Best practices - Screen burn-in prevention

At SensorMedia, we manage thousands of retail devices worldwide through our SmartCircle platform. Our experience shows that while OLED displays (OLED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED, etc.) deliver outstanding visuals, they are also vulnerable to a common issue: screen burn-in.

This guide explains what burn-in is, why it matters, and the practices we recommend to prevent it, based on our work with global brands and large-scale deployments.

What Is Screen Burn-In?

Burn-in is the permanent discoloration of pixels caused by uneven use. It appears as faint “ghost” images—logos, text, or interface elements—that remain visible even when new content is displayed.

This differs from temporary image retention, which fades after a refresh. Burn-in, however, is permanent.

It is not brand-specific and has been observed on displays from Samsung, LG, Huawei, Motorola, Apple, and other OLED-based devices.

Why It Matters

• Brand presentation: Ghost images reduce perceived quality.
• Device lifespan: Preventing burn-in protects hardware investments.
• Customer experience: Clear, dynamic visuals improve engagement.
• Energy efficiency: Optimized settings reduce power consumption and costs.
  
  

Common Causes of Burn-In

From our field experience, the most frequent contributors are:

• Static images or layouts displayed for long periods.
• Screens left on continuously without scheduled downtime.
• Maximum brightness used constantly.
• High-contrast visuals (e.g., white logos on solid backgrounds).
  
  

Best Practices to Prevent Burn-In

1. Store Settings

• Define store hours: The store hours must be defined so the screens turn off or reduce their brightness automatically by the end of the day.
• Adjust brightness The brightness of the screens should be set as low as the store environment allows. 

2. Content Design

• Avoid white elements: If possible, do not use white, instead use a very light gray tone, this will prevent the use of all the pixels that are required to create the white light.
• Rotate logos and text to prevent repeated positioning. When creating your content, avoid static images, a common mistake is to place the logo in the same place throughout the campaign. Change the position of your logo between slides and even in videos.
• Alternate colors across slides. For example, if one slide shows your logo in light gray, the next can use a solid background color. Similarly, if one slide has a blue background with gray text, the following slide can switch to a gray background with blue text
• Use shorter transitions: When you are occupying a campaign with slides, use shorter transition times between them such as 5-6 seconds per slide and use slides with videos, images or solid colours between those with text.
  
  

3. Campaign Management

• Intro videos: 15+ seconds refresh pixels while capturing your customers attention. The intro video plays at the same time on all our devices, creating an amazing experience. Avoid fixed elements like static logos.
• Refresh campaigns regularly: at least monthly to reduce static repetition and keep content engaging. Even the most attractive video after a period of time needs to be replaced, keep your audience captive and increase the life of your devices.
• Automatic orientation: If your operation allows it, try to configure your campaign for an automatic orientation, this will allow when a device is rotated, texts, images, videos, etc. will change places.

4. Interactivity and Automation

• Differentiate device states: Set your campaign to perform different actions when you touch it or lift it differently than it does when it is on idle. For example:
  
  • Idle: loop promotional content.
  • Active (touched or lifted): Play fresh content or go to the home screen.
• Automate settings with SmartCircle to apply these practices consistently across multiple devices.
  
  

The Payoff

Applying these practices ensures:

• Longer device lifespan
• Lower replacement and energy costs
• Stronger, more consistent brand presentation
• Higher customer engagement

Through our experience managing over 50,000 devices worldwide, SensorMedia has gained extensive expertise in preventing burn-in and maintaining display quality. These best practices are designed to help you protect your investment while maximizing the impact of your in-store technology.