Plasma burn - How big a risk is it?

[admin_exported]

I apologise if this has been covered before. I had been going to buy a new LCD but after reading comments on this forum I think im going to go for the Panny TH37PX80 instead. Howvever I have heard a lot of bad things about pixel burn and i'd like to know how big a risk it is, I dont want to spend over £600 on something thats going to go faulty. Also my better half has a terrible habit of leaving sky+ on pause for hours on end with the tv still on, I understand this is the worst thing you can do with a plasma, is that right?

Any help is appreciated

 

[Diamond Joe]

You are spot on there dynamodrago, plasma displays will burn when a static picture is left on for any length of time (the same is true of CRTs), I believe that it is not possible to repair the damage, so if you do get one you're going to have to get your partner to be very careful.

I think I'm correct in saying that LCD displays don't suffer from this problem.

Caveat emptor springs to mind!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Probably worth doing a search on these forums for 'screen burn', which may give you a more balanced view on this matter

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting. I did the search and went through most of them, I read all about setting contrast and brightness low and avoiding dynamic settings and I'll be sure to do this if/when I buy the TV. What I really want to know is though, exactly how likely is the screen burn is to happen? Do I need to panic every time I leave a static image on the screen. I'll probably be looking to keep the TV for about 4 years and dont want to spend the whole time worrying.

Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

no you dont need to worry, if a static image is left on the screen for about 4-5 hours every day for a week then id say you would get screen burn... but why would you leave a static image for that long??? also most tvs now adays have facilites to help stop them, like screen wiping and white screens but id say screen burn is mostly brought on by negligence of leaving the tv on when not needed.

 

[Anonymous]

This plasma burn issue really confuses me, there seems to be a lot of opinion and argument, What about actual cold hard facts?

After much deliberation i have decided i should'nt go for a big screen as my room is only quite small so was thinking about a 32" screen, for xbox360/ps3, SD and movies, smoething along the lines of a Sony D3000.

However I have seen the Panasonic TX-37PX80 running which i liked a lot so was tempted to squeeze that into my room, but like a lot of the other posts it all seems to be one person says "plasma burn is a risk on gaming and leaving tv on", whereas another person will say "nah, no problem, can do anything with plasmas these days"

I do have a tendency to leave the TV on for long periods (in background usually on Sky Sports News or if i've fallen asleep after watching a film). What i want to know is will this cause me problems. It may seem a stupid question but what about if I left a DVD menu on the screen overnight, should i fall asleep or something like that. I do that a lot!!!

I'm sorry to ask about a subject which people are probably very tired of hearing about but I want a tv which I can just get out of the box, set up properly and just use without any "running in for x number of hours/days, etc" and any rubbish like that. Will I be able to do that with the above mentioned plasma?

 

[Andrew Everard]

The Panasonics have a screen wobble built-in, expressly to prevent the very small chance of screen burn happening.

 

[Alec]

screen wobble?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yup. The picture shifts by a pixel every now and then, to avoid the same pixels being illuminated continuously if a still image is left on display.

 

[Alec]

Oo-er. Cheers!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="TurtleT"]

like a lot of the other posts it all seems to be one person says "plasma burn is a risk on gaming and leaving tv on", whereas another person will say "nah, no problem, can do anything with plasmas these days"

I do have a tendency to leave the TV on for long periods (in background usually on Sky Sports News or if i've fallen asleep after watching a film). What i want to know is will this cause me problems. It may seem a stupid question but what about if I left a DVD menu on the screen overnight, should i fall asleep or something like that. I do that a lot!!!

I'm sorry to ask about a subject which people are probably very tired of hearing about but I want a tv which I can just get out of the box, set up properly and just use without any "running in for x number of hours/days, etc" and any rubbish like that. Will I be able to do that with the above mentioned plasma?

[/quote]

Couldnt have put it better myself (right down to the bit about sky sports news in the background). Im new to this forum and know this question has probably been asked a million times before, I did trawl through previous posts but I couldnt find a definitive answer. Andrew as you work for what hifi you obviously know what you are talking about, is it possible to give a definitive yes or no answer to the question of "is there any risk of plasma burn on this particular tv?". I am genuinly sorry to keep banging on, its just that if theres any risk i'll probably stick to an LCD.

Many thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

The screens currently on the market obviously haven't been in use long enough to show any signs of long-term screen burn, but screen burn is a lot less common in the latest models, and just about every manufacturer, Panasonic included, has a strategy built into its screens to avoid screen burn, such as pixel shifts and orbiters.

Most people only see screen burn on very old screens at airports, stations and the like, which have been displaying the same grid for many years, 24 hours a day.

Temporary image retention can occur if the screen is abused - eg left with a still graphic image for a very long time - but this will usually vanish after a short period of normal use. Some screens also have a white screen function which will erase these temporary effects very quickly, but these tend to be the ones designed for commercial use rather than domestic operation.

As I have said many times on here, I am currently running a Fujitsu 50 in screen - no tuner, no speakers, just a screen - that is, to my knowledge, around four years old, and it shows no screen burn and still looks so good that I'm quite dismayed when I see some of the latest whizzo sets in action. I'd make an honorable exception for the current Pioneer Kuro screens, which would be the only ones to tempt me to change if and when this screen ever fails.

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="TurtleT"]
I do have a tendency to leave the TV on for long periods (in background usually on Sky Sports News or if i've fallen asleep after watching a film). What i want to know is will this cause me problems. It may seem a stupid question but what about if I left a DVD menu on the screen overnight, should i fall asleep or something like that. I do that a lot!!!
[/quote]

Just to add to this, see my post here for my 1st hand experience of this issue i.e. I have fallen asleep many times, leaving a static image on my screen for over 8 hours and no issues with screen burn at all.