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Image retention/Burn in - how much of a problem?

post #1 of 17
2/9/11 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
A question to plasma owners: Would you be totally comfortable leaving same picture on your screen for say... two hours straight - or the thought gives you the shivers?

I am looking for a 58-60" panel in sub $2k budget. No interest in 3D. It will be connected to a PC, and has to be able to sustain static images in some areas of the screen for prolonged periods of time without burn-in or retention that has to be 'scrolled out'. The room does not get a lot of light, so plasma will look good. I am also perfectly fine with PQ on LCD (I am excluding edge-lit LEDs from my search). I've looked at the latest LCDs and am completely satisfied with their black levels, motion, view angles and all other aspects that plasma aficionados 'find beyong their ability to endure'. But I sure love the plasma price tags. A 60"LCD will generally leave the wallet at least ~$400 lighter than a 58-60" plasma.

Lets say I get something like a PN58C550(590), do the recommended break-in, and enable pixel shifting. Would this be enough to be not worried about following scenarios:
Browsing sessions when Win7 task bar and browser header are always on-screen.
Long Skype sessions where aside from person(s) moving about, room picture remains static.
Kids playing educational games where aside from some animated characters, background may remain the same for quite some time.

Or it would just be a better idea to pay a bit more and get an LCD?
Thanks for your insights!
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post #2 of 17
2/9/11 at 7:51am
I still wouldn't be comfortable using my plasma as my main PC monitor. I would not have a problem using it to do things like play PC games on it though.
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post #3 of 17
2/9/11 at 8:07am
It's not '05 anymore, and plasmas aren't the half-assed technology that they used to be. ...Heck even my Panny 800u from '08 works great as a PC monitor: it only deals with image retention from a static gaming-HUD (StarCraft 2) for 1min or so, and it's so faint that its hardly noticeable.

I'm sure that if an '08 Panny works as a PC monitor, then any '10+ plasma will deal with it even better. ...So don't worry about it, just use your TV like a CRT and enjoy it. There's so much anal-retentiveness on these forums it's ridiculous.

One of these days I'm going to buy a new plasma and leave it on for a month straight with a .JPG picture of lots of random shapes and colors and never change it; just to prove that burn-in and image retention are hardly a problem anymore.
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post #4 of 17
2/9/11 at 8:24am
I was at a Fry's. They had a 54VT25 on display. It had some very noticeable IR. I went back a few times and every time they had the same static DVD menu on the screen. I pointed it out to the Sales guy. He said that the set was on 10+ hours a day for months. He put the DVD on a loop. I went back the next day and the IR was completely gone.

I wouldn't worry about it.
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post #5 of 17
2/9/11 at 8:46am
Samsungs PN63C8000 was my first plasma. I played PS3 games on it the first day I got the TV and have been playing since and have had no IR. I'm not even concerned with it. Samsung did a good job of conquering a PDP weakness.
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post #6 of 17
2/9/11 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 
Sounds good. I been reading through the 550 thread, and got a mixed picture - some report IR after only a few of static image taking 5+ min of regular watching to go away, while some appear to not get it at all.
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post #7 of 17
2/9/11 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scorrpio View Post

Sounds good. I been reading through the 550 thread, and got a mixed picture - some report IR after only a few of static image taking 5+ min of regular watching to go away, while some appear to not get it at all.

There seem to be some odd inconsistencies between the 50" Samsungs and the larger sizes in terms of black level, IR, etc. The 58" and 63" models appear to perform better in certain ways.
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post #8 of 17
2/9/11 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noah View Post

There seem to be some odd inconsistencies between the 50" Samsungs and the larger sizes in terms of black level, IR, etc. The 58" and 63" models appear to perform better in certain ways.

I don't have IR issues with my pn50c7000. In any case, IR should reduce itself as the panel ages.
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post #9 of 17
2/9/11 at 12:11pm
I think IR/burn-in really is a luck of the draw area.

I recently got a VT25 mainly because of all the glowing reports I read and how IR was supposed to be nothing on it. It isn't. This TV has HORRIBLE image retention to the point I find it pretty pathetic this is a new TV when my 4 or 5 year old Kuro has no IR at all and an LG of the same age is better than than the VT25 in this area. I also think it could easily get burn-in.

Clearly people who say they have no IR with the set are probably not lying or blind so it has to be set dependent.

All I can say is that i'd steer clear of the Panny line of TVs not simply because of this potential problem but all h other issues their sets have.
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post #10 of 17
2/9/11 at 1:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noah View Post

There seem to be some odd inconsistencies between the 50" Samsungs and the larger sizes in terms of black level, IR, etc. The 58" and 63" models appear to perform better in certain ways.

I agree. I bought an open box pn50c8000 to test with a htpc before I bought a new 58" and have been disappointed. Not sure what to do now. I don't want to buy a new 58 and see the same issues and have to return. The differences in 58 & 63" that I see in BestBuy are:

1. noticeably better black levels. The phosphors on 50" glows a lot, much more than lcd.
2. I get noticeable ir, even with the windows screen saver with the 50"
3. the screen on the 50 is not even. The left side is darker than the right. I thought plasmas were uniform?
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post #11 of 17
2/9/11 at 2:08pm
a lot of people here seem to think that you have nothing to worry about. I think you should go with an lcd for a computer monitor.
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post #12 of 17
2/9/11 at 3:02pm
I use my 60pk550 as my HTPC display, no IR or Burn in. Set it to go to screen saver after 10 minutes.
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post #13 of 17
2/9/11 at 3:08pm
I have a pn50c6500 connected to a PC and it has noticeable temporary IR. Even a few min of leaving wmp all the grids of album covers are burned in. But it does go away in a few minutes of watching normal TV. I would suggest an LCD for prolonged PC use.

I just verified again, the PC is connected through HDMI in Movie mode with Pixel shifting enabled.. even with all this I get temporary IR in less than 2min.

I love this display and use it mainly for movies but, for your use I would suggest a LCD/LED.

good luck shopping.
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post #14 of 17
2/9/11 at 3:11pm
TCP58S1 - over a year and ZERO IR from the get-go.
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post #15 of 17
2/9/11 at 3:34pm
IR definitely happens but becomes less of an issue as the panel ages. Still I think you have to be wise about what you display and for how long. I wouldn't be comfortable using my VT25 as a PC monitor. Even after hundreds of hours I'm still amazed how quickly the PS3 dashboard "ticker" gets retained so I can only imagine the issues that a desktop would present.
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post #16 of 17
2/9/11 at 3:57pm
when i get my new 3d plamsa i plan breaking it in and i play video games may be 2 or 3 times a week totaling 7 hours i dont sit down for 5 hours stright playing lol.
will i have any trouble plus i keep my contrast and brigthness dwon when i play games. i dont like a bright video game its looks fake
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post #17 of 17
3/7/11 at 7:02pm
I sometimes wonder if the people having IR problems are using very bright settings or "vivid" mode? I just got a PN58c550 a little over a week ago, and have been playing games, matted non-16:9 movies, and leaving my PS3/XBOX sit at the dashboard screens. No IR at all that I've noticed. Of course I do use PS3/XBOX screensavers where it dims the screen. I also did do a calibration with Spears&Munsil blu-ray and use those settings for both movies and gaming. It's lower settings for use in low-light movie viewing. Cell Light:15. So I wonder if that is keeping me from getting IR? Still it's plenty bright for my use and colors look natural. I even have the pixel shift turned off, because I use the Screen Fit mode and pixel shift is disabled in this mode.
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