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We tell you the truth about burn-in
Even though the truth costs us the job.
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OLED TV repairs
OLED TV repairs, and an honest conversation about burn-in
OLED televisions are the best picture money can buy and the least forgiving to repair. We will tell you plainly what is fixable, what is not, and where the line falls — before you spend anything.
Board-level repairs
Burn-in is permanent
LG, Sony, Philips, Panasonic
What makes OLED different, and what that means when it breaks
An OLED panel has no backlight. Every pixel produces its own light and switches itself off completely to produce black. That is why the contrast is extraordinary and why the picture looks the way it does. It is also why OLED fails in a fundamentally different way from LED.
There is no backlight to fail — which removes the single most common LED television fault entirely. In its place comes a different vulnerability: the organic compounds that produce the light degrade with use, and they degrade unevenly. Show a static logo in the corner of the screen for thousands of hours and those pixels will age faster than their neighbours. That is burn-in, and it is permanent.
So the honest position on OLED repair is this. Power supply boards, mainboards, T-CON boards, HDMI ports, audio circuits and smart platform faults are all repairable, and we repair them. Burn-in and physical panel damage are not repairable by anybody, at any price, and we would rather tell you that for free than take your money.
The detail
What is repairable on an OLED, and what is not
The distinction is worth understanding before you spend.
Power supply faults — repairable
OLED power supplies fail for the same reasons every other power supply fails: surge, heat, capacitor age. They are repairable, often at component level.
Mainboard and smart platform faults — repairable
Boot loops, app failures, dead HDMI ports, audio faults and connectivity problems are all mainboard territory, and all fixable.
T-CON and panel drive faults — often repairable
Lines, bands and half-screen faults sometimes trace to the T-CON board rather than the panel. Where they do, we can fix them.
Burn-in — not repairable
Permanent, uneven degradation of the organic pixels. No repair exists. Anyone claiming otherwise is misleading you. Pixel-refresh cycles help with temporary image retention, not with true burn-in.
Cracked or damaged panels — not repairable
An OLED panel is the overwhelming majority of the television’s cost. A replacement panel exceeds the price of a new set. We do not do it, and we do not buy broken televisions.
Vertical banding and pink or green tints — it depends
Sometimes a T-CON fault, which is repairable. Sometimes panel-level degradation, which is not. Diagnosis tells us which, and we will not guess with your money.
What you get
Our approach to OLED
Honest, and careful.
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Board-level repair where it applies
Power, mainboard, T-CON and inputs.
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Check the warranty first
Premium OLEDs are often still covered. We will point that out.
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Careful handling
OLED panels are extremely fragile. We use two technicians, always.
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Realistic advice on value
OLEDs are expensive. Some repairs are worth it; some are not.
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Preventative guidance
How to use pixel-shift and screen savers to protect the panel.
Included
What an OLED repair includes
With rather more caution than most jobs.
Warranty status checkedBefore anything else — a claim may be the better route
Full board-level diagnosisPower, mainboard, T-CON and inputs
Panel condition assessmentAn honest verdict on burn-in and degradation
Two-technician handlingOLED panels do not survive being handled carelessly
Component-level repairRather than expensive board replacement where avoidable
Full picture and colour testUniformity, black level and colour accuracy verified
Our process
How we handle an OLED
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Check the warranty first
Many OLEDs are newer and still covered. We will always tell you.
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Full diagnosis, carefully
Board-level testing, with the panel handled by two people.
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An honest verdict
Including ‘this is burn-in and nobody can fix it’, if that is the answer.
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Repair and full picture test
Black level, uniformity and colour, verified before we leave.
FAQ
OLED TV repairs — your questions answered
The things people actually ask us on the phone, answered straight.
Not sure what is wrong?
WhatsApp us the make, the screen size and a short video of what the TV is doing. We can usually narrow the fault down before a technician is even dispatched.
WhatsApp 063 866 0971Can OLED burn-in be repaired?
No. Burn-in is permanent, uneven degradation of the organic pixels themselves, and there is no repair for it — not by us, not by the manufacturer, not by anybody. Pixel-refresh and panel-refresh cycles built into the television can clear temporary image retention, which looks similar, but they cannot reverse true burn-in.
How do I tell burn-in from image retention?
Image retention fades after the television has displayed different content for a while, or after running the built-in pixel refresh cycle. Burn-in does not fade, ever. If a faint news ticker or channel logo is still visible after a day of normal viewing, that is burn-in.
Is it worth repairing an OLED TV?
Frequently, yes. OLEDs are expensive televisions, and a power supply or mainboard repair typically costs a small fraction of replacing one. Where the fault is panel-level — burn-in or physical damage — the answer becomes no, and we will say so plainly.
What causes OLED burn-in?
Static content displayed for very long periods: channel logos, news tickers, game HUDs, a paused screen left on for hours. Modern OLEDs have pixel-shifting and logo-dimming features to mitigate it, and they help considerably if you leave them enabled.
Do you repair cracked OLED screens?
No. An OLED panel is the vast majority of the television’s value, and a replacement panel costs more than a new set. We do not repair cracked screens on any television, and we do not buy broken TVs.
My OLED has vertical bands. Can that be fixed?
Sometimes. If the fault is on the T-CON board or its connections, yes. If it is panel-level degradation, no. Only a proper diagnosis can tell you which, and we will not guess with your money.
Book a TV technician
An honest verdict on your OLED
Send us a photo of the screen. We will tell you whether it is repairable, and we will tell you if it is not.
OLED board-level repairs · LG, Sony, Philips and Panasonic
Contact
Speak to a TV technician, not a call centre
- Call us
- 0861 995 085Open 24 hours · 7 days a week
- 063 866 0971Send a short video of the fault — it speeds everything up.
- Where we work
- Johannesburg, Pretoria, Sandton, Centurion, Midrand, the East Rand and the West RandSee every area we cover →