IR.. where are we at now?

IR on 2011 and 2012 Panasonics is bad. My 2008 model had no issues.

After breaking my 60ST50 in for about 350hrs - i get IR, although now it seems to go away faster than it did after i did the 100hr slide prep.

As of right now Samsung plasmas are the choice for gamers since you can use "PC" mode to get low input lag, and IR is significantly better. I am still on the fence about swapping mine for an E6500, gonna give it another week - i have 2 weeks left for exchange.

I must be in the minority, because I noticed no difference in the frequency of IR on my 2012 Panasonic versus my older 2010 Panasonic. I had an April 2010 build TC-P50G20. I switched to an April 2012 build TC-P55VT50 and notice temporary IR occurs as easily as the last one and goes away just as fast. Doesn't bug me.

I've only had my 55" UT50 since Monday, and have mainly been running slides, so I don't have a lot of experience with it yet.

But I will say I watched the national championship game on ESPN and ESPN 3D (about 3/4ths on the latter) and there was no hint of IR from the scoreboard etc. when I put the slides back up right after the game.

Last plasma I tried was a Vizio back in '06-07 and it got temp IR very quickly and had a loud buzz (my UT50 buzzes too, but MUCH quieter and not noticeable with sound on usually) that led to me returning it after two weeks. So this one is a lot better in the early stages than that one was. Can't compare to older Panny or Samsung models since I never had one.

60" ST50 with no break in slides or any of that "bro science" crap and not one instance of IR. I game on it all the time. Currently I have been playing fallout vegas that has a fixed HUD on the screen and there is no sign of it. I'm up to 40+ hours on the game and nothing. I'm starting to get convinced the running the slides causes premature wear or damage to the TV. I don't think these consumer grade TV's were meant to be run 24/7 like that....but what do I know that is my official bro science on the matter.

Is there any manufacture that supports breaking in the TV with slides or one engineer from a reputable company that even supports break in slides for hundreds of hours? Why do people even do this again?

So many people here do it for the wrong reasons. The slides are only meant to prep the panel for calibration. It does not prevent, reduce or nullify chances of image retention, nor does it make the picture look any better.

Exactly. All they are doing is wearing out the TV and if the TV is prone to IR after X amount of hours they are just getting there quicker.

Yep. The only IR benefit is getting past the 100 hours or whatever faster, as sets due tend to be more prone to temporary IR in the early hours. Running the slides when not in use just gets past that point faster than just watching TV normally on nights and weekends and turning it off while at work/a sleep.

Faster way to get to a point where you can worry less about logos, black bars etc.

Amazon only has a 14 day return window, so I'm running slides while not in use so I can get past the 100 hours, calibrate with a disc and see how the PQ and IR are after the 100 hour mark before my return window is up.
Edited by dmaul1114 - 1/9/13 at 12:19pm

They havent, just got my 55" VT yesterday, watched Justified on FX and watching Conan right now on TBS both have logos zero IR, and thats without breaking in the set.

Somebody - probably Randy - speculated that it might be because they have gotten Brighter.

Suppose it might also be because more people Game on their plasmas, or use them as Super Large Computer Monitors - and/or because more channels are in love with constant Logos or other static images / streamers.

..............

Slides, in and of themselves, probably don't do anything to prevent IR, but OUR experience has been that Generally Aging a panel does tend to reduce the speed of IR Onset, and Shorten its Duration (if/when it does happen) - and Slides are probably one of the most convenient & "safest" means of aging a panel - at least when played from a SD card.

IR incidence on our 60ST50 has improved dramatically since the panel was new, with the change becoming apparent (or, at least, First Noticed) at a point Somewhat Beyond the 400+ hours of usage mark.

The panel does still appear more "IR Prone" than our two older Panasonic sets, but it is no longer a concern in normal usage. (Then again, we do NOT Game, or use the panel as a Super Large Computer Monitor!)

Also, FWIW, we have had over 1/2 dozen 2011 / 12 Pan panels in the Immediate Family, and ALL of them have shown PQ Changes over the course of AT LEAST the first 200 - 500 hours of usage - mostly for the better, but (Alas!) not in all cases. It makes sense to us, therefore, to "Age" a panel as rapidly as possible when new - and certainly while still within the return period - looking for an Negative Changes, as well as in the hopes of uncovering any Infant Mortality Issues.

to add to this IMO I really dont see IR an issue if you can only see it when viewing the slides. If you cant see it during normal viewing, is it really an issue? It will just go away with normal use, esp if you throw in a pixar movie.

What do you mean "Negative Changes" when it comes to PQ? Is it easy to tell without meters?

The concern is that some get IR and some do not. In a post above( Dierkdr) states that his IR has dramatically improved after 400 hours, yet (Sightseeker1) did no break-in and has experienced no IR at all. It seems that buying a Panasonic plasma is really a crap shoot. Maybe you'll get lucky and maybe you won't. Several threads here on this Forum dedicated to IR problems and the same scenario keeps popping up. Some get and some don't.

In my opinion, no. No point in obsessing over things and worrying about problems you don't notice during normal viewing at all. Who cares if there's IR on a white slide if you NEVER see it even during bright scenes in a TV show or movie (i.e. a snow scene).


Some of that could be related to the above. Some say they don't see IR as they never check a white screen etc. and it's not noticeable during normal viewing. Others check white screens etc. and discover IR and post about it.

Not to say that there isn't variation in panels, or that some people get more than others due to their usage (more games, static logos etc. for longer periods of time).

Two good points. And just to throw a little more out there in no particular order:

+ There's variation in panels (probabaly a lot less than some make it out to be)
+ There's variation in human perception
+ There's variation in human tolerance
+ Some people go out of their way to find problems
+ Some people don't go out of their way to find problems
+ Some people use abusive settings
+ Some people have more abusive viewing/usage habits
+ People that aren't otherwise on the forum generally aren't going to come create an account just to say they don't have a problem
+ People without issues get tired of repeating themselves in the 18th thread that the issue comes up in
+ People create biased polls that later get quoted as scientific evidence
+ etc

Sorry: forgot that not everyone was paying attention to the 2011 panels: EVERY 2011 panel we had in house - or in our two son's houses - had Green Blob issues to one extent or another.
We had 5 2011's at our house (although one arrived with a cracked screen ); eldest son 2; youngest son 1 - in addition, we checked out Over 20 panels in stores (most with help from store personnel) and found a Green Problem on each of them (mind you, we WERE being fussy, AND had a SD Card with slides that we knew emphasized the problem: many of those sets would have passed a casual viewing).

EVERY one of the sets we (or sons) had saw an Improvement in the Green Blob issue as the panels aged - and the 4 that were kept for At Least 500 hours ended up with negligible Unwanted Green (we could still "demonstrate" unwanted Green, but it was not an issue in normal viewing).

Alas, both of the 60ST30s that we kept for Beyond 500 Hours developed a significant Pink Tint problem. This was also reported by a number of other 2011 owners, but did not seem to be nearly as frequent of a problem as the Green Blobs were.

Our 60ST50 was a replacement - from Panasonic - for the last 60ST30 we had: the Pink Tint reached a point where there was no denying its existence. (Am leaving out quite a bit of info here - if really interested you should probably be able to find earlier discussions, from self & a number of other 2011 owners).

Understandably, we Aggressively Aged the ST50 when it arrived - particularly since IT had a "Yellowish Blob" in the center of the screen, along with the frequently reported Vertical Line Glitch.

Am glad to report the the screen on our ST50 is now wonderfully uniform, with NO trace of the Yellowish Blob, and only the barest HINT of a vertical "Shadow" - just inside the R bezel - that even I RARELY see, and even then am not convinced that it is "real." (Using the HD709 disk, this is easily the best panel we've had - and I cannot REPEATEDLY spot the Vertical Line on any of the slides: wife thinks it is just an Afterimage from spending SO MUCH TIME Closely Evaluating panel after panel after panel - and she must might be right!)

FWIW: Eldest son returned one 2011 panel (50") for Green Blobs + Growing Pink Tint, but kept the second (both dirt-cheap 50S30s), as both problems improved significantly during his return period. (90-days from Costco.... Although that panel has now developed a Growing Buzz, and apparently has some sort of Fluctuating Black Level glitch.)
Youngest son bought a 55GT30, and the Green Blob on his set was Barely Visible when new, and soon dissipated. Have not noticed Pink Tint on his set at all.

YMMV, but we are very happy with our 60ST50 - which seems to have done nothing but Improve as it has aged. At least do date....