QVC Pixel burn in (1 Viewer)

[Derick S]

I own a Panasonic PT-51HX40 rear projection digital 51” TV. While watching Olympic downhill skiing this weekend I noticed a faint yellow rectangle in the upper left and a 1-800 number across the bottom. Again it is faint but present all the time. Now I look for it during certain screen pics. A light backdrop (snow skiing, sky, etc) produces the image. I quickly recognized the culprit. My wife spends a lot of time watching (and buying) from QVC. I can’t complain – it provides a harmonious balance for my stuff - home theater, Polaris ATV, golf, you guys know the deal….
Is there any fix? A degaussing type clean up? Is it a failure of the TV? A common problem with Rear Projection? Any vendors handle it better? Will continued viewing make it worse, or is the damage as bad as it will get?
Should I just sue the QVC channel?

Equipment List

 

[Gregg Loewen]

NO FIX, yes continued viewing will make it worse. Is your contrast / brightness turned down below 50%?

BTW, it isnt covered by warranty either.

Gregg

 

[Allan Jayne]

If you turn down and keep the contrast to a third or less then the problem should not get any worse, but nothing you can do (besides replacing the picture tubes inside) is going to make it better. The tubes have been burned by continuous stationary bright subject matter.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Kevin P]

You'll have to get one or more CRTs replaced. You're probably looking at $200-300 per CRT (there are three of them, red, green, and blue). If you have Avia or VE put up a solid red, green, and blue screen and see which ones show the burn in. If you're getting yellow ghosting it's probably the blue tube that's burned. The green one may be affected as well.
Any bright, stationary image will eventually burn in, especially on projection TVs. Ditto for areas continuously darker such as letterbox bars, which will be "burned" slower than the rest of the screen, also resulting in uneven brightness or "burn". Reducing contrast to below 50% will slow down the process, but any channel that keeps a logo, banner or ticker up for extended periods poses a risk for burn-in.
After you replace your CRTs, get your wife a cheap direct view TV to watch QVC on. Does QVC ever sell TVs?
KJP

 

[Derick S]

Thanks for the information. I checked my TV’s contrast level. My PAN does not have a selection labeled CONTRAST, but I assume the PICTURE (desc – adjust white areas of picture) setting is the same as CONTRAST. My PICTURE setting was at 100% (factory setting) and I reduced to a 20 setting out of 62. No noticable difference with the faint yellow box, but hopefully this will slow the burn. FYI – TV is 8 months old.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

Contrast is the same as Picture. Your set has been in "torch mode". turning it down at this point will help to minimize further problems. You could try to call and get it fixed as a warranty issue, but I doubt they would go for it.

Gregg

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Make your wife buy a new TV from QVC