We spend hours on our smartphones, constantly scrolling through YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok Shorts. But have you ever noticed those persistent "ghost" images or faint outlines on your screen, even when they shouldn't be there? This frustrating phenomenon is often due to screen burn-in or image retention (sometimes called ghosting), especially common on OLED displays.
It happens because static images – like your battery icon, Wi-Fi symbol, or even an OTT platform logo during a movie, or those "create" and "settings" icons while you're endlessly swiping Shorts – can cause the pixels in those areas to degrade unevenly over time. This leaves a faint, permanent impression on your screen.
An Uncommon Tip to Protect Your Display You might not have come across this quick tip before, but it's a great way to help "refresh" your display's pixels and potentially mitigate ghosting.
Step 1: Adjust Your Screen Timeout
Go to:
Settings > Display > Screen timeout.
Set the screen timeout duration to 5 minutes. (You'll revert this later!)
That's it! Your entire screen will now display a dynamic cycle of different colors for up to 5 minutes (or whatever you set your screen timeout to).
This process helps refresh each pixel by making it produce a wide range of RGB values, which can alleviate the effects of static image retention.
Important: While the preview is running, do not touch your phone. Even a single tap will send it back to the lock screen, interrupting the refresh process. Just set your phone down and let it do its thing for the full duration.
This procedure can save your phone screen as well as lite for your pocket.
The Bottom Line:
Don't Forget to Revert! After 5 or 10 minutes (depending on your chosen screen timeout), it's crucial to follow these steps:
Go back to Settings > Display > Screen saver and set it to None.
Reset your Screen timeout back to your preferred, shorter default.
Why is this important?
Leaving your screen timeout extended could unnecessarily keep your display awake for longer periods, potentially increasing the risk of burn-in if you forget about it. Give this tip a try and let us know if it helps clear up any ghosting on your smartphone display!
This can be done occasionally but a better tip would be to avoid using the phone at high brightness (>50%) for longer durations and keeping the same app or frame opened for long. Also keeping longer screen time out can also cause screen burns So avoid these things.
