iPhone X is the first iPhone model to get an OLED display. Apple calls its iPhone X display as Super Retina Display. While the OLED display brings stunning brightness levels, fantastic color reproduction, and allows a manufacturer to achieve minimal bezel design, it does have its share of issues. Image retention or better known as burn-in is an inherited issue in OLED display technology.
While Apple has done her best with iPhone X on both the software and hardware front to ensure that the burn-in process may get delayed as long as possible, there remains a possibility of it happening in a few months down the line. Replacing an out of warranty iPhone X display is going to cost you some good amount of money. If you’re worried about screen retention issue showing up on your iPhone X display, you should give a good look at the details provided below to minimize the risk.
What is Burn-in?
First things first, what exactly is burn-in? Burn-in, also called image retention or ghosting, is an inherited issue in OLED displays. The burn-in happens on a display when a particular image stays on the screen for a long period without any movement. The picture gets imprinted onto the OLED screen, and even when the image is no longer displayed, some parts of it will remain on the screen.
If you’ve noticed, Apple’s status bar on iPhone always remains at the same place, and this may result in screen burn-in. Apple, however, has implemented a smart pixel shifting technology that moves the status bar icons slightly, so they are never in the same place. This way Apple is avoiding image retention for its iOS elements on iPhone X OLED display.
Other than the manufacturers, there are steps that a user should also take to make sure he/she don’t face image retention issue.
Keep your OLED iPhone/iPad Up-to-date
Apple is known for optimizing its software over time to better handle the hardware and the issues associated with those hardware modules. The company will surely keep pushing new techniques to better combat the burn-in issue on OLED iPhone X. The only way to get these new features on your iOS device is to update it to the latest iOS version. You can do that either using OTA update feature (Settings > General > Software Update) or by using iTunes.
Enable the Auto-Brightness feature
The brightness is the main culprit behind screen burn-in. If an image remains on display for a more extended period of full brightness, there are higher chances that it might get imprinted. Make use of the auto-brightness feature built-into the iOS to avoid the image retention to happen due to brightness.
By default, Apple enables the auto-brightness feature on its iOS devices. While the auto-brightness can be annoying sometimes, especially when it fails to identify the lighting in the environment, but on an OLED iPhone X, these small issues are worth the sacrifice as compared to the burn-in problem.
Short Display Timeout
On iPhone X, Apple offers a short auto-lock duration i.e. 30 seconds. While 30 seconds would seem too low, the iPhone X uses Face Detection feature to keep the screen on when you’re looking at it (even without any interaction with the display.) so, shorter auto-lock time should not be an issue for an iPhone user. And the best thing about short auto-lock is that it combats image retention.
You can change the Auto-Lock Time on an iPhone or iPad by going to Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.
Avoid using Full Brightness all the time
Using full brightness on an OLED iPhone X is like making room for the image retention issue. When you’re not using the auto-brightness feature on your iPhone X, just make sure it is not set to the brightest level at all times.
How to Fix Image Retention of Burn-in Issue
If you start experiencing burn-in or image retention issue on your OLED device, you still have a chance to reverse the damage. If you just started seeing the image retention issue, turn off your iPhone for a few hours and then turn it back on. You might still see some bit of the image retained on the screen, but those might go away after using it for some time.
If the retained image in persistent and just won’t go away, it’s time to take your iPhone to a service center and get the display replaced.
iPhone X comes with a gorgeous display. Initially, the notch was thought as an irritating thing, but I don’t notice it anymore. What do you think about iPhone X display? Did you experience image retention issue with your shiny iPhone? Let us know in the comments section below.