I have an European Samsung Slim Fit HD Ready TV set, which I mostly use to watch Blu-ray Discs and DVD on 16:9 and very ocasionally some 4:3 material.
The fact is that I haven't watched a 4:3 program in months, after I received the 3 seasons of Charlie's Angels on DVD. After that I started to noticed like a faint shadow on either side of the screen right were 4:3 material is displayed.
have I burnt my set screen? Can be sorted out or it will remain like this regardless of what I do?
Thanks in advance.

Burnin on CRTs is permanent I'm afraid, unlike plasmas. I'm guessing your bars are coloured since you say they left shadows, black would actually make the picture appear dimmer in the center.

What's the best way to prevent this on an HDTV while watching 4:3 content other than the hideous stretch mode? Would it make a difference whether the bars on the side were black, or gray, or are they both equally prone to causing burn in?

What's the best way to prevent this on an HDTV while watching 4:3 content other than the hideous stretch mode? Would it make a difference whether the bars on the side were black, or gray, or are they both equally prone to causing burn in?Burn-in is the result of uneven wear of the phosphor coatings of a CRT. For the situation of black pillared or barred programming, the black portion of the screen gets less wear and the transition becomes noticable.

As for reducing the chances of burn-in. Stretching/zooming the bars or pillars off the screen is best and some sets have decent non-linear stretches that work well. Another very good way is to make sure your picture/white level is not set too high. Set the picture/white level at the point where whites are white and there should be no need to go further. Grey bars are better than black bars.

Thanks Raouliii. Would you have any tips for someone looking at used CRT HDTVs from people on craigslist? Easy ways to spot burn in, and other things to look for? I want to make sure the reason I'm getting a 34" HDTV so cheap is not because it has problems after I get it home.

I have an European Samsung Slim Fit HD Ready TV set, which I mostly use to watch Blu-ray Discs and DVD on 16:9 and very ocasionally some 4:3 material.
The fact is that I haven't watched a 4:3 program in months, after I received the 3 seasons of Charlie's Angels on DVD. After that I started to noticed like a faint shadow on either side of the screen right were 4:3 material is displayed.
have I burnt my set screen? Can be sorted out or it will remain like this regardless of what I do?
Thanks in advance.

What's strange is that your screen burned in only after you watch the Charlie's Angel DVDs. There must be something you're not telling us because it takes a lot more than that to burn-in the screen.

Burnin on CRTs is permanent I'm afraid, unlike plasmas.

"Burn-in" is just as permanent on a plasma; "image retention" is not.

Burnin on CRTs is permanent I'm afraid, unlike plasmas. I'm guessing your bars are coloured since you say they left shadows, black would actually make the picture appear dimmer in the center.


This is incorrect on both counts. When I bought my used set, your can easily
see the 4:3 border. After using the set a year now, strictly on widescreen, this " uneven wear" is quite a bit less noticeable.
The pillarbars are darker, looking like shadows, but not because I have coloured pillarbars.

This is incorrect on both counts. When I bought my used set, your can easily
see the 4:3 border. After using the set a year now, strictly on widescreen, this " uneven wear" is quite a bit less noticeable.
The pillarbars are darker, looking like shadows, but not because I have coloured pillarbars.


At least as far as CRTs are concerned there is NO way to undo wear/burn. What you are probably seeing is the virgin phosphor on the sides is wearing to better match the internal 4:3 space. Unused phosphor will wear quite a bit initially in the first 10s or 100s of hours of use and then the wear levels off considerably. I am guessing the less used sides on your set are catching up to the more worn interior. The only way to reduce the appearance of wear is to make the less worn areas catch up with the worn areas so they are worn equally and the picture looks uniform. Short of rebuilding a CRT there is no way to "undo" phosphor wear or burns. This has been discussed at length in the CRT projection forums. So burn in is permanent but the appearance may be less so.