Zenith 50" plasma TV has black moving dots inside brighter colors

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

One of my friends got a 50" Zenith Plasma TV 4 years and a month ago. He has been pretty happy with it, but just recently he started seeing a pattern of black moving dots inside of anything on the screen that is lighter colored. (whites, yellows, etc.) You don't really see it much on the darker portions of the screen, probably because it doesn't stand out. The screen seems rather darker overall because of this.

He paid nearly $600 for it, and the warranty ran out a year and a month ago, so I guess he is out of luck. The pattern of black dots almost makes me think of a completely random pattern of raindrops hitting a puddle of water. All of the pixels that go dark eventually show color again, so I don't think that the plasma cells are actually bad. I think that instead, something inside the TV is making them "misfire", or something like that.

This is sort of a special situation, because the guy is paralyzed from the waist down, and pretty much depends on his TV to experience the world. He typically leaves the TV on about 20 hours a day, on average. It always seems to be on whenever I call him, so I don't think he is exaggerating. He says he has had it turned on for half a week straight before. He probably has the equivalent of maybe 15 years worth of normal wear and tear on it already!

Anyone have any ideas on what might cause this? Is it even worth taking to a repair shop?

 

[razel]

Plasmas create certain colors by randomizing pixels of color... like dithering color. There was a picture on this forum of a plasma TV showing this and the user thought something was wrong.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

This is a definite change where there is a "pattering" of random black pixels firing. It is enough that the whole TV looks darker now than a couple of days ago. It is most noticeable in the areas of the screen where there are lighter colors. It is so distracting, even from 10' away, that the TV is almost unwatchable now. It's like having lots and lots of tiny raindrops dancing on the screen. He never saw any of this for over 4 years of using it, and then one day it was there, and has stayed.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Is it maybe the cable? Tried different inputs?

 

[hawtdawg]

Plasmas create certain colors by randomizing pixels of color... like dithering color. There was a picture on this forum of a plasma TV showing this and the user thought something was wrong.

The dithering of a plasma is most noticeable in the darker shades. It's also only noticeable if you're sitting way too close, or have your brightness set incorrectly. The fact that he's seeing this in the lighter shades and not the darker shades tells me that something else is wrong with it. (I have 2 Panny plasma's)