[hockey3]

I'm having a problem with my plasma tv where there seems to be two bars on either side where the regular 4:3 tv would be presented. Those bars seem to be brighter than the middle which is much duller. You can really tell on mostly white or mostly black screens. This appeared a while ago and seems to be getting worse. any idea on why this is happening and how do you fix and prevent this.


thanks

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings


Sounds like burn in from using 4:3 modes too much. Solution ... no more 4:3 modes. Stretch the 4:3 programming to 16:9. No choice.


This may lessen it over time.


If you continue ... then it will get worse. The instruction manual warns of it as abuse.


Look in the menu of the TV for some control called wash or aging to activate patterns that may lessen the effect.


regards

 

[hockey3]

wow really the tv is only 2 years old and it wasn't cheap, I thought burn-in was a thing of the past.


also are there dvd's I can run to help fix this?

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings


It's not a thing of the past if you abuse the TV ... and intentional or otherwise. I've seen burn in on TVs 1 month after they are installed in people's homes. Why ... because they spent 100% of that time watching 4:3 programming with bars on the side because no one told them and they never bothered to read the user manual.


You will lessen the effect over time by just never using 4:3 modes again and just watch programs zoomed or stretched.


"reverse" burns can be done by setting the TV at high contrast to speed up the process.


Don't bother wasting the energy to fix this with disc patterns. As in real electricity energy. Just adjust your viewing habits and it will lessen the effect over time.


regards

 

[GeorgeAB]

As phosphors age from use, they require more energy to glow as bright as when new. Phosphor burn is actually uneven phosphor wear.


When plasmas are used in high ambient lighting environments, they must have their contrast and brightness controls turned up. This demands more light output from the phosphors in the color cells. As the phosphors are driven harder, they age more quickly and gradually require more energy to produce a given amount of light.


When 4:3 images are displayed, the black bar areas one either side are not producing light, therefore, aging more slowly than the center of the screen producing the program image. If mostly 4:3 programs are displayed on the TV, the phosphors will behave differently across the screen when wide screen programs are being displayed. The black bar areas will look brighter. Those phosphors have not been driven as hard, or aged as much, and require less energy to appear as bright. The center area phosphors have been aged more, require more energy to appear as bright, and look dimmer compared to the side bar regions during wide aspect ratio programs.


New plasmas should be "seasoned" for several hundred hours with full screen images only. It is reported that this helps the phosphors resist uneven wear once the seasoning has been accomplished. Phosphor burn (uneven phosphor aging) occurs more easily when the TV is new. As Michael said, this characteristic is not as bad as in the past, but still a factor to be kept in mind throughout the life of the plasma TV.


Best regards and beautiful pictures,

G. Alan Brown, President

CinemaQuest, Inc.

A Lion AV Consultants Affiliate


"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"