Plasma TV Burn-In
Plasma Burn-In was a somewhat serious problem with the first plasma display models. However, in the past years great improvements have been made to the technology, latest flat-panel plasma TVs being very resistant to the burn-in phenomenon. Today’s plasma TVs are not burn-in proof though, the risk to develop this annoying problem existing in all displays based on phosphors. However, the chance to get permanent burn-in on the latest TVs is slim to none if you don’t abuse it. You don’t have to retain yourself from playing games on your plasma nor do you have to switch the channel every five minutes. You can use your TV as you like, and you don’t even have to think about the chance of getting plasma burn-in as long as you follow a few common sense rules.
What Exactly is Burn-In
- TV Burn-In
- Plasma TV burn-in is a permanent disfigurement of the screen, visible in one or more places. It is caused by differential aging of the pixels, some of them producing brighter light than others. Burn-in usually appears when the same picture is displayed on the screen for long periods of time.
As you see, burn-in has to do with pixel aging - some pixels age much more than others. Let me explain that. Any TV or screen ages in time. Its colors become more faded and its brightness decreases. Because this is a very slow process you don’t get to realize it. Since all pixels “work” the same amount of time, in order for them to age at a different pace, some must “work” more than others. The darker a pixel is, the less work it does and the less it ages. The brighter the pixel is, the more work it performs and the more it ages. This aging happens because the phosphor inside the pixel consumes itself when producing light. In a way the pixel is like a matchstick. You light it and for a while it makes a big flame, then the flame decreseas in intensity, and eventually it “dies”. You don’t have to worry that your plasma TV will age and the picture will dissapear. The average lifespan of a plasma TV is 60,000 hours. And the lifespan is the time untill the screen reaches half its original intensity. You’re very likelly to change your TV with a new one way before it gets “tired”.
With this in mind, imagine a white square being displayed in the middle of the screen while the rest is black. The pixels that make the white square will “fire” at maximum intensity, consuming themselves faster than the black pixels. After a number of days, they will be more aged than the black pixels and they will produce less light than they did initially. If at this point you would display a normal image, like a photo, or a movie on the screen, the square area in the middle would be more faded. That is burn-in. If you replace the white square in the middle with a channel logo, the whole situation remains the same. Also, it can happen the other way around too - a black square on a white background. That’s also burn-in. Even if most of the screen is aged more than a small portion of it, the result appears the same.
Burn-in vs Image Retention
Sometimes both terms are used to describe the same thing, other times they are used to describe the same thing. Most of the time, plasma TV manufacturers use “image retention” over burn-in. I won’t start a polemic regarding which is correct when, but I will tell you there are two types of burn-in or image retention.
Permanent vs Temporary
It is very likelly that a plasma TV will have a temporary image retention. This is most likelly to happen when the TV is new and the pixels are fresh. However, if you display something else on the screen for a while, the retained image will dissapear. This is mistaken by many with permanent burn-in. It is however something that should not warry you at all. It is absolutelly normal.
A real permanent burn-in is the one that is very visible and disturbing, and does not dissapear after displaying a diffrent content for a long period of time. If you managed to get this type of burn-in with a plasma TV from the latest generations, you did something very wrong with that TV. So don’t blame the TV or the manufacturer, but yourself.
Use the Anti-Burn-In Features
Most of the modern plasma TVs have anti-burn-in features. One of the most important ones is called “pixel orbiter”. Its purpuse it to prevent burn-in from appearing in the first place, and it is pretty effective at doing this. Turn it off, and you are the only one to blame when you get a nasty burn-in. With the modern, top of the line plasma TV models (like the ones made by Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung) the chances to develop burn-in with the pixel orbiter in action are close to none. I have knowledge of only one case when a Pioneer Kuro developed burn-in, and it happened when the pixel orbiter was off.
Another useful anti-burn-in feature, is the one that makes the color of the sidebars of 4:3 content gray instead of black. It is recommended that you select this option when watching 4:3 content. Some people don’t like the lighter color on the sides though, so they leave them black. I haven’t heard of many case where burn-in occured from this. If you don’t watch 4:3 content in the majority of time, you can probably leave them black without risking burn-in.
White wash, is another anti-burn in feature. Less important than the ones above because it’s role is to fix not to prevent. And it is not very effective either. It acts by moving a white or light gray bar across the screen, performing a uniform accelerated aging of the pixels and trying to level out their brightness. While it is great to eliminate temporary image retention, against a serious permanent burn-in it has little effect. You should not bother using this every time you notice small signs of temporary image retention, since variating the content you are watching is equally effective.
Computer Use
Plasma TVs should not be used exclusively as computer monitors. No matter how great a plasma TV is at resisting burn-in, if you use it mostly as a computer monitor you will get permanent burn-in. This happens because it will always display the same thing in certain areas (like the taskbar of your operatig system). Another reason why using it as a computer monitor is bad has to do with the fact that windows have white backgrounds, wearing up the pixels at maximum speed compared to other areas like the titlebars, taskbar, menubars, etc. If however you just want to use it a few hours a day as a computer monitor and you also watch movies and TV, in other words you mix the content, it won’t be a problem. Playing games on a plasma TV is also possible without risking to get burn-in. Many owners hook up a PS2, XBox, PC and play games without getting permanent burn in. If you play all day long the same game, you might get some slight image retention but after watching a movie or TV it is likelly to go away.
Plasma TV Break-In
Break-in consists of a set of steps you should make right after you bought your plasma TV. Its purpose is to slowly prepare the TV for regular watching. During the break-in period, you will have to limit yourself a bit in regard to how you use your plasma TV. The break-in should be performed for the first 100-200 hours of operation. You can perform it exclusively or integrate it between your regular TV watching hours. During these 100-200 hours, the plasma TV is prone to accelerated burn-in because the pixels are fresh and fire at maximum intensity.
- Select the appropriate mode when you first power up your plasma TV. Most modern plasma TVs ask if you are going to use them in a store or in your home. In “store” they are in “torch mode” having maximum contrast and brightness to overcome the extreme lighting and look good.
- Calibrate them or use the appropriate picture mode. Some of the models have a picture mode in which they offer best picture quality. Others need to be calibrated manually to obtain best picture. Whether you select just the picture mode or you calibrate them, the brightness and contrast should not be maximum but around 50-60%.
- Watch only full-screen content. Avoid watching 4:3 content or use the zoom function to make it fill the screen. Same for cinemascope content which is shorter than the screen and puts black bars at top and bottom of the picture. If you have to watch non full-screen content at least make the sidebars or top and bottom bars gray instead of black.
- Don’t play games on it and don’t use it as a computer monitor.
- Mix the content. If you are watching programs that have logo, news ticker or any other static elements don’t leave the TV on the same channel for more than an hour. Ideally avoid watching such programs in the first hours.
- Don’t pause for long times, don’t leave your DVD menu paused on screen, etc.
You can use the white wash function, if present, for the first few hours in order to wear out the pixels a bit. Then you can watch regular content, sticking to the rules described above. You can perform the break-in in one continuous run for the first 100-200 hours if you are patient enough. If you don’t however, watch regular content whenever you want and when you’re not in front of the TV (eating, sleeping, away) leave on the white wash or a full-screen program/movie without logo or other static content. Note that if using white wash function, you should do so for less time than the recommended 100-200 hours since it wears out the pixels at an accelerated pace and it accomplishes the same thing faster. Ideally you should use the white wash for the first hour and after that watch regular full-screen content without static parts.
The break-in process is recommended. However not everybody does it. Most people probably don’t bother with it and still don’t get permanent burn-in. It is however an extra safety measure, and I think it’s worth doing it.
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Very informative, thanks.
THANKS GOD DIDN’T BUY A PLASMA
After reading this…why thank(s) God didn’t buy a plasma?
Is there a way to fix a burn in line on an old pioneer plasma tv?
@kate: I don’t really know. You might be able to reduce the problem a bit but if you got permanent burn-in chances are not big. Try white wash function if you have it or display static for half a day or so and see if there’s any improvement. If the burn-in is very bad, not just slightly visible, you can’t do much. The thing is, burn-in is a differential aging of the pixels. To “fix” it you have to age the other “healthy/younger” pixels. Honestly I have never heard of somebody that was able to fix a serious burn-in. The key when it comes to burn-in is to prevent it. There’s another aspect to the problem as well. Sometimes the plasma TV might get temporary image retention. That looks like burn-in but is not permanent (it goes away after watching something else for a while). This image retention is common to new (unused) models - it occurs a lot when the pixels are young (during the break-in period).
@ARIAN: maybe to you it sounds bad but it isn’t. As I said, unless you really abuse the TV or you’re using it exclusively as a computer monitor or to play games the chances to get burn-in are small.
If after breakin period. If I brighten the picture, how much will it shorten the life of the screen?
@Tom: Not much. Under normal usage a plasma TV takes about 20 years to reach half its initial contrast and brightness. So, you shouldn’t worry about turning up the brightness.
Ive had my Samsung 50′ plasma tv for a little over a month now and I just noticed some burn in on it i set the contrast low until best buy comes out to calibrate it i play my xbox 360 on it and i can see some ghosted in images of ea sports and the score to game i was playing i was playing after i started that i noticed more burn in theres like a rectangle menu box to one of the games burned in and espn hd logo burned will the white was take of it or will i have to take the tv back cause i did buy the warrenty
@Kyle: If you play games a lot and you don’t watch TV at least the same amount of time it is likely to happen. Pioneer and Panasonic are more resistant to burn-in, it seems. But anyway, are you sure this is permanent burn-in and not just temporary image retention? Have you done the recommended break-in? Play full-screen content without static parts (e.g. DVD, Blu-Ray) or switch channels every hour for a couple of days and don’t play games at all. If the burn-in attenuates or disappears it is just image retention and you shouldn’t be worried. If that happens, perform break-in for a while and then return to your normal usage and see if it resists better to burn in. The thing is, if you notice the burn in to attenuate or disappear after watching a couple of hours of TV on different channels then it is probably just temporary image retention specific to any new plasma TV. Also make sure you have the “pixel orbiter” anti-burn-in feature turned ON!!! Without it burn-in appears very fast even on best plasma TVs. Good luck!
so how can i tell if its permanent burn-in or just image retention, i have been playing left 4 dead and they have static images like team health and item inventory, one of the only new hd games with out a fading hud. well i noticed lst night when watching tv,, i noticed a lil ghosting image of the inventory and weapon. its hard to see unless the screen is white. i noticed that i had my pixle shift set to 3 pixles every 4 minutes, i thought i changed it to 4 pixles every one minute like i did for my cable input. so i changed the game input to 4 pixles every minute.
sooo my question is will this light image eventually go away, should i try using the black to white scrub my tv has? its a samsung 50in plasma.
How to tell if it’s permanent burn-in or just a temporary image retention:
If you watch regular TV programs or movies (preferably without any static parts like logos or news tickers) for 4 hours or more and you notice the “burn-in” to become less noticeable then it is not permanent.
If you notice the “burn-in” only on black or white background but not when watching real/normal content, it is quite common. All plasma TVs get image retention more or less. The idea is to mix the content so you wear up the screen in an uniform manner. If you play a game for 4 hours, watch a movie for a few hours.
I HAVE A BURN FROM MY PS3 IF I CONTINUE TO PLAY WILL THE BURN GET BRITER.I GOT MY TV LESS THEN 30 DAYS AGO CAN THE BURN BE REMOVED OR REDUCED MY BURN PROTECTOR IS ON I REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
@DANIEL ROBSON: It depends what plasma TV brand and model you have and how much percent of the total usage time is represented by playing games. Pioneer and Panasonic seem to be the most resistent to burn-in. Samsung comes next, but some complain they got burn-in on such a TV. The other brands are even more prone to burn-in. Regarding how you use the TV, you should watch regular content (TV,movies) more than you play games. The more likely to develop burn-in your TV brand is, the more you should decrease the percentage of time spent playing games (especially the same game) on it. I can’t give you specific percentages/hours because it is impossible to know that. Also, make sure you are not having temporary burn-in (which is quite common and not a reason to worry). Read my previous comment for that.
I m doing the break in with a dvd from AVS forums…consisting of fullscreen images of different shades on an infinite loop.
Can you kindly review these settings and let me know if its ok?
i have picture cinema
picture 50
brightness 50
color 41
tint -4
sharpness 42
blacklevel light
temp warm
all other features off
PLEASE some shout out to me if there is anything i am doing wrong. I am at 6 hours right now and just started the TV back up after a 120 minute rest.
-x-x-x–x-x-x-x-x
an update….am at 25 hours now…..
using the above settings….
one Q: when the white shade comes on, it is clean white in the center but arouind the edges i see a slight (very slight) reddish tinge….is this a concern?
as i understand the white shud b completely white right? …..i hope there isnt anythg wrong here? ….
can someone please reply….
i run the break in dvd for 6 hrs at a stretch and then shut the tv for 2 hrs and then do it again….also let me know if this seems okay….
@anand: Sounds good to me. About the white uniformity I don’t know what to say. Play with the settings and see if you can improve it. It won’t affect the TV or have an impact on burn-in resistance.
thanks for your answer….i will call panasonic and see what they say….i will then report to tis forum and let u guys know what they say…..
I just bought the Panasonic viera th-50pz800u and am watching nothing but TV on it. I have had the plasma hooked up for about 4 days, just watching the HD channels, but leaving it off at night. Is it too late to do the break - in, and/or do you still recommend it with this set? Apparently it has the longest life out of any plasma with over 100,000 hours. Also, I have had the picture in ‘custom’ mode due to reading other reviews which has the picture at +100, brightness at +50, color at +50, tint at 0, and sharpness at +75.
Also, If i choose to do the white band, how long should that be run for since you say it takes considerably less time to age the pixels.
Thanks.
@ND: Yes, you can still do the break in. It is recommended to do regular break in for 100 hours if you have the time and patience (display regular content as a movie full-screen). If you want the quick ‘n’ dirty solution with white wash do it for 15-20 hours, a few hours in a row with 15min pauses. Break-in is recommended for every TV, even the great TH-50PZ800U which is highly burn-in resistant.
I have a Samsung PN50a550 plasma. I purchased it in mid-December 2008, and probably have between 100 - 125 hrs on it. Usually, brightness & contrast <50%. Movie mode (avoiding dynamic mode) & avoiding entertainment settings. All special settings to “off” (i.e. dynamic contrast, etc.). I am avoiding games and computer use, and am using the zoom feature to fill the screen as much as possible. Only once was there temp image retention (animal planet logo), which came right off following the scrolling bar feature.
I wish to continue my break-in, just to be cautious, prior to using a calibration DVD such as Video Essentials. When you mentioned wihite wash, I would assume you mean the all-white screen (also used to remove image retention) for breaking-in (and not the scrolling bar) I was also going to download the EA break-in DVD.
This model is highly rated, and the picture is excellent when my room is dark. It has a relatively ineffective anti-glare screen (i agree with some of the web reviews), which has been worse than i expected following set-up in my viewing room. No direct sunlight on the screen, but back and windows (& lights at night) visible. Following break-in and calibration, i will need to set-up a custom setting with a higher contrast, brightness and black level,just for daytime viewing, so hopefully, this will not significantly lessen the lifespan of my panel and increase the chance of burn-in
Thanks..
Very nice article, I learned that my problem is probably temporary, but I still have a question about it… I know very little about TV’s so I apologize if any of this might sound ignorant:
I have a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma television that I got a month ago, and it has been working great. But tonight, as soon as we turned off the DVD that we were watching and the screen was all black, I noticed a very slight burn-in in the top left corner, the white “Pause” letters from the DVD player (I went to get a drink during the movie). Now, I understand that burn-in and image retention happens when these things are left sitting on the same screen for a while… but the Pause thing was there for no more than 5 minutes. However, the lines from the black bars that border the DVD movie were also there.
I turned on my Xbox 360 to get onto a black screen again (a box with the channel number appeared and wouldn’t go away) and I noticed then after getting onto a black screen from there that the Xbox’s dashboard had also left a very slight ghost image on the screen. It was on the screen for maybe 30 seconds at most…
These things become impossible to see when something is on the screen, and I can only see them when I get up close to the TV to look for them, but it’s still bothersome because the TV is so new and I don’t want it to get ruined. Burn-in was the first thing I asked about when I got the TV and I made sure that it is on the right settings to avoid this kind of thing from happening. The brightness is never above 50, I’ll double check the contrast when I turn it on next to make sure it’s okay.
Some details I should mention are that the TV had been on for about 6 hours, a friend was playing a game on it before we watched the movie. Could the plasma in the TV have been hot and caused this? We turned the TV off and are going to see if it’s any better tomorrow, and I’ll try playing a full screen movie to see if that helps too. I might just be worrying too much, and probably am. This could happen constantly with plasmas and maybe I just didn’t notice it before. I just saved a lot of money for a while so that we could get it, and it’s our first HDTV so I’m hoping to baby it enough to keep it lasting for a long while.
@Joe: If you keep using it like that for about 100 hours more, you should be pretty safe. Remember however that even after break-in it can still get a burn-in if you “abuse” it with static content for long periods of time. Also make sure the pixel orbiter is activated (if you have that option).
By “white wash” I was referring at the white scrolling bar. However, the white full screen works as well. The thing is, the white full screen may actually be white in the middle and light gray around edges. So it will not age the pixels at exactly the same rate. If the TV manual has a section on burn-in or break-in recommended by Samsung follow their recommendations over mine.
Don’t worry about higher brightness and contrast. If you need it to look good just do it. The TV reaches half intensity after a few thousand hours and you are very likely to change it until that happens. With average to heavy usage it will easily last over 10 years. So don’t worry about aging.
@T. Miller: Yeah, you are worrying too much. What you are describing is perfectly normal. It is the temporary image retention I was talking about. If you activate white wash for a few minutes you will see it goes away. But don’t activate white wash all the time just because you notice a bit of temporary image retention when the TV is black. Just change the channel or the game you are playing and that temporary image retention will go away after a while in a natural way.
The most important permanent burn-in prevention method is to have pixel orbiter enabled (if you have it) and just mix the content / change channels / don’t use the TV just for playing the same game. That’s pretty natural and requires no special attention or care. If plasma TVs would get burn in easy, everybody would end up with burn in. Plus, you have a Panasonic and if it is one of the newer models it is extremely unlikely to end up with serious permanent burn-in on it. Pioneer and Panasonic are the most resistant to burn-in.
thanks for all the time and thought you put into these guides.
I’m just getting into my new Panasonic Z85U 50″ plasma…watching the Weather Channel now is breathtaking.
HDMI cables seemed to make a big difference over the component. Waiting for my Samsung BD2500 blu-ray player to get here from Newegg so I can start watching movies. It streams through wireless from Netflix too, very cool.
The Panasonic is a beautiful, beautiful set. I’m using Custom, picture 100, brightness and color 50, tint 0 sharpness 70 and it’s spectacular. Like the people will step right off the screen.
Using full screen for the first 100 hours is something I’ve read on other sites, so i’m doing that.
I am so happy with my Panasonic, I paid $1500 for it and it’s the best investment in entertainment I’ve made, maybe ever. Hell, if i watch 300 movies at home instead of going to the theater over the next 3 years alone, a distinct possibility as I can easily watch a couple flicks a week, I’ll have paid for all of it, even considering the streaming or movie channel monthly costs.
Awesome!
Can you tell me what would cause a 3″ black vertical line to show up on my 42 Panasonic Plasma TV?
@Jim: Nice, I’m glad you like your TV so much. If I manage to find the time I want to review that model (and PZ80U). I will invite you to comment on that review, if you’d like that.
@Sigi: I can’t be sure but from what I’ve read around the internet it could be a problem with the circuit board. I recommend you find a popular HDTV forum and ask there. Good luck!
I am planning on getting a Panasonic Plasma TV for watching Blu-ray movies, sports, and mainly video games. Is a Plasma TV the right choice for me? Will I get burn-in from watching extended hours of sports (sometimes more than 4 hours depending on the game/sport) with the score box/ticker displayed on the screen? Will the HUD from my video games be burned-in to the TV if I play for more than a few hours? I prefer Plasma due to the black levels and color accuracy, but I’m not sure if what I’m doing will be worth getting a Plasma for.
@Dan: Depending on what plasma TV brand and model you buy, the time it takes to develop permanent burn-in can vary considerably. Most resistant brands are Pioneer and Panasonic and Samsung. 4 hours is not a lot of time so you’re safe. You can even play more. The important thing is to mix the content. If you play 4 hours, make sure you also watch TV for a few hours, so what is displayed on the screen changes. If you played the same game all day long, next day watch some TV. You get the idea. You probably won’t play a game for 4 hours in a row. When you take a short break just switch to a TV program. There’s a high chance you won’t get permanent burn-in even if you’re exaggerating with this, however that is my advice if you want to take the safe path.
Thanks a ton for your advice! I appreciate it!
Hi
great post a lot of good info just one thing…
how long can i play an xbox game at one time? i play games such as call of duty: world at war and fallout 3
i think theres a fading hud setting for COD: WAW but am not sure about fallout… so how long can i play it at a time and how long should i do something else in between?
thanks
@shash: It really depends a lot on what plasma TV brand you have. Pioneer and Panasonic are the most resistant. The key thing is to mix content and don’t play the same game more than you display other content on the screen (other game or TV). Play a game and after a couple of hours switch to something else and see if you notice any image retention (which is temporary). After you’ve noticed that some image retention developed and you switched to something else, see how much it takes until it becomes unnoticeable. The speed at which the image retention develops should help you figure out how much it is safe to play the same game and how much you should watch something else. Note that you could get temporary image retention very fast (1-2 hours), but the TV may handle longer times, as long as you do eventually display some other content. Experiment and see what you come up with. To also give you a specific answer, 2 hours of playing one game followed by 4 hours of different TV programs or other games is probably a safe bet. However, if you have a TV that is highly burn-in resistant for example, you could play the same game for 2 days in a row, then watch TV for a few hours and notice the temporary image retention went away. Most important thing is to always have “Pixel orbiter” function enabled. Otherwise even the best TV will develop burn-in fast.
thanks
well its one of the new 50 inch samsung plasma PN50a550 which i think is one of the best of samsung ( apart from the 62 inch version of it obviously). is there a limit to playing if there is no gaming hud? and yes pixel orbiter is on.
thanks
shash
@shash: I gave the HUD as an example of a static image. It can be something else that is static as well - crosshair, a TV channel logo, a news ticker on a news channel, etc. If you have absolutely no static images in the game, you can play how much you want without any risk.
From what I have read (and I remember) experiences of PN50A550 owners vary. Some say they played a game for 5 hours and got little temporary image retention which went away after watching TV a while or using the white wash. Others say they get more stubborn image retention after about 2 hours. My previous advice is still valid: test and see. Play a game for 2 hours, display a black screen, if you notice image retention switch to TV and see how much it takes until it goes away. Repeat the process increasing the time you play gradually (by an hour or so). I say to use a black screen to see the image retention because it is much more obvious on black background than any other color.
Good luck and please let me know what you discover.
Hi, great information here. A very good resource.
My question is about the pixel orbiter on the TH42PZ800.
Does having the tv set to HD mode 2 defeat the pixel shift function?
I do alot of gaming and enjoy seeing more screen that the HD mode 2 provides (the full 1080 pixel for pixel image).
I recall from my last plasma, the Samsung PN42A450 using the just mode defeated the pixel shift.
Is this the same on the panasonic in HD mode 2?
thank you.
@Howe: I don’t remember pixel orbiter being incompatible with mode 2. I might be wrong though. I suggest you to ask in this forum thread on AVSForum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1007175
I have a samsung 50 plasma i purchased in spet of 2008. i just got a ps3 and now im playing video games on it. maybe 1 to 2 hours. last night i was playing ncaa 2009 college football on it for about 1hr. and now i notice a little burn in with the espn logo, the aviator, and some other static displays. i havent had time to try and fix it just yet. i wanted to know what to do and how long does it take to get a permanent burn
@dj: If it is one of the newer generation Samsung models, just watch TV or movies for a few hours and it will go away. I assume that bur-in is visible only with the TV off or displaying solid white or solid black, right? That’s temporary image retention as I have explained above. Don’t worry about it. You don’t get permanent burn in after just one hour. Just make sure the pixel orbiter is turned on.
Just a heads up for those curious about playing video games on a plasma TV. I just fell victim to burn in from playing video games for to long and displaying certain things in the game. This is NOT just a caution to take. Make sure there is nothing displayed in the game that can create burn in.
Being a new TV. I was curious does anybody know if there is any type of burn in that does disapear even after a week or so? I was thinking it could be a long shot. But hoping for the best anyway. Thanks….
@M. Gregory: If it is not permanent burn-in, it will go away after watching TV/movies for a while. If you played a lot, and the burn-in is permanent and not just a temporary image retention, I don’t think it can go away. I have never heard of somebody that managed to fix permanent burn in. Make sure you have pixel orbiter turned on and use the anti-burn-in white wash / white fill if you have that feature. If you don’t have that feature, buy the Pixel Protector DVD and play the anti-burn-in chapter.
I have a Samsung HP-T5054 that is about a year old. In the beginning it was easy to rid the screen of burn in but now that it is older I am having difficulty removing the USA network log from the screen. I have tried leaving the white screen on for at least 6 hours but the image is still there. Is the black to white scrolling feature better than white screen? Is there any other methods that work better?
First off, great website.
I have a TC-P46G10. I havent noticed any burn in yet but was wondering if channel logos (i.e. NBC, ESPN, etc) will cause permanent burn ins. My roommate is really bad about turning off the tv before he leaves for work (which is after the time I leave so there is no one left at our place to turn it off). If the same logo or ticker symbol (ESPN’s bottom line or MSNBC) is left on all day will that cause a permanent burn in?
What would you say is the “worst case scenario” in terms of leaving the same image/channel/movie on the screen and having permanent burn in (not temporary burn in)? 5 hours, 8 hours, 1 day, several days?….just curious so I dont have to worry about my roommates poor habits.
Also, I have a PS3 and have set the screen saver to go on after an hour. However, the screen doesnt go black or have a rotating image like a computer or DVD player, it only dims the screen and still has the motionless images behind it. Is that dim screen enough to prevent a burn in if left on for long periods of time?
Like I said I have the TC-P46G10 which has the pixel orbitor, but I didnt know how effective that really was.
Thanks
@Paul: The white scrolling bar works well, however if in the manual the manufacturer recommends a certain technique use that. Unfortunately, you probably have permanent burn in (since it developed over a long period of time) and it is harder or impossible to remove. You can try the scrolling bar maybe you are lucky. You can also try pixel protector DVD though I don’t think it is better. What you can do is reduce the time you spend on the same program. Mix channels so you don’t have the same logo displayed all the time. Good luck.
@Matt: Panasonic is the best TV you can get in terms of burn in resistance. Pioneer TVs are better at the moment, however Pioneer exited the TV business so Panasonic remains to rule this market.
Logos and tickers can generate permanent burn in. It is just a matter of time. It will probably not develop permanent burn-in after a day, but if your roommates have this bad habit, it will happen frequently and that is where the danger lies. Mixing content and switching channels from time to time has always been the easiest and most effective anti burn-in technique.
Regarding the “worst case scenario”, I can only give you an educated guess. By no means should you take this as a rule or accurate information. From what I have read on forums and from what I’ve heard from Panasonic users, permanent burn-in doesn’t happen easily. Their experiences vary a lot. On average I would say it takes weeks. I am pretty confident you will not get permanent burn-in even if your roommates leave it on the same channel as long as you watch other programs normally for a comparable amount of time. As I have said, Panasonic plasma TVs are pretty resistant.
One thing you must understand is that permanent burn-in is something that happens in time. You don’t get permanent burn in in a day unless the TV is extremely sensible to this problem. Permanent burn-in, as opposed to temporary image retention develops because the initial image retention is aggravated continuously day after day, bit by bit. It is like you would have a small wound and every day you would scratch it or open it. Because of that, the wound would not have the time it needs to heal. Wound = burn in. Healing = mixing content and switching channels. I hope you’ve got the idea.
Best thing you can do to figure out how resistant your TV is to burn-in is to test it. Like cutting yourself and waiting to see how much it takes for you to heal. Leave the TV on a program that always has the logo in the same place and every few hours see if the temporary image retention has appeared. It will be visible only with the screen displaying fullscreen black or white. When you get a fairly visible temporary image retention start the “healing” process. Switch the channel every hour or every couple of hours, displaying any other channel except the initial one that caused the image retention. Every time you do that see if the image retention disappeared. That way, you can see how fast you get image retention and how fast you can heal it. It will give you a rough estimate of how fast these processes happen. Note that permanent burn-in could be much much harder to develop compared to temporary. However, finding out how much it takes to get temporary image retention helps.
Dimming the screen helps but only because it slows down the process. Pixel orbiter is EXTREMELY important. If you turn it off you’re asking for trouble. There are reports of Pioneer and Panasonic plasma TVs in showrooms displaying the same channel for weeks or months and getting no burn-in or just minor burn-in. If pixel orbiter would have been turned off, the story would have been different.
Make sure you break-in the plasma TV and calibrate it. Breaking-in the plasma TV will make it more resistant to permanent burn-in.
when playing my xbox 360 what setting do you reccomend I have my pixel shift on. I currently have it on 4 every 4 minutes is this sufficient? thanks for any help and advice you can give
@tom smith: I don’t know. Read your TVs manual for the most efficient setting. Also keep in mind that pixel orbiter helps but it’s not “bulletproof”.
Just bought a Panasonic PZ800a what are the ideal settings for the break-in?
Also whereabouts is the pixel orbiter located? i want to make sure it’s been turned on. Looked for it in the settings but to now avail.
Please note i live in Australia.
@G-unit: Settings don’t matter much fro break in. Just make sure it is in “home” mode not in “store” mode and reduce the brightness and contrast to about 50-60% (that’s where it looks best). The key is to change programs/content often so you don’t have static images displayed. Also make sure the content displayed is fullscreen. About the pixel orbiter, I don’t know where it is located because I don’t have this plasma TV. I suggest checking the manual.
Thinking about buying a new 50′ samsung plasma…but i am worried a lot about this burnin and ghosting. It seems to be a thing of the past but I play video games and watch a lot of sports…will this be a problem for me?
@Mark: Really now, how should I know?! It is clear from this guide and the comments I already replied that this possibility exists. But if you actually do get burn-in or not is a matter of how much you play games. Sports won’t affect you unless you watch the same channel all the time. If you want to be safe, buy an LCD. Samsung has great LCD TVs.
I’ve got a Samsung 50″ Plasma and I am very happy with it, but I am getting a coppery colour matrix look in the top right hand corner and only when flesh tones or neutral colours fall into that area of the screen. When there are blues or greens there is no problem.
@Ron: Is it burn-in from a logo maybe? I’m not sure I understand well what “coppery colour matrix” looks like…
Sorry for my confusing description, no it doesn’t appear to be logo burn in. I have the “Pixel Shift “setting on.
It is a constantly shape changing grouping of pinkish pixels and it spreads across the top right corner of the screen but only when certain flesh colours, yellows and neutral tones pass across that area. When darker colours, for instance, black, blues and greens pass through that section of screen they don’t appear at all. I’ve seen other websites that say the TV may be in need of a slight voltage adjustment by a technician. Any thoughts?
I have a samsung PN42b450Does the pixel shift setting only work when all the images on screen are still,or when some are moving and some are not?I can’t tell the difference!
@Ron: Sorry but I have no idea what could be. Even if I would see it with my own eyes I’m not sure I could be able to give you a suggestion. You should contact a technician or something.
@Garth: Pixel orbiter is not visible. It moves to fast for you to notice it, otherwise would be stressful. It always works as long as it is enabled, no matter what you have on screen (static or moving images).
Thanks anyway mate, I’ll get it checked out.
i really like new lg50s60 new plasma 100 000hrs of life picture looks better than panasonic 1080p comparable
my question is would you go with ppanasonic or lg seems lg is really trying hard really hard. what about burn in thay say it is not issue anymore but i dont know all i know lg has the best picture in my eyes
For the brains our there,
Me with no brain matter, have a question, i have been givan a 50″ plama. Reading all the “comments” conserning bad burnin, I have it on the plasma screen even when switched off very visable ! and when on still visable !!. In other words “permant” my question when is “permant” does that mean “permant”, “permant” ? or is there a solution ?. Might be a stupied question !! bus as said no brains at all…..well if i do think at all i use the wrong body part. I there is a solution what sotware can be used
Many thanks !!
@robert hurtos: Buy the TV you like not the ones reviewers usually recommend. If you already like a TV, that’s the one for you. Burn in, is and will always be a possibility with plasma TVs. Panasonic models are probably the most resistant, however that doesn’t mean you will get burn-in on an LG. Just keep in mind what you’ve read in this guide and the comments above and you’ll be safe.
@Jerry: “permanent” means “permanent”, “permanent”. As in “it doesn’t go away and it can’t be fixed”. You will find lots of recommended approaches to “fix” it. However, none of them works in my experience. Never heard of somebody eliminating burn-in completely. In the best case, some managed to reduce it a bit by using white wash or other similar techniques.