VT50 55 Image Retention or Burn in? & how to fix?

If you're going to be doing 50% gaming, plasma might not be for you. Try some Pixar movies (zoom if they're not 1.78) and see if it goes away.

Not sure about returning it without a box.

Could you buy say a 40" LCD/LED for the kids to play in another room and they can use that strictly for gaming?

From what I understand, you really need to subject your panel to the same bright/static image for a while to get BI. You might just have severe IR. In that case, I've read that it might take a while before it all goes away. Maybe even longer than your return period.

Hello,
I really think you would be best served returning it. The box should not be an issue. You also do have the option of purchasing BB's Product Service Plan which is I think the only one that covers Burn In. I specifically purchased my 60GT50 there so that I could get their PSP.

I do believe that being delicate during the first 150-200 hours makes a difference. I gently broke in my GT and have not experienced even a trace of IR. However, with you having children, it really might not be a good idea to get another Plasma if he/she is going to game for hours on end. However, if you get the PSP, at least you will be covered if you do have Burn In as opposed to IR.
Cheers.
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You should never use THX for gaming, if you want to use THX for every day watching make sure its on Size 1 and pixel orbiter is enabled. Pixel orbiter can only be enabled on Size 1 when using THX. Your contrast should be set to below 40 for the first 1-200 hours using the Custom setting. I keep it at 30 for the first 200 hours. If you game a lot and set your contrast to 60 or below on Game mode after break in then IR should never really be a problem, but I have heard mixed things about the 2012 sets, I'll soon find out first hand. I game for hours sometimes and my girl friend watches channels with static images some times for a full day. Specifically E! and never once was there a smudge of IR on my 2011 65VT30. I broke the VT30 in 250 hours watching only full screen then kept movies and channels with black bars and static images to less than 25% of my viewing with absolutely no gaming until 500 hours. Say what you want about extreme break ins, or being ridiculous but clearly it works. Let's not forget Pioneer used to suggest 1,000 hours of break in. Most people will agree Pioneer had the most advanced research and development when it came to plasma technology, and also that plasma technology hasn't really improved since Pioneer left the market in 2009, so what makes people think break in isn't necessary any more? My GT50 in the bedroom is being put through the same process as the VT30. I'm presently at 300 hours and not one bit of IR after watching 2 letter box movies yesterday. Like I said, say what you want about breaking a plasma in but clearly it works. Most people that experience stubborn IR from what I have seen just go way too high with contrast levels, or just didnt break a plasma in. No matter what any one tells you if your contrast is at 80 for example the odds are if you game for hours you'll get IR. Sorry but its just a reality. Keep it at 60 or lower on Game mode if you can and you'll be fine. Unfortunately I understand some people's rooms are just too bright for slightly lower contrast levels. For those people I say game at your own risk. And lastly, if you want to get rid of stubborn IR, since I truly dont believe you have burn in, run only full screen moving images (HBO/Cinemax) for 24-100 hours and nothing else. It should be gone after that. I truly believe no technology produces better picture quality than a plasma it just needs to be properly taken care of before you can use it the way you want to. If this is too much for you to handle, even though it really shouldnt be (takes about 6 weeks to hit 500 hours if agressively kept on) then maybe LED is best for your needs. My suggestion is to exchange your current VT for a new one and start over. Best Buy does not require boxes for products that have SKU's on them that can be scanned. For example Bluray players or TV's. Boxes are not needed for these types of items. Good Luck!
Edited by Semp1 - 1/3/13 at 10:23pm

Wow.. In today's plasma's it's really hard to get IR or burn in. I mean one really has to leave a static image on for over at least 16 hrs or more to get it. I say return it if you can. I have a Kuro Elite 151 and my son and I always game on it for hours sometimes since I got it back in 09. Never had this problem. I say your next set is to break it in properly. Then have it calibrated by a pro and make sure you tell em your going to game on it and not only watch movies.

Kudo's on the BB PSP. Anything I get over $100 and PSP is offered I get it. Really like the peace of mind. I just got my Elite Pro-70X5 and got the 4 yr. PSP. Since this set has been around over a year now. And there is a chance that we might not see a 2nd gen Elite. This will become obsolete. So if there's any problem arise and BB can't fix it they'll replace it with a different set of equal value or give a store credit..

Btw.. Game mode is like taking it in torch mode. So stay away from that setting with any set for that matter..

The VT50 is a awsome set. I say exchange it and start all over. Now when you do get the new set first thing is to break it in by running the break in slides. Now when I broke in my Kuro Elite I ran the slides right through for a whole week. That's right left it on running 24/7. Then after the 7th day, I turned it off and let it rest for another 24 hrs. 2 months later after regular use in pure mode I got it calibrated.
Btw, I say return it and get the 65VT50..

Return it and buy an LCD.

Don't think he wants to downgrade.

That's only if you keep the contrast high. That's not mandatory when using game mode. Game mode has less input lag then the other modes. Feel free to adjust the PQ.

I don't think it's as easy as that. The OP may not have any problem exchanging the VT50 for either a different brand of plasma or an LCD but what would he tell the store if he wanted to exchange it for the same model? He can't tell them he's exchanging it because of retained images on the screen. They will tell him that's the nature of plasma technology and won't exchange it.

At any rate I wonder if the new 2013 Panny's will have IR issues at all this time around? Samsung has managed to build their sets so well they have a severely high resistance to IR. Actually from what I understand, IR is almost a non issue on the Samsung.

That is what I believed, at least with the 60"+ E6500 etc. However, reading some posts in the Samsung thread in the last week or so, apparently they are not as immune to this as I had believed (and no egregiously high contrast settings from what I could gather).

My 2012 Panasonic has a "severely high resistance" to image retention.

I tend to watch USA network, Discovery, and SciFi. These channels have static images in the corners. Should I expect any IR Issues??

I watch the TV.

Originally with THX settings out of the box; lately with ISF settings thanks to Kevin Miller's outstanding calibration services.

As you can see. I'm a really newbie here.

Can someone post me the settings for a daily watch on the first 200 hours?
I can find thousands of calibrations... But I'm sure are better and secure after I pass the 200 hours. Like in here http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=840 and here http://www.avsforum.com/t/1453294/55vt50-color-calibration-for-noobs

As I can see, if I just use the Standard setting (the default one) and lower the contrast to 30: is really dim. I mean, the cd/cm2 is really low.
Any better solution? Idea?

Thanks!

Good to hear that your IR issues have faded over time (pun intended ).

I think I have read the BB calibrations are not that great - if you are happy with the picture as it stands, I wouldn't worry too much about getting it calibrated. My ST50 is excellent and I can't see how it could get any better!

I have this tv and just noticed some burn in. I watched a lot of this news with the bombing. Now I see "breaking news" and live on cnn in the other corner. I watched over 100+hours easy... What do I do. Please help me I am nervous!

Thank you. Do you know why this happened so I don't do it again. My tv should be broken in. Been over 100 hours. I did have cnn on friday night about 3-4 hours I would say. That would do this to my tv? wow.


Thanks

Will it def go away? What happens if it does not? I dont want anyone to have to crack my tv in half to fix it. I still see it. I never shut it off for the 12 hours yet and did the swipe. But I did do the swipe before and it did not do anything

Turning the TV off for any amount of time won't help with this type of retention. Long-duration IR (MgO sputtering) can only be smoothed out by running images on the screen (technically a solid white screen is probably fastest, but a lot of people don't like to do that because of how warm the panel will get that way). Basically run normal full screen content, especially something bright. Depending on how bad your IR case is it might take hours, days, or even weeks of normal usage for the imprint to fade. I can't make promises about it fading, but everything I've managed to do to my GT50 has eventually faded so far. 3-4 hours of a bright logo should start to fade relatively quickly as long as you stay away from that same logo.
Edited by headlesschickens - 4/21/13 at 4:37pm

Thanks. I still think that is crazy. 2000 dollar tv I have to worry about this stuff. I should just be able to watch it and relax. Someone told me lots of switching colorful scenes will work. I have been putting it on sleep mode with all these dumb netflix movies I would never really watch. Weeks would make me crazy!

Do you see this when watching other programming or only when the screen is blank? Is your tv set on "vivid" or some other crazy setting?

YES!!! I have the Discovery logo burned into or IR'd on my VT50 and have been trying to make it dissappear for almost a week now.
it's faded some but I still see it on light colored objects and now I have a hud from far cry 3... Picture quality and colors are amazing, and I haven't had any stubborn IR this bad until now and i've used my set for at least 250 hours... so that's what led me here. Looking for answers. I've had it for a couple months so I can't return or exchange it at this point.