Phantom images on the TV screen. Afterglow (residual image) on Apple displays. Is it possible in the future to completely get rid of burnout?

Image retention or burn-in can occur as a result of wear and tear on the phosphor coating of the pixels, as well as when they lose their original light characteristics. This happens due to their uneven operation over a long period of time. In this case, TV repair will be inevitable. Plasma is capable of “remembering” the side black stripes if, with a 16:9 format, a picture in 4:3 format is visible on it. In addition, logos of TV channels, menu items, etc. may remain on it. More modern models of plasma panels are less susceptible to fading than those that were produced several years ago. But if they are used incorrectly, TV repairs cannot be avoided. That's why the most effective way To combat residual images is correct operation, as well as timely prevention. What exactly should be done to prevent the need for TV repair in the near future? 1. To avoid image retention, you must turn off your plasma TV after viewing. You cannot leave a frozen picture on a plasma screen, even for a short time. 2. Also, you should not leave any kind of static on the screen, such as on-screen menus or game system screensavers. 3. Proper use of the built-in screen cleaning mode will help avoid this problem. Modern plasma panels have a separate function designed to eliminate minor or temporary residual images on the screen. At the same time, its frequent activation can lead to wear and tear of the plasma, which will require TV repairs at a service center. You should not immediately start cleaning the screen if a small piece of the logo appears in the corner of the screen. It is quite possible that he will disappear on his own. 4. Sometimes it makes sense to use a DVD corrector designed to straighten the picture on a plasma panel. Specially created video correctors such as PlasmaSaver are able to clean up residual images due to selected movements of shadow and light. 5. Don’t panic every time a part of the picture “freezes” on the matrix. For example, the afterimage of a line running at the bottom of the screen after viewing a football score is not burn-in. This means that it will disappear on its own and the TV will not need to be repaired. 6. When using a plasma panel, you must use common sense. Its correct use will allow you to enjoy high-quality image for a long time. 7. If the device nevertheless fails, repair of all TV models in Kyiv can be performed by specialists from service centers.

Let's look at an example of repairing an outdated Philips 14PT1354 TV with a 37 cm kinescope. It does not turn on, and the control panel blinks. According to the client, they connected an antenna with an amplifier and it went out. We always repair TVs, so after a visual inspection it became clear that it had already been repaired. After the impact, the circuit board was cracked and they tried to restore it. During the diagnostics performed, it was found that two modules failed at the same time - lowercase and personnel scan. In this case, TV repair involves the restoration of these components. In addition, the installation of the board was restored (cracks in 3 places, a corner was broken off). General prophylaxis was carried out. The user is given a number of recommendations, as well as explanations that the malfunction that has arisen has nothing to do with the antenna connection! (that's a coincidence).

The photo shows the TV from behind. All labels indicating the TV model, its serial number and other information are in place. The body of the device is very dusty, especially a lot of dust has accumulated in the ventilation grilles. This TV was used for a long time, and no maintenance was carried out. As a result, the TV needs to be repaired at a service center.

The TV in the photo is from one that has already been taken back cover. The kinescope board is clearly visible here. All cables and wires of the main board are in place. After the impact, the board cracked in several places at once; they tried to restore it in another service workshop. But such TV repairs did not bring the desired result. That is why the user contacted us.

After the preventive maintenance was carried out, the board on which restoration work was carried out is in good condition, it is free of dust. In this case, the restoration of horizontal and vertical scans was performed. TV repairs of such complexity should be carried out exclusively in stationary conditions service center which is equipped with modern equipment.

The presence of image retention can be observed on all LCD displays, regardless of the manufacturer. There’s no need to worry too much about this, just as you don’t need to run to a service center to get your iMac or MacBook Pro.

Image persistence effect

This is exactly the name it bears this effect V English language. In the technical literature you can also find the term image retention, which essentially means the same thing. Often an afterimage can be observed with the system login window if it has been open for a long time. After entering the password, this window remains visible in the background of the operating system desktop that opens.

Apple: There's nothing wrong with your computer

According to specialists from the Apple corporation, you can hand over your Mac to warranty repair when this phenomenon is detected, it is not necessary. Unlike cathode ray tubes and plasma panels, all liquid crystal displays created using IPS technology have this disadvantage. However, image retention does not affect performance in any way and will not affect performance in the future. LCD matrices do not burn out, unlike CRT monitors.

How to deal with the effect?

On this moment You won’t be able to get rid of image retention on your monitor, but you can try to reduce its visible consequences using mac OS. The operating system has special functions for this. By default, they are always enabled, but when setting up the computer, the user himself could change their startup period or even remove them altogether.

Sleeping mode

Enabling this feature will not only help you get rid of the residual effect of images, but also save energy or extend the battery life of your Mac laptop. The trigger time can be set based on how often and for how long the computer remains on but not running. The function is enabled and configured in the following order:

You need to go to the menu System Settings -> Energy Saving. This can be done through the left Top Menu on the desktop.

Slider " Monitor sleep mode» must be moved by the required amount.

For laptops, this parameter should also be set on the “ Battery" - this will extend the battery life. It is also worth turning off the screen saver, which also consumes battery.

Summing up

Owners of MacBook Pro and iMac with Retina monitors, as well as Apple devices Thunderbolt Display and Apple Cinema Display are highly likely to experience this effect. It is absolutely safe for the computer and does not affect the life of the monitor. You can get rid of it by reducing the period of display of a static image on the screen, for example, by setting the time for switching to sleep mode.

Plasma screens offer higher contrast, deeper blacks, and larger panel sizes than screens using competing technologies. However, plasma also has a weak point - the so-called afterimage.

The afterimage or, as it is also called, burn-in occurs due to wear and tear of the special phosphor coating of the pixels and the loss of their primary light characteristics by the pixels as a result of their uneven operation over a long time.

A plasma screen “remembers” the black side bars if, for example, with a 16:9 format, it often displays a 4:3 picture, and a residual image can remain in the form of well-known TV channel logos, menu items, etc. Modern plasma TVs are less susceptible to burnout than models released 3-5 years ago, but still such troubles also happen to them, especially if they are used incorrectly. Therefore, experts note that the most effective way to combat residual images on plasma screens remains correct operation and prevention.

With operating rules for each specific model plasma TV You can always read the user manual, which is included with it. As for the prevention of afterimages, here you should follow a few simple recommendations.

1. to prevent afterimages from appearing — turn off the plasma TV , if you pause it, including when any playback device is connected to it. You should not leave a frozen picture on the plasma screen for a long time, even if you are going to leave for just a few minutes.

2. to prevent afterimages from appearing, Withtry not to leave any static on the screen like an on-screen menu or a game system's splash screen. By the way, the greatest danger to plasma is precisely game consoles, since it is in the on-screen game menus that there are always a lot of stationary elements - statistics panels, game equipment, maps, etc.

It is possible that residual images on the screen after playing a game can be “erased” by simply switching the TV to normal TV or video playback. However, we must remember that toys are the main enemy of plasma. Therefore, before launching a gaming application on a plasma TV screen, you should definitely adjust the brightness and contrast parameters manually, or use a special gaming preset, which is probably provided in the menu of your TV and allows you to quickly configure it to the optimal operating mode for gaming conditions.

3. G Use the built-in screen cleaning mode wisely (image cleaner). Modern plasma TVs have a separate function to eliminate minor or temporary residual images on the screen. However, its frequent activation leads to increased wear of the plasma panel and significantly reduces its lifespan. In this regard, you should not immediately start cleaning the screen (wipe or clean) as soon as you notice a piece of the channel logo in the corner of the screen. It may well be that after some time it will disappear on its own, if it did not disappear after switching to another channel.

4. so that the afterimage does not appear - VIn some cases, you can use DVD correctors , designed for aligning images on plasma screens. In fact, any movie played continuously can achieve a similar effect. But specially designed video correctors like PlasmaSaver, which clean up residual images (light burnout) on the plasma screen due to specially selected movements of light and shadow.

It's worth noting that Plasma Display Coalition testers recently suggested that minor image retention is not due to changes in the phosphor coating, but due to electric charge individual pixels. Thus, you can effectively combat it with the so-called “white fill” of the screen.

5. don't panic every time when parts of the video image “freeze” on the plasma screen. The residual image, for example, of a ticker at the bottom of the screen after watching the news or a football score is not burnout, and they will disappear very quickly on their own.

6. use common sense . Today, few people remember that once upon a time, even on the screen of a CRT TV, a residual image could appear if it was not used according to the rules. Modern plasma, when used correctly, can work for many years without any significant burnout, and to damage the screen in this way you have to try hard.

7. so that the afterimage does not appear - Withshould know that In the first 100-200 hours of operation of a plasma TV, the process of wear of the phosphor in the plasma cells occurs most actively. Because It is recommended to “break in” new TVs . Firstly, it is better to display the image on them in a working format (usually 16:9), secondly, you can use special fills screens, which are simply reproduced in slide show mode and allow you to obtain the most uniform characteristics of the phosphor over the area of ​​the plasma panel. After 100-200 hours in the running-in mode, the characteristics of the panel will become more stable and it can be properly calibrated.

And further: Almost every new plasma has the “Vivid” or “Vibrant” mode active by default, which is designed to work in a brightly lit supermarket hall, but should never be used at home, since it involves very high level image contrast and leads to screen burn-in.

Probably many mobile users Faced the problem of smartphone screen burn-in. This defect does not in any way affect the overall functionality of the display, but its presence greatly impairs the perception of the displayed image. Today we will try to find out what causes this problem, how to fix it and what can be done to delay its occurrence.

What is screen burn-in?

To put it as simply and clearly as possible, burn-in is the fading of the display in its specific area. If this defect is present in one or another part of the screen, color rendition deteriorates, and faded outlines or letters appear. The term “burnout” itself is not accurate. It has nothing to do with combustion or exposure to high temperatures. In fact, this is a banal wear and tear of the light elements of the screen on mobile phones.

We can say that the term “burnout” developed historically. It appeared back in the era of cathode ray monitors (abbreviated CRT), as well as televisions. The fact is that the basis of these monitors and televisions were phosphorus components, the glow of which built the whole picture. Over time, these components lost their original properties, which is why the picture became faded. By and large, they burned out. Despite the fact that the technology for creating screens has changed, as well as the cause of the defect, wear of the light elements continues to be called by the indicated term.

How common is smartphone screen burn-in and why?

Unfortunately, every owner may encounter the problem in question. mobile phone. Devices that have OLED, AMOLED and Super AMOLED displays are most susceptible to burnout. Screens based on an IPS matrix suffer less from this defect, but it can also appear on them. Why are OLED, AMOLED and Super AMOLED sensors so susceptible to burnout?

It's all about their structure. The basis of such sensors are organic polymer compounds that emit light when an electric current passes through them. These connections are represented by LEDs of three colors:

• blue;
• red;
• green.

On the displays of the mentioned types, burn-in appears for two main reasons:

1. All diodes have different shelf life, which is why they wear out unevenly. As a result, some elements, after a certain period of time, continue to work normally, while others lose their original properties. Therefore, differences in the saturation of the picture appear.
2. Blue LEDs do not shine as brightly as red and green ones. To make the picture uniform, more current is supplied to the blue components. As a result, they wear out much faster, and the color palette of the screen goes into green and red tones.

The most unpleasant moment is related to the fact that the problem in question does not depend in any way on the cost of the gadget. It can appear both on a budget device and on an expensive flagship. For example, there are known cases of screen burnout on iPhones, and on the latest tenth model.

Which part of displays is most likely to show burn-in?

As a rule, those areas of the display that almost always display one picture come under attack. In such cases, the same pixels are used, and they work “without rest.” Often, the area on which the touch buttons navigation, clock, notifications tab. The appearance of a defect is caused not only by the constant operation of some pixels, but also by the colors that are used during display. At the indicated points, the blue and white subpixels burn, and, as mentioned above, the blue elements initially wear out faster, because more electricity is supplied to them. White light also requires more current to pass through the polymer compounds, which also accelerates the wear of the screen's constituent particles.

Burnouts appear extremely rarely in the central part of the display. This is explained by the fact that in this area the picture changes frequently, the matrix uses different subpixels, so optimal performance lasts longer.

It's not just blue LEDs that can burn out. Both red and green elements can lose their properties ahead of schedule. As a rule, mobile gamers face this problem. As you know, modern entertainment applications have their own virtual navigation buttons or menu areas. At these points the picture also does not change, so the light components fade faster.

There is one more point worth mentioning. In areas prone to fading, not only color rendering problems arise. Also, specific “phantom” images appear there. As a rule, these phantoms are represented by dim silhouettes of virtual navigation buttons, search engine fields, and icons located at the top of the display. Essentially, what remains in the affected area is what it has been continuously displaying for a long time.

Is it possible to fix the display burn-in problem?

If this defect appears on a smartphone, then it will not be possible to completely eliminate it. Only a complete screen replacement will help. However, if you don’t have the money to replace it, you can use one useful program. It's called AMOLED Burn-In Fixer. No, it does not “revive” damaged LEDs, but it makes the burnt-out areas less noticeable. In general, the application mentioned does three things:

1. Checks the device and shows in which areas there are burnt-out spots.
2. Partially hides if necessary user interface, in order to slow down further burnout.
3. Corrects the colors in the burned areas so that the defect disappears.

The AMOLED Burn-In Fixer app has two important advantages:

1. It effectively copes with its task in the early stages of burnout.
2. It is free, so this kind of “repair” can be carried out without any monetary costs.

It has just as many disadvantages:

1. Doesn't work on all smartphones. The device must have operating system least Android Lollipop(released November 2014). This application will not help owners of Apple phones.
2. It is absolutely useless in the later stages of burnout, when the pixels have practically lost their functionality.

Is it possible to prevent screen burn-in?

But here the situation is more pleasant. The user can perform several actions that will delay burnout or completely protect the gadget from the manifestation of the defect in question. The list of these actions looks like this:

1. Lower the display brightness. It's simple here - the higher the brightness level, the more current is required, and this speeds up the wear of the LEDs. Owners of the iPhone X can set this parameter to be automatically adjusted, which will also protect the device from burnout.
2. Set the minimum time for the screen to turn off automatically, so that the diodes do not have to display static textures for a long time when you are not using the device.
3. Use Immersive Mode whenever possible. This is the so-called immersive mode, in which the device will hide the notification panel and navigation buttons when not in use.
4. Choose wallpaper for the main menu in dark colors. Dark shades practically do not wear out LEDs; black color doesn't affect them at all. Also, change your wallpaper periodically to complement other light elements.
5. Use virtual keyboard having dark shades. With this approach, the degradation of diodes will occur even more slowly.
6. Install a navigation application without bright colors. To a greater extent, this recommendation applies to ardent travelers who often need a navigator.

Is it possible to completely eliminate burnout in the future?

It is almost impossible to completely protect OLED, AMOLED, and Super AMOLED displays from the defect in question. This is due to the peculiarities of their design. However, manufacturers are already using some tricks that can slow down the aging process of light elements. Eg, Samsung company increases the size of blue LEDs. Thanks to this step, the elements begin to glow brighter, but at the same time less current passes through them, which means wear takes longer.

Certain actions were taken to extend the shelf life and Apple company. On the same tenth iPhone there is a mode automatic adjustment brightness, thanks to which the load on the LEDs always remains optimal.

Well, we found answers to two main questions: how to fix screen burn-in using software and how to prevent its occurrence. Since progress does not stand still, in the future it is possible to completely get rid of the problem considered. But for now, almost all smartphones are at risk, so it is better to follow the recommendations mentioned so as not to encounter this unpleasant defect.