afterimage question...TH-46PZ800U...

Originally Posted by xrox

Forget the confusing terminology that is constantly interchanged and mixed up. Here is the scientific info you can trust:

Burn-In, Image retention, image sticking, image ghosting, residual image....etc are all terminology that is constanly interchanged even though there are several mechanisms involved.

Here is a list of the actual mechanisms that I know of in order of probability (most probable first)

1 - phosphorescence - there is a long afterglow component of phosphors that can be seen even when the display is off. It is very very faint however and eventually dissipates.

2 - Residual charge - Plasma displays use dielectric charges to control the on or off states of the pixel. If there is a slight residual charge left when the pixel is turned off the next time it turns on the pixel will be slightly brighter than normal. This will show up as a ghost image on a dark screen. You can tell it is residual charge because the ghost image is slightly brighter than the dark background. This ghost image is transient and easily removed by either a full white screen or watching full screen material for a few hours.

3 - MgO Sputtering - High energy discharge in Plasma displays causes Magnesium Oxide to sputter and deposit onto the phosphor and adjacent pixels. The result is a long lasting ghost image that can take many days to remove. It can be seen as a slightly darker image on a full white screen. Ironically, a full white screen for many hours is the best course of action to resolve this issue as it normalized the deposition of MgO to all pixels (evens it out)

4 - Phosphor aging - Permanent aging of the phosphor material that causes a slightly darker ghost image that is irreversible.

Finally, the screen wipe feature is not useless and will not aggressively "age" your display. It is there to normalize wall charge and MgO deposition (see why above). Remember, plasma displays use dynamic brightness control, so a full white screen or a scrolling white bar should not aggressively age your display.