When to Recharge Plasmas
The idea that a plasma screen will burn out before the owner can get his money's worth out of a television forces some to opt for LCD TVs or other televisions. It is true that the plasma will experience burn out. Just like a car, the value begins to depreciate after its first use. There is a misconception on when and how to recharge the plasma once the burnout happens.
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Recharging/Refilling Plasma
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None of the major manufacturers build their televisions to recharge. There are no refilling options even though some unscrupulous electronics stores may try to sell consumers warranties that guarantee a recharge or a refill when the pixel cells begin to fade. The televisions have seals with a black striping and ribbing to prevent tampering, and for the safety for the user.
Fading Process
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The individual pixels produce their own blues, greens, and reds which produce the color screen. When individual pixels die, they go to a solid green, which is naked to the eye, and eventually black. Pixel outage isn't noticeable for years.
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Life Expectancy
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Manufacturers promise that plasma televisions can run for 20,000-30,000 hours without any visible changes in the viewing experience. After that, the system will operate at a 50 percent its original peak performance which is still quality television viewing. You should be able to enjoy 17 years of viewing before there are visible problems.
Precautions
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Avoid pausing movies as you're watching them. The still picture could be burned into the pixel cells permanently. It may be possible to play images in grayscale to try to erase the burn. This is called phosphor burn. Watch movies and television in widescreen format as often as possible.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Plasma panel image by Nikolay Okhitin from Fotolia.com
