Hello all.

I am the proud new owner of an XBR970, and I have some questions.

1) Most of my TV viewing will be in the 4:3 format. Since I cannot stand a zoomed or a stretched picture, I am forced to use the "normal" mode placing black bars on each side of the screen. My question is, if I leave the TV in normal mode for long enough with those black bars, will I be able to notice the burn-in when viewing something in 16:9?

2) From as far as I can tell, most of the people here discourage against using "vivid" mode on the television, and suggest the "pro" mode. My problem is that it is way too dark when using the pro mode, even when I block all the light in the room. Would it cause damage to the TV if I went against everyone and used vivid mode, or perhaps can someone explain to me why the "pro" mode is suggested the most?

3) Right now I have a SD Dish reciever, but my new VIP622 HD DVR should be coming in soon. Will this improve SD quality if I used the HDMI? Does anyone have experience with the 622 and the XBR970?

4) PS3 and BluRay looks awesome!

Thanks in advance for the help all.

I have a xbr970 as well. I don't use ANY of the zoom modes like you said. CEPT for 480 i use the "full" one. I mean 480 looks so bad anyway on this TV that i don't care and want the picture stretched out to fill the screen! It's so hard watching normal TV now man after HD channels. Looks like the old days of going back from dvd to vcr.

2) From as far as I can tell, most of the people here discourage against using "vivid" mode on the television, and suggest the "pro" mode. My problem is that it is way too dark when using the pro mode, even when I block all the light in the room. Would it cause damage to the TV if I went against everyone and used vivid mode, or perhaps can someone explain to me why the "pro" mode is suggested the most?


It's really just up to you bro. If thats how you want to watch then watch it like that! You don't need people telling you " you are going to break your TV" You may just need to watch in pro for a few, then switch back to vivid and you can see all the noise/ extra contrast added thats not needed. It' all comes down to how YOU want to watch your set. Me telling you i like pro better don't mean a damn thing if you don't like it.

Now that I have the 970, I kinda like their Wide Zoom feature. It's similar to the Cinema Wide I had with my old Toshiba RP TV. The first time you try it, it may look strange but I got used to it really quickly.

Pro looked dark and drab to me too. But I adjusted my color, contrast and brightness and looks great. I'm going to balance out watching a few programs with sidebars, with watching most non-HD shows through the Wide Zoom feature (through my s-video VCR since my cable box won't allow me to use the TV's Wide Zoom). Hopefully that will guard against burn-in.

I'm going to balance out watching a few programs with sidebars, with watching most non-HD shows through the Wide Zoom feature (through my s-video VCR since my cable box won't allow me to use the TV's Wide Zoom). Hopefully that will guard against burn-in.

So you are confirming that there is burn in?

So you are confirming that there is burn in?
Well, I used to have a Sony Wega 4:3 and would watch DVDs in letterbox all the time with no burn-in that I've ever noticed. However, I switched from that to a rear-projection Toshiba and was warned about burn-in then (burn-ins are much more of a problem with projection TVs than direct-views), so I started practicing that routine. Ironically, I ended up getting burn-in from my PoP feature instead.

So I certain don't confirm any burn-in because I've never experienced it with a direct-view. But if that is a concern, I would go with the Wide Zoom.

Hello all.

I am the proud new owner of an XBR970, and I have some questions.

1) Most of my TV viewing will be in the 4:3 format. Since I cannot stand a zoomed or a stretched picture, I am forced to use the "normal" mode placing black bars on each side of the screen. My question is, if I leave the TV in normal mode for long enough with those black bars, will I be able to notice the burn-in when viewing something in 16:9?

2) From as far as I can tell, most of the people here discourage against using "vivid" mode on the television, and suggest the "pro" mode. My problem is that it is way too dark when using the pro mode, even when I block all the light in the room. Would it cause damage to the TV if I went against everyone and used vivid mode, or perhaps can someone explain to me why the "pro" mode is suggested the most?

3) Right now I have a SD Dish reciever, but my new VIP622 HD DVR should be coming in soon. Will this improve SD quality if I used the HDMI? Does anyone have experience with the 622 and the XBR970?

4) PS3 and BluRay looks awesome!

Thanks in advance for the help all.

pro mode is too dark sometimes for me in the day time

turn the contrast up to 60 or 65

another tip, go into "advanced" and used "monitor" mode. will make faces look less "redish"

if you use "vivid" and watch stuff with "black bars" a lot, you will damage the tube

pro mode is too dark sometimes for me in the day time

turn the contrast up to 60 or 65

another tip, go into "advanced" and used "monitor" mode. will make faces look less "redish"

if you use "vivid" and watch stuff with "black bars" a lot, you will damage the tube

What level of contrast should I keep it at in order for me to keep the "normal mode" bars, without causing damage?

What level of contrast should I keep it at in order for me to keep the "normal mode" bars, without causing damage?

Middle or lower,i find with CRT's they look sharper with lower contrast settings.

sure you can turn contrast up if you want and get a brighter picture but you lose image crispness and it can obscure geometry and convergance somewhat if it's set too high.

sure a properly calibrated display may seem dim to you at first with lower settings but after a while of viewing it you will get used to it and i doubt you would ever go back to those brighter settings.

This is your tv and it's for your enjoyment. So, theoretically, set it where ever it looks best. The only way I found to do that was with a calibration disc like Avia or DVE. Getting brightness, contrast and color to play well together is just as much science as it is art. I remember after properly calibrating my first digital set I re-watched all my favorite dvds because it felt like I had a new tv.

Of coarse with an LCd you can set the contrast where ever you want since they don't bloom,but with CRT's blooming is an issue. Like "Justsc" said.. set the contrast and or brightness or color to what ever is pleasing to you.

you can set contrast higher than the middle settings,just don't set it too high though or you will shorten the lifespan of the phospors on your screen and loose image crispness a bit while it ages.