100 hour break in? Myth?

 

New member
Username: Dirtyddd

Post Number: 6
Registered: Feb-07
Is this magic 100 hours a myth for plasmas or what? I already started to see some image retention from black bars on top and bottom of screen when watching movies. I have now turned the picture to zero and now my $3000 plasma looks like crap. Im about 35 hours in(if im reading it right) and i wanted to know if i am actually safe to enjoy my tv after the 100 hours. Panasonic said i should NEVER watch movies with the bars in widescreen and should zoom even after the 100 hours. I know one thing, if i have to zoom movies and destort the picture and miss stuff on the sides during a movie then im taking the tv back and buying an LCD! Any thoughts on this besides suggesting to read the FAQ or do a search on the topic? I want to enjoy my plasma because i love it and want it to last but i just dont want a tv with awsome picture that i have to worsen the picture so it will last with no burn in.

Thanks
P.S Panasonic th-50px6u
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 33
Registered: Nov-06
Shawn,
I did a lot of reasearch for 1 year before buying a TV. Panasonic plasma's are about as good as you can get for image quality. (and in my oppionion, there is yet to be an LCD TV that can outdo a top plasma... ask all the kids at Best Buy and they will tell you that plasma's look better... they look at TV's all day long.)

However, image retention is not a myth and can be present on lots of plasma TV's. When I was in one store, they turned the plasma's to white (Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung) and you could see all kinds of burn in on all 3 TV's where their looping HD demo leaves icon's/lines/etc on the screen for periods of time. None of these leave the icon's/lines/etc. on for more than a few minutes, but the loop comes back around dispalying that again in about 20 minutes.

These TV's are all set to super bright, and play this looping demo right from when the TV came out of the box.... a sure way to burn in an image, from what I have heard.

Burn in 'may' be somewhat temporary and as you 'excercise' the pixels by forcing them to display random images. You may see any particular burned image become less evident with time.

I just got the Pioneer PDP-5070 and it clearly says in the manual to not watch shows with the top and bottom (or side) bars early in the TV's life.

I am about 30 hours in and have not noticed a stitch of burn in yet, but I am following these suggestions I have gathered over the past while:

-use the movie setting which displays the dimmest image... for the first 100 hours (I use the bright ones to show my buddies how it looks, but not for more than 5 minutes)

-leave the tv on channels without any logo's in the corner while you are at home, but not watching TV, so that you can put 100 hours on the screen with minimal effort (or just put a movie on full screen mode while you're making dinner)

-use the zoom setting to fully display content on the entire screen so you don't get any bars (again I display the true widescreen picture for about 10 minutes just for my own enjoyment, but then switch back to full screen for the rest of the movie) Sure the dudes faces look stretched, but I only have to live like this for a couple weeks.

Sure, I lack the experience of seeing the end result, and one really does not want to babysit a TV. But if I do my due diligence for the first 100-200 hours, at least I did all I can do to avoid image retention, and if all works out well, I will have a display that beats LCD displays, 50" wide for way less than the top LCD TV's cost.

The new sharp 52" 92U series TV looks fantastic for $5000, but it just comes close to the Pioneer's image for under $3000. Plamsa displays lifelike 3d images, LCD looks like a bright flatscreen.

Since you have some burn in, try doing some of these things and let me know if you notice the burn in going away after a few weeks.
 

New member
Username: Dirtyddd

Post Number: 7
Registered: Feb-07
thanks for the reply but my main question was if the 100 hour period is a myth not if burn in was. I was wanting to hear from people that have past that mark and now watch tv with normal settings and if they now have burn in issues after the 100 hour mark. Thanks
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 36
Registered: Nov-06
I'm also curious to hear this... but if somebody replies and has burn in... we need to know if that burn in was done in the early life of the TV or if the burn in happened much later in the life of the TV.

From what I have read... and extrapolated...my guess is that burn in can happen any time, but it will happen much easier, quicker, and more permanently, in the early life of the TV.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Randywalters

El Segundo, California USA

Post Number: 16
Registered: Feb-06
The 100-200 hour break-in is not a myth, just try to find an ISF Calibrator who would be willing to calibrate your new TV before it's fully broken in.

When my TH-42PX50U was new i had a lot of scary Temporary Image Retention for the first month but after i got a few hundred hours on the screen i got virtually no IR so this proves to me that the panel needs to be aged for a while early in the TV's life.
 

New member
Username: Dirtyddd

Post Number: 8
Registered: Feb-07
So Randy are you now watching totally carefree tv now? Such as static logos on the screen for long periods, side bar, top and bottom bars and so on? Are you no longer worried and claim to now have no burn in or image retention?
Thanks
 

New member
Username: Dirtyddd

Post Number: 9
Registered: Feb-07
What is an ISF Calibrator and what would be the purpose of clibrating the tv BEFORE its broken in?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 38
Registered: Nov-06
Google 'ISF Calibration' and you will find out all about it. The TV colour contrast, brightness, etc all need to be set up correctly because the defaults are not correct... nor are any of the pre-set settings.

Manufacturers ship TV's overly bright out of the box so they look nice on the wall at the brightly lit Best Buys, sitting beside all the other TV's. The brighter a pixel the more likely it will have image renention. You may think the bright picture looks good at first, but after watching a movie for a while, you will really notice beautiful color, nice contract, life like skin tones, etc.

I grabbed ISF settings from a web site for my new 50" Pioneer and watched X-men and the Omen last night on Blu Ray disc. Wow, it's good... !lifelike and almost 3 dimensional.

To save yourself $400 for the technician coming out to set it up, you can try these settings that I found on a Panasonic plasma web site. They review claims them to be very good accurate ISF settings.

I'm not sure if you have the 60U or the significantly better 600U model, but here are some setting posted by a review company on the 60U TV. This might be a good place to start.

Panasonic TH-50PX60U Optimal Picture Settings
Picture Mode Standard
Picture +22
Brightness +8
Color -1
Tint -4
Sharpness -14
Color Temperature Warm
Enhanced Black Level Off
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 39
Registered: Nov-06
Randy... does any image rentention you have/had stay permanent... or has it all faded away with time...
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 40
Registered: Nov-06
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/
 

New member
Username: Thanwu

Post Number: 5
Registered: Jul-06
Hi, Guys:

I have had a Panasonic TH-42PX60U for a year. I tried to be careful for the first one hundred hours. I watched it like regular TV after that. I watch a lot of sports: NBA, NFL, college football and basketball. There are always logo there. So far I have not seen any burn-in yet. I talked to Panasonic Tech support once. He told me as long as you don't watch still image for too long, there is no need to worry about burn-in. Plasma gives you the best pictures for now, period.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Idrivearocket

Post Number: 42
Registered: Nov-06
Sweet news Han... cheers to plasma!

2 years ago, everyone said plasma was dead... LCD still have not caught up in any department....

Although the new sharp 92U series looks pretty good... wait until Pioneer release this falls technology...
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us