My girlfriend just got me XBox for Christmas and I'm really excited to start wasting about 4-6 hours a day playing video games. However, before I do, I was wondering if it was safe to play them on a plasma TV. I've heard lots of people warning me to be careful of doing so because of burn-in. Anyone have any experience with it?

wow.. you have a plasma tv? they're still so very expensive over here. just dont play too much time..

Playing for extended periods is usually fine, but don't leave it on static images (like menus, etc.).

The only thing bad about playing games on plasma or projection TVs is the fact that most games have HUDs that are displayed when playing the game. This is what you need to worry about.. I would say playing on the plasma is fine, but not for really long periods of time..

The same sort of thing occurs with television stations that have logos in the bottom corner of the screen. The logo gets burned into the TV because it is unmoving on the screen.

Thanks guys, that what I thought.

And I have noticed the burn-in when watching football -- the ABC logo and score gets burned in for awhile. Eventually, it goes away. However, with the video games, people warned it could be a little more permanent.

Been there and done that. Got some minor damage on my new widescrren projection tv. My wife was playing the Sims for a pretty long time, and it burned in a line or two that were static on the screen. Best bet is to make sure you limit continuous play to a couple of hours and then let the tv rest for a bit. I usually don't go more than a (2) hours without breaking for about 30min. Problem has been solved. At least I haven't noticed any new damage. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck with the original damage.

Got this from another forum:

Plasmas are more susceptible to burns for the first 100 hours or so. Make sure you don't have any still pictures on the screen during that time and keep the brightness and contrast low. Minor burns will disappear with use and some sets have either a white out mode or random noise to help with this. You can get the same random noise effect by displaying the screen that you get when the set is not tuned to anything. Major burns will never go away.

They can also have bad pixels which can be either on, off or flashing. Get the shop to test your particular set for a few hours before you take it to make sure it is OK. A limited number of bad pixels are considered acceptable and you will have trouble getting it replaced after you have taken it home for one or two bad pixels as this is considered within spec.

Can I come over and play Madden Chris?