Image persistence, or image retention, is a phenomenon in LCD and plasma displays where unwanted visual information is shown which corresponds to a previous state of the display. It is the flat-panel equivalent of screen burn-in. Unlike screen burn-in, the effects are usually temporary and often not visible without close inspection. Plasma displays experiencing severe image persistence can result in screen burn-in instead.
Image persistence can occur as easily as having something remain unchanged on the screen in the same location for a duration of even 10 minutes, such as a web page or document. Minor cases of image persistence are generally only visible when looking at darker areas on the screen, and usually invisible to the eye during ordinary computer use.