[FenderMan]

Hi all-


I've decided to enter the world of HDTV and have my sights on the Panasonic PT-47WX49. I know it's cheap but I've heard it's a good introductory TV.


I went to Sears to check out the TV in person and noticed when you watch TV in 4:3 mode, the bars on the side are white. I asked the salesman if this can be changed to gray or black and he said no because it burns the image into the TV and can ruin it. I thought to myself "Isn't it the exact opposite? Wouldn't white burn before gray or black?" Sure enough, I did some research and confirmed the salesman had no idea what he was talking about.


My question is: is there a way to change this from white to gray/black? I've heard you can do some tweaks to make this happen but haven't had any luck finding it. So now I turn to you guys. Thanks!


Chris

 

[Jerry G]

Did you check the brightness and contrast settings of the set. In the stores, most sets have their brightness set way to high and this could make the gray side bars appear white. And which input was this on? An NTSC or DTV input?

 

[FenderMan]

Good questions. It looked like an in-store demo picture (it was showing on all the TVs) so I'm guessing it was DVD and not NTSC. The picture looked decent for a floor model so I don't think it was the contrast. The salesman made it seem like it was supposed to be white -- but then again, I think we've established that he has no idea what he's talking about.

 

[BudShark]

Can't change it, but a properly tuned set has more of a grayish tint to it than true white. Its still probably too bright to leave up for any length of time.


By the way - black can have a similar burn-in type effect as well. You really want to keep the set alternating or in Full/Just mode to keep from getting uneven levels on various locations of the screen.


Chris

 

[Matt_Stevens]

They are white because the Panny's gray scale is way too hot. Well over 10K. Once adjusted (by an ISF guy) the whire bars turn gray.


Never the less, I do not recommend EVER using that mode, since it is very risky for burnin. Use ZOOM or JUST (stretch). I have this TV and never use the TV's 4:3 mode. It's too dangerous.

 

[FenderMan]

Thanks for the reply, Matt.


I do plan on having an ISF guy come out and adjust the TV -- just not right away. Getting the TV is going to take all my money as is


So what do people recomend in terms of watching standard NTSC signals? Stretch or Zoom? I know 'stretch' mode makes pictures look a little distorted but it seems most people get used it. Is this true?


I don't plan on watching too much 4:3 content on this TV (I have a 32 in. Wega for that) however there will be times where I'll be watching sporting events whith a few friends and I want to make it a enjoyable as possible.

 

[JohnnyG]

The earliest PT-47's had very bright side bars. There was a running change made in production that reduced this to a much darker grey. The earliest sets also 'forgot' what screen mode they were in everytime you turned the set off. This was also corrected.

 

[FenderMan]

Is there any way to tell, by the model number maybe, if the TV I'm going to purchase is one of the later models?


Sorry for all the questions here -- as you can tell, I'm kind of a Home Theater newbie. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[JohnnyG]

The build date is printed on a label on the back of the set. I don't believe there is any indication on the box itself. I have no idea what month they made the changes though but I believe it was somewhere around September.