Please vote for one of the following. If you vote, tell us how you voted and then post your make and model number.

I do not have burn-in or IR and did a brief break-in when I first got the TV

Panasonic 42PX600U

Panasonic 50Px500u.

I do not have burn-in or IR and did a brief break-in when I first got the TV.

I'm still in the process of my break-in, but did suffer a minor case of burn-in through excessive use of analog closed-captions in the first 3 weeks of owning the TV. I've run some of the screen burn prevention utilities that came with my Samsung 4253, and have gotten rid of all signs of the burn-in. The burn-in was easy to see in bright white scenes, where I could see the two rows of text in the lower center of the screen where the closed captions appeared, along with the pixels where the letters for the captions were.

Since then, I haven't used the analog closed-captions at all. Digital closed captions with the HD signals are much dimmer and seem to be OK in not causing burn-in as the bright white analog captions did.

Pioneer 4270. I did a lengthy and very careful ,though not meticulous ,break-in. Almost entirely used HD. About the only time that the sidebars were on were during commercials. And yet this set which I have about 4 months deveoped(it became apparent in about the third month)burn-in where the 4.3 picture would be. It is not a problem most of the time but becomes rather obvious during hockey games ,snow scenes on Discovery,light blue sky scenes,etc.To my surprise, it is the 4.3 portion of the picture that appears slightly,but noticably,darker or "dirtier" whereas the sidebar portion is purer or whiter. This is particularly disappointing since this is my third HD set and the one that I was most careful with by far.The first was the Toshiba HF83 tube set which has just a fantastic picture(second only to the Sony 910/960 in my HD experience).And you can leave stock tickers,sports tickers,etc. on this baby and never a hint of any IR or burn-in after 4 years. The second set was the panny 42px60u since given to my son and his gal.I upgraded to the Pio because I could never get the panny pq close to the quality of the Tosh tube set though it was very good quality picture.But the panny has never developed the slightest hint of IR or burn-in.Though the overall pq of the Pio is superior to panny and very close to Tosh tube set,the burn-in is sufficiently annoying,particularly given the almost 50% price premium that I don't believe that I would ever purchase a Pio tv again.This represents my initial post after a number of fruitful years as a guest.Thanks to all of you for all your insights and help over the years. I apologize deeply for the length of this paragraph but I am an old guy who is not very adept with computers or typewriters and could not figure out how to start a new paragraph. For all those still awake,thanks again.

Junction, great post and very informative. Thanks for the post after years of 'lurking.' :) Your experience will be useful to others here.

I have a Pioneer 5016. I did not do a break in, per se, but did turn the settings down for maybe the first 15 hours of play. Since, I have turned the settings up to where I have the best pic. I do use caution, however, and do not turn the tv off right after watching a movie with black bars, watch the same channels all the time or play games on the tv. I have paid particular attention to the screen to try and pick up on the slightest IR to avoid burn in. The set is about 2 mos. old.

My 2 Cents !
I had an XS955 Sony pdp , and after a proper breakin period there was never any sign or worry of any burn-in.
Steps taken:
1) First turn set to "custom" settings.
Turn down the picture to 50% and brightness to 25% , this gives a very dark picture , deal with it , as you only need to do this for the first 100 hr`s.
2) After the 100 hr`s turn picture up to 75% and brightness to 50%.
During this period , bring the picture up to 100% for a few minutes , and then turn it down to 0% , again for a few minutes.
Do the same for the brightness.
Then return to normal Pic=75% + Brt= 50%
3) Also limit your time to only one channel , instead change channels often.
When watching letter-box movies , follow normal viewing habits.
Do this for about 3 to 4 months. NOW before you say I`m nuts , please allow me to explain.
Following this process , I found that I had a very stable panel.
After this time leave the tv in the custom mode and adjust to suit for veiwing perference.
It worked for me and my panel was ready for any viewing that you would do on any "normal" tv.
That would include video games or even computer use.
Saddly , I had serveral Q-Box failures that led to the termination of that tv.
I was offered and exchange for a "Sony" of my choice , I chose wrong in choosing the new XBR2 with a 5 year warranty.
I remember with great pleasure the tv I once had , thank god we learn from our mistakes.
Aside from the CC ( cable card ) problem , it was perhaps the most stable pdp on the planet ! ( just kidding ).
But if you take the time and the pain to do the above steps , you will have a stable panel for the life span of the panel.
A plasma tv or panel is a good thing , but they do have there draw backs , such as exsessive heat and floating blacks , but the later is less likey with todays panels.
I had a 37" and it had 7 fans to keep it cool , and it still got very hot.
Heat = Shorter life span.
Nothing last forever , but while it last , it will be far better than any LCD currently being made.
IMO> LCD tv`s peaked with the Sony KDL-32XBR950 ( panel + seperate media box ).
I sure hope this clears things up.
And remember the most important part ... Have Fun !! :D
You`ll be buying a new one soon enough ;)
Gary

I chose poll response #1. Hey it's your PDP... treat it as you will... but I'm the kind of guy who also changes the engine oil in his 2000 V6 Accord every 3000 miles. ;)

No burn-in/IR and did a brief break-in when I first got the TV (normal viewing, no sidebars, reduced picture/brightness/sharpness settings).

Panasonic 42PX60U

I have been unable to show any burn in or IR on my pio 5070. I've even let my kid abuse it (in my eyes) by leaving a dvd menu (white letters, navy background) on for 45 minutes just to see what would happen.

I did a short break-in during which time I viewed everything as full screen, but took no special efforts to avoid particular channels. I used D-Nice's settings. There is no sign of burn in or IR.

My set is Pio PDP4270HD.

I do not have burn-in or IR and did a lengthy break-in when I first got the TV

HP PL4260N

Would a plasma really "suffer" from image retention? The few times I did have image retention it quickly went away. My understanding of image retention is that it will always correct itself and disappear. If it doesn't, then it's burn-in.

I have had a Pannasonic TH42PH9uk for two weeks now and I did a 100 hour "burn-in" with the screen saver and the color-cycling CD. I am still cautious within reason and have yet to see any flaws at all. No IR anywhere, regardless of screen banners, scrolling text, etc.

For those of you that have sets that didn't come with a "white wash" screen or some other burn in protection, I made one.

I made a white 1366x768 JPG in photoshop and put it on the TV through my 360..Run it 10 minutes a week, and it keeps everything nice and shiny! Now, I haven't had any problems, so it's purely preventative, but still. :)

No IR - Breif break-in
Pioneer PRO-1540HD

You may want to quantify lengthy and breif. Broke mine in <200hrs and consider that breif.

Please vote for one of the following. If you vote, tell us how you voted and then post your make and model number.
Please redo the poll and separate IR from burn in for the responses. Lumping the two IMO does not help but confuses the issue.

Cheers, :)

Gary

Panasonic 42PWD7UY -
I do not have burn-in or IR and did a brief break-in when I first got the TV

i have over 1500 hrs on the set now.

Pioneer 1540 HD

I have had IR after watching 4 hours straight of 24 on my PVR with a nasty channel logo in the bottom right hand corner. I was using the D-Nice break in settings at the time. The IR is gone now, just like new. It did take about 10 hours of watching HD and a couple of DVDs at 185:1 to get rid of it though.

"I suffer from burn-in or IR and did a lengthy break-in"

I only experience temporary IR on my Toshiba 42HP66. No burn-in has happened as of yet. My break-in time was between 80 to 100 hours. I didn't keep precise track of break-in, but it was in that area.

I've had the TH42PX60U for only two weeks now. I'm still in 'break-in' mode: turned settings to zero, NO letter boxing, limited static images (only channel logo's), no gaming. I've got only about 40 hours of use so far, so it's VERY early, but no IR or burn-in at all.

Can't wait to bump up those settings and get the PQ just right! :)

I know it's far too few people so far, but the ironic thing about this poll is that so far it looks like the safest thing to do is to not break it in. No one who has not broken it in has gotten IR, whereas a small percentage of people who have, have IR.

One more item I meant to mention. Some folks compare the characteristics of a standard CRT TV to the characteristics of a PDP. Well if they are similar, let me tell you about my 16 year old, 27" panny CRT that is still going strong. It's never, ever had any ghosting or IR. And there was a time when I'd play Halo on my old Xbox for 4 hours straight (got cramps in my thumbs). Lots of NFL, tons of DVD letter boxing......NO IR. Hopefully that's a good sign for my new panny PDP. :)

Did a 100+ hour official break-in, 200 additional "sensitive" break-in. Now I just avoid leaving the Tivo paused for longer than a few minutes. :)

Never seen any IR, and definitely don't have burn-in.

Panasonic TH-42PH9UK.

Sorry = Off Topic , well sort of :)
PDP`s or plasma panels are more like a conventional crt tv than any other type of display currently avalible.
Both use a phosphor as a means of creating the R G B needed to make an image.
LCD uses thin film transistors , which as we all know are switches to create the needed R G B signal to produce an image.
Front and Rear projection do there own R G B thing.

Please redo the poll and separate IR from burn in for the responses. Lumping the two IMO does not help but confuses the issue. Cheers, :) Gary

Gary, for many here IR is a problem because it's either persistent or happens frequently. I included it here because it's sort of 'Burn-In Lite.' I didn't want to NOT include it because bad IR is a problem even if not as bad as Burn-In. And having separate questions for it -- separating Burn-In and IR -- would have doubled the poll choices and I didn't want to drive people nuts. :(

Your point is noted though. Perhaps one of us can do separate IR and BI polls in the future at the same time. For now, I think we're learning a bit about them both here -- which was the intent. ;)

Thanks !

I know it's far too few people so far, but the ironic thing about this poll is that so far it looks like the safest thing to do is to not break it in. No one who has not broken it in has gotten IR, whereas a small percentage of people who have, have IR.

But since most people do some kind of break-in, that's normal. The sample size when you commented was very small; let's see what happens over the next 9 days.

Hopefully, we get close to 200-300 responses.

HP-PL4260 no ir or burn-in. I made sure screen was filled for first 2oo hrs., now I watch anything and everything as it is broadcast, except for espn, can't stand their logo on sides.

Pannasonic TH42PH9uk for two weeks now, no ir or burn-in Did a 100 hours with the color-cycling DVD. I am still carefull with what I watch on it.

PDP4270HD... brief break in, have IR.

What I'd like to know is... if permanent image retention (a.k.a. burn in) is a myth... why did AVSF give the topic a sticky? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608677) :confused:

Gary, for many here IR is a problem because it's either persistent or happens frequently. I included it here because it's sort of 'Burn-In Lite.' I didn't want to NOT include it because bad IR is a problem even if not as bad as Burn-In. And having separate questions for it -- separating Burn-In and IR -- would have doubled the poll choices and I didn't want to drive people nuts. :(

Your point is noted though. Perhaps one of us can do separate IR and BI polls in the future at the same time. For now, I think we're learning a bit about them both here -- which was the intent. ;)

Thanks !
I am not trying to press the point and so will bow out but my point was any time you ask a question as "A or B" and I answer yes you have no way of knowing whether it was A only, B only, A and B. It could be any of these three and so it is ambiguous.

Sorry its an occupational hazard as a systems engineer.

Anyway I will read peoples comments with interest.

Thanks, :)

Gary

I know it's far too few people so far, but the ironic thing about this poll is that so far it looks like the safest thing to do is to not break it in. No one who has not broken it in has gotten IR, whereas a small percentage of people who have, have IR.


Nah, look back again...it's all about the Pannys baby! ;)

I am not trying to press the point and so will bow out but my point was any time you ask a question as "A or B" and I answer yes you have no way of knowing whether it was A only, B only, A and B. It could be any of these three and so it is ambiguous. Sorry its an occupational hazard as a systems engineer.
Anyway I will read peoples comments with interest. Thanks, :) Gary

Understood....look, in a few weeks/months we can ask the Mods to make the question(s) stickys. ;)

I have a 42PX50U with zero IR or burn-in which I predominantly played games on. I did a lengthy break in.

I just purchased a 50PX600U and have a little IR, but it's not fully broken it in.

What I'd like to know is... if permanent image retention (a.k.a. burn in) is a myth... why did AVSF give the topic a sticky? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608677) :confused:

Burn in is burn in, period. Burn in by definition has always been uneven phosphor wear. People found out that you can cure burn in by burning in your entire panel and allowing older phosphors to catch up, people want to call it "Image Retention" because it sounds nicer and avoids the 'permanent stigma'.

That's Plasma TV manufacturer propaganda. There's no need for distinction. The poll is fine.

people want to call it "Image Retention" because it sounds nicer and avoids the 'permanent stigma'.

No, there is a need for a distinction.
If I have white letters on a black background for one second, go to all black and can still see the letters, do you claim that is uneven aging?
It is IR, temporary, and goes away with the next image.

I have not voted yet, because I too cannot decide how to answer the "or" questions in my case. I have regular brief minor IR, and no burn-in, after a lengthy break-in on both a Philips 42PF7320 and an LG 50PC3D. I have watched a bit of unstretched 4:3, and a ton of 2.35 movies with no permanent damage.

Mike

I have a Panny 50PHD3U put in service August 2001, ISF-calibrated October 2004 with absolutely no burn-in, etc. I didn't perform any special techniques and there is no internal wobbler. We don't play games, but did have CNN on during September 11, 2001 aftermath, although I switched often to other stations. However, we've also been careful about not watching channels that have persistent logos or news lines running at the bottom of the screen. I did set the side bars to grey for letterbox programming

Perhaps we watch enough variable programming to counteract any tendencies to difficulties.
Leslie

To Help Clear Up Some Of The Confusion:

I would consider Image Retention to be something CLEARLY visible that anybody can see during NORMAL VIEWING. I would not consider it what MKJNovak alludes to -- namely, having bright-white lettering on a black background and then switching to all-black and seeing a trace of the letters. To me, that would be 'forced' -- like looking for a scratch on the bottomside of your muffler of your new car and calling it a 'scratch.'

IR would be seeing bright images a few seconds later during a movie or regular TV viewing.

IR would be seeing residues from game playing.

IR would be seeing what MKJNovak alluded to above REPEATEDLY during viewing, not just once under controlled circumstances.

Lastly, IR would be something you can see at normal viewing distances under normal viewing conditions -- not something forced, not something where you move up to 2-4' from the set and strain your eyes to catch some IR.

Remember: We're talking about problems that JUMP UP AT YOU...not problems that you have to look in the upper-corner of the TV at the right angle to notice....capisce? :D

I have a Pioneer 5070. I used DNice's original break in settings. I am now trying out his new break in settings.

EDIT- I did not read the whole thread before I took the poll. I voted some break in time and IR. When I went to hit submit I noticed the post about what we are voting on. So sorry. None of the IR/BI I have is noticeable at all during normal viewing.

I can only see my IR/BI when I put up a whole yellow screen. Sorry for the wrong vote.

No, there is a need for a distinction.
If I have white letters on a black background for one second, go to all black and can still see the letters, do you claim that is uneven aging?
It is IR, temporary, and goes away with the next image.

That's residual electrical charge and has absolutely nothing to do with burn in.

My Panny 42PD25 is 2 yrs 2mons old and has no burn-in or IR. Did not do any break in. It is used for TV and DVD's only, -no games.

That's residual electrical charge and has absolutely nothing to do with burn in.

Well, fine. :o
Then I have never had IR or burn-in, yippee :D

I just figured that was the temporary stuff everyone alludes to.
And no, PhiPhan, if you're wondering, I don't go hunting for defects that trivial. That's just all I have experienced and figured that's what people meant by IR.

Mike

I didn't vote. Why? If I say yes and I only had some temporary IR, people get the idea plasmas are prone to burn in. Modern day plasmas are not prone to burn in like they were in the past. Yes I do have some IR with my Maxent 5020. A problem? No! It disappears in seconds, at worst, minutes. Burn in is supposedly permanent.

Sorry, but this poll is pointless. Why not just delete it if you can.

Sorry, but this poll is pointless. Why not just delete it if you can.

Ouch! :o

Actually this poll has created a great secondary result - lots of open discussion on the topic. The sharing of your own experince is a good example. Lost of good info here.

Pioneer PDP4272HD, purchased 12/30/06

I am a rank newbie that knew nothing of burn in protection. My local cable provider only offers 4 HD channels so the majority of my viewing has been in 4:3.

I have noticeable burn in in the outer mask areas.

I am pissed.

By the way, is there anything I can do?

Greetings from across the atlantic,

Is there such thing as having IR or screen burn and not noticing it with minor cases?

Is there a definitive way to detect screen burn or prolonged image retention even minor cases?

Contrast plays a big part so if an image is paused on for 2 hours and the contrast is like at 30% or less would there still be chance of screen burn? Considering after the TV is a few hours over 100+ hours break in.

The dimmer feature on plasma that lowers the brightness when there is for example a static DVD titile menu for a few hours will prevent screen burn or have no effect?

If a modern plasma has a period of Image retention during the first 200 hours of use does that contribute or higher the risk of making the set more susceptible to image retention?

Your opinions on pixelprotector and reversing screen burn, see pixelprotector website.

The follwoing is from the Pioneer website and makes the post much longer but its relevant, its a white paper called:
"Myt h b u s t i n g - Just the Facts on Plasma TV Performance"

TEST RESULTS
I m a g e R e t e n t i o n
Test Significance . We address the most contentious issue first, as plasma has yet to shed its lingering reputation as a technology that permanently "burns in" images when left static for a set period of time. Manufacturers have indeed come clean about first generation products that left permanent damage on the screens seen in airports and other text heavy applications. Technologies such as "orbiting" or micro-pixel movement were created to mitigate the possibility for this burn-in, but little research
has been done to refute the perception that static images will cause permanent damage to plasma displays.
Test Methodology - ISF test technicians left a static video game (Half Life 2) menu image on each TV for a period of 48 hours to simulate a full weekend "burn". Post 48-hour observations were quantified and documented as: 1 = Not Visible, 2 = Barely Visible, 3 = Somewhat Visible, 4 = Easily Visible, 5 = Readily Visible and Clearly Defined. A subsequent 24-hour movie loop was then run in an attempt to "fix" any image retention caused by the static video game menu. ©2005 IDC # 5
Test Results . After the 48-hour test, all LCD and microdisplay rear projection televisions scored a "1", as there was no indication of any image retention after the test period. Plasma, on the other hand, did show clear signs of image retention, with all displays scoring a "5" after 48-hours of displaying the video game menu. However, after running a movie loop on each plasma display for 24 hours, ISF testers could not
perceive the previously retained images while watching video on the plasmas after the 24 hour "fix". As such, plasma’s image retention score went back down to a "1". Key Takeaway . Central to this test is the acknowledgement that our demonstration was an extreme scenario that few consumers would ever experience with their televisions. Most potential buyers scared off by the notion of plasma "burn-in" are more focused on the damage caused while pausing a football game or their favorite show on TiVo for a few minutes while running around the house. Our tests show that current plasma technology can tolerate a full 48-hour session on pause, and then
resume its original state with no permanent effects after a 24-hour video loop. Thus, while it is unlikely that a consumer of a current generation (or later) plasma TV will even notice any image retention caused by 5 or 10 or even 60 minutes on pause, it is most definite that any such image retention will disappear over the course of subsequent TV watching.

source: pioneerelectronics

Philips 50PFP5332D - I do not have burn-in or IR and did not do a break-in when I got the TV

Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080HD.
No IR or burn-in at all.
Did not run a break-in disc, just zoomed and stretched everything and stayed away from static logos.

I do not have burn-in or IR and did not do a break-in when I got the TV

Panasonic TH-42PZ77U

The poll really should have IR/Burn-in as separate choices...most fresh out of the box plasmas will have some degree of IR for the first couple months or so. My 77U had very little IR when new and now I can hardly notice it at all.

I do not have burn-in or IR and did a brief break-in when I first got the TV

Panasonic 42PX600U
"IR"...............stands for what?

"IR"...............stands for what?

Image Retention

WOW ... Holy thread revival-- a year later. LOL. I'd like to know the difference between lenghty break-in and brief break-in periods. I did approximately 200+ hours of break-in and I still get very, very slight IR when pausing (DVR, HD DVD, or game). However it goes away after a few minutes.

I've had my 5080 for almost 1 week now. Didn't use the break in DVD, just used D-Nice's reference settings and stretched any 4:3 veiwing. I haven't seen any IR at all and definately no burn in.

I've got my 360 and Wii hooked up but I'm still a little hesitant to turn them on just yet.

Poll is closed now? Anyway: I do not have burn-in or IR and did a lengthy break-in when I first got the TV: 2 Panasonic plasmas. 37pwd8uk and a 50ph10uk.

Maybe should define brief vs lengthy, but I did at least 100 hrs of break in for both.

I did a longer than recommended break in with the DVD (200 hrs) and I still got burn in.
I broke in a Panny with the same DVD for the recommended 100 hrs and did not suffer any burn in.

No more Pioneers in this house.

Pioneer 4270. I did a lengthy and very careful ,though not meticulous ,break-in. Almost entirely used HD. About the only time that the sidebars were on were during commercials. And yet this set which I have about 4 months deveoped(it became apparent in about the third month)burn-in where the 4.3 picture would be. It is not a problem most of the time but becomes rather obvious during hockey games ,snow scenes on Discovery,light blue sky scenes,etc.To my surprise, it is the 4.3 portion of the picture that appears slightly,but noticably,darker or "dirtier" whereas the sidebar portion is purer or whiter. This is particularly disappointing since this is my third HD set and the one that I was most careful with by far.The first was the Toshiba HF83 tube set which has just a fantastic picture(second only to the Sony 910/960 in my HD experience).And you can leave stock tickers,sports tickers,etc. on this baby and never a hint of any IR or burn-in after 4 years. The second set was the panny 42px60u since given to my son and his gal.I upgraded to the Pio because I could never get the panny pq close to the quality of the Tosh tube set though it was very good quality picture.But the panny has never developed the slightest hint of IR or burn-in.Though the overall pq of the Pio is superior to panny and very close to Tosh tube set,the burn-in is sufficiently annoying,particularly given the almost 50% price premium that I don't believe that I would ever purchase a Pio tv again.This represents my initial post after a number of fruitful years as a guest.Thanks to all of you for all your insights and help over the years. I apologize deeply for the length of this paragraph but I am an old guy who is not very adept with computers or typewriters and could not figure out how to start a new paragraph. For all those still awake,thanks again.

as alot of people seem to ignore with all the cowtowing, this is not burn in or IR, this is uneven wear, and nothing really has been done about that over the years, newer tv's are just as susceptible.

I honestly dont think it is as easy as others think to get rid of, but the preventative measure is to either watch 4:3 material with grey bars on the side, or stretch it (both options i'd hate, but if you do black then the aging of the phosphors will be almost forever out of sync, trying to even them out again in my opinion is not that easy either).

in my opinion it's more of a unique issue, no matter how many pixel wobblers or more rhobust screens they make, that seems to be a constant issue.