Anyone logged a massive amount of time playing wow with an OLED monitor? I have a couple of OLED TVs and have played quite a few hours of various games on them and have zero issues. But none of those game have anywhere near the hours I put into wow. So anyone had a OLED monitor for a long time and play wow a lot? Thanks.
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Don’t think this is exclusive to wow. Had the Alienware ultrawide oled. Unless you somehow get a static or very similar background on your screen for hours at a time you’re not going to get burn in.
My oled screen eventually got burn in because it auto swapped to my laptop and displayed an excel sheet for several hours. Even then it was just a small ribbon on the corner of the screen. Yes this happened multiple for roughly a year. someone had to point out that I had burn in.
Cant speak for other manufacturers but dell has burn in warranty and shipped me a new one.
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The first time I noticed burn-in was after I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. As you might or might not know, Windows 10 had the Windows icon aka “Start Menu” in the bottom left by default, while Windows 11 moved that more toward the center. Even after the Windows 11 upgrade I could still see the “burn-in” from where the Windows 10 Start Menu / Windows Icon was in the bottom left.
By the time I was about done with that monitor, I could also start to notice my healing bars and other WoW UI elements burned into the screen. The amazing thing is, this wasn’t even an OLED, this was a VA panel. I knew that if I could cause burn-in on a VA panel, that an OLED would be a disaster. My new monitor is a “Fast-IPS” panel, and has been very solid with no burn-in so far.
I’ve owned an Alienware OLED for almost three years now. I took precautions against burn-in as soon as I bought it—no Windows taskbar displayed. The background is black (true black), so the LEDs are off. I use a second LED monitor for all office work. I only use the OLED for gaming and watching movies.
I’ve gone through two long refresh cycles (red LED) in total. I haven’t noticed or seen any burn-in. The monitor’s warranty ends next November, and I’m a bit concerned.
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If you’re really concern boot up a gray screen and look for it.
IMO unless you do something stupid like me, I’m sure you have enough activity to not have burn in. I.e. tabbing in and out, zoning.
IRRC the Alienware monitor also does auto pixel refresh if you turn off the monitor or idle long enough for it to go into standby.
I often run a burn-in test video (about every 3 months or so). That’s how I can be sure I haven’t had any issues yet.
And yes, the Alienware regularly initiates a periodic refresh (green LED) after about 2-3 hours of use, which lasts between 5 and 10 minutes.
Thanks for the replies so far. To clarifiy Im thinking of getting a OLED monitor and WOW will get by far the most screen time. Far more then the desktop, any other game or app. That why I was specifically asking if anyone plays tons of wow and has an OLED for quite sometime. I’m talking lots of wow and monitor at least a couple of years. Pretty rare Im guessing. But figured I would try I was worried about burn in on my TV and it’s fine. But I have nothing on screen as much as wow on that TV.
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I also have the Alienware oled and I bought the extended “burn in protection” because I was worried about it.
I keep my brightness down a bit, do a pixel refresh every four hours, etc.
No burn in after a year of hard use thankfully. I couldn’t go back to a non-oled
I have the alienware 34 inch.
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Once you go OLED you won’t go back.
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I have played loooots of WoW on it, no burn in.
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I take preventative measures, including doing the several minute “pixel refresh” every four hours or so. And not keeping the brightness on max.
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Burn-in is still a fairly common oled issue. If you want to splurge, there should be some good micro LED monitors coming soon that have the best of OLED without the burn in.
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I just got a new oled this is only week three of having it but it does an automatic “cleaning image” cycle . So I’m not overly concerned and I also have warranty coverage if it does burn in.
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Dragging this up after my looong WoW break because it’s relevant. Same alienware 34 inch, no burn in still.
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I’ve been playing on OLED for years. But one important thing to know is not all OLED panels are the same or the same quality. RTINGS has done ratings on several monitors and out of all the OLED panels the ones that always test the best with the lowest chance of burn in are the LG’s. Keep in mind that a lot of manufacturers actually use LG panels they’ve rebranded. Samsung however makes their own panels
I’m currently on the 42" LG C3 4k 144hz. I went with it because it had the size and refresh rate I wanted. Also it has a dual firmware setup. So it can be used as a TV or a Monitor. Using it as a TV runs off the television firmware and running it as a monitor runs on the LG Ultragear Firmware. Another huge selling point for me is its glossy OLED panel which is light years ahead of Matte in terms of color quality. The LG Evo panels are one of the best OLED panels on the market.
I think Asus is the only other OLED monitor manufacturer with a glossy panel currently. I have had zero burn in. Just make sure you do the pixel cleaning once a week
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This is why I don’t switch to OLED screens. Too many issues with flickering and burn in, plus they’re around 1500 bucks. Old LCD screens still holding up, great image quality, no burn in issues and they’re cheap.
I hope this doesn’t discourage anyone. Like I said in my above post not all OLED panels are the same. Also OLED panels have changed a lot. First generation OLED panels were highly subjectable to burn in these newer panels are not.
Like I said according to RTINGS in their testing of multiple of Multiple OLED panels. The LG OLED panels had the least amount of burn in occur.
Also you can prevent these issues by if you do a lot of spreadsheet work on OLED. Immediately after finishing your work run a pixel cleaning. I’ve even had things that look like burn in but a pixel cleaning removed it.
Im on the LG C3 4k 140hz 42". It was the perfect size and was also a glossy panel which was exactly what I wanted. The only problem with a 4K screen like mine is you kind of need to be on a RTX 4080. RTX 5080 equivalent or better to get the most out of it.
LG and Samsung make some really good 1440p OLED panels. FYI if you get them from Best Buy you can get a warranty that covers burn in. The Amazon one does too. So there’s a little piece of mind for you.
See my above posts from August 2024 and present. Got an alienware 34 inch oled nearly a couple years ago, still no burn in. Newer panels are pretty good and man are they beautiful
We’ll see if the newer mini LED tech looks better
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burn in bothers me that’s why i avoid monitors that can burn in
Both of my two first LCD screens came away with burn-in by the time I’d replaced them (about 3-4 years of use) - the first one noticeably so, the second only faint but still visible on solid colours. Both times it was my WoW UI as I was a fairly heavy player at the time, though the first one had some task bar as well as it was eventually demoted to a secondary screen. To put a vintage on it, these were 17” and 19” 4:3 panels that boasted a “fast” response of 5ms, pre-dating GtG measurement.
Point is that things change. The first of my screens had far more noticeable burn-in, and by the third it was a complete non-issue - that screen (a 20” 16:10 Dell) was in use for longer than the first two combined, only being retired in the last few years when a transistor failure caused an entire column of red to be stuck on, and it never showed even a hint of retention; though the backlight had long since gone yellow.
If you really want to get pedantic then consider that the phosphorous in CRT screens (as well as FED and SED) can also exhibit burn-in. By the time they went colour it was all but resolved, but that doesn’t mean the underlying technology couldn’t have burn-in. Plasma can likewise be affected, to the point the retained image is still visible when the panel is turned off (it’s quite literally “burned in” due to heat). Simply put, every display technology on offer meets your requirement for being avoided.
I believe you have to be lucky with these kind of monitors. Last year I wanted to upgrade to OLED but after reading the Samsung forums for days I realize it’s risky. One guy even returned the same monitor 3 times (Samsung odyssey) due to flickering and burn in.
It’s also important to understand that not everyone plays the game the same way. If you play 6 different characters then there will be significant variation in your UI even just when switching characters. On the other end of the spectrum you have people like me. I play resto druid exclusively. Surprise surprise, it was my healing bars that burned-in to the screen.
Modern OLEDs usually have pixel shift or other mitigation that delays burn in. It doesnt stop it completely but it adds a lot of life. My friend has a LG C1 hes been using for like 4 years and there IS burn in. You can only see it on a grey screen, and even then only barely. When its anything but that flat grey screen its impossible to see it. He used it for office work through the pandemic and most of the burn it is the task bar and clock on the task bar.