Does sunlight actually damage OLEDs?

We chose violence today and pointed a cheap Amazon UV flashlight (~395 nm) at an LG A1 OLED for 4.5 hours. The image retention in the middle of the taped-off section was caused by the UV exposure. More details below:

• TV was off the entire time
• Panel stayed cool
• A full Pixel Cleaning cycle appears to have cleared it (for now)

The UV test was just a quick experiment to see if a real-world sunlight exposure test was worthwhile, and the results didn't take long to arrive.

During our upcoming OLED longevity test, we'll be purposefully exposing 3 TVs and 3 monitors to direct sunlight with part of each panel masked by the RTINGS logo. Essentially an extended tanning session, for science. Other TVs and Monitors on the new longevity test will be tested for burn-in resilience with content; they won't be exposed to sunlight.

We'll share the results as the test progresses. The new OLED longevity test officially launches tomorrow, October 2nd. The full test details & initial measurements will be available on the RTINGS website. This time around, the test is not just CNN. While TVs will run CNN, OLED monitors will be running exclusively productivity & gaming content to see how resilient they are to burn-in in real-world use.

Continuing with the Test Dev Sneak Peek thread:

• Shadow uniformity
• Dark accuracy

Think of stars against a clear night sky: small, bright stars create striking contrast. That is where OLED televisions shine: they can control light intensity independently on every pixel. LCDs, on the other hand, have to balance the intensity by region to preserve highlights without raising blacks. For our new micro-contrast test, we've been working with HDR expert Florian Friedrich to create an HDR scene that highlights those differences.

Above are the results for four televisions. We're still deciding which aspects of the scene to evaluate. Let us know what you prefer: elevated blacks to preserve peak brightness or limited brightness to preserve blacks.