In other words, will the PDP last longer if, once turned on, it is allowed to stay on for longer periods of time? Sometimes you turn on the set to check the weather or something like that and turn it off, only to turn it on again in a half hour to actually watch something.

I'm not asking about power usage, just the life of the panel.

Don't worry about it. Turning it on and off a few extra times a day is not going to affect a well made plasma.

Conceivably, you might shorten the lifespan of some of the electronic components (the power supply in particular, since there is probably a high current draw when it initially powers up). I don't think you're going to do anything to the actual plasma panel itself.

Even just talking about the electronics, I'd only be concerned if you were talking about powercycling it at least several dozen times per day, or turning it on/off/on/off/etc. many times in an extremely short period of time. These things ARE rated for 100K+ operating hours; presumably that includes being turned on and off at least a few thousand times in there.

In other words, will the PDP last longer if, once turned on, it is allowed to stay on for longer periods of time? Sometimes you turn on the set to check the weather or something like that and turn it off, only to turn it on again in a half hour to actually watch something. I'm not asking about power usage, just the life of the panel.

As a general rule, I only turn my plasma off if I will be out of the room at least 20 minutes. Because at that level, if I stay away longer, it can turn into an hour or so -- and that adds up.

Upstairs for my nighttime coffee for 10-15 ? Phone call for 5-10 ? It does not pay to turn it on and off.

Of more importance: if you turn it off, deliberately or accidentally (say you sit on the remote or something :D ), do NOT turn it back right away, give it 30-60 seconds.

Of more importance: if you turn it off, deliberately or accidentally (say you sit on the remote or something :D ), do NOT turn it back right away, give it 30-60 seconds.

Why? Doubt it makes any difference... It is gonna spike but what difference is there if it spikes 1 second later or 45 seconds later....

I don't think it matters, on my old CRT I'd wait or else the degauss wouldn't work properly when I turned the set back on right away. On my plasma Ive turned it off and on by accident a few times and it didn't seem to bother anything. I'm guessing it's not good for any electronics to turn off and on as a general rule since your really stressing the power supply of the TV by doing that, as long as it's not on a regular basis it should be fine.

is it bad to turn plasma tv on and off?I don't believe so, as long as (what other posters said) you do not power on/off your PDP repeatedly within a short period of time.

Although... after having been a member of this Forum for awhile & from reading the various horror stories of some other participants, I confess that I kind of hold my breath (not literally) each time I power on my PDP, until I see the screen light up.

I'm an "old school" kind of guy who takes good care of his toys (A/V, yard, etc.) I tend to power up/down devices one-at-a-time & verify each is operating normally before powering up/down the next.

Windows is interesting in that it presents its GUI to the individual before the operating system, device drivers, network connections and applications are fully loaded. A good approach is to refrain from logging on to the desktop until the disc I/O light stops blinking rapidly.

As long as it is in standby mode (plugged to a powered outlet) then the power supply maintains enough of a charge to avoid a surge when turning on/off.

As long as it is in standby mode (plugged to a powered outlet) then the power supply maintains enough of a charge to avoid a surge when turning on/off.

Um... no. There is probably a 75-90%+ drop in power usage in 'standby' mode (it's gotta be <25W, while you're looking at 200W+ when powered up, maybe significantly higher for an older/bigger/less-efficient unit.) The current draw is going to go WAY up when the actual plasma panel kicks in, and there's probably a big temperature difference as well.

I don't think you're going to have problems with anything resembling 'normal' usage. Like I said before, I would only be worried if you're turning it on/off dozens of times a day every day, or frequently cycling it in rapid succession.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-3.html?tag=arw

So basically, what I get from this discussion is that a PDP doesn't need any more care in turning it on and off than the old CRTs.

Unlike a projector ;)