How to Repair a Panasonic Plasma Screen
Panasonic is known for its top-of-the-line plasma televisions. Unfortunately, even Panasonic TVs are not immune to the various screen issues that plasma owners sometimes encounter. Common problems include rainbow-colored dots, image retention, burn-in, broken pixels and damaged screens. Some of these issues are temporary and relatively easy to fix while others will require professional repair.
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Instructions
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Remove rainbow-colored dots by dusting the screen.
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Remove image retention by running a DVD on a loop for up to 24 hours. According to the Plasma Display Coalition, image retention is caused by "an accumulated electrical charge within pixel walls" that occurs when a static image -- such as a network logo -- is left on a plasma screen for an extended period of time (usually two hours or more). The result is a temporary shadow copy of the static image on your screen. This shadow image will not go away on its own or by turning your television off. Instead, you will need to re-distribute the electrical charge among the pixels by playing different content for several hours. When choosing a DVD to run, look for one that has a display ratio of 16:9, or zoom the image in to remove the black bars on the top, bottom and sides of the screen.
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Run the "white wash" feature on your television to remove image retention if playing a DVD on a loop for 24 hours doesn't work. The white wash feature -- which is included with many Panasonic plasma TVs and can be found in the settings menu -- runs a white bar across the screen in order to uniformly age the pixels and level out the brightness level. This feature should be used sparingly as it will reduce the lifespan of your screen.
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Contact Panasonic to discuss what repairs are included in your warranty if you experience burn-in, broken pixels or a damaged screen. Burn-in is a permanent version of image retention, broken pixels are often a result of a manufacturing defect and cause black dots to appear, and a damaged screen -- which can be caused from pressing down hard on its surface -- can result in a sunburst or ring appearance. Panasonic's website has a support page with contact numbers, email addresses and warranty information.
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References
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