ScreenTest.Pro

TV screen test

Everything here runs on the TV's own pixels — through its built-in browser, a cast tab, or an HDMI-connected laptop. Solid colors for defects, broadcast patterns for setup, uniform fields for burn-in.

Run it

fullscreen · a TV remote's arrow keys work too
Then, for the panel type: burn-in and OLED slides for OLED sets, gradient for LCD backlight zones.

Getting the test onto the TV

  1. Built-in browser — the cleanest signal path. Open the TV's browser, type screentest.pro, and drive the tests with the remote's arrows and OK button.
  2. Cast a tab — Chrome and Edge cast from the browser menu; Safari AirPlays. The TV still renders every pixel, so defect-hunting is fully valid; only fine banding judgments suffer from the stream's compression.
  3. HDMI from a laptop — the reference method, and the only one for judging banding and ghosting. Set the laptop to mirror at the TV's native resolution and run everything fullscreen.

What to run, in order

Start with solid colors: black in a dark room for lit pixels and (on LCD) backlight blotches, then white for tint and dark patches, then red, green and blue — a colored vertical line on any of them is a panel driver fault, which on a TV usually means the panel is done. Follow with the broadcast patterns: PLUGE in the SMPTE bars checks that the TV's brightness setting isn't crushing shadow detail, and PM5544's circle instantly shows whether the TV is overscanning — zooming and cropping every source, which is still a common factory default. Then branch by panel: burn-in fields and the OLED slides for OLED, the gradient ramps for LCD uniformity. A TV that passes all four is, pixel for pixel, a healthy set — whatever its picture menu is doing on top.

FAQ

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How do I get this test onto my TV?

Three routes, best first. Most smart TVs have a browser — open it and type the address. No browser: cast a tab from Chrome or Edge on a laptop, or AirPlay from Safari. Neither available: connect a laptop over HDMI and run everything fullscreen. All three drive the TV’s own pixels, so every result — dead pixels, burn-in ghosts, tint — is genuinely about the TV. The one caveat: casting compresses the stream slightly, so judge banding only over HDMI or the built-in browser.

What are the broadcast patterns for?

They’re the ancestors of every screen test, and still earn their place on a TV. The SMPTE bars carry PLUGE — three near-black stripes that should be just barely distinguishable; if they merge, the TV’s brightness is crushing shadows, and if they’re obvious, black is lifted. PM5544’s center circle exposes overscan and geometry: if the circle isn’t round or the edge castellations are cut off, the TV is zooming the picture and every source is being cropped and softened.

How do I check an OLED TV for burn-in?

Uniform fields, dark room: the burn-in test paused on gray shows channel logos and score bugs as darker ghosts, and the OLED test adds the near-black slides where wear appears first. On a used set, this is the single most valuable five minutes you can spend — burn-in is permanent, invisible in the showroom’s vivid demo loop, and exactly what the seller’s content history determines.

Motion looks smeary or weirdly smooth — is the panel bad?

Check the processing before blaming the glass. TVs ship with motion interpolation on (the “soap opera effect” — invented frames that make film look like video) and various blur-reduction modes; these dominate what motion looks like far more than panel response time does. Turn motion smoothing off in the picture menu, then judge. Panel-level ghosting on a TV used as a monitor is measurable with the ghosting test over HDMI.

What should I test before buying a used TV?

In order of expense-if-missed: full-screen colors for dead pixels and lines (dead pixel test — vertical lines mean a failing panel driver, usually uneconomic to repair), gray fields for burn-in on OLED or heavy retention on LCD, white for tint and dark patches, and near-black for backlight blotches on LCD. Ten minutes with a casting phone covers all of it; a seller who won’t allow it is telling you something.