Nervous about buying a Plasma tv. Need some help.

See the "Master Burn-In/IR/Break In Thread Part II: All Posts Here Only" thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/949107/master-burn-in-ir-break-in-thread-part-ii-all-posts-here-only/4050

GO TO AMAZON AND ENTER THE UNIT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AND CHECK REVIEWS....!
SORTA' SCARY

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A PLASMA AS WELL

I got a Samsung 51e7000 and game on it all the time. plus watch tons of channels with logos. Never had any ir/burn in, and I look for it too.

My opinion only based on a 65" VT50 and a 50" ST50:

-They buzz
-Whites are a joke because of the undefeatable power limiting (new Panny's anyway)
-They get IR (horror stories flood the board)
-You have to baby them. I literally turn the TV off when something is on pause for more than a few seconds cause of this forum.
-they get hot as hell


BUT...

-motion handling is basically perfect
-color and blacks are stunning
-PQ smokes LED
-off angle viewing
-the blacks, my God the blacks

Definitely check out the “Master Burn In/IR” thread that Randy recommended. Keep in mind that people posting to that thread are in the minority of Plasma TV owners. I believe the majority of plasma owners are happy with their panels.

I have a ST50 and think the ST/GT/VT are all great. Similarly the Samsung E6500/7000/8000 are all great and seem more IR resistant, at least from what I have read. All of these panels are rated good to excellent by CNET and have more favorable reviews than unfavorable on Amazon.

55 VT50 owner here:

-They buzz-False mine is dead quiet
--Whites are a joke because of the undefeatable power limiting (new Panny's anyway)-Again in correct ABL exists but is not a problem with most content
-They get IR (horror stories flood the board)-Again not all sets suffer, I have no IR so far
-You have to baby them. I literally turn the TV off when something is on pause for more than a few seconds cause of this forum. Wrong just watch it

I don't recommend plasmas for gaming, some have success but lots of others have issues.

I have no issues using a Plasma for gaming. The only issue I think you should look out for is input lag. But other than that, there should be no problem using a Plasma for gaming.

I use my Plasma as my computer monitor, and have no issues at all with image retention or burn in. I've also played games for hours on end before, and have had no issues period.

I have had no burn in issues with my plasma (PN59D6500) and I play a lot of games, use it as a pc monitor, play pc games, and don't baby it at all. I have had no issues with ir/burn in. When I put mine is game mode input lag is hardly an issue (I bypass my receiver and use optical for game audio) it isn't as fast as a 120Hz gaming monitor but it is more fun to play on.

I wouldn't go for a plasma for any heavy gaming. I love the PQ, but my primary TV uses are sports (hours of ESPN) and gaming (lots of 4+ hour sessions) and I had IR issues both times I tried plasma. I never got burn in--just IR that would go away in a day or two max of not playing that game or watching ESPN. But it was still visible during bright scenes in normal watching and drove me nuts. I'm also not a videophile at all so I don't really care about motion blur, black levels and all that stuff people on this site drool over. I care a lot more about just having a TV I can use however I want without having to worry about IR--especially since so much of my usage involves static logos and game HUDs. The people who aren't having issues are probably gaming in shorter sessions, mixing up content a lot more than I do etc. If that's your usages, maybe you'd be ok.

Buzzing I think it just in the ear of the beholder to some extent. There are faulty units that buzz louder for sure, and the Samsung's generally seem to buzz more than the Panny's. For me, my hearing just seems super tuned into hearing that frequency of buzz, as I've never been around a plasma that I couldn't hear buzz over dialogue from viewing distance (8-10) feet during bright scenes. My inclination is that I'd probably hear it on most of the units people have that they say are silent as my hearing is just super sharp for hearing that stuff--I'm always commenting on an appliance buzzing etc. and no one else can hear it unless they get much closer (if even then).

Just my two cents. Plasmas give a great picture, especially for the price range they're in these days. If you don't have a lot of static images in your viewing, I'd say go for it for sure. Buzzing I wouldn't worry about as I'm just in a small minority that's very sensitive to it.

But if you have a lot of static images--lot's of games, hours and hours of the same channel with a ticker etc.--I'd be very wary of plasma. Some do it and just ignore the IR since it's usually only visible now and then on bright scenes when actually watching stuff--or they just don't scrutinize their picture when watching stuff and thus don't notice it. But for the most part it's going to happen if you're playing the same game for hours every night or have the TV on ESPN all day like I do etc., so for that type of usage I just don't think plasma is the way to go, even with the superior PQ.

I returned the Panny UT50 for a Panny ET5 LED and have been very happy. The PQ isn't as good on blurays (especially dark scenes), but I don't notice much difference on sports and video games which is the bulk of my usages, and I love being able to use the TV the way I always have with no IR and having no buzz. Motion blur I don't much notice or get bothered by, probably because I had a SONY rear projection LCD set for several years before upgrading in January.

But to each their own. You can always try a plasma from somewhere with a great return/exchange policy (like Amazon) and use it for a couple of weeks and see how it works out in terms of IR etc. for your uses. That way you may end up with a top line PQ for a great price if you find out that you aren't getting any level of IR that you can't live with.

50UT50 owner here

Have mine for over a week and have one of these issues either.Didnt baby it in either

Only annoying thing is when watching cricket or football the ball flickers when moving fast

Hello,
My TC-P60GT50 has been utterly flawless and the upgrade in PQ over my 55 inch Sony LCD and 60 inch Sony KDS-A3000 SXRD RPTV is tremendous. It honestly has provided the purity of picture of my Sony 34XBR910 CRT HDTV on a much larger screen,

As for "babying", the only precaution I did make was to only watch 1:78:1 source material with as few logos as possible during the first 200 hours. Since then I have used it just like my LCD or any other TV technology. I recently even purchased an Xbox 360 (owned a 360 Elite in the past but it broke literally 6 times) now that it has been completely redesigned and have been playing hours of Halo 4. As usual, I have not experienced even a trace of IR or Burn In.
AD

I love my beautiful st50 It is fantastic. I on the other hand, have had bad burn marks. They do go away and the longest one has lasted is 1 week of watching channels Zoomed in with programs I don't even watch which sucks. Others usually go away in a few minutes. I really say screw OLED technology if they could just fix this flaw. I am really torn between taking it back to the store or just dealing with. I'm not OCD but I am very particular when it comes to a big purchase like this one. Best of Luck to everyone.

I think it is a great set as well. I have heard from friends and read online that the IR issues lessen greatly as the panel ages.