Screen burn in...

Discussion in 'hardware' started by Tarnak, Sep 23, 2020.

  1. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    ...problem which has just started on my Surface Book laptop, after 4 years of use. I guess there is not much I can do about it. :( Luckily, it is on the edge, only.

    P.S. Tried to capture what it looks like by taking a screenshot, but doesn't show the problem.
     
  2. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    Well, it makes sense a screenshot would not work. Burn-in is caused by actual damage to the display screen caused by leaving a fixed image on the screen for extended periods of time. This damage is a hardware issue and has nothing to do with the operating system or the programs running on the computer.

    A screenshot or screen "capture" or screen "grab" uses a software program to copy a portion of or all of the digital information currently being used to display an image on the screen or that portion of the screen.

    If you wanted to show others what it looks like, you would have to use a camera and take a photo of your monitor.

    Make sure it really is burn-in and not simply your contrast and brightness settings being too high. Frankly, burn-in on home computer monitors it not common because the images are constantly changing. Plus, we don't normally keep our monitors on and displaying the same image for hours and hours at a time.

    If you kept your computer running and monitor on for many hours each day displaying the exact same image all the time, then burn-in could become a problem.

    Burn-in is much more common in places like airports where, for example, the words "Departure" and "Arrival" and "Gate" are displayed in the exact same spot on the monitor 24/7. Or in places where the CNN logo might be displayed in the same corner of the TV all day long. That said, modern TVs employ "pixel shift" and other technologies to help mitigate those problems.

    See How to Fix Screen Burn on Any Screen for other possible solutions. But note if it is severe, it may never go away completely.
     
  3. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    Last year I posted (somewhere here ) a problem I was having with burn-in or something similar. The icon of a well known product here at Wilders I was using for a bit, 'burned' itself into my wallpaper. The wallpaper was of my now passed dog. I was a very unhappy camper and dumped the product. There was no response to the post so I dropped it. Probably should not be posting that info in this thread, but.....
     
  4. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    As someone who has also lost and miss several "best friends" over the years, I certainly sympathize. But no way did the image burn itself into your wallpaper.

    A wallpaper image is simply a display of an image "file" stored on your disk drive. For the icon to be burned into that wallpaper file, the file itself would have to be loaded into RAM, modified with some image editing program, then saved (written) back to your disk drive. And if that happened, you could then copy that file to a different computer and see that icon on the new computer too. If you printed that image on a printer, you would see the icon on the printout.

    As I said above, burn-in is actual damage to the hardware - the monitor screen specifically. Had you changed to a different wallpaper image - a view of the Grand Canyon, for example - that icon would still be on the screen and appear with the Grand Canyon image too.
     
  5. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    I agree Bill. I have always thought it was something a bit more nefarious and it did not surprise me that much. PM me if your curious.
     
  6. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Burn in is of course still a possibility but image persistence should also be considered a possibility on some displays. I get this on my TV and leaving it off long enough clears it up.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_persistence
     
  7. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    Yeah, image persistence is addressed in the link I provided above. Basically, image persistence (or image retention) is the initial symptom of the problem and usually can be reversed. But if not addressed in time, permanent burn-in will result.
     
  8. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    The icon is as bright and clear as the day I installed the product. I do not run my computer for more a few hours, at most, per session. I have never seen this happen in twenty years of computing. It is only on the wallpaper I mentioned. I change wallpaper and it is gone. Restore that problematic wallpaper and it is back.
     
  9. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    Which only goes to prove beyond any doubt the icon is part of the wallpaper's image "file" and is NOT burn in or image retention.
     
  10. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    I agree, but WHY did this happeno_O This should not have happened. It caused me to no longer trust the program that belonged to the icon. I never felt very good about the program from the start, although a number of others do. This was the frosting on the cake.
     
  11. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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  12. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    You would need to contact the developers of the program that modified your image file and ask them.

    One of inherent problems with all laptops is heat. Laptop cases are just too small to support good cooling. If you run your laptop 24/7, perhaps you should get an external monitor and use that instead.
     
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