OLED burn-in, and YOU.

I'm sure some of you know of the dangers of OLED burn-in, but for those of you that don't - be warned, your Vita OLED screen could be scarred if you view a static image too long.

Q. What is OLED burn-in?
A. OLED burn-in is exactly what it sounds like, due to the still relatively new technology that OLED is... it is prone to its disadvantages, one of the main ones being that it can somewhat easily burn the outline of an image into the screen if viewed too long.

Q. How does burn-in happen, exactly?
A. Burn-in occurs when you view a static image on screen, for a long period of time, and frequently. For example, if you were to play Gravity Rush without going into any loading screens for a whole day, you might find that the GUI has had its outline lightly embedded in your screen. This would be hardly noticeable, but prolonged exposure can become painfully obvious

Q. How common, exactly, is burn-in?
A. If you don't know about such issues, and plan on playing a game for a long time that has very little cutscenes - or you have already finished the game, and are trophy hunting - surprisingly common, unfortunately. Many Vita games try to avoid this in many ways, but PSP games aren't so lucky. YMMV, but a good rule of thumb is to not play a GUI extensive game for more then 3 hours without opening another tab on the Vita.

Q. Why did Sony choose OLED screens for a gaming system, if burn-in is such a well-documented issue?
A. You'd have to ask Sony for that, but if you are well educated about burn-in... the pro's of OLED outweigh the cons, in many aspects.

Q. Is burn-in fixable?
A. Unfortunately, sadly, horrifyingly - no. It is very much permanent. If you have it, you're stuck.

I felt that we really did need a thread for this, as I just noticed I had the beginnings of burn-in on my screen - from using the Internet browser for long periods of times, no doubt.

Please, Vitabros, play cautiously. Burn-in is PERMANENT on OLED, unlike LCD.

Use this thread to discuss, and warn others, of burn-in inducing games. Tips to prevent burn-in are welcome, and overall burn-in grieving is acceptable in small amounts. I really, truly hope that this thread helps prevent the scarring of some of our screens.

That happened to my Plasma TV once. I left for the weekend and when I returned I realized I forgot to turn the TV off. When I turned it off the image had burned in. After a few hours, it went away. Either way, it was a scary moment.

Yup, with LCD's it is much less... permenant. OLED's, however, do not have that luxury.

Preventing it is the only fix.

Really liked this post. I had no idea this could happen. I will be very cautious now thank you

Strategic games probably for obvious reasons.

I know some things about OLEDs and AMOLEDs screens from phones and it was obvious for me why Sony have choosen this screen over LCD. Answer is Brightness guys. It's more visible in sun while it takes less battery.

But burn in is main disadvantage. Just turn off screen from time to time and don't be dumb and leave Vita with screen turned on and your Vita should be ok.

MHFU, for one. That GUI an be on screen for up to 45 minutes at once, and if you keep dong quest after quest, it could get ugly. I always make sure to run around a bit in town before setting off on another quest.

And then, the thing that got me, was the Internet Browser. That side bar doesn't move at all, and can be a bitch. Thankfully it's only really noticeable at certain angles, and rarely then, but it's definitely there.

...Perhaps this should be stickied? I dare say this is a very important topic for new, and old, Vita users alike.

Never heard of this, thanks for the thread. Luckily, I don't do any of the risks you mentioned, so I think I am safe. Still, nice to know that it can happen.

Thank you, I hope the thread remains a help for whoever needs it.

Glad to be of help!

I remember a thread about this. My phone is where most of my browsing is done. It is also OLED or maybe AMOLED. luckily enough I have nothing on either device. One thing we should watch out for those whom maybe un aware, is updating the firmware. Some may have a slower connection. The screen cannot sleep when it's doing this process. One time it took about 45 minutes.

Turn off the screen while downloading the firmware. It is possible I always do it.

well it helps too if you regulate down the brightness.

Turn on Wi-Fi. Go to Updates. Begin update process and click power button. While screen will be off, the PS Logo will still be lighted up. I do it every update. You can simply press power button again to view how downloading is going. I don't know if it works when installing but while downloading it works.

Thanks so much, sometimes my net isn't always its best since I get caps.

Also, this is from another forum brings up a great argument for turning off your Vita when away from it for long periods of time.

" Problem with OLED screen burn-in is its random, much like dead pixels its impossible to predict when and if it will happen. Its different in concept than a Plasma (although the result is the same), because its caused by a failure of the organic LEDs which are unable to return to a normal "center" color. As such it can happen on day one or day one hundred thousand.

That being said you can minimize your risks by keeping brightness at the lowest acceptable level (i.e. don't crank up the brightness if the middle setting is adequate for you), as more brightness = more stress on the OLEDs, More stress = higher probability of failure.

Avoid having any specific image on the screen for an extended period of time, as OLEDs operate best when they are in a state of relatively constant change.

Ensure that the screen spends more time completely off (and un-powered) than it does on, what I mean by this is turn the screen off when the unit isn't on! Sleep/hibernation modes still keep the screen "warm," you should avoid these modes as they prevent the OLEDs from truly "cooling off."