Tim at YouTube channel Monitors Unboxed has published another update on his ongoing burn-in testing of MSI's MPG 321URX OLED display. Tim revealed that the monitor is finally showing overall brightness degradation for the first time ever after 5000 hours of use, but on the flip side, the monitor's existing burn-in artifacts have only slightly worsened since his last update.
As a quick refresher, Tim started burning in his 321URX almost two years ago, and he's using it predominantly for work consisting of static desktop apps. According to Tim's video, the monitor is used 60 hours per week, set at 200 nits of brightness with the Windows 11 task bar enabled. The screen is also set to sleep only after two hours of inactivity to further stress the panel.
What's new for the 21 month update is a measurable drop in peak brightness. Tim revealed that his past seven burn-in updates (ranging from months 0 - 18) have demonstrated identical peak brightness of 243 nits for the 321URX. At month 21, Tim recorded a 2% dip in brightness down to 238 nits — representing the first measurable drop in display brightness thus far.
The display's existing burn-in artifacts have not worsened significantly from Tim's last update four months ago, but they do exist. The monitor exhibits a line down the middle of the screen, as well as burn-in where the taskbar sits. Color temperature has also shifted a bit, though not significantly since the last update. Out-of-the-box, the 321URX comes with a color temperature of 6441K. However, by the 12 month mark, the display's color temperature cooled down to 6352K and has remained around that level ever since.
One interesting behavior that is now very noticeable after 5000 hours of use, is QD-OLEDs "burn-in curve" to susceptible artifacts. According to the video, the monitor's worst burn-in artifacts started developing very quickly during the 3-to-6 month period, but since the 6 month mark have only worsened slowly. In other words, the burn in artifacts from 6 months all the way to month 21 have not increased that much, to the point where you might not notice any difference between the 6 month update and the 21 month update.
The good news is that Tim's 321URX is only displaying a 2% brightness difference after 21 months. That decrease is likely under the just-noticeable-difference threshold. What remains to be seen now is how this brightness degradation will proceed. It could either stay the same for the next several months, degrade linearly, or exhibit some other behavior. Only time will tell what will happen.
Regardless, this continued testing shows that even if OLEDs aren't immune to various types of degradation, owners that aren't purposefully burning in their displays will likely not see this issue for a much greater amount of time. Despite running the display with abusive settings for 5000 hours, Tim also claims that the monitor still provides acceptable day to day performance, to the point where burn in is still only noticeable in some situations.
If you want more details on OLED burn-in and how to avoid it (as much as possible), check out our previous coverage.
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