Will You See Rainbows On Your TH42PX80?

Plasma televisions produce very good picture quality in general, but as more and more users play console games on these screens, and as the knowledge and experience of these users increase, there have been more and more reports of green flashes or trails on plasma televisions.

Known also as phosphor lag, plasma rainbow, phosphor trails and a host of other names, this occurrence refers to flashes of yellow or green that is witnessed typically when an object moves extremely quickly across the screen. It can be replicated by waving your hands at high speed in front of your eyes when looking at a white plasma screen. It is in console games that these green flashes are most likely to rear their ugly heads, because there frequently are fast motion involved in the gameplay.

The exact reason behind this phenomenon remains unknown, but the most popular theory stipulates that these green flashes represent the difference in speed of the phosphor decay. The phosphors responsible for blue decay fastest; the green ones decay slowest; whereas the red ones fall somewhere in between.

That said, the eventual viewing experience as to whether you will see the green flashes or not is strongly related to the sensitivity of your eyes. Those with high sensitivity (or also known as retinal persistance, i.e. images remain in your visual cortex and not washed away quickly) are more likely to see to the green phosphors lagging behind, and therefore the green flashes.

Now people will ask, is the Panasonic TH42PX80 free from this problem? Unfortunately no, simply because the inherent technology of plasma phosphor excitation and decay remains fundamentally the same. If you have been annoyed by these green flashes on other plasma TVs, perhaps you should consider buying an LCD TV rather than the Panasonic TH42PX80.

Some known methods to minimise the chance of seeing green flashes on the TH42PX80 are contrast reduction, adequate ambient light, a farther sitting distance, or simply after a prolonged period of use, but sadly these are by no means certain.