Screen retention and burn in?

[VincentAnoid]

With the GNEX, as you know there are software buttons at the bottom of the screen. These are always on when the screen is on, as well as the time and wifi icons etc at the top. I've noticed when I use the phone a lot, e.g playing temple run for 1 hour I see retention. Exiting the game and going onto a white background, Youtube and then tilting the phone sideways immediately. The software buttons slowly fade away into the white background.

I was scared, to prevent this happening again I thought I'd have it in the minimal brightness setting and turn the phone landscape once in a while so that pixels are not static for too long.

Would you say that this is a good idea to prevent burn in's?

 

[MSUgEEk]

I was scared, to prevent this happening again I thought I'd have it in the minimal brightness setting and turn the phone landscape once in a while so that pixels are not static for too long.

Would you say that this is a good idea to prevent burn in's?

That is definitely one good practice. Another good way to prevent this is if you are rooted to flash a ROM that allows the customization of these things. I am on AOKP and I move my nav buttons on the bottom around, change from 3 button to 4 button configuration and back, move the clock at the status bar, etc. On top of that I play games in landscape that go full screen, watch youtube in full screen mode, etc and that makes the buttons disappear. All of those combined with running minimal brightness settings have allowed me to experience no burn-in/retention so far.

 

[VincentAnoid]

Thanks for the tips Some would say I'm going way too far (Overstressing) lol. But that screen vibrancy and contrast comes at a price

 

[MSUgEEk]

Thanks for the tips Some would say I'm going way too far (Overstressing) lol. But that screen vibrancy and contrast comes at a price

No problem If I'm going to play a game or watch a video, I'll turn the brightness up, but for normal use I leave it at min brightness.

 

[VincentAnoid]

No problem If I'm going to play a game or watch a video, I'll turn the brightness up, but for normal use I leave it at min brightness.

Theres just one thing though, I'm guessing your games turn full screen without the software buttons and status bar because of root. My stock doesn't do that, but I don't want to go through the hassle or rooting it, personally.

 

[TheRoosevelt]

If you're rooted and using one of several custom ROMs (like LiquidSmooth), you can enter full screen mode and not have to worry about that at all. Or you could simply turn the transparency of the buttons way up so that they're barely visible against the black background.

 

[VincentAnoid]

Or you could simply turn the transparency of the buttons way up so that they're barely visible against the black background.

How would I do that? Is it in the developers settings?

 

[VincentAnoid]

UPDATE: I've now noticed a band on the bottom of the screen where the navigation soft keys are infront of the black background (When it switches to white, YouTube app).

I've only had this phone for about a month now and I'm noticing this Is this unusual?

 

[LoBatt]

UPDATE: I've now noticed a band on the bottom of the screen where the navigation soft keys are infront of the black background (When it switches to white, YouTube app).

I've only had this phone for about a month now and I'm noticing this Is this unusual?

Nope. I have it too. I just decided to ignore it after a couple days of obsessing about how I hold the phone. I'll probably be in lust over a different phone in a few months anyway and I'll add the Nexus to my pile of phones I intend to sell on eBay but never get around to selling.

 

[TheRoosevelt]

How would I do that? Is it in the developers settings?

Depends on the ROM, but in AOKP it's under Settings->ROM Control->Navigation->Button Transparency

and in Liquid it's the same except instead of ROM Control it's called Liquid Control.

 

[bendirkss]

Well your all lucky, my nexus has a color leak on and around my home button. Its all pink

 

[Tim K]

Well, 2 things....

1. AMOLED screens all have some image retention, but for the most part it is temporary and will fade out in a short time.

2. AMOLED screens are subject to burn-in like most plasma TV's. It is possible that over time you will see permanent "artifacts". The best way to avoid this is to A) not keep static images on the screen (impossible unless you run a custom ROM to change stock buttons) and B) Keep the brightness turned down. This won't stop burn in but will slow it.

 

[VincentAnoid]

Well, 2 things....

1. AMOLED screens all have some image retention, but for the most part it is temporary and will fade out in a short time.

2. AMOLED screens are subject to burn-in like most plasma TV's. It is possible that over time you will see permanent "artifacts". The best way to avoid this is to A) not keep static images on the screen (impossible unless you run a custom ROM to change stock buttons) and B) Keep the brightness turned down. This won't stop burn in but will slow it.

Thank you for the tips. I'm sure the benefits of visibility and power saving etc outweigh LCD. Thats why all the high end phones use them. I turn my brightness down always and its possible to move the stock buttons by rotating the screen once in a while.