My Panasonic has a setting called "Pixel orbiter" in the advanced settings of every picture mode. By turning the "Pixel orbiter" to ON, the whole picture shifts a couple of centimeters around in all four direction from time to time. It is not even noticeable. The net result is that static logos (channel, DTH) are ensured not to highlight the same area all the time.
I also set the mode to one of the "Zoom" modes. There are 3 zoom modes available on my ST50. I set it to the one that covers the whole display without the letterbox bars and one that does not distort the picture. This causes some part of the picture to be cut out (and I don't like it), but the logos are cut right out of the displayed frame.
Finally, there is a "rolling bar" feature that rolls a "white bar" across the screen horizonatally. The rolling bar can be employed for about 15 minutes daily for the first 100 hours. Once the phosphor and pixels have aged properly, thereafter there is very minimal risk.
@rockstar160, permit me to remark.
a) The first incident of TV cannot be attributed to TV quality; rather an unfortunate incident. I read about your incident just two days ago. I had purchased the TV by then but was aware of "spider web cracks in plasma" phenomena. In the showroom, I asked the salesman about it. He never received complaints like that. Maybe he was lying. The dealer told me that the panel is quite tough. To prove the point, he knocked on the panel with his knuckles (while it was ON) and said that he will not repeat this exercise on the LCD panel.
b) The second incident also is a user mismanagement. But I believe that image retention will eventually wear off though it will take time because of the extreme long hours the image was displayed.
Both the incident in no way attests to your statement that "Panasonic brand has more failure rate than xxx brand". Now I own a Sony 29" CRT. The picture tube of the TV has lost its focus - picture is no longer sharp and letters are blurred. My Panasonic projector is working wonderfully well (purchased around the same time). So can I say that Sony product quality is bad?
c) As regards to Panasonic purchasing your first TV and scavenging it for parts, this is indeed a deplorable practice. But can you honestly claim that other do not do it? It is different for automobiles - automobile parts are in motion (even those which take no part in moving the vehicle). It is very difficult to sell them as new. But I will not raise my hand and swear on the Bhagwat Gita, that this practice does not happen out there with others.
