Random case of image burn-in...any way to fix it?

[Harb]

So I've been using a Westinghouse LVM-37w3 for well over 2 years now, and it's never missed a beat. I use it for general computing, computer/console gaming, movie watching, and at one time TV watching. I've left the damn thing on staring at the same images for hours, possibly days on many many occasions, and have NEVER had any image burn in.

And then yesterday I leave it on for maybe two hours while I made dinner and watched some TV in the living room. I come back, check the [H] forums, and notice that there is a nice closeup of a motorcycle burnt in to the right side of my screen...which was my wallpaper. Awesome; years of abuse and not a scratch, and then 2 hours and I've got a Buell staring me in the face whenever I'm looking at a dark grey/charcoal background like the [H] forums. I was under the impression that LCD displays were really hard to burn-in; the only other time I have personally seen it is a few monitors in one of our campus libraries that are running Excel for 12 hours a day.

I know I'm probably SOL, but is there anything I can do to fix/improve this? I was thinking of maybe trying to leave it on an all-white background for a few hours, or maybe using one of those seizure-inducing gifs people try to use to fix stuck pixels, but those are completely baseless guesses; this is a first for me. If there is really nothing I can do, I can live with it. It's only noticeable on certain colors; the [H] forums being the easiest place to notice it. I did notice it a bit in Fallout 3 last night, but only if I was looking for it. It's mostly the principal of it; I don't want a burnt in image on my beloved Westinghouse :\

Thanks!

 

[Nenu]

The burnin in is called image persistence and is caused by the LCD liquid crystals sticking in a partially on state.
It is caused by the LCD panel getting too warm while in operation and displaying the same image for some time.
To get rid of it quickest, display an all white image for a while.
You should be able to see after an hour how much it has degraded if any.
Should it not degrade at all, its likely the image has caused more permanent damage.
It may disperse while the set is off but is slower.

To guard against this kind of damage, make sure your LCD is kept cooler.
Vary your background image if it is on display for a long time.

 

[Harb]

Thanks for the info. After some extended periods of white screen and turned off, the burn-in is fading.

I'm not really sure temp could have played a part in this though. My house rarely gets above 60 degrees this time of year (heat is expensive, sweatshirts and blankets are cheap, and college kids are poor ), so unless the display itself decided to go crazy for an hour or so, I dunno how it could have gotten terribly hot. I'm hoping it isn't just starting to show its age...I can't afford another one of these :S

 

[Nenu]

The temperature of the LCD panel is what matters.
Its possible the vent holes/air route in the TVs casing are partially blocked or the design / fitting isnt what it could be.
Being 2 years old, the power supply and other electronics might not be running at full efficiency so more heat could be being generated inside the TV case.
Its also possible you have an unfortunate LCD panel that is more prone to image persistence at lower temps.
I've used LCD screens in projectors and have seen how image persistence manifests and what you need to do to prevent it.

If you get bad image persistence and cant cure the reason, use a low power fan and blow it up the back or front of the TV, whichever works.