Troubleshooting
On LCD/IPS/VA panels, what looks like burn-in is often temporary image retention or backlight uniformity artifacts. Run fullscreen solid colors to verify whether a shadow stays fixed across fills and whether it changes after a few minutes of varied content. If the mark never changes, it may be a panel issue rather than something software can fix.
Pro tip
Lower brightness for daily use and avoid leaving static UI elements on-screen for long periods.
Common symptoms
- Shadowy afterimage after static UI
- Uneven patches on solid colors
- Retention that changes after content switches
People often say LED screens get burn-in, then search for a led burn in fixer when a static bar or logo seems to linger. Most of the time the screen is still an LCD, and the LED part is the backlight. So what you are usually seeing is retention, backlight unevenness, or contrast tricks, not the same permanent wear you would expect on OLED.
If the shadow shows up mainly on certain shades (especially gray) and feels worse right after a long static image, that points to retention. A good example is leaving a game menu open, then opening a flat color background and noticing a faint box. If it changes or fades over minutes, it is behaving like retention.
Use this tool in fullscreen and cycle through clean fills and patterns. Do not rush: give each color a few seconds and glance at the area where the mark appears. Try the cycle twice, because first impressions can be misleading. The key question for a led burn in fixer test is simple, does the artifact weaken as you keep cycling, or does it stay perfectly fixed.
You can also reduce false alarms by turning off harsh picture modes. Dynamic contrast, vivid presets, or extreme local dimming can exaggerate edges and make a normal afterimage look more dramatic. Keep brightness reasonable and avoid leaving static tickers or paused screens up for long periods.
For a broader set of checks, open the display tools hub. If you want a repeatable routine, bookmark Burn In Fixer and rerun it after the same kind of session (gaming, work, news). If the same shape is unchanged across days and all colors, treat it as persistent. Even then, a led burn in fixer is still useful for documenting what you see and avoiding guesswork.