Plasma burn in problem! What to believe?

[Veronica Mars]

OK, as of now I have 3 Panasonic plasmas. A 58" from 2009, and 46" from last year and a 42" from 2011.

I've never had anything but plasma and love the picture.

I take very good care of them and have never paused a movie or channel for more than a few minutes. I've never left a channel on all night with a static image.

So, if you believe what most "experts" say, there's no way that I should have actual burn in...but I do on the 58". It's a news banner logo and it's been there for 6 months and it hasn't faded a bit.

I'm leaning towards buying a Samsung 64" plasma, but it's $3,000 and I can't lie. I'm scared now.

But here's the kicker. I wrote to Panasonic HQ to tell them and they responded back that burn in doesn't need to be caused by pausing a static image for a long time, nor does it need to happen from leaving a channel on for many, many, many hours (overnight or longer if you believe the people who write the review to get permanent burn-in like I have), but the good people at Panasonic wrote to me that watching the same channel over years, not at once, can also lead to burn in.

So, if you watch a lot of ESPN, you don't just have to worry about the logo from watching a really long game or if you watch cable news, you don't have to worry about the banner if you watch ALL DAY, but they told me it's cumulative. If you watch a lot of ESPN, even if it's not all at one time, you're likely to get it says Panasonic.

They actually told me that people should use what they called the 15% rule. No more than 15% of any day should be viewed of channels with any kind of static image (logo, banner, etc). So, if you think about what they just told me, they're basically saying 85% of your plasma use should be movies.

HUH??

I can't find anyone, no matter how conservative/cautious of a reviewer, who says anything like that. I've never heard anything like this until now. It doesn't even seem reasonable. Unless your plasma is going into a home theater room, it would be completely impractical to own one if you could only watch 15% of your viewing on channels with no logos or banners of any kind. Forget all the network channels, Comedy Central, AMC, ESPN...pretty much everything on television. However you can spend 85% of your time streaming Netflix, watching HBO and watching blu-rays. I have the message right from Panasonic.

And it would explain why I have burn in when I know I didn't do the things most every expert says you have to do. I have watched a news channel more than any other news channel over the last 5 years and if this cumulative thing is to be believed, it doesn't matter that the viewing was spread out and mixed up with lots of movies and other channels.

I'm not sure what to think anymore. It's making me very nervous about buying this Samsung plasma.

What does everyone here think? Is Panasonic full of it? What about my burn in? I did not leave the channel on for hours in a row or paused. What person who even owns one plasma as their primary television can watch 85% of their content on channels with no static image at all?

Thanks!