Although manufacturers have made great strides in reducing the risk of OLED screen burn-in, the risk of image retention inherent to this technology still exists. Therefore, independent testers conduct experiments on devices such as Steam Deck OLED to provide consumers with advice on the durability of the screen.
Preliminary research results from YouTubers such as Wulff Den and The Phawx suggest that the Valve handheld’s OLED screen may begin to experience minor screen burn-in issues after 1,000 to 1,500 hours of use. While that’s less than half the time it took for the Nintendo Switch OLED screen to burn out, and some heavy users may have noticed it, it’s likely to take longer for most people to be affected.
Screen burn-in occurs when static images remain on an OLED panel for too long, causing excessive use of pixels to darken and leaving ghost images of often-displayed graphics on the screen. After thousands of hours of gaming on OLED devices, the game’s HUD or UI may cause burn-in issues.
When testing the Steam Deck OLED, the goal is to simulate worst-case scenarios in situations that most users will likely never encounter. Still, these results can provide a useful reference point for potential problems.
Wulff Den conducted a test in which static images from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were displayed with color bars for 1,500 hours. At the same time, Phawx created a program to test various colors in SDR and HDR modes. It is worth noting that the 1000 nit HDR showed obvious burn-in effect after 750 hours, while the 600 nit SDR began to show slight burn-in after 1500 hours, with the blue sub-pixel being the most affected. , followed by red.
It is worth noting that the maximum physical brightness of Steam Deck OLED is 75% of the screen brightness. Settings above this level will digitally enhance exposure, so to reduce the risk of screen burn, it is recommended to keep brightness below 75%.
After the Steam Deck OLED’s one-year warranty expires, heavy users who play a large number of single games may face image retention issues that may cause problems. Fortunately, iFixit reports that the device’s screen is relatively easy to replace.
