Laptop LCD screen problems. Does every new screen have this issue?

Calavaro · August 11, 2017

Short back story.

2 years ago, I purchased an ASUS ROG G751 laptop. Price was great, performance and build quality was perfect for my use case. Very happy with it.

After about 18 months I started noticing the screen getting a bit of image retention, but I shrugged it off until the problem became too big to ignore. So I headed off to ASUS repair center at the 23 month mark, a month before warranty expired. They replaced the LCD 2 times, the mainboard 2 times and the image retention did not disappear. So ASUS opted to give me a full refund for 100% of the purchase price. WIN! Or so I thought.

With this money, I went ahead and purchased a Dell Inspiron Gaming 7000 (7567), with a very nice 4k IPS screen, Core i7 7700HQ, 16 GB RAM, 1050Ti... the works.

I was happy for about 2 days and then I noticed the same image retention problem as my previous ASUS G751.

Keep in mind that the new laptop is from a different manufacturer, 2 years newer tech. Basically a world between the 2 laptops.

Yet they both exhibit the same image retension problem. Exactly the same issue. I can replicate the issue exactly the same way (and so can you).

If you want to help me a little bit with your own data, please follow this very simple procedure. You should be done in 10 minutes or less. Please do this on your laptop. Desktop screens do not matter since I have not found any with this issue.

1. Set your background to a solid color. The color number is #333333 (RGB: 51, 51, 51). This is a grey color.
2. Set your screen saver time out to 6-7 minutes.
3. Open up youtube home page or your subscription page.
4. Leave the screen on the youtube page for 5 minutes and then minimize the browser window so you see your grey desktop.
5. Report back if you see image retention (basically outlines of each youtube video thumbnail. It will be quite faint after just 5 minutes of "exposure"). Please include laptop make/model/screen specs.

6. The image retention should fade away after a little bit of time, so the issue is not permanent.

I also checked with a Dell Inspiron E7250. 1080p touch panel, and it too has the same problem with image retention after just a few minutes.

Anyway, this could potentially be a big issue I think. Screens should not leave any image ghosting, particularly not a new laptop. I suspect all laptops may have this bug, but I hope I am wrong.

Pendragon · August 11, 2017

This has been on my macbook since I got it in 2012. A tad annoying sometimes, but I deal with it.

Emberstone · August 11, 2017

Got some image retention on an MSI GS63VR with the TN panel. Then again, this screen sucks in general so it's to be expected.

My old Alienware M15X from 2010 has none, though. Very good 1080p display.

As a side note, my iPhone 6S has issues with image retention sometimes.

NoobCase · August 11, 2017

You ant this a well known "bug" with all LCD screens... some to a higher degree but nevertheless. I've had a desktop monitor have burn in permanently of the wow ui from when I used to play it several hours more or less every day.

Calavaro · August 11, 2017

1 hour ago, NoobCase said:

You ant this a well known "bug" with all LCD screens... some to a higher degree but nevertheless. I've had a desktop monitor have burn in permanently of the wow ui from when I used to play it several hours more or less every day.

Not correct. An LCD may show image retention after some time of use, but should not on a brand new screen (like what I have).

Desktop screens do not exhibit this behavior, but almost all new generation (4 years or newer I'd guess) laptop screens show this image retention problem.