Burnin up screens near you!

November 9, 2006 5:58 AM

Will leaving my 5.5g iPod connected to the computer cause burn-in on the screen?

I'm a bit concerned with the behaviour of my 5.5g iPod. I've only noticed this recently because I've left it connected to my computer all day at work. When it's connected to the computer, the screen stays backlit, with the "Do not disconnect" message and flashing symbol on it. Will this cause burn-in issues on the screen, or am I being overly paranoid?

posted by antifuse to technology (6 comments total)

LCD screens don't get burn in. They can suffer from "image persistence" but it's not permanent and clears up when other images are displayed for a while (i.e. once you DO unplug your iPod and use it do other things).

If you get annoyed by the flashing image or if your paranoia gets the better of you, you can use Lifehacker's iPod screensaver tips.
posted by bcwinters at 6:14 AM on November 9, 2006

Well, that was easy! Cheers.
posted by antifuse at 6:54 AM on November 9, 2006

Any idea if the backlight remaining on will significantly shorten its lifespan? I noticed that after a recent update the backlight gets turned on each time I connect the iPod to a computer, it's really annoying since I don't normally use it and so have to turn it off each time.
posted by Science! at 7:29 AM on November 9, 2006

I do think that possibly keeping the ipod plugged in shortens it's battery life.
posted by filmgeek at 10:15 AM on November 9, 2006

If the question was whether having the backlight on shortens the backlight's lifespan, the answer is no, not appreciably. Your iPod backlight is a solid-state light source (LED) that will last virtually forever anyway.
posted by kindall at 12:50 PM on November 9, 2006

Yeah, that was my piggyback question. Thanks, I didn't realize the backlight was LED, makes sense though and apple.com confirmed it. Not so worried now.
posted by Science! at 2:23 PM on November 9, 2006