic4Ever]

Cool to see this. Can only imagine years down the line heh. But overall looking decent so far. The so called MAX OLED hopefully becomes the norm.

[@Emmbedd]

I was going to say it, 9 months after seems like the burn in line become better

[@umeng2002]

Not putting the monitor to sleep after a minute or two is a big deal because when you're away from the desk, the screen is just static. I "burned in" an IPS display like that, but I was able to recover it after a few weeks of constant pixel refreshing apps.