Samsung wants to help you check for OLED TV burn-in

Samsung's OLED burn-in checker video on YouTube
(Image credit: Samsung)

Samsung might have OLED experience when it comes to smartphone displays, but the company has held firm against using OLED screen tech in its most recent TVs, sticking with its QLED tech instead.

But this hasn't stopped the Korean giant from offering owners of OLED TVs a helping hand to see if their TV has been affected by burn-in. How generous.

The super-easy way to check whether your OLED has the problem, according to Samsung, is to stream its 50-second YouTube video on your TV. It includes things to look out for when investigating 'burn-in' and a clip designed to make affected parts of your TV screen stand out. Samsung's video rounds things off by announcing helpfully that if you see any of these things, you should contact your service centre. Oh, and a gentle reminder that Samsung QLED TVs are all "burn-free".

Before we go any further, let's clarify something: burn-in does not mean your TV is burning from the inside or likely to catch fire. It's an issue that can appear over time and is also referred to as "image retention" – far less scary. 

New OLEDs have several features designed to protect the panel, including screen refreshes during shutdown and pixel shifting to minimise any chance of burn-in over time. And, we've never experienced any such issues during any of our OLED TV tests.

So, should you stream Samsung's burn-in checker on your OLED? If you own an OLED screen and haven't noticed any image issues, do you need to stare at a red screen for ten seconds to double-check? As always, though, the final decision is yours.

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Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.