Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but could someone explain the definition of "Ghosting" and "Burn in" ?

I get the general idea of what people mean but I think i'm missing something in translation when i'm reading the other threads.



Thanks

See the 2nd & 3rd pics here (http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/sony-reader-prs-500-hands-on-connect-reader-screenshots/) for some examples from the 500 (previous generation display) reader.

As a nutshell explanation of ghosting (the more informative term, in my opinion):

Ghosting is a residual "shadow" of the previous screen contents on the present screen.

This was more of a problem in the older displays such as were on the PRS500, the newer "Vizplex" displays don't have nearly as much problem with it. The older one usually only had problems with it when the display had been idle for a period of time, and a few "page turns" would make it go away.

As a real world reference, the old display's ghosting is fairly comparable to the "show through" of text on the other side of a printed page.

Thanks for pics and explanation guys!

I 'd like to point out that "burn in" is technically not the same as ghosting. Burn-in is where display a static object on a screen for a prolonged period of time causes a permanent ghost-like image on the screen. True burn-in really only occurs with CRTs and Plasma displays, though it's often misattributed to temporary ghosting seen on other displays like eInk and LCD.

Early LCD screens (TFT?) would also suffer from burn-in issues. I remember seeing it on some Compaq laptops in the late 90s.

Modern LCDs don't seem to suffer from it at all, but I'm not sure what changed.