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In Reply to: Plasma extended warranty. posted by jimbill on August 30, 2006 at 10:19:55:
A year and a half ago, I bought a 42" Fujitsu plasma monitor. We used it for maybe 2-3 hours a day, with Dish being the primary source. We did not use it for computer or video game use.Over time, we noticed a pink film overlaying the 4:3 area. It turns out that this is phosphor burn-in. It happened due to normal TV viewing. The Fujitsu reps keep playing hardball with my dealer. Fujitsu hides behind the corporate stonewall of "burn-in is not covered by the warranty."
The dealer hasn't seen anything like this. Usually, burn-in occurs when you leave a video game on pause, or keep a channel with a fixed logo or ticker on all the time. We the consumer didn't do anything abusive or out of the ordinary. We simply used the monitor to watch TV. My dealer tried to get Fujitsu to replace or repair the unit. Fujitsu said, sorry, this is a burn-in issue. My dealer said, BS, burn-in shouldn't occur with normal use -- the set is defective. FUrthermore, the dealer pointed out that their demo monitors, despite being on all the time, don't have this pink square. So Fujitsu "suggested" that the dealer give me the demo, and take back the burned-in unit.
It's gone back and forth, but the bottom line is, I have a monitor with a pink square in the middle. I am disappointed and unhappy. It doesn't matter how long you extend the warranty. If certain problems are not covered, we are SOL.
-Lummy The Seahorse
Follow Ups:
If you don't get the answer you want, keep going higher. Just demand "Who is your boss?".Sooner or later you'll get to a person who makes enough that replacing your unit is small change.
Follow the link below to Fred Manteghian's blog and scroll down to the entry entitled "Burn Baby Burn!"The last paragraphs cover a report on plasma "burn in" which states that it isn't a permanent condition. Turning off the set completely for 24 hours apparently fixes the problem for many sets, and if that doesn't work, then feeding the set a plain white test pattern for several hours apparently fixes it for some other screens.
Try these approaches and see what results you get. You may be lucky.
David Aiken
Actually, since the blogs roll off the main page, here's a direct link to the it:
http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/fredmanteghian/070606Burn/
My Fujitsu monitor has a white screen that is supposed to combat burn-in. I've used it repeatedly. Furthermore, I've left the set unplugged for days. Turn it back on, and the pink 4:3 film reappears, unchanged. Fujitsu sent a tech out, and though he never saw anything like this, he confirmed that the phosphors did indeed lose luminosity.My dealer insisted to Fujitsu tha the set must have been defective. After all, their demos are used much more than mine, and they have not been prone to the pink screen of death.
It's too bad, because the Fujitsu plasma does have the capability to be quite vibrant, smooth, and sharp. Try watching a nature show in HD. When the camera zooms in on a cheetah, the motion of the camera is much smoother than on, say, my 46" Sony Bravia LCD. And, when the focus is on the cheetah, and he bolts and starts running, the motion via the Fujitsu plasma is much more fluid.
BTW, I still have the Fujitsu. As long as we keep viewing 4:3, we don't really notice the pink film. But if the program goes to 16:9, you will notice that the outside strips are clear, while the inside 4:3 is slightly dulled. The Fujitsu rep didn't think it funny, when the dealer jokingly asked if there were a way to burn in the strips to the left and right.
Try running a 16x9 signal consistently for a week or two. If you can stretch the 4x3 signal to fill the screen, do that, and try to ignore the 4x3 shadow.
Had a problem with an older Mits CRT rear projector in that condition. After running full screen for a month or so the burn in was negligible and almost impossible for the tech to see. After half a year it was impossible to see.
My plasma TV has what the manufacturer calls a "digital refresh mode." If you notice what appears to be burn-in from watching 4:3 TV or having steady-state images on the screen, you can invoke this mode. It puts the TV through an approx 5-minute sequence of primary colors, then shuts the unit off.It works great - even after my wife spent 5 hours watching Lifetime channel in 4:3, the ghostly edges vanished. This procedure seems like it could be easily created on a DVD and played periodically for plasmas that don't have a similar feature built in.
I feel for ya. That's horrible. If I were the retailer I would demand a new set from Fujitsu otherwise give a new one myself and/or drop their line. Of course, I'd probably never last as a retailer due to that fact. :(
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