Large-scale simulated 10-year torture test confirms burn-in haunts all OLED monitors — Testing also reveals edge-lit TVs are insanely failure-prone

Over 100 TVs and a small cadre of monitors have been put through the ringer by review heavyweights RTINGS.com, as its legendary longevity burn-in test crosses the two-year mark. Forcing the tested panels to endure nonstop uptime, simulating 10 years of average usage, the test has revealed some key truths about recent trends in consumer screens.

We first covered the test's 10-month mark findings back in 2023, when the burn-in was just beginning and the monitors tested still looked good as new. Now, the above picture paints a clear image of the failure and agony stretching across many panels at the end of their lifespans.

RTINGS claims that the most significant finding from the test so far is that edge-lit TVs are prone to failure sooner than direct-lit panels. While edge-lit TVs are cheaper and thinner than direct-lit screens, and theoretically cool down faster after being turned off, nonstop usage subjects the panel to intense, concentrated heat that can warp and crack panels, causing LED burnouts and failures much sooner. In the long term, edge-lit TVs are a potential liability.

The long-term torture test's methodology is simple: each screen runs a 24/7 live stream of a CNN news feed on maximum panel brightness. This stream was chosen both for its accessibility and nonstop nature, as well as for the consistency of elements like the breaking news ticker and centrally-positioned talking heads, which are more likely to contribute to screen burn-in.

Screen burn-in is a phenomenon occurring on LED panels (especially OLED screens, but potentially any screen run for long and hard enough) where certain constantly-shown elements become seemingly baked into the display. While some burn-in goes away after a panel's refresh cycle, for the screens that have been running the gambit for over two years, the burn-in is permanent.

Monitors Tested and Other Major Findings

Three monitors have been part of the long-term research, joining the 24/7 torture test four months after the TVs began. The LG 27GR95QE-B, Alienware AW3423DWF, and Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 are a trio of OLED, 1440p, high refresh-rate monitors of 165Hz or higher that have all been subjected to testing. In contrast to the TVs, which have exhibited rising failure rates in recent months, all three monitors are still going, though burn-in has become incredibly obvious.

Samsung Odyssey OLED G85SB S34BG85 displaying 50% grey screen(Image credit: RTINGS.com)

LG 27GR95QE-B displaying 50% grey screen(Image credit: RTINGS.com)

Dell Alienware AW3423DWF displaying 50% grey screen(Image credit: RTINGS.com)

All 3 displays showing 50% grey at month 6(Image credit: RTINGS.com)

All three panels are now clearly showing signs of burn-in at the bottom row of the screen, where the CNN news ticker typically rests. Samsung's Odyssey OLED monitor has the CNN logo specifically burned into its bottom right corner. The LG panel is especially rough, also exhibiting clear evidence of the outline of a talking head in the center of the screen, and displaying colors with significantly less accuracy than either of the other two monitors. The burn-in becomes much starker when viewed in tandem with a look at the three monitors a few months into the test process.

Surprisingly, where most TV screens tested have seen a measured downward progression in their peak brightness values, the three monitors have held steady around their day 1 values. While both the LG and Samsung monitors experienced some fluctuation around the 3,600-hour mark, all three line graphs for these screens appear to be positively parallel with the x-axis. For a better look at these graphs, be sure to check the RTINGS.com written review.

Other noteworthy failures and observations in the test include a high occurrence of backlight failures, causing entire TVs to die. Where some screens saw large regions of their backlights completely die out, with the remainder staying lit, creating an odd half-on, broken look, many TVs in recent weeks of testing have had a single LED in the backlight die, causing the entire TV to be unable to power on.

For more stories of the test's crazy TV deaths, dying panel gore, and other general trends and observations, RTINGS.com's update YouTube video and written post both hold great value to consumers and panel trend followers.

The RTINGS.com test is not much longer for this world. As the TVs have been chugging for 28 months total and the monitors for 24, RTINGS observes that most of its testing stock is nearing the right edge of its bathtub curve, and the rate of catastrophic failures will continue to rise until the test becomes frivolous to run. When that final day and its final observations come, a great wealth of knowledge on the state of TV manufacturing will surely come to light.

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