Any plasma owners here? A little paranoid about burn-in

[VashHT]

So I decided to pick up a plasma TV since best buy had a pretty good deal on them. I got a 60" samsung model, so far everything is great with it, it totally blows away my old LCD (which had a CCFL backlight) but I'm pretty worried about image burn in.

So far I've been pretty careful about it, there are a few burn in protection options in the menu and I've been running them if I play a game for a while or watch a channel with a fixed logo for a while. My worry is that my girlfriend won't be quite as careful about that and I'll end up with a food network logo permanently in the corner or something like that. Also I plan to do a lot of gaming on it so I'm also worried about the HUD's from games getting burned in there.

Do any plasma owners have experience with this? Is it pretty hard to end up with a burned in logo, like hours of watching the same thing? Also, when it does happen is it really that noticeable or is it something you really only see if you're displaying some solid colors? Are there any good methods to prevent it or is it pretty hard to avoid over time?

 

[delonm]

It is a complete non-issue for newer plasma sets. I have a Panasonic that is 5 or 6 years old and it has no trace of burn in. If you leave a show paused for a while (hour or so), you may see some image retention if you look at a grey or off white screen. Image retention is NOT the same as burn in. Image retention will go away after a few minutes of normal TV watching. Even overlays like some games have or the built in YouTube app have, are not a problem at all.

Worrying about image burn-in on your new plasma should be at the very bottom of your "things to worry about" list.

David

 

[smitbret]

So I decided to pick up a plasma TV since best buy had a pretty good deal on them. I got a 60" samsung model, so far everything is great with it, it totally blows away my old LCD (which had a CCFL backlight) but I'm pretty worried about image burn in.

So far I've been pretty careful about it, there are a few burn in protection options in the menu and I've been running them if I play a game for a while or watch a channel with a fixed logo for a while. My worry is that my girlfriend won't be quite as careful about that and I'll end up with a food network logo permanently in the corner or something like that. Also I plan to do a lot of gaming on it so I'm also worried about the HUD's from games getting burned in there.

Do any plasma owners have experience with this? Is it pretty hard to end up with a burned in logo, like hours of watching the same thing? Also, when it does happen is it really that noticeable or is it something you really only see if you're displaying some solid colors? Are there any good methods to prevent it or is it pretty hard to avoid over time?

First off, it is pretty hard to get permanent burn-in on a plasma made in the last few years. It used to be a real issue but no longer. Image Retention is normal and not a cause for concern.

However, for the first couple hundred hours you will want to be smart with it. I wouldn't pause a video game for 8 hours. When I got mine, I made a habit of just running the B&W scrolling bars every day when I went to work, for about the first month. I figured that should have gotten it close to a clean break-in. Even that may have been overkill but I like to err on the side of caution. I will still run the scrolling bars for an hour or two from time to time just in case.

 

[VashHT]

Ah OK thanks for that, I've had to deal with image retention in the past and that doesn't bother me at all, if permanent burn in isn't a problem anymore then that's great to hear. I wasn't too worried about it before buying it but the manual was saying 20 minutes of a static image could cause burn in so that worried me a bit, but that statement is probably just in there to cover their ass in case it ever does happen.

 

[VashHT]

However, for the first couple hundred hours you will want to be smart with it. I wouldn't pause a video game for 8 hours. When I got mine, I made a habit of just running the B&W scrolling bars every day when I went to work, for about the first month. I figured that should have gotten it close to a clean break-in. Even that may have been overkill but I like to err on the side of caution. I will still run the scrolling bars for an hour or two from time to time just in case.

Yeah I had read there was kind of a "break in" period for the panel so I will be careful with it for a while, that's a good idea to leave the scrolling bars going while I'm at work. This TV is really nice so I just wanted to make sure I don't mess it up, thanks for the info guys.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Enjoy the new set! Finding a new plasma is like finding a four leaf clover.

 

[iRONic]

Heh heh... True dat.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I highly recommend running through a TV breakin loop for the a couple days (24/7). Depending on your TV it might be as simple as putting a bunch of specific images into a folder on a thumb-drive and having the TV loop over them. There are a few different image packages out there for breakin. Just do a search on the internet. Usually it is a couple dozen images, with 10-12 gray-scale, 10-12 red, 10-12 blue, 10-12 green and 10-12 multi-colored images (think like 10% white, 20% white, 30% white, etc.). The idea is that all the phosphors in the plasma tv will wear evenly for the beginning, when they are most likely to exhibit the most wear. With every one getting the same signal for the same exact amount of time, they will all more or less wear evenly.

I highly recommend calibrating your white/black levels as well as your luminosity output level (and when you think the luminosity is too low, make it even lower for the first couple weeks/months). You should then recalibrate again after the first 1000 hours of operation, at which time you shouldn't be afraid of any breakin period issues.

 

[fastman]

The menu may have a few anti burn-in features. If so use them, My Samsung has a little logo that floats around so its a non issue to me plus the set shuts off after 4 hrs if no new input to the remote.

My Plasma is 2yrs old now and still love it, smokes all LEDS that I've seen.

 

[VashHT]

Enjoy the new set! Finding a new plasma is like finding a four leaf clover.

Haha thanks, I've been thinking about picking one up for a while, and when I saw this one on best buy's site on sale I decided to just grab it. One thing that pushed me over the edge is that it's a pretty stripped down TV, no "smart tv" things or 3D or anything, I don't need any of that so I didn't really want to waste money buying a TV with those features.

I highly recommend running through a TV breakin loop for the a couple days (24/7). Depending on your TV it might be as simple as putting a bunch of specific images into a folder on a thumb-drive and having the TV loop over them. There are a few different image packages out there for breakin. Just do a search on the internet. Usually it is a couple dozen images, with 10-12 gray-scale, 10-12 red, 10-12 blue, 10-12 green and 10-12 multi-colored images (think like 10% white, 20% white, 30% white, etc.). The idea is that all the phosphors in the plasma tv will wear evenly for the beginning, when they are most likely to exhibit the most wear. With every one getting the same signal for the same exact amount of time, they will all more or less wear evenly.

I highly recommend calibrating your white/black levels as well as your luminosity output level (and when you think the luminosity is too low, make it even lower for the first couple weeks/months). You should then recalibrate again after the first 1000 hours of operation, at which time you shouldn't be afraid of any breakin period issues.

Thanks for the suggestion, is it pretty easy to find guides on calibrating the white/black levels or are there some tools needed to do it?

 

[MongGrel]

Still using a 747i I bought many years ago the looks pretty nice still after all this time.

They were nice LCDs in their day.

Still looks good actually.

Now a day I wouldn't touch an Olevia with a 10 foot pole if they are still in business and were bought up, but still have a 38" in the bedroom is pretty sweet too.

The old ones were good.

Plasmas are definitely nice, my step sister has a nice one that impressed me while I was visiting.

If I get something in the future, it's going to be a projector personally myself, her's was a lot newer, but I'd say this old LCD is still very close.

A good LCD just isn't a thing these days I imagine.

 

[poofyhairguy]

A good LCD just isn't a thing these days I imagine.

Sure. FALDs are rare but find able. Only OLED beats plasma though.

OP I recommend using the cinema smooth mode while content is playing. The content I recommend is the new Tron movie, that or a late Harry Potter.

 

[bigboxes]

Panny VT50 owner here. I have crappy LCD tvs throughout the house. However, when it came time to finally put a flatscreen in the living room I wanted to go with the best picture quality I could find. Nothing beats a plasma on blacks, motion and contrast. I realize that one day that OLED will supplant plasma as the preferred technology. The price is way too high and they still have some kinks to work out. The day they bring the price down below $3 grand for a 60"+ set is the day I purchase an OLED set.

 

[VashHT]

Sure. FALDs are rare but find able. Only OLED beats plasma though.

OP I recommend using the cinema smooth mode while content is playing. The content I recommend is the new Tron movie, that or a late Harry Potter.

Is cinema smooth mode a setting on certain TV's? I didn't really see anything like that in the menus on mine.

I set up these break in slides that I found last night and I'm going to let it run for a few days, so far I haven't noticed any problems with the picture so we'll see how it goes.

I watched some better call saul with the gf last night and wow does this TV blow away my old LCD, all of the darker scenes look fantastic whereas they'd be a washed out kind of hazy grey on my old TV.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Is cinema smooth mode a setting on certain TV's?

Yeah it is on certain models, but it is worth looking. The mode only can be selected when the tv is being fed a 24p source, like a Blu Ray.

It is not a huge deal though, just an enhancement. Enjoy the set!

 

[soulcougher73]

Ive never experienced any burn in yet. Had a bit of image retention on an older samsung model but that was like 6 years ago or more.

 

[TheUnk]

I have burn-in on my Panasonic plasma that is only a few years old. It's from the Cartoon Network black/white logo. Nothing can get rid of it, even after banning CN for a couple weeks lol..

I've played games for hours and no hud or static images ever left burn in though. Just something about the CN logo having max black and white contrasting next to eachother I guess.

 

[Childs]

I had burn in on my first ST50. It was from the MCE screensaver. I had the pixel orbiter on, but didn't know that it didn't work when the size was set to Just (1 to 1). I got it replaced no problem.

 

[olds]

I get image retention on my VT60. But I use it as a monitor so the chrome toolbar is sometime visible. Never noticed it when watching TV or a movie but I can see it when browsing with other browsers.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Had horrible image retention on a Sharp LCD (5 years old) after watching anime that was in a 3:4 format. The bars on the side were visible for days. Not sure what model, but knowing the parents, it was probably hargain basement.

On new plasmas, just run and enjoy. You'd have to use the damn things in a DMV to get burn-in nowadays.

 

[Pacfanweb]

I have a 65" VT60.

Have had no problems with anything EXCEPT last year with World of Tanks.

That game has two map/tank health circles on either lower side of the screen. The map circle on the right burned into the screen.
Quit playing it for a month or so and it FINALLY disappeared.

Learned how to play the game with the HUD off, and no issues. Now they've messed up the "no HUD" feature to where when you turn off the HUD (to get rid of those circles) you now don't even have an aiming reticle...which makes playing that way no an option.

So I've turned the HUD back on and have the circles onscreen again. Maybe they've changed the color of them, or maybe the TV's aged in a bit, or maybe I'm just being very careful, but no issues with them getting burned in again, so far.

So yes....some things can definitely be burned into a Plasma still, like a persistent network logo, but it's a lot rarer now.

 

[Makaveli]

I'm using a Samsung PNE648000

No issues with burn in or image retention, I have all the features turn on and the tv will also power off after 4 hours of no activity.

I don't really play games on my TV that's what MY PC is for so can't comment on video games being left on. But with the 4 hour power off I have set it would be a none issue anyways if someone left a game paused.