How to Prevent Burn-In on a Plasma TV

Given the relatively high cost of a plasma TV compared to a traditional tube TV, you want to do everything possible to increase the longevity of your investment. One problem to which plasma TVs are more susceptible than traditional tube TVs is burn-in. Burn-in refers to an image being retained on the glass of your plasma TV after a still image has been displayed for a prolonged period of time. While this remains a problem for plasma TV customers, there are steps that you can take to prevent burn-in on your display.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Minimize the Chances of Burn-In on Your Plasma TV

1. Check the manual that came with your plasma TV. Many manufacturers have taken measures to help customers prevent burn-in. Your plasma TV may include settings to reduce the amount of burn-in by changing the video output to a shade of gray or turning the TV off after a delay.

2. Adjust the contrast on your plasma TV to 50 percent or less. This can prevent the burn-in that is typically associated with the vertical black bars that you will see on your wide-screen plasma TV when you are watching a video source that has the standard aspect ratio.

3. Note the common sources of plasma TV burn-in. Still images can be found in news broadcasts if the network has a static logo displayed or any programs in which a portion of the screen remains unchanged. Your digital cable menu, if left on for too long, can also cause burn-in.

4. Turn off your plasma TV when you expect to be away from it for more than an hour. In addition to helping to prevent burn-in, this can increase the lifetime of your plasma TV and reduce your electric bill.

5. Enable screensavers on any video sources that have them. Many DVD players have a screensaver to which they will switch if the DVD has been paused for an extended interval. If you have connected your computer to your plasma TV, be sure that your desktop screensaver turns on after a few minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Some plasma TVs include full-time features to prevent burn-in, such as picture shifting that is not perceptible to the unaided eye. These features will not completely prevent burn-in, but will lead to a more diffuse image being retained.
• Plasma TVs are more sensitive to screen burn-in during the first 200 hours of use. During this time, you should avoid leaving a still image on the screen for more than one hour.