Phosphor burn in on iPad Air 2

Question

Phosphor burn in on iPad Air 2

OK it is not literally 'phosphor burn in' but it is the only way I can think of describing it.

Remember back in the 90s when server screens (when servers still had screens!) had this ghostly effect from displaying the same admin screen for days and weeks? Well that's what's happened to my 10 year old iPad Air 2. It even spawned a new software industry of screen savers (flying toasters!) to counter the effect.

I was using an exercise app yesterday but forgot to close the app after finishing with it. It is one of those apps that disables the screen saver when running. Now a ghostly image of the exercise app is displayed on top of anything else running on the iPad.

Is this a known issue? I thought this effect was limited to antique CRT displays and wouldn't have thought a Retina screen from Apple would have been affected. The ghosting has faded a bit in the last 12 hours but it is still pretty distracting. Has anyone else seen this phenomenon and did the ghosting go away eventually? Many thanks in a advance for any info.

iPad Air 2, iPadOS 15

Posted on Dec 7, 2024 3:08 AM

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Answer 1

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LotusPilot

Level 10

311,543 points

Dec 7, 2024 3:21 AM in response to TalkingCatPhotos

Conventional LCD screens, such as your iPad's Retina display, are much less likely to suffer image burn-in (persistence) - however, LCD displays are not immune to this phenomenon where a static image is displayed for an extended period.

There are two principal methods to reduce the effect of image persistence:

1) Continuously display a white screen image for a suitable period. You will obviously need to temporarily inhibit the iPad's Auto-Lock function to keep the screen active:

Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock - set to Never

Keeping the iPad's Power Adapter connected throughout will prevent the iPad's battery from fully discharging.

2) Fully shut-down your iPad and set it aside, unused, for several days:

Settings > General > Shut Down

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Answer 2

Dec 13, 2024 2:17 AM in response to LotusPilot

Just thought I would give an update for the benefit of others who may in the future have the same problem. Your suggestions worked excellently. I switched off the iPad for four days and the burn in had faded to near invisibility. A few days on and it is now completely gone. However the episode has had one lingering issue. The screen now blows as its highlights so that anything white is dazzlingly uncomfortably white. But I found under Accessibility a way of changing the white point which has managed to tame the highlights. By fiddling with that slider and the brightness slider I can get a screen that is not too dark but also does not blow the highlights. Not perfect but it is good enough to make this elderly iPad once again functional. Thanks for your help

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Answer 3

Dec 7, 2024 4:01 AM in response to LotusPilot

Thank you very much that is most helpful. I found a pure white test screen on the web and have disabled the auto-lock. Any idea as to how long might be a good time to leave it like that? I have a 2 year old iPad Pro for my photography processing when away from base but the old Air 2 is still a good stay at home iPad so I'd like to be to resuscitate it if I can.

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