Hello all..new to the board so forgive me if this has been covered (I couldn't find it anywhere...is there a search function on this board???)

Anyway..just bought the above TV and have heard/read different people talk about break-in and such. What do I need to do? I've heard that plasma TVs are especially vulnerable to burn in when they are new...so how long can I watch SD programs without worrying about the sidebars burning in? How long till the TV is 'broke in'?

Any other owners...how long have you had it on a sports ticker or 4:3 without getting burn in?

(just don't want to wreck my new TV... a little paranoid)

Love the TV so far...any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

My only suggestion is to prevent from burn in is to turn down the brightness or keep it around 0 for the first 200 hours. Don't worry about making sure the screen is in Just or Fill mode. Other than that you should be just fine.

Chris
MountAVision.com

Just noticed a bloody dead pixel...do they ever come back? if not...this TV is going back....

Just noticed a bloody dead pixel...do they ever come back? if not...this TV is going back....

It's highly unlikely that it will become a normal working pixel.

It's highly unlikely that it will become a normal working pixel.
he cna still use his warranty can't he? just wait for awhile and if it doesn't come back then use warranty

dead pixel is not covered under any warranty..not even the futureshop extended warranty.

some B&M stores offer a 30 day return for any reason. and have heard of some etailers offering a "pixel perfect" type guarantee. But usually you have to pay for a return shipping. someone recently bought a plasma and the store gave them a perfect pixel guarantee in writing on his sales receipt and he had one when he checked the plasma. he called up and they told him it wasn't covered until he brought up his guarantee from the salesman writing it and they covered it.

Dose the dead pixle show up on all formats,and were is it on the screen?Dose it move when you use aspect?

yesh it does show up in all formats, and yes it does move around on the screen when I change aspect. It also gets bigger when I use the Zoom aspect

If you have a spot moving around it's not a dead pixel issue. It's related to the input. A pixel is in a fixed location on the screen regardless of any aspect change. For example if the dead pixel was 2 inches down and 2 inches from the right edge it would always be in that location it would never move.

so you're saying there is nothing wrong with the TV itself? What would be the cause of this then? Its hooked up to the cable box with component cables and I'm sure it wasn't there in the first few hours of watching TV...

Try using different connections. Our display model at work only has burn in issues if the picture is still and has been sitting idle for about an hour or more. It's been out since early last year. The etching will eventually go away with a changing/animated image.

Well I just talked to my HD provider and they said that these spots are a known issue with their newest update to the set top boxes. He reset my box so I'll check at lunch time to see if it removed the spot. Thanks sportsnut!!

problem was fixed by service provider...TV is fine!! Thanks guys!

Cool,I had the same problem,but only in 720p.It ended up being my cable connection from the Cable Box.

For anyone with this TV....how long have you found it takes before you get any IR/Burn-in?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=40

Check out the 3rd thread from the top.

Also do a Search in that forum for Panasonic white paper.

I have a 37" Panny & general rule is to baby it the 1st 100 hrs.. Keep image in full/ just mode w/ no side bars. Keep contrast & brightness settings at or near 0.

If you don't want to wait that long, then a full screen/ repeat break-in DVD can be utilized to advance the cause.

I have owned my plasma for about 15 months & have had zero image retention issues after proper break-in (& I watch a lot of 4:3 aspect ratio SD & movies to boot).