Never owned a plasma before (primarily LCD and front projection). However, thanks to a big sale+price error I grabbed a new Pioneer Kuro 5080 from Futureshop for...well...about $60 over cost.I couldn't resist at that price but now I'm wondering is the Kuro all it's cracked up to be and, secondly, does it require any kind of burn-in procedure?

I'm certain that there are two camps on the burn-in process issue but I thought it's worth asking before I start playing with it.

I'm in the "don't stress about it" camp. In other words, the only procedure you need is common sense for the first couple of weeks....take it out of store "torch mode" and watch mostly fullscreen content for the first couple hundred hours (a letterboxed movie here and there won't hurt anything) and most important...ENJOY IT.:)

First of all, congratulations on getting one of the better 50" TVs out there.
Second, for the price you got it, the bang for the money makes it even more special. :)
As far as breaking it in, definitely do it. Just make sure you have the right settings and the colors extend to the whole screen.

Of course you may watch other content during break-in. Again, make sure it fills the whole screen, no logos and change to the appropriate reference settings.

The second post at "The Official Pioneer 8G Kuro Settings/Issues thread" will give you D-Nice's reference settings for the 5080. Maybe you'd like to give these a try.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858851&highlight=8g+settings

+1

i'm in the "don't stress about it" camp. In other words, the only procedure you need is common sense for the first couple of weeks....take it out of store "torch mode" and watch mostly fullscreen content for the first couple hundred hours (a letterboxed movie here and there won't hurt anything) and most important...enjoy it.:)