LCD Burn Mark

[Thoradin]

Hi all! I submitted an email with this problem, but today when I put on my headset I noticed in the lower left just about the system text (you know room is too dark, etc) it looks like there's a burn in the LCD, like it's almost melted. There is not damage to the exterior of the headset that I can tell and it's never been dropped or used for more than an hour at a time. So I wanted to post up and see if anyone else has experienced this? I just updated the 1.0.8.3 Beta but it seems odd if that would cause the issue.

@VibrantNebula

[HackPerception]

@Thoradin This unfortunately looks very consistent with what you'd see if you left the HMD near a window and the sun (or a reflection from the sun) was able to be focused by the lenses onto the OLED panel. The lenses in HMDs can act as a magnifying glass when exposed to sunlight. As the sun traces across it's path in the sky, it burns a line across the panel. It's a pretty distinct pattern and this appears to match it.

[Thoradin]

That's what I thought at first as well, but I don't have it near a window or any light sources (first thing I read when I got my unit in lol!) I just have LED bulbs in the room so it seems odd, but that is what looks like what happened. 

[HackPerception]

@Thoradin - Hmm - that's a tricky one then... The HMD isn't constructed in such a way that there are any major internal components behind the OLEDs that should cause a linear burn.

Here's what the back of the panel looks like via iFixIt's guide; there's just a flex cable on the backside. The panels are separated from the main PCB by a plastic mid-frame and all of the components are either square shaped or have EMI shields so I'd imagine any sort of failed component to cause a more rectangular or radial damage pattern rather than a linear one (and would likely brick the HMD).

In any case, the damage does appear to be pretty substantial and localized to that panel 😕

It's the type of thing that probably couldn't be isolated further without a physical inspection.

[Thoradin]

Hopefully, support can help then. I was thinking maybe a fan wasn't working that would cause that part of the head set to overheat but I don't know anything about VR construction. I'm looking around my room thinking what it possibly could have been. Since it's a Cosmos I do have some pretty bright LED lights, so maybe reflecting off my metal wire shelf in just the right way? But man if that was the cause I'm going to play the lotto this week.