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Originally Posted by HID
I would like to thank everyone for their info. My plasma comes tomorrow I read every post printed out all the settings that people have shared. My question is do I wait a 100 hrs. before using the settings? I know about the black bars and logos. Thanks in advance.
The general advice for customers who are worred about so-called image retention on a plasma HDTV is to display full screen content, most of the time. It seems likely that image retention is rare and that true burn-in is almost non -existant on current model plasmas. If you want to be very conservative on breaking in your plasma - stick to the THX mode although, in my view, the modified THX settings are only a bit brighter than the stock settings and I can't believe they will hurt your TV. Frankly I don't believe the custom settings will hurt your TV either - see below.
There is not a lot of hard core data out there to support any opinion other than the problem of permanent burn-in is VERY rare, if not, non-existent!!. While it is wise to be conservative - consider how many hundreds of thousands of these plasmas are sold every year and how few customers ever have any image retention problems let alone permanant burn-in.
I was concerned about this and looked for hard core research. Here is what I found:
Here is a post from an industry group that has performed actual testing:
http://www.plasmadisplaycoalition.org/results/image.php
I'd encourage everyone to view the full test results.
Note their conclusion (for those that don't want to read the full study):
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Image burn-in (differential phosphor aging) should not be a problem for any plasma TV that is operated in a standard or daytime picture mode, viewing a normal mix of video content. For video gaming, select a picture setting that reduces image brightness and contrast accordingly, as recommended by the owner's manual.
Here is Samsung's view on burn in. (note:Samsung says from 2007 on they don't believe any break-in is needed)
http://samsungplasmatvfaq.com/index....mage_retention
Finally here is Panasonic's white paper on image retention:
ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasoni...ear_Choice.pdf
I encourage everyone to read the entire paper but for those that don't wish to here is some of it:
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The lifespan of first-generation Plasma TV panels was compromised by an effect known as burn-in or image retention, which occurred when the panel's phosphors aged unevenly because static images (like sidebars and news tickers) were left on the screen for extended periods of time. Image retention can occur with any type of display device, including LCDs, but was especially evident in early Plasmas. Newer Plasma designs radically minimize the likelihood of permanent image retention through improved xenon and neon mixtures and a more efficient cell design that allows for more light with less degradation in the phosphors. The less aging a phosphor exhibits, the less likely it is for permanent image retention to occur. Short-term image retention, or ghosting, is a related concern. This happens when a cell temporarily remembers the state it's been left in, creating a ghost of the image on the screen. This effect is not permanent; Several recent studies have shown that ghosting will fade on its own and that today's Plasma panels are much less susceptible to this effect than earlier panels.
In my view ANY concern about burn-in or image retention is greatly exaggerated. But like everyone else who has spent thousands of dollars on a new HDTV I was conservative (paranoid?) for the first 100 hours - viewing mostly full screen content yet I often used my custom settings which were brighter than THX. Using these Custom settings didn't produce any problems!
I think these break-in DVDs are a money maker for the companies that sell them (and probably don't do any harm). However I doubt they are needed or have any practical value.
Daarrid
