Asus has just extended its OLED gaming monitor warranty to now cover burn-in problems for a period of three years, having introduced cover that lasts two years just just a few days ago. That’s seemingly because in the intervening time MSI said its own warranties would offer the longer three-year period, and Asus wasn’t to be out done.
Asus and MSI have been rivals for many years, with the two firms constantly in battle to produce the best motherboards, best graphics cards, best gaming laptops, and even best gaming handhelds from their respective Taipei-based headquarters. While that battle has sometimes left consumers worse off – such as with the recent rival cable-free motherboard standards of Asus BTF and MSI Project Zero – the latest development is one that should benefit us all.
As we explained in our coverage of the initial Asus OLED burn-in warranty update, and the subsequent MSI OLED burn-in warranty story, burn-in is a problem that affects all OLED screens and can result in permanent visible marks on the screen. It occurs when the display has been regularly showing the same image – particularly if it’s bright – for long periods. So, in-game HUDs and Windows taskbars are a nightmare for OLED screens.
Previously, despite these concerns, Asus and MSI hadn’t covered the onset of burn-in for their OLED gaming monitors, but that changed two days ago when Asus updated its warranty scheme. At that time, Asus declared that users can return a monitor if burn-in occurs within the first two years of use. However, yesterday MSI announced it was adding a three-year period of cover for its OLED monitors, and now Asus has of course had to match it.
The end result is that anyone looking to buy an OLED gaming monitor from either Asus or MSI will now benefit from even longer coverage than they probably would have got if these two companies hadn’t explicitly tried to outdo each other. There is one major caveat right now, though, which is that Asus has only added this extended three-year period to one monitor so far, the Asus ROG Swift PC32UGCM. Whether the company extends cover to its whole OLED range remains to be seen.
As for other OLED gaming monitor manufacturers, the likes of LG and Samsung already offered burn-in cover. However, with many more manufacturers announcing a wider range of OLED screens this year, it’s good to see monitor makers starting to compete on this crucial point.
If you simply aren’t open to risking OLED burn-in, there are of course many other gaming displays from which to choose, with our best gaming monitor guide highlighting the best screens currently available, while our coverage from CES 2024 includes a wealth of new gaming monitor announcements.