[Hobbes510]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post, and am admittedly a Plasma noob.

First off, I'm the proud owner of a new ('bout 70hrs old) Panasonic TH-50PZ800u.

I've been agonizing over the thought of Burn-in/IR and have been taking every measure to prevent it. I've done nothing but watch full screen HD content, and hope to be nice and broken in by the end of the week.


Now, i hate over scan. I'm coming from using a projector as a TV for the last 3 years - I'm not used to a frame/bezel around my image.

Having the image on my Pany set to HD size 2 (1:1, non over-scanned) is certainly where i want to be. But, in doing so, i've effectively put a quarter inch of black around the edge of my image. Is that quarter inch equal, in damage potential, to the vertical bars you see on a non stretched 4:3 image? is there the potential for Burn-in by using HD Size 2? Or rather, is not over-scanning your image, advisable? For now I'm leaving it cropped at HD Size 1 for the break in period but, come next week I'm going to be looking to change that setting to HD size 2.


Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RandyWalters]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobbes510 /forum/post/15454870


Having the image on my Pany set to HD size 2 (1:1, non over-scanned) is certainly where i want to be. But, in doing so, i've effectively put a quarter inch of black around the edge of my image.

I'm curious why you have 1/4 inch windowbox bars around your image? Presuming you're seeing this when watching HD programming, the image should be completely filling the screen on all four sides even on the 1:1 HD Size 2 setting. What is your source when you're seeing this 1/4 inch black border? A Satellite Receiver or a Cable Box? OTA through the TV's tuner? Is it present on actual HD content?

Quote:
Is that quarter inch equal, in damage potential, to the vertical bars you see on a non stretched 4:3 image? is there the potential for Burn-in by using HD Size 2? Or rather, is not over-scanning your image, advisable? For now I'm leaving it cropped at HD Size 1 for the break in period but, come next week I'm going to be looking to change that setting to HD size 2.

If the 1/4" back border is being displayed by the source, then it's potential for burn-in would be the same as black bars you get on 4:3 programming and widescreen DVDs.

 

[ogbuehi]

Something is amiss here. I just set mine to HD 2 because I didn't realize that with the HDMI port and HD 1, I was missing some information around the edges of the picture. Using an overscan image I was able to actually see that HD 2 allows the whole picture to be seen. If you are watching standard HD you shouldn't be seeing a black border around the edges. Just beware that some HD channels, like the Science channel, sometimes don't send a full 16x9 image for some of their shows.

 

[Hobbes510]

Randy:

I'm getting my image from a HD-DVR Time Warner cable box.

When i first posted this it seemed to me like all "HD" programming was coming in the way i described. But after having watching last night's History Channel 2012 apocalypse thing, The whole screen was nice and filled. I think what ogbuehi mentioned is what's going on, i guess... the more premium HD content is formated (or transmitted) correctly apparently, where as the filler programming, such as what's on now at 7:15am est, isn't? Cause, as before, pretty much every HD channel i put it on, i'm seeing that quarter inch gap.


So it would make sense to leave the TV at HD Size 1 for the time being while i break it in, no?


that's for the response guys!

 

[datrumole]

I'm not sure how 'noobish' you are, but you have to understand that there are two components that are affecting your aspect ratio. First you have you HD box sending the picture, and then the TV has its own processing it can do on the image. One thing to make sure is that you always use one or the other....if you are resizing the image at the cable box and then again at the TV your going to end up with some weird results....which i have a feeling is happening here.


Make sure if you are going to use the TV as your aspect ratio controller, that your cable box is not set to 'stretch' or 'zoom' or anything other than 'normal' or something along the lines of that. Also, in most HD boxes, there is usually a HD TV step by step tutorial (asking a range of questions like is your tv 4:3 or 16:9...to max resolution ie. 720 1080....) run through that and make sure your TV type is not set to 4:3 (letterbox, standard...etc) but 16:9 (widescreen or hd or whatever dumb name the box calls it) as this will also affect how the signal is then given to the TV....


Your best bet is to set your tv on 'normal' and get everything looking normal on the box first, then move on to messing with the TV's ratio

 

[papin412]

I have the same issue my Samsung. Using "just scan" gives me the same 1/4 of an inch black border. I have checked my stb(FIOS) settings and its at 16:9 with the same results so I just accepted the fact that I can only use the "16:9" mode on my TV. I'm fine with it since the overscan is negligible. I'd rather take that than risk burn-in on my panel.

 

[RandyWalters]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobbes510 /forum/post/15461302


Randy:

I'm getting my image from a HD-DVR Time Warner cable box.

When i first posted this it seemed to me like all "HD" programming was coming in the way i described. But after having watching last night's History Channel 2012 apocalypse thing, The whole screen was nice and filled. I think what ogbuehi mentioned is what's going on, i guess... the more premium HD content is formated (or transmitted) correctly apparently, where as the filler programming, such as what's on now at 7:15am est, isn't? Cause, as before, pretty much every HD channel i put it on, i'm seeing that quarter inch gap.


So it would make sense to leave the TV at HD Size 1 for the time being while i break it in, no?

Just do whatever you have to do to eliminate any sort of black bars or black borders during it's first few hundred hours, but it's also a good idea to avoid it at all times throughout the life of the TV. I always use HD Size 1 because with Size 2 i often see the data strip garbage across the top of the 4:3 portion of the screen on commercials and other junk sent by the broadcasters so having a few percent of overscan is worth it.


I have a TWC SA8300HD (with Passport software via HDMI) and i have the TV Type setting set to Widescreen (16:9) and the Picture Setting is set to Normal Picture. I also set the Output Format to 1080i only so it forcibly outputs all the channels at 1080i fixed. This makes all the HD channels look crisper and more detailed. Forcing it at 720p makes it softer and much less detailed - it's a big difference so i force 1080i instead. This also makes for much quicker channel changing when going from an HD channel to an SD channel since it doesn't go through the resolution changing contortions.


On the TV, i use the FULL aspect mode for HD and DVD. My screen is always fill with HD, unless the black bars are added by the broadcaster.

 

[bodosom]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobbes510 /forum/post/15461302


Randy:

I'm getting my image from a HD-DVR Time Warner cable box. ... as before, pretty much every HD channel i put it on, i'm seeing that quarter inch gap.

So it would make sense to leave the TV at HD Size 1 for the time being while i break it in, no?

Regarding the break-in, I think you should do what makes you comfortable. I believe in non-linear aging (to make this about calibration I'll note that Panasonic recommends calibration after 200 hours) but I also suspect that unless you only watch 4:3 or 2.35 at some point all the phosphors will be past the non-linear phase and even if you don't believe the 100k hour half-life I expect you'll get years of outstanding viewing whatever early-life regimen you choose.


With respect to your black-border problem ... I've decided that STB makers and content producers and transmission systems are all managed by Dilbertian pointy haired bosses. If I manage to get past the dicey resolution/format interactions of the STB and display I find myself watching non-linearly distorted images of pumpkin headed actors in horribly banded color. And to top it off last night a number of DTV "HD" channels were running at about 80% width leaving me with 2" pillarboxing.


This is no way to run a railroad.