When Nintendo annouced that the new version of its uber popular Switch console would include an OLED screen some doubts immediately flared about the potential for screen burn-in, which can affect the screen technology.

Although OLED screens have since evolved since their earlier days - such as the PlayStation Vita's OLED, to name an example - the possibility of burn-in remains. Burn-in happens when repeated exposure to a certain image, such as a menu screen for example, leads to a residue of that image remaining on the screen, and which can occur on OLED screens rather than, say, LCDs.

But is this something to be worried about for the Switch OLED's screen? Well, YouTuber 'Wulff Den' has put the Switch OLED to the test, as spotted by Nintendo Life.



The test involved leaving his OLED Switch on for more than 1,800 continuous hours. To ramp up the potential for burn-in, Wulff Den also used a static in-game screenshot from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a Hori SplitPad to ensure the console's display would remain on.

So what did the YouTuber discover after subjecting his Switch OLED to the same image for so many hours? Well, it seems the outcome should come as a relief to those burn-in concerns.

"There is no difference in any of the colour tests that I ran, you can also notice there's no noticeable burn-in marks after almost being on for 2000 hours," the YouTuber said. "The only difference you can kind of see is the white in the shrine ceiling, it's ever so slightly dimmer and the blueish-white has a slight green tint."

The test has received more than 557,000 views since the video was uploaded, in the middle of last month, and it's clearly assuaged some owners of the Switch OLED. "Everytime I put my OLED Switch down for just a second I'm putting it in sleep mode to mitigate burn in. Hearing this actually does relax me a bit," one comment reads, under the video.

Wulff Den has performed an admirable public service then and the YouTuber has more words to put those burn-in fears to rest: "If you're worried about OLED burn-in on your Switch because you have like 2000 hours in a game, I think you can relax a little bit. I don't think it's a practical concern for anybody. I think maybe in like 10 years now we might see like a Home screen that was in light mode burn-in on a display unit somewhere, but for the most part you got nothing to worry about."

Wulff Den is going to keep up the screen test to find out what will eventually happen, but for most people the possibility of burn-in on the Switch OLED seems pretty unlikely.



Posted: Jan 12, 2022 7:53 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/youtuber-switch-oled-1800-hours-burn-in-test/