The Plasma Display Coalition (bahh Humbug)

The Plasma Display Coalition is, as the name suggests a group of TV manufacturers with a vested interest.



If you visit their web site they spend a lot of time and trouble trying to convince us that screen burn is a thing of the past. They say:-

"New plasma advancements in cell structure and phosphor formulations have virtually eliminated image retention, also known as ghosting. Tests verify that any residual ghosting generally disappeared with normal use after a relatively short time.* If you haven’t burned images into your CRT television, there is little chance that you will with plasma. As with any electronic product, you should follow the usage guidelines in your owners manual."

They then say:-

"* Only one model of all those tested showed any easily-seen evidence of image retention when operated in standard viewing modes for 3 consecutive 8-hour periods displaying contrast, color bar and static TV images. A second model showed a mild ghost image that was discernable after a 24-hour shutdown period. The remaining 3 plasma TVs had little or no evidence of any ghost images after the 24-hour static image test. From this test, image retention appears not to be caused by phosphor burn-in."

So what they are saying is 20% of there specially selected TVs do get image retention another 20% are effected even after being switched off for 24 hours. This of course is not a likely scenario if you have just spent £1500 on a shiny new TV.

And the remaining 3 had little or no evidence. Well after 3 days that is hardly anything to get excited about. And more to the point you can bet the test screens had been calibrated well away from the "out of the box" settings. Something that will almost never happen to the average customers PDP.

I am not knocking plasma manufacturers for the hell of it. I agree that they give the best quality picture of any screen type including an HD cinema (albeit slightly smaller). What I am criticising is why they can't be open and honest about the facts and then all there customers would be aware of the problems, know how to avoid them and enjoy years of enjoyment from there screens.

And if they really are that resistant why is every single (that I have ever seen) manual produced by these companies state that the warranty does not cover screen burn?

You know who you are:- Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, LG. Laviva Online Store

Posted in: