TVs

[#1]

I recently bought an 42" lg plasma. I just played 2 straight games of madden ( 2-3 hrs, wasnt watching the time) now  the score bar at the bottom of my screen is sextremely visable on a black screen, will this fade away or is my tv damaged already? also are there any ways to combat burn in?

[#2]

Two to three hours of game playing is probably not long enough to have caused burn in. Likely all you are seeing is what is called "image retention" - and almost certainly that will disappear if you have the TV display a couple of hours of full-screen full-motion video.

If I don't at least mention the topic here someone else will - which is whether or not "modern" plasma TVs require a "break in" period in order to minimize the risk of burn in on a new set. Most manufacturers state this is not required with new plasma TVs. Nevertheless, if you still want to err on the side of caution you should for the first 250 hours of use (a) limit viewing to full screen full motion video, (b) make sure the TV is not set to full brightness and full contrast, and (c) avoid displaying static images for more than thirty minutes. 

The best ways to avoid burn in are (a) do a break in period, (b) vary your viewing between gaming and watching TV, (c) vary your TV viewing between different stations particularly ones that always display a station logo in one corner of the screen, and (d) keep the contrast and brightness at a "reasonable" level.

[#3]

I get this on my plasma as well and its simple fix, put something on that fills the entire screen...like cartoons and let it run for a minute or two or 5 if you want. It should take care of it. Or watch a TV program in full screen (the entire screen is filled), some full screen does not fill the entire screen.

[#4]

really? i dont see a problem with ur issue

"bar at the bottom of my screen is sextremely visable on a black screen"

Seems pretty attractive to me by the sound of it...so sit back and enjoy the view of ur Sextremely visable bar

..enjoy

[#5]

If you still have the TV running the out-of-the-box picture settings, start with that.  TVs default to "torch mode" so that they appear brighter on the showroom floor, however that setting is terrible for home viewing.  The excessive brightness will contribute to image retention, especially on a newer panel.  On the Internet, you can generally find decent calibration settings for all but the most obscure panels.  They won't equal a true in-home calibration, but they will stand head and shoulders above the factory settings.

As previously mentioned, there are different schools of thought on whether a break-in period of 100-250 hours is necessary.  I have always done so on my plasmas using a DVD specifically designed for that purpose.  Do a Google search for "evangelos angelides break-in" and you will find the download.  Simply burn it to a DVD and run it as long and as often as you want.  It simply rotates a solid 16:9 screen of colour so that every pixel displays the exact same content.  Aside from being useful for break-in purposes, it can also be used as a screen wipe.  If you do experience temporary image retention, run the disc for a while to even things out again.