All display technology matters. (Off-Topic)

by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Sunday, January 03, 2021, 11:12 (1206 days ago) @ Kermit

First, Kermit, I'm sorry you are dealing with it. I know the feeling when you can suddenly see a problem that's not easily fixed and it's hard to accept when now you are Bader meinhoffing all over the place. It sucks. (it's even worse if you are frequently with people who can't see it or don't care. My time working in a television station made me very tuned to digital artifacts and for many years I just could not watch Hulu or other streaming services because it would drive me insane.)

Every display technology has downsides. OLED has a risk of burn in (but you can minimize it by making good choices with settings. My screensaver and power-off settings are aggressive for that reason. And it's still better by far than Plasma was. The improvement in visual quality was worth both the cost and the extra precautions I need to take (The potentially shorter lifespan is kinda just another way of saying cost, as I see it, but if you are someone who expects to get a new TV every 3-5 years it might not really impact the cost for you).

It's worth noting that burn-in is commonly used to describe a lot of different kinds of image retention. My LG C OLED that we all seemingly bought the same month has developed some image retention, but not burn-in. The pixel refresher is still helping with this because it's not burn-in. (the tech is — if not wrong — misleading to say pixel shift does nothing. It does what it is intended to do: blur the edges of image retention to make it less noticeable during normal viewing. It's probably worth noting that my 5K iMac with an LCD screen also has image retention. No display tech is totally immune. (My recommendation to you is to not look up a guide on how to detect/notice IR. You'll just make yourself sad.)

Micro LED is the Next Big Thing™, and the hype is ramping up from the people who make it. Just like 10 years ago when every TV HAD to have 3D. I'm not saying it's all vapor, but consider the source and what they have to gain by telling you how awesome some new display technology is. In reality it's likely to become one of the best types eventually, but it will always have good and bad, like all the rest. Micro LED is still backlit, with all of the downsides that brings with it. (Viewing angle the one I care about the most) and all of the bad (and good) of independent pixel drivers, Not to mention that it's so complex it will only be in large displays for a while to come (which is where the advantages of thinness and brightness are least important to me…). So far they have also had a devil of a time making good image quality and calibration. If you keep your TV in Best Buy attract mode I'm sure it will look fine to you, but if you want balanced, even and accurate colors and brightness MLCD ain't it so far. Heat is likely to be an issue for a while too so I expect the first models will have fans (another reason I never bought Plasma) I spent years at work dealing with a truly huge wall-sized mLED that cost 7 figures so having it available in homes has a certain wow factor, but also I'm going to link all of the troubles and fragility it had that were my job to deal with to the tech as a whole - fairly or not. I also think where it really will shine is when it gets down to handheld size.