Prevent plasma burn-in
2004/12/01 12:25:01
I am looking at purchasing a new TV and am interested in a plasma. Someone told me today about burn-in. What is the average life expectancy of a plasma TV? Should I even worry about it?
-- Submitted by: David M.
Answer by:
David Katzmaier, CNET.com
You don't have anything to worry about during normal use and if you take a couple of precautions, you can make sure your plasma lasts as long as possible:
- Reduce contrast to around 50 per cent.
- Avoid keeping a static (unmoving) image on the screen for too long, especially during the first few hundred hours of viewing, when the new phosphors in a plasma are particularly vulnerable to uneven wear, or burn-in.
As for longevity, Panasonic, LG and Philips all say they have improved the overall life span of their newest plasmas to 60,000 hours (more than 20 years if you watch for 8 hours per day) before the panel fades to half-brightness, which is twice as much as previous reports and generally equals the life span claimed for flat-panel LCDs. I don't trust those numbers completely--and I don't know of any credible third-party studies--but the point is that new plasmas should last a good long time.
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