Stores say you don't need to break in Plasma

You also don't need to stretch before you run.

Have a little patience jeez people. 100 hours of a not optimial picture is worth the lessened chance of burn-in. I think break-in... and the possiblity of burn in are a bit overatted myself but it does help your mind.

Why not just take a little care with your thousand dollar investment?

Yeah. It's sort of like, why not do it? I have the settings turned down WAAAAAAY low, like -15 picture/brightness/sharpness, and it's still watchable. Some dark scenes are really dark, but most channels are just fine, and I'm probably overdoing it by decreasing it that much anyway. I would rather be safe than sorry. Especially since most places won't even accept a burned-in set back during the usual 30-day-return policy.

While I did turn the settings down a lot, I didn't really bother with the "break-in" DVD. I just watch normal stuff, and I'm sensible about it. I haven't played games on it yet (mainly because I just don't feel like it until I maybe get a Wii), and I don't leave it on channels with tickers on them forever, but everything seems to be going just fine.

my store recomends it. We also offer basic calibration with our Home theater setup packages.

I just got a panny 58" and have not yet run the break in DVD. I have not noticed ANY IR yet... Though I suppose I haven't really been looking for it.

I also haven't run too much stuff with black bars, just commercials during HD viewing...

Believe it or not, not all salespeople really know what they're talking about! Uncharitably, some just want to make the sale, and worry might discourage you from buying, so...

That said, TVs do vary. What was true in 2004 isn't necessarily AS true today. But a little caution seems prudent. Don't immediately watch dozens of hours straight of 4:3 SD, or letterbox DVD, or one channel with a fixed logo and/or ticker, and you'll largely avoid the problem, whether or not it exists for your particular TV. I'd rather be "safe than sorry" as the expression goes, and the DVD or Video-CD or whatever is just one way to help you achieve that.

Unfortunately, no two people giving their "rule of thumb" advice have the same thumb. Or perhaps the same TV.

I'm cautious, but not paranoid. I like my TV, and I want to like it in 6 months or 2 years or whatever, so a little up-front caution is worthwhile. To me. YMMV.

Doug

Like Panasonic suggests, break in is indeed needed. But not with a breakin dvd. Running a special breakin dvd was some plasma owner's idea to accelerate the process which caught on. But you can do what the manufacturer suggests: run your tv with settings turned down for the first 100 hours.

Its the same thing as breaking in a car. You do it with careful and controlled driving. You can just accelerate the process by putting the car on a jack and leaving it running

Yeah, but the oft-quoted "white paper" is from 2004, by and for one brand of plasma TV. Not everyone's TV arrives with any specific instructions regarding 100 hours, 200 hours, 1000 hours, dim settings, etc. Hence much of the confusion. My TV just has general warnings about static images - and the WARRANTY actually has more detailed info than the USER MANUAL does!?

Heck, we can't even get the "experts" here to agree on whether LCDs are completely immune, somewhat vulnerable, etc.

Doug

Just like buying speakers for your car. A store will probably say oh no need to break in but if you ask your sbuwoofer manufacturer they will likely suggest a break in period.

You can say that again. When I was shopping for my set I had a sales slug in a Sears tell me that plasma sets were "crap." Lousy SD picture, use tons of electricity...he didn't understand why anyone would buy a plasma.

I guess I'm pretty stupid...I later bought a Panny plasma.

Should one do it for reasons other than IR? Will the picture quality be any different after a couple hundred hours break-in? Just bought a plasma a few days ago so please forgive my ignorance.

I was at BB (Magnolia) in Frisco TX checking out the 50 inch 1080P Pioneer PDP. It had burn in from the Blu Ray demo disc menu....
I would recommend breaking in a PDP. If you look at the Phosphor output curve, the most siginificant drop (change) is in the first 100-200 hours, so it makes sense to tone down the contrast and brightness along with minimizing black bars and static images(station logos, info bars) during this period.

It does make sense to break it in. With just about any electronic equipment I've seen, a break in period of extended use is recommended. In my experience this is mostly because if a device is going to fail or change characteristics, it is going to do it in the first X hours of use, where X depends on the product. Heck, I even break in iPods by continuous play and battery drain cycles over a few days.

I think the rule of thumb for plasma is between 100 and 200 hours mostly from the community's operational experience and it just "feels" right. I spoke with an ISF certified calibrator and he says he won't calibrate a plasma with anything less than 100 hours of service. That and the fact you don't see ISF calibrator's denouncing a break in period lend credibility to the argument.

FWIW: For my new Pioneer PDP-5070, I am running Evangelo2's break in DVD around the clock while I am not watching TV and being careful about what channels I watch when I am watching. I've also tuned down the settings according to D-Nice's recommendations. After I hit the 200 hour mark, it's time for calibration.

Honestly, I don't subscribe to the "forced" burn-in theory. I think it's worth while taking a few precautions during the first 100-200 hours, but I don't believe it's necessary to use the burn-in procedure and disk that is often referenced in this forum. All you are doing is accelerating the aging of the display's phosphors. The phosphors used in plasma displays have a logarithmic aging characteristic, and the curve is steepest during the initial 100-200 hours. When it comes to video, I believe simply turning down the contrast and using stretch modes to fill the screen during this period is more than adequate to avoid image retention/burn-in.

However, if you play video games with a lot of static images (e.g. status bar), then I would recommend some initial aging beforehand.

-Steve

I agree with SLB no disc is necessary but other precautions should be taken. For a complete explaination check out my blogs on plasmas at

www.hdguru.com

The HD Guru

I just bought a Pan 50PX60U and finished a 100 hour continuous running of the "break-in DVD" downloaded from this forum.

I want to see if anything changes or misbehaving soon so that I can return this set within the 30-day limit.

After 80 hours, I was struck how the color just suddenly glows or leaps out of the screen despite no change in my settings which were tuned way down for the break in purpose. Had I adjusted my set with DVE without breaking in, I would have had to redo several times due to this perceived change.

Would you point out where that explanation/discussion is? I looked through nearly all your posts and did not find it.

Plasma Facts and Myths Panasonic Presents Advice From the Video Purist Perspective

http://hdguru.com/?p=16

The HD Guru

We seem to talk far to much about this..break in period. I never used any break in period on my tv and it is working fine after years. When you first get the set home, use some common sense..maybe..set it on 'a non-bright' setting. In other words, if there are 3 settings on the tv, set it on the lowest one (for brightness) for a couple of weeks or so. You could even let it play all night for a week or 2. But do not worry..about having exact settings, etc. for a new tv. For the most part, fill the screen and keep contrast/picture (brightness) turned down for a couple of weeks. No big deal. Enjoy. And, if you want to go thru more exact procedures, it is up to you.

In my experience it's better safe than sorry. I went with a 200hr break in period just to be safe, and my only proof that it worked is the fact that I never had any instances of I.R. or burn in. Of course I don't know if it would have been any different if I hadn't done a breakin period, but at least you get piece of mind out of it.

What may seem like common sense to most individuals is beyond the comprehension of others.

If an owner of a new PDP displays it in torch mode, shows black bars too often, does extensive gaming or use of static images they will damage their PDP.

The vast majority of individuals vary their viewing habits enough to insure even phosphor wear and/or reversal of temporary image retention.

While it is not likely to occur, individuals have to remain cognizant of the possibility for permanent image retention and take reasonable precautions to prevent it. My suggestion is to inspect your display on a regular basis for evidence of image retention and if discovered employ full screen content that is devoid of static logos which will even out phosphor wear.

where can i find this break-in dvd?

Click on Downloads when you get Here!

Glenn

On the other hand, aren't you just deferring the proper burn in of the phosphers?

"Plasma disadvantages are few. In the early days, the most common criticism was that they suffered from burn-in, meaning that when a static image such as a video game logo is on the screen for too long, its shadow may linger even after it's gone. Burn-in really is the uneven wear of the phosphors within the plasma panel. The risk of burn in has been greatly reduced by the set makers and can be minimized with a simple precaution. Like with LCD, upon unpacking and connecting the set, change the picture mode setting from factory preset (usually Vivid) to Movie, Cinema or Standard (depending on the TV) and lower the contrast (also called the picture control) to about one half level for the best picture."

Not bad advice except the "HD Guru" neglects to mention the fact that one should avoid displaying black bars as much as possible during the first few hundred hours of operation.

Not sure what you mean by this????

Turning down settings slows down phosphor aging, which in turn takes the phosphors longer to hit the exponential part of the decay curve. The idea is to have as even wear as possible up to that curve. Don't crank your settings down for that, as you just delay the process. Instead, find settings that you like, and look great to you, and then just run everything full screen with no logos or static images for the duration of the breakin period.

Dustin

So no 2.35:1 movies at all for a while? Or, would watching a 2-hour long 2.35:1 movie be OK?