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Is my Panasonic GT30 abnormal?

post #1 of 16
1/2/12 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 
I have a 4 month old Panny plasma. The left and right sides of the panel are noticably a touch brighter than the 4:3 center. Seems odd and it's a panel issue, I've tried multiple sources etc.

Sorry I'm a newb so I don't know if this is a common problem and if so what to do. We watch some normal def stations with the black bars and HD stations. Obviously the brightness differs where the black bars reside when on a normal def station.

Tia!
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post #2 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:04pm
You may have burned the screen. If you take a look in the owner's manual, within the first few pages it explicitly states to not watch 4:3. You can watch that kind of content but you need to adjust the zoom so the picture is stretched across the width of the screen.

Sorry.
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post #3 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptstek View Post

You may have burned the screen. If you take a look in the owner's manual, within the first few pages it explicitly states to not watch 4:3. You can watch that kind of content but you need to adjust the zoom so the picture is stretched across the width of the screen.

Sorry.

So throw it in the garbage or is there anything I can do?
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post #4 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ucla95 View Post

So throw it in the garbage or is there anything I can do?

How much of your viewing in the last four months has been 4:3 content? Do you rarely watch full-screen 16:9 content?
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post #5 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptstek View Post

You may have burned the screen. If you take a look in the owner's manual, within the first few pages it explicitly states to not watch 4:3. You can watch that kind of content but you need to adjust the zoom so the picture is stretched across the width of the screen.

Sorry.

Are you kidding? A TV manual that tells you not to watch 4:3? That's about half the programming that's out there.
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post #6 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spanbauer View Post

How much of your viewing in the last four months has been 4:3 content? Do you rarely watch full-screen 16:9 content?

65% HD and the TV has been on about 8 hours/day on average.
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post #7 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptstek View Post

You may have burned the screen.

Sorry.

I'm about to jump out my window... All my 'pro' friends told me to buy plasma. I've never had this problem with my LED TVs.
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post #8 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:19pm
You could run the scrolling bar for a few days.. can you see the issue with the tv turned off?
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post #9 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptstek View Post

You could run the scrolling bar for a few days.. can you see the issue with the tv turned off?

Screen looks all the same to me when off.
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post #10 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:24pm
Well, don't jump out the window yet. Lots of people have reported image retention that disappeared after a while. That's the precursor to burn-in, which is more or less permanent. Maybe run the scrolling bar overnight and see if you get any improvement.
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post #11 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by olyteddy View Post

Are you kidding? A TV manual that tells you not to watch 4:3? That's about half the programming that's out there.

It's on page 2 of my VT30's manual.. granted, it is kind of confusing and refers mostly to still images, but shows a screen with black bars on the sides and "4:3"
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post #12 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:28pm
Relax, and use the scrolling bar overnight. In the future, just make sure to vary your viewing (don't only watch 4:3 material).
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post #13 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ucla95 View Post

All my 'pro' friends told me to buy plasma. I've never had this problem with my LED TVs.

Yeah, you do have to think about what you're doing with the TV a bit more. I hate coming home to find my roommates watching pillarbox or letterbox (still under 100 hours). Me: Hey, I told you to watch full-screen only! Them: Durrr, oh yeah. Sorry.
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post #14 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you all for the help!
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post #15 of 16
1/2/12 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ucla95 View Post

65% HD and the TV has been on about 8 hours/day on average.

Like others have said, run the scrolling bars and that pillar box image retention should wipe away. I'd say to try and watch less 4:3 content in the future, but 2.35:1 aspect movies had got to account for at least 35% of my usage and I have no permanent letterboxing. But watching it in 2-3 hour intervals is probably part of the key.
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post #16 of 16
1/4/12 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 
Why does my LED tv automatically spread to wide for non HD pictures and handle HD pictures just fine, whereas the Panasonic plasma doesn't spread the non HD video automatically?
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