Friday, April 25th, 2008
I have been trying to get rid of some burn-in that has occurred on my plasma TV – black bars down each side. I was never told of any break in period, so I am trying to reverse the burn-in process. My plasma does have the burn-in protection feature such as white wash and pixel shifting, however when I run the white wash screen I noticed that about a third of the screen (in the middle) has a reddish pink hue – it isn’t absolutely white. The manufacture (Samsung) said that the pinkish hue or tint present in my TV set is not a defect, it’s normal to the plasma and conforms to specifications, and this symptom is occurred by front glass of PDP module. It’s thick and some portion of glass is looked pinkish color on white color pattern according to direction of watching. So even when I am watching something like hockey, parts of the ice look reddish pink.I am looking for another opinion, I was told by one technician who does work for Samsung that the panel needs to be replaced, but Samsung does not agree with this. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Robert
Hi Robert
The “B” word! A situation usually caused in a couple of ways. Very common on cheap, no-name big box units…you know the story, you get what you pay for and lesser priced units do not have the right gas mixture (usually just neon) and are therefor more susceptable to this issue. However, the main causes are poor initial set-up and lack of information from the store where it is purchased. Since Samsung is a quality brand I have to assume the latter is the culprit in your case.
I would have hoped that the store where you made your purchase would have explained a few things at the time of purchase. First, watching a 4×3 on a 16×9 screen will eventually cause uneven wear of the phosphors which is what caused the bars on either side of the screen. Your Samsung has various modes to make the 4×3 picture fill the screen, using these modes would have prevented the problem from occuring.
The other issue is the importance of a proper set-up when you first install your panel. Here’s the story…when a panel (plasma or LCD) comes out of the box it is in what we call “torch mode”. That is to say that the colour is usually set too intense and the brightness and contrast are too high. They may look good in a showroom in this state where one brand is competing with the next for the supreme picture as the most intense colour and brightness tends to catch your eye, but this is not how you should watch your set at home. A flat panel that has been properly adjusted by a well trained technician will offer a more pleasant viewing experience and will reduce the risk of “image retention”(our industry’s more market friendly term for burn-in). There is no “break-in” period for plasma or LCD TV’s. The pinkish hue on bright white backgrounds may be caused by the gas mixture (primarily neon) and it’s reaction with the phosphors (neon tends to glow red after running for awhile). It may be able to be adjusted (slightly) in the service menu for primary colour alignment, this may also affect the colour of fleshtones so without seeing your PDP I cannot accurately comment.
As for solutions…The “orbital” mode in this case would not have helped, it is designed for smaller items on the screen like the network monacker, etc. White wash may reduce the “image retention” but it sounds like you have already run it several times. We have a device that will generate a pure white signal that may further reduce the bars, you can contact me to discuss this should you wish.
I understand Samsung’s position, on one hand the actual panel is now “defective” but on the other hand this is not a manufacturer’s defect. Has the store where you bought it offered any assistance?
I hope this helps
Mark