[HeadRusch]

2 years ago on my birthday in december, my wife surprised me with a Microsoft XBOX and a copy of HALO. Three weeks later, my Dad surprised me with a Playstation 2. I felt like I was 10 again and getting an Atari 2600 for xmas

It was a good Xmas...


At first I connected both systems to my CRT RPTV, a 65" Mits widescreen from 2001. The few XBOX games I bought over the years, none of them supported widescreen mode (Mechassault, Crimson Skies, Splinter Cell and Rallisport challenge...)......but it was still ok. Cuz 480p was pretty. But the PS2 was damn near unplayable at that size, while connected via SVIDEO. Every game I tried was just flat-out ugly and pixelated.


So, I went out and bought a 27" Flatscreen CRT TV just for the purposes of gaming...and for the most part, its been a wise choice.


However, lately the urge to take the xbox back to the bigscreen has been nipping at my heels. If I fried my Mits I probably couldn't afford to replace it right away with anything better, so caution has kept me from actually doing it.

Yeah, I'm terrified of burn-in.


But with so many XBOX games now in the $20 range, and all of them (well, besides a few of them) support native widescreen modes, I am so frickin jonesing to go back to the bigscreen.


But burn in is still a fear.


See, I tend to play my games in these long marathons.......I can easily burn up 8 hours on a Saturday playing games. Granted, I've also watched lots of 2.35:1 movies in a row too.....but somehow I think that games with their higher contrast images (maps, health bars, even images that dont move much like bobbing guns in halo, or the cars in most driving games)....fill me with dread.


So I was curious.....have any of you with CRT RP's actually had a problem with burn in? The only "burn in" I've heard people complaining about have been from people who left their set in 4:3 mode all the time.....and I'd probably play 4:3 games on the bigscreen stretched out.


But Grand Theft Auto double-pack....Project Gotham 2...Rallisport 2.....these all have native widescreen modes....and its so tempting.


Anyone? Anyone?

 

[HeadRusch]

Oh and before anyone says anything, yeah I'm generally a late-adopter of "new games". With the exception of Vice City, which I preordered for the PS2, I usually buy my games months later after price drops have happened.


I already have the GTA's on PS2 but seeing them in high rez with true widescreen support on xbox, I'm very tempted to buy and replay them both.....its just a shame my favorite racing game (Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2) doesn't offer native widescreen support............those dirty bitches


On the other hand....Burnout 3 does......Hmmmmmm


So no, I wont be playing Halo or San Andreas right away......tho.....you never know, I may treat myself

 

[rto]

Over six years and two CRT RPTVs, I've never had a problem. Just follow the standard precautions, and you'll be fine. I will say I don't remember ever playing 8 hours at a stretch, but when Halo I was released, I spent a great deal of time playing it, and had no problem with static screen elements persisting.

 

[FrankJ.Cone]

The 4 year warranty on the living room TV just expired and there is no burn in from countless hours of Dreamcast/PS2/GC and XBox.

 

[HeadRusch]

Hmmm......this is good news....

 

[Dean Martin]

I've never done it but I have seen it first-hand. My own btother's RPTV burned the cable guide into his screen.

 

[NoThru22]

Yeah, burn-in is definitely exaggerated to keep people on their toes. If Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic didn't burn my tv playing 30 hours in three days, then I really doubt anything could unless I left it paused and went on an extended weekend vacation.


You are wasting your TV! Wasting! 480p widescreen is the only way to game (on consoles, so back off you HTPC nuts!) You might as well give your TV to a needy neighbor kid if you're going to game on a 27 inch TV. Make sure you get Avia and calibrate your contrast properly and you won't have to worry about burn-in pretty much ever (if you're decently smart, that is.)


Oh, and Rallisport 1 does do native widescreen.

 

[HeadRusch]

Hmmm....I think you're right, Rallisport did do widescreen....its been awhile...Some of the demos did widescreen (PGR 2's demo did)......I see most of the new games do native widescreen and thats what had me jonesing.


But PS2 on the bigscreen is just flat-out ugly, so forget that.....I tried but wound up cringing all the time. I would have to say that the ugliest game I have ever seen was Need For Speed Underground, via SVideo, on PS2.


The cars were squished flat in "normal" mode and the graphics were so obviously low-rez. And yet....that same game on the 27" Looks nice and sharp. Go figure......


I just get scared with all those things onscreen.....the static stuff...and yeah I do have the set calibrated so I'm not in torch mode or anything...

 

[rto]

If you're really paranoid about it, calibrate one preset mode, or the XBOX input ( assuming that's possible on your set ) at night, in pitch black, that way, your contrast and black levels will be as low as possible. Turn your sharpness down a little and really, you'll never have to worry. ( unless you subsequently want to play with the room brightly lit )

 

[ebrigham]

I had a 4:3 61" Sony set. It was definately burned in toward the end of its tenure in my apartment. It wasn't from XBOX though, but from my pre-amp's on screen display which used a white-hot color font that burned with the intensity of a thousand suns. Considering my TV was in a very high ambient light area, my settings were set accordingly just to get an acceptable image - so it was probably preventable (or at least delayable). Needless to say, my current TV uses a different display technology.

 

[HeadRusch]

Dude...how long did it take you to adjust the settings on the pre-amp!?!?!


I'm lucky, I can read the matrix display on my Marantz receiver from where I sit when the lights are off, so I dont need to use the OSD.......but truth be told I rarely need to adjust it now, its pretty dialed in.


I'm thinking I really want to plug that xbox back into the TV.........with the added advantage of getting full time Dolby 5.1...

 

[shaneotool]

Some games have on-screen info that can be dimmed or turned off - MotoGP 2 is like that. Some games have no on-screen info - Riddick Butcher Bay is like that. Both of these games are widescreen and are great.

 

[Version]

Make sure the Conrast isn't too high above 50% (most of the time it doesn't even need to be that high if set-up properly) and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[oktoberrust11]

HeadRusch,


What about trying the component cables for the PS2? (I'm assuming you have them for the Xbox, hence the 480p) It's a matter of personal opinion, but playing PS2 via component on my 57" Toshiba is acceptable to me. Right now, I don't use it that much (due to the recently-purchased Xbox). However, I know when GTA:SA and GT4 come out, I'll be firing it up again. I'm with you, I play 4:3 games stretched, and it doesn't bother me.


Oh yeah, no worries on the burn-in. Had the TV 2 1/2 years with consoles hooked up, no problems. (This includes LOTS of Madden time with the static scoreboard)


Matt

 

[ebrigham]

Quote:

Originally posted by HeadRusch Dude...how long did it take you to adjust the settings on the pre-amp!?!?! I'm lucky, I can read the matrix display on my Marantz receiver from where I sit when the lights are off, so I dont need to use the OSD.......but truth be told I rarely need to adjust it now, its pretty dialed in. I'm thinking I really want to plug that xbox back into the TV.........with the added advantage of getting full time Dolby 5.1...

Yeah, it was the damn "MUTE" text that was the cuplrit. I didn't go into the actual OSD menu all that often. Considering I only had the pre-amp for 9 mos before it happened, we were pretty surprised. The OSD "MUTE" spent a lot less time up on the screen than, let's say, my Halo health meter (which would be up there for hours at a time). Anyway, the TV was on it's way out the door when we discovered it, so no harm done...

 

[ChrisFB]

Brightness and Contrast settings are the general culprit. An AVIA or DVE setup disc can be found fairly cheaply. Well worth it. After that just keep the thought of burn-in in the back of your mind (that won't be hard for you). After AVIA or similar it is generally just the people who forget all about it and think they are immune that get burn-in (like leaving the TIVO menu up for huge periods or refusing to watch 4:3 in stretched modes and logging major 4:3 hours).

 

[Buji]

I too, can verify that on a properly set up RPTV, burn-in and games aren't an issue over hours at a time. I do most of my gaming in sessions at least 4 hours long, sometimes up to 12 hours straight. I have a 61" 4x3 sony set that was used in this manner for 6 years, and now have upgraded to a 65" 16x9 sony (since february).


The move to the HD set has made a world of difference on some XBOX games. A great bargain buy to see some HD gaming (console) is Freedom Fighters. Available in bargain bins everywhere, this game garnered consistent 9's in reviews, and deserves them.


Some of my all time 16x9 games for showing off the TV/surround setup:


Freedom Fighters (720p, 16x9)

THUG (720p 16x9)

Full Spectrum Warrior (480p 16x9)

Burnout 3 (480p 16x9)

SW: Battlefront (480p 16x9 GREAT SOUND)



Chronicles of Riddick was a fun game, but blowing it up to 65" displayed some of the jaggies from the in game renderer.


Do it.

The way I think about it, is that my TV -may- become a consumeable, and I've prepared to bite the bullet if I start to get burn in. Once I got in that frame of mine, I averaged out the cost of a new set ($~3000) over my gaming hours (20hrs/week = 1040 hours = an extra $2.80 per hour for widescreen loveliness) so you start to see how twisted my rationale is ...


just make sure the contrast and stuff are set right, (you'll actually get better results on the xbox this way anyway) ....


Besides, just think of it this way: If you burn your set out it's a good excuse to buy a new fangled one. I'm hoping mine lasts long enough for SXRD or DLP to get to 1080p sets down to a decent price

 

[mobius]

As long as you buy Avia or Video Essentials, and calibrate your set, you should have no problems whatsoever. I've been playing my Xbox via the component inputs on my 60" Hitachi RPTV for around a year now. I have NO signs of burn-in.


WRT calibrating your set, the salient point is that your aren't overdriving your tube(s). Either calibration disc will demonstrate that most CRT-based TV's are put in torch mode to impress on the showroom floor.

 

[MrSquid]

I've also got a 65" Mits (65809) from about 2 years ago. Started with a PS2 and graduated to an Xbox over time. No problems here either.


Like several others here have said - the secret is in taking your set out of the default "torch mode" by fine tuning your brightness and contrast.


One thing to keep in mind is that even though OSD's are on screen, there's always enough cut scenes to break things up and keep things moving on screen.

 

[lorenzow]

I burned in the Halo health, radar and ammo indicators on my Tosh 43H70. I had turned down all the settings, set it up with Video Essentials, etc..