Read The Plasma TV Screen Burn Removal Tutorial Then Buy The DVD

Screen burn

What is screen burn

Screen burn is where the tiny components, called phosphors (see how a plasma TV works), of a Plasma TV age unevenly. Phosphors are meant to age but when an unsuitable or long term image is shown on the screen this can lead to unsightly marks at the worst and a less than optimal picture quality at the least.

Burn in, image retention and other terms.

There are many terms used to describe the same or similar phenomenon. This is especially true on the internet and in high street electrical stores. For example some sources would explain image retention and screen burn as 2 different things. One having a temporary effect and the other a permanent effect. Since it is possible that persistent display of what is temporary can become permanent and what appears to be permanent can very often be removed (so it was only ever temporary). In this manual we will not try to distinguish between the different terminology, more simply we will always refer to it as screen burn or burn. We will also use physical descriptions of symptoms rather than lots of terminology which might lead to confusion, especially if you have done some research prior to reading this manual.

First of all how do you know if you have a problem? Well if you have the 'Sky Sports' logo on your screen when watching a DVD then clearly this is a problem. More common and much more subtle is the almost unnoticeable screen burn which degrades the image quality and is the start of potential problems to come.

What you need to do is select the 'plain white' screen from the 'Screen Burn Removal” menu. It will hopefully be completely even and pure white. If it is or if it is not the following sections detail the appropriate action for your TV.

Removal or reduction of Screen Burn is achievable by the use of PixelProtectors' 'Washes'. They gradually recalibrate phosphor intensity uniformly. Sometimes this will completely remove all traces of burn in one go! Other times it might require repeated uses and occasionally it might not be possible to remove completely.

Which wash should I use and how often?

I have a clear colourful logo/image burned on my screen.

This is classed as 'severe' so use the 'snow wash' as prescribed on the DVD.

If image is not completely removed repeat every few days until removed or until no further improvement can be seen. If image remains after repeated attempts, do not give up but reduce the frequency of attempts to around once every 3 or 4 weeks.

There is very subtle images/writing on my screen.

Use the 'White wash' as prescribed on the DVD.

I have almost colourless, dark, grey or white images/writing on the screen.

Use the 'colour wash' as described on DVD followed by the 'snow wash' for 1 hour.

If image is not completely removed repeat every few days until removed or until no further improvement can be seen. If image remains after repeated attempts, do not give up but reduce the frequency of attempts to around once every 3 or 4 weeks.

There is strange white/grey smearing on my screen.

This is the most difficult to remove and its appearance defies most scientific explanation. It is most likely caused by manufacturing inconsistencies in the electrical grid which controls the switching on and off of sub pixels(see how a plasma TV works). It is sometimes not possible to remove completely but can be kept to a minor level and sometimes removed by weekly running of each wash in turn. 'snow wash' 2 hours, 'colour wash' 2 hours, 'White wash' 30 minutes.

My screen is perfect white all over.

See Screen Burn Avoidance Steps Below.

Your TV might have a built in wash. Usually this will be a vertically scrolling white band. This often is effective at removing certain types of screen burn but is possible with prolonged use that it might itself cause burn in. We recommend you use such built in features occasionally only.

The best policy would be to avoid getting screen burn at all. This is not difficult if you simply follow the steps below.

1. Calibrate your TV.

2. Run each wash for 20 minutes each once every 2-3 weeks, in the following order.

a) 'snow wash', b) 'Colour wash', c) 'White wash'.

3. Recalibrate approximately every 6 months.

Ideally you should fully calibrate your TV using the steps detailed in this manual right away and then repeat every six months or so. If you do not have the time right now (and especially if your TV is brand new) we strongly recommend you do a 'quick calibration' to prolong the life of your screen and help avoid screen burn in the near future.

Simply turn your brightness and contrast down to a maximum of 70% or even better 60%. This might look strange at first but is actually producing a more accurate image than when up high at 85%, 90% or even higher. More importantly this reduces very significantly the phosphor ageing process, which in turn makes it much less likely to get non-removable screen burn in the near future.

What is a dead pixel?

This is a much debated point. If you have a pixel (dot) on your LCD screen that is permanently black (off) then it can seriously degrade the overall look of what you are displaying/watching. Even though one dot might only be one millionth of the surface area of a screen the switched off pixel can be very annoying.

There are several reasons why a pixel can be 'dead'. The most common is that the complex electrical circuitry that controls the switching on and off of the tiny lights below the surface of each pixel has developed a fault or imperfection. No physical damage has occurred and can be fixed by PixelProtector.

The problem of stuck or dead pixels is not a new one. Laptop users have been experiencing and fixing the problem for many years now. In a laptop a computer program can be used to 'excite' the pixels into life. On an LCD TV you cannot run software so PixelProtector uses the 'snow wash' technique to do just that.

The next most common is that there is a physical break in the circuitry. This cannot be fixed by PixelProtector.

Resurrecting dead pixels

Simply select the 'snow wash' from the screen burn menu and run until the pixel repairs or the time as prescribed on the DVD is reached. If this does not fix the problem this does not necessarily mean the pixel cannot be fixed. Try again a few days later.