8/4/25, 11:04 AM Image persistence - Wikipedia

Image persistence
Image persistence, or image retention, is a phenomenon in LCD and plasma displays
where unwanted visual information is shown which corresponds to a previous state of the
display. It is the flat-panel equivalent of screen burn-in. Unlike screen burn-in, the effects are
usually temporary and often not visible without close inspection. Plasma displays experiencing
severe image persistence can result in screen burn-in instead.

Image persistence can occur as easily as having something remain unchanged on the screen in
the same location for a duration of even 10 minutes, such as a web page or document. Minor
cases of image persistence are generally only visible when looking at darker areas on the
screen, and usually invisible to the eye during ordinary computer use.
Detail of a TFT display showing whole
screen persistence artifacts
Cause
Liquid crystals have a natural relaxed state. When a voltage is applied they rearrange
themselves to block certain light waves. If left with the same voltage for an extended period of
time (e.g. displaying a pointer or a taskbar in one place, or showing a picture for an extended
period of time), the liquid crystals can develop a tendency to stay in one position. This ever-so-
slight tendency to stay arranged in one position can throw the requested color off by a slight
degree, which causes the image to look like the traditional "burn-in" on phosphor based
displays.

The cause of LCD image retention is different from phosphor aging as in CRTs, but the visual
phenomenon is the same: uneven use of display pixels. Slight LCD image retention can be
recovered. When severe image retention occurs, the liquid crystal molecules have been TFT display showing persistence artifacts
polarized and cannot rotate in the electric field, so they cannot be recovered.

The cause of this tendency is unclear. It might be due to various factors, including accumulation
of ionic impurities inside the LCD, impurities introduced during the fabrication of the LCD,
imperfect driver settings, electric charge building up near the electrodes,[1][2] parasitic
capacitance,[3] or a DC voltage component that occurs unavoidably in some display pixels owing
to anisotropy in the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal.[4]

Prevention and treatment

Image persistence on a BenQ
Image persistence can be reversed by allowing the liquid crystals to relax and return to their GW2765HT IPS LCD monitor
relaxed state, such as by turning off the monitor for a sufficiently long period of time (at least a
few hours). For most minor cases, simply continuing to use the computer as usual (and thus
allowing other colors to "cover" the affected regions) or turning off the monitor for the night is more than enough. One strategy for users
looking to avoid image persistence artifacts is to vary the activities performed on a computer to avoid static colors and hide elements on
the screen which are displayed perpetually (such as an OS's taskbar). Another strategy is the usage of a screensaver to help during times
the computer is left unattended. Covering the entire display area with pure white for an extended period of time is also a useful proactive
solution.[5][6]

References
1. Image persistence: LCD monitors (http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com/pdf/MIT_MDTLCD_IMAGE_PERSISTENCE.pdf)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20081227012440/http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com/pdf/MIT_MDTLCD_IMAGE_PERSI
STENCE.pdf) 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine. Mitsubishi Electric, January 2006 (?)
2. WHITEPAPER LCD technology and image retention (http://www.business-sites.philips.com/shared/assets/3dsolutions/downloads/LC
D_technology_and_image_retention_white_paper.pdf) Archived (http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160523095005/http://www.business-site
s.philips.com/shared/assets/3dsolutions/downloads/LCD_technology_and_image_retention_white_paper.pdf) 2016-05-23 at the
Portuguese Web Archive. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. ©2009
3. Pixels and Image Sticking (http://www.elotouch.com/Support/TechnicalSupport/pixels_image.asp). Tyco Electronics technical support
(pre-2008)

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4. K. Kusafuka, H. Shimizu and S. Kimura, Driving method for gate-delay compensation of TFT/LCD (http://www.research.ibm.com/jour
nal/rd/423/kusafuka.html). IBM Journal of Research and Development, Volume 42, Numbers 3/4, 1998
5. "Avoiding image persistence on Apple LCD displays" (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2807). Apple. Retrieved 18 Oct 2013.
6. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20200921003733/https://www.necdisplay.com/documents/usermanuals/ea275uhd_cd_
en_usermanual.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (https://www.necdisplay.com/documents/UserManuals/EA275UHD_CD_EN_U
serManual.pdf) (PDF) on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2018-10-05.

External links
Article on LCD image persistence (http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/a/LCDBurnIn.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20051211013238/http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/a/LCDBurnIn.htm) 2005-12-11 at the Wayback Machine
TFT LCD Burn-in (https://www.lcddisplay.co/tft-lcd-burn-in/)

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