Plasma tv burn in, and how to prevent it

Plasma tv burn in occurs when an image is displayed in the same position on the screen for an extended period of time. To understand what actually causes plasma tv burn in may be easier if you think of it as "burn out".

Plasma screens pictures are created when UV light reacts with red, green and blue phosphors in the plasma screen to produce visible light. Unfortunately the amount of light the phosphors produce decreases with use over time, so the picture brightness is decreasing, albeit relatively slowly. Now this is not a noticeable problem if the phosphors all "age" at the same rate, which they will do, more or less, if the screen displays randomly changing images. If though any part of the screen stays in the same state, as when channel logo's or black bars are being displayed, the phosphors relative to that part of the screen will age or burn out at a different and usually accelerated rate to the rest of the display. If this goes on for long enough, this area of the screen will be less bright than surrounding parts and you will have yourself a case of plasma tv burn in.

There are a few precautions you can take to minimize the chances of plasma tv burn in occurring, especially during the first 100-200 hours of use when the phosphors are most sensitive.

• Many manufacturers supply their plasma displays for some reason with brightness and contrast cranked way up at a setting known as "torch mode". Reduce this immediately you set up your plasma to reduce the chance of plasma tv burn in.
• If your set has a zoom function use it to get rid of channel logo's.
• Change the sidebars visible in the 4:3 aspect ratio from black to gray.
• Use image reversal if available.
• Channel surf every now and again, at least initially.

Manufacturers have also weighed in with a few automatic measures to prevent plasma tv burn in. Pixel Orbiting and Auto Pixel Shift slowly shift the picture around the screen so that still images don't stay in the same place.