How to Maintain a Plasma TV

While plasma TVs might look stunning on the showroom floor, effort is necessary to maintain top-notch performance after you bring a plasma TV home. You will need to clean your plasma TV on a regular basis, as well as to adjust its settings for the room in which it will be placed. With the proper care, you can be well served by your plasma TV for many years to come.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plasma TV
• PH neutral cleaning solution
• Microfiber cloth

Protect Your Plasma TV with Proper Use

1. Adjust the brightness and contrast settings on your plasma TV. Depending on the amount of light that is in the room, you may not need to place the brightness on its highest setting. Reducing the contrast setting can also reduce the extent of burn-in and help maintain your plasma TV in the long run.

2. Minimize the length of time that still images are displayed on your plasma TV. This is essential during the first few hundred hours of use, when the plasma TV is most susceptible to burn-in.

3. Turn off your plasma TV when it is not in use. This will reduce burn-in, thus helping to maintain the video quality and enabling the plasma TV to last longer.

Perform Regular Maintenance on Your Plasma TV

4. Unplug your television before you start cleaning. If you have a cleaning solution in a bucket near your plasma TV, this will minimize the severity of an accident should the solution be spilled near electronics.

5. Read the instruction manual that accompanied your plasma TV to see if it recommends specific products or a cleaning schedule. You should remove dirt, dust and fingerprints from your plasma TV using a microfiber cloth. Cleaning solution should be used only on the area surrounding the screen.

6. Plug the power cord of your plasma TV back into the electrical outlet or surge protector after cleaning it.

Tips & Warnings

• Although some plasma TVs have power management systems built into them that will automatically turn off the screen if a static image is being displayed, these systems will not help if you leave your home with the TV still on.
• Do not turn your plasma TV back on within a few minutes of turning it off. This can reduce the lifetime of the bulb in your plasma TV.
• Be certain that your cleaning solution is pH neutral, as others may damage the coating on your plasma TV.
• Avoid using wood-based products such as paper towels and tissues, as they can scrath your plasma TV.
• Do not press hard on the screen of your plasma TV when cleaning it.