Is Playing Video Games on a Plasma TV Worth the Risk?
The risk of getting struck by lightening are pretty low but it can happen. You don't live your whole life worrying about it but you are still smart enough to take precautions against it or at the very least intelligent people avoid high risk situations. You don't go out and carry metal poles around in thunder storms because you know that greatly increases your risk of getting hit.

The fact is, if you have a Plasma TV and like to play video games the risk of burn-in still exists. It's not easy to get a permanent image burned into your set and it's probably not likely to ever happen to you. But the risk exists and you need to know about it so you can avoid it.

Fear mongering?
No, I don't want people to stop playing video games on their Plasma TVs. I just want them to have the best experience with their systems and TV sets as possible. Nothing could ruin your day faster than to spend time trying to conquer your favourite game only to realize that it conquered you or more accurately your TV in the process.

What is Burn-in?
So here's the deal in the simplest terms I can think of. Plasma TV's burn out sort of like giant long-life light bulbs that get dimmer and dimmer over time. Eventually they will burn-out. It doesn't happen very fast and it doesn't happen all at once. When you play video games on a plasma TV those stationary on-screen items like power bars, timers, meters, and gauges sit in one place for so long that the pixels in those areas get "worn-out" faster than the others on the screen. This process of wearing-out certain pixels faster than others is called burn-in.

Burn-in or Ghosting
If you have been playing a game for a few hours afterwards you may notice a faint image in your screen where the health bar used to be. You need to take a few deep breathes and just try not to panic. It's probably not burn-in. What you have is called Ghosting. Ghosting is actually the very very very early stages of actual burn-in. Ghosting does not take long to get and it will go away shortly after you start watching something different on your screen. It's really just a harmless annoyance. Ignore it and it will go away.

In order to get an image to burn-in to your plasma permanently you would need to leave the image on the screen for many many hours, maybe even days. If you have an older Plasma TV say one that was made 3 or 4 years ago the risk of burn-in is somewhat higher.

How to Avoid Burn-in
Here are some real easy tips to help you avoid burn-in:
1. Change games: Playing different games in one sitting will cause different pixels to share the work. That way no one area is overexposed
2. Turn on the anti burn-in features on your TV and game system
3. Turning down the contrast on your TV can help reduce the risk
4. Try to avoid games that won't let you play in full screen. Playing games in letter-box format can cause burn-in to happen faster than normal.

So Should I Play Video Games on My Plasma or Not?
YES! Of course you should. I do and I plan to continue to do so for many years to come.

If you're reading this you have probably already invested in a beautiful Plasma TV or you are about to. It would be silly to let something like the risk of burn-in stop you from buying a Plasma TV and it would be even sillier to let that risk stop you from playing games on it. You just have to be aware of the risk and learn how to avoid it. The risk of having a car accident is pretty low but still very real, yet you still drive wherever you need to go and it works out ok 99.999% of the time. Play away and play hard. Just play smart while your at it and everyone including your Plasma TV will turn out ok in the end.