How long does it take to burn an image into a rear projection TV screen?

Rear projection televisions use a variety of technologies. The latest technologies are LCD and DLP which do not suffer from image burn. The older technology uses CRTs (cathode ray tubes) that are high brightness television tubes. These tubes are driven very hard to produce high light outputs and as a result, static images have been known to leave a permanent shadow on the tubes after a relatively short period.

The time taken for the effect to be seen varies greatly. In some instances, a one week old projector has shown signs of previous static images. In other cases, where static images are used only for short periods of time and are relatively low contrast, the effect isn't visible after many years.

To prolong the life of CRT projection tubes, avoid displaying static images for long periods. Do not over drive the brightness of the projector. Do not use static high contrast images and avoid computer generated images where the same image is shown in the same place repeatedly.