Is it safe to Pause live TV for up to an hour?

If your TV is an LCD flat panel then you don't have much to worry about burn-in or image retention because LCDs use transmissive light sources unlike CRT, plasma and OLED which are emissive light sources and thus prone to image retention and even burn-in if paused for somewhat extensive periods of time, especially if the paused image is in high contrast.

LCD screens may suffer from burn-in if images are paused for weeks at a time especially if contrast is set high, OR if you are using your screen as computer monitor keeping the same superimposed image continuously onscreen set in high contrast, as used professionally in some circumstances.

As for image retention in LCD screens in most cases they can be remedied by using those LCD pixel optimizer programs that flash R/G/B colors very fast on/off to "unstuck" single LCD pixels that happened to get "stuck" either in the "ON" position (allowing light through) or on the "OFF" position (no light passing through).

TV manual states it is an LED TV. Is that a type of LCD?

IndyGirl said:

TV manual states it is an LED TV. Is that a type of LCD?

Click to expand...

Yes.

If concerned, and pausing a TV for an unusually long period of time, pause the show and just turn the TV off.

The LEDs used on LCD flat panel displays are simply the light source necessary for illumination.

Nowadays manufacturers of LCD displays seem to prefer using the term "LED" instead of using the correct description as being a "LCD set using LED backlight".

IndyGirl said:

Is it safe to Pause live TV for up to an hour?

Click to expand...

As long as you practice "safe pausing" you should be okay.


:wink:

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful.

You do have to worry about the people in the TV getting bored and going home though...

for any pausing that lasts over four hours, you should consult a TV repair facility immediately

IndyGirl said:

Just bought a Samsung 40" low-end TV and view it with U-Verse DVR. I know it used to be a no-no to pause the TV for more than just a few minutes because it could damage the TV screen, but is that still true?

Click to expand...

While I realize that it isn't always possible to know how long the pause is going to be ahead of time, if you are planning to pause the action for an extended period of time, you could always turn off the TV until you return or change the input source so that the paused screen isn't the one being displayed. I'm presuming that the DVR wouldn't react negatively to either of these diversions but that's not necessarily the case -- sometimes "smart" devices do things which are more frustrating than useful. On the other hand, as the other responses indicate, the pause probably won't be a problem with your set, anyway.

With my old panny plasma most owners (those typically found on this forum) were mindful to break the TV in for the first few hundred hours by avoid static imaging, letter bars, scrolling messaging at the bottom of the screen (ala ESPN). After that the TV becomes practically bulletproof. I have nothing burned into my ten year old plasma. Feels like day one imaging quality but how does one really know.