Screen care. No guesswork.
This lab helps you check two common screen complaints — a bright dot that never moves, and a faint "ghost" of an app that lingers after you close it — and try a gentle fix for the second one. Everything runs on your phone or computer; nothing about your screen is sent to us.
Look for a dot that stays the same colour or an image that remains across backgrounds.
No rapid flashing. Keep brightness moderate. Avoid colour sessions if sensitive to changing light; stop immediately if uncomfortable. Do not press or rub the screen.
Still there?
Only a physical inspection can distinguish retention, burn-in and pixel damage.
See screen repair pricesWhat's actually happening on your screen?
Three different faults look similar from the couch, but they behave very differently — and only one of them has any chance of settling on its own. This lab helps you tell them apart before you spend money on a repair you might not need.
Image retention (the ghost)
A faint outline of a keyboard, app or clock that hangs around after you leave that screen. It's the display pixels being "tired" and slow to relax — annoying, but it often fades with rest or gentle colour changes. This is the fault the Gentle session targets, and the only one a website can plausibly help.
Stuck pixel (the dot)
A single dot that glows one colour — usually red, green or blue — on every background, every time. It's one tiny element stuck at full brightness. Gentle sessions sometimes free a stuck pixel, but more often it stays put. Use Inspect to find it and confirm it's always the same colour.
Burn-in or a dead pixel
A permanent dark dot, or a shape that's physically baked into the screen — like a status bar you can see on every screen, even in photos. No website, video or app can repair these; the pixels or the OLED material itself is worn out. If Inspect shows this, a screen replacement is the fix.
How to use Inspect
- Tap fullscreen, then step through Red, Green, Blue, White and Black. Plain colours hide everything else on screen so a single faulty dot can't hide.
- On each colour, slowly sweep your eyes across the screen. A stuck pixel keeps glowing the same colour everywhere. A dead pixel stays black on every colour.
- On grey/white backgrounds, look for a faint "ghost" shape — that's retention, not a dead pixel.
- Note roughly where it is. Switch to Gentle session and move the target square onto that spot.
How the Gentle session works
Instead of the aggressive rapid-flashing videos you'll find online, this session changes the whole screen (or just a target square) between colours every eight seconds — slow enough that it's comfortable to look away from, gentle enough for a tired screen. Run it for 5, 10 or 15 minutes, then let the screen rest and run Inspect again to see if anything changed.
If the mark is identical after a couple of tries, it's permanent — no amount of sessions will change it. That's your answer, and a replacement screen is the only real fix.
Being straight with you
- This is an inspection aid and a gentle first attempt — not a diagnosis and not a guaranteed repair. Only eyes on the glass can separate retention from burn-in.
- Nothing here is saved or uploaded: no photos, no results, no session records. Close the page and it's all gone.
- Stop any session immediately if it's uncomfortable, and skip it entirely if you're sensitive to changing light or get headaches from screen movement.
- Never press, poke or rub the screen — that causes more damage, not less.
If the mark won't budge, bring the phone in — we'll inspect it properly and quote a screen replacement before you commit to anything.