Do LCD monitors have burn-in issues?

[Kaido]

I want to use a pair of 17" Dell LCDs for a local server, running monitoring programs (for visual reference) in KDE or Gnome under Linux all day. Do LCDs have burn-in problems like the old CRT televisions, or is it safe just to leave them on all the time?

 

[viivo]

LCDs can sometimes exhibit what looks like burn-in (don't recall the [un]official name], but it goes away a few minutes after the static image changes. Other than that, no, though they will dim.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: viivo
LCDs can sometimes exhibit what looks like burn-in (don't recall the [un]official name], but it goes away a few minutes after the static image changes. Other than that, no, though they will dim.

If left on 24/7, how long will it take to dim? 1 year? 5 years? Ballpark is fine, thanks

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: viivo
LCDs can sometimes exhibit what looks like burn-in (don't recall the [un]official name], but it goes away a few minutes after the static image changes. Other than that, no, though they will dim.

If left on 24/7, how long will it take to dim? 1 year? 5 years? Ballpark is fine, thanks

I would say 1-2 years.

 

[viivo]

The only item that ages on an LCD monitor is the backlight, which is composed of one or more tiny fluorescent tubes. The typical life of a backlight is 50,000 hours to the half brightness point-the point at which brightness is one-half of the original brightness, and the industry standard measure for product life.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: viivo
LCDs can sometimes exhibit what looks like burn-in (don't recall the [un]official name], but it goes away a few minutes after the static image changes. Other than that, no, though they will dim.

If left on 24/7, how long will it take to dim? 1 year? 5 years? Ballpark is fine, thanks

I would say 1-2 years.

Hmm. I supposed that's included in the cost of doing business...

 

[CDog]

Can the backlight be replaced?

 

[Nocturnal]

People are going to say that there is no burn in issue but I've seen it first hand myself. I saw an imprint of a wallpaper on my friend's Samsung LCD.

 

[AndrewZorn]

depends on the model, but 50000 is 15hrs a day for over 9 years, i think by that time youll just want to get a new one anyway

EDIT and about the burn in i saw a 30something inch LCD tv that had thsi static screensaver on it i was like NOOOOOOOOOOO and i turn it on and its burned in i was so mad at the person who owned it for being careless
came back next day its gone! i tried to find it, but even though i was looking for it (which generally makes it 'appear') i could not find it

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: CDog
Can the backlight be replaced?

Yes, backlights can be replaced. I've heard it tends to be a pricey procedure, however. This is conjecture, but my guess is that it might not be worth it on a small LCD like a 17"er or something, but might be worth it on a larger monitor if you really like the monitor and want to keep it. With a small monitor, it would prolly cost just as much to get the backlights replaced as it would to just get a whole new monitor (the labor charge might cost more than the lights themselves).

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: AndrewZorn
depends on the model, but 50000 is 15hrs a day for over 9 years, i think by that time youll just want to get a new one anyway

50000 hours would be VERY generous for a backlight's lifespan. 20-30K hours is probably more realistic (especially if it is on 24/7). Also note that they said this is the time for the light to reach 50% brightness. You'll notice it fading *long* before that.

EDIT and about the burn in i saw a 30something inch LCD tv that had thsi static screensaver on it i was like NOOOOOOOOOOO and i turn it on and its burned in i was so mad at the person who owned it for being careless
came back next day its gone! i tried to find it, but even though i was looking for it (which generally makes it 'appear') i could not find it

LCD screens do get a slight afterimage effect if you leave a static image up for a long time (particularly if it contains bright primary colors). On a physical level, this occurs because the liquid crystals that make up the display temporarily lose some of their 'springiness' if they are held in the "on" (twisted) position for too long. I've never seen this permanently affect an LCD display, but it seems to occur more readily as the monitor gets older (especially if it is constantly displaying the same thing all the time).

 

[ValuedCustomer]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
People are going to say that there is no burn in issue but I've seen it first hand myself. I saw an imprint of a wallpaper on my friend's Samsung LCD.

Yep, the extra monitor/panel on my desk I use for builds and testing at work was from a previous user.. I can still see the shape of whatever graphic it was that was his wallpaper. - and as far as plasma displays go, back in 2000 I had one I was installing in a conference room burn-in a desktop image in a little less than 5 hours. Not sure if they still have this problem but that turned me off to plasma quickly.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: CDog
Can the backlight be replaced?

I believe so. I know I have done it many times on laptop displays, its basically a small flourescent very thin and fragile bulb. Dont know if they use the same for LCD monitors but being its basically the same technology it shoud be.

 

[Mark R]

Anyone heard anything about LED backlight monitors? They're supposed to use a bank of red green and blue LEDs and a diffuser. Supposed to last much longer, and give much more vibrant colours than using a white CCFL (or even white LEDs).

I know that Sony have a couple of LCD TVs using this technology.

 

[ChuckHsiao]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: AndrewZorn
depends on the model, but 50000 is 15hrs a day for over 9 years, i think by that time youll just want to get a new one anyway

50000 hours would be VERY generous for a backlight's lifespan. 20-30K hours is probably more realistic (especially if it is on 24/7). Also note that they said this is the time for the light to reach 50% brightness. You'll notice it fading *long* before that.

EDIT and about the burn in i saw a 30something inch LCD tv that had thsi static screensaver on it i was like NOOOOOOOOOOO and i turn it on and its burned in i was so mad at the person who owned it for being careless
came back next day its gone! i tried to find it, but even though i was looking for it (which generally makes it 'appear') i could not find it

LCD screens do get a slight afterimage effect if you leave a static image up for a long time (particularly if it contains bright primary colors). On a physical level, this occurs because the liquid crystals that make up the display temporarily lose some of their 'springiness' if they are held in the "on" (twisted) position for too long. I've never seen this permanently affect an LCD display, but it seems to occur more readily as the monitor gets older (especially if it is constantly displaying the same thing all the time).

Yup that's pretty much it. It generally happens only after a really long time though, like having the same screen on for 24 hours a day for six months or something like that. If it happens, the solution is to just leave the screen off for a couple of days (or to speed up the process, use a complementary image, but that's not going to happen for most people). This is completely unlike the burn-in of a CRT, which results from the phosphors being burned off (hence the term) over time or something along those lines, and is thus permanent.

By the way, for regular TN panels, it's actually that the voltage is on (crystals are straight) when it's black, and the voltage is off (crystals are twisted) when it's white. The reverse is true for MVA and other types of panels (white is voltage on, black is voltage off). I wonder if that means that burn-in actually results from using too dark of a screen for TN panels? Heh.

 

[imported_g33k]

I Used to be a heavy gamer. Certain games have static images, such as life bars. I had thought that the image of a game had burned in on my lcd. It actually took more than a few days to dissappear where I could not see it anymore, but it was gone after I stopped playing the game. So burned in images do not last, they dissappear with time.