Just jumped on a Panasonic plasma

[jtvang125]

With the 10% off from Sears I jumped on the deal. Should be delivered this coming Tuesday. My HT will now be complete.

Oh and I saw a display model at BB playing some looped Blu-Ray material and the PQ was just wow! And it wasn't even calibrated yet. After looking at other TVs I couldn't stop going back to the Panny. Can't wait.

 

[sivart]

54"...come on

Go for the gusto if you're going to do it right
http://www.engadget.com/2008/0...ch-plasma-is-official/

 

[Tiamat]

Neat! I just grabbed the 54" S series Panasonic from Costco. It is pretty huge! Running some slideshows for a couple hundred hours before doing anything with it...

 

[kalrith]

Congrats!

 

[Riverhound777]

Grats, glad to see plasma staying alive!

 

[Via]

Did it break?

 

[Onita]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Neat! I just grabbed the 54" S series Panasonic from Costco. It is pretty huge! Running some slideshows for a couple hundred hours before doing anything with it...

A couple hundred?

 

[jtvang125]

Originally posted by: Onita

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Neat! I just grabbed the 54" S series Panasonic from Costco. It is pretty huge! Running some slideshows for a couple hundred hours before doing anything with it...

A couple hundred?

150-200 hrs break-in period are recommended.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: jtvang125

Originally posted by: Onita

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Neat! I just grabbed the 54" S series Panasonic from Costco. It is pretty huge! Running some slideshows for a couple hundred hours before doing anything with it...

A couple hundred?

150-200 hrs break-in period are recommended.

By who? Not the manufacturers.

IMO, this "break-in" crap is just more snake oil. One cannot find a consensus that it's needed.....I think it used to be needed, but not now. But since it "used to be needed", a lot of people take it as gospel that you still need to break in a plasma today.

I'd think that the fact that manufacturers do not recommend a break-in and in fact, outright state that the TV's don't NEED one, says it all.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: jtvang125

Originally posted by: Onita

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Neat! I just grabbed the 54" S series Panasonic from Costco. It is pretty huge! Running some slideshows for a couple hundred hours before doing anything with it...

A couple hundred?

150-200 hrs break-in period are recommended.

By who? Not the manufacturers.

IMO, this "break-in" crap is just more snake oil. One cannot find a consensus that it's needed.....I think it used to be needed, but not now. But since it "used to be needed", a lot of people take it as gospel that you still need to break in a plasma today.

I'd think that the fact that manufacturers do not recommend a break-in and in fact, outright state that the TV's don't NEED one, says it all.

After 100-200 hrs of running solid color slideshows, the phosphers have been run in enough so that they are pretty consistent with other of the same TVs that have undergone the same excercise. This allows you to use the calibration numbers of someone who has run the plasma the same way as you.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
I'd think that the fact that manufacturers do not recommend a break-in and in fact, outright state that the TV's don't NEED one, says it all.

They might not any more, but they used to (Panasonic Plasma TV FAQ):

4. What is the "break-in" period and what should I do during the break-in period to minimize any risk of image retention?

When your plasma TV is initially installed, the first 100 hours of use is known as the "break-in period." During this time, to minimize any risk of image retention, you should:

1. 1. Make sure the plasma TV is in a viewing mode (aspect ratio) that completely fills the screen. The panel is shipped in this condition, in what is called the "Just" mode.
   2. Turn down the Picture setting (in the Picture menu) to +0.
   3. Briefly engage the 4:3 mode and confirm the side bars are set to "Mid", or "Bright". This can be adjusted in the Set Up menu.
   4. Always return the display mode that fills the screen (such as Just, Zoom, Full, or H-FILL).
   5. Try not to view channels with stationary backgrounds or logos for extended periods of time.
   6. Avoid extended display of static images (video games, computer images, DVD title screens, etc.).

Also, I've never heard a manafacturer state that plasma TVs do not need a break-in period. Do you have a source for that?

 

[bruceb]

I would agree that doing both of these is very wise for the first 50 or so hours.

5. Try not to view channels with stationary backgrounds or logos for extended periods of time.
6. Avoid extended display of static images (video games, computer images, DVD title screens, etc.).

 

[jtvang125]

What about black bars on non 16:9 and 4:3 material? I heard you'll need to zoom to fill the whole screen or change the black to a grayish color to avoid burn-in.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
What about black bars on non 16:9 and 4:3 material? I heard you'll need to zoom to fill the whole screen or change the black to a grayish color to avoid burn-in.

Good idea for the first 50 hours or so. After that you should be fine as long as you watch a mix of both 4:3 and 16:9. I still notice some image retention but nothing that doesn't disappear after 5 mins or so and nothing that's actually really visible for most content. I would still watch out for video games that leave anything on the screen for prolonged periods of time. Like static HUDs and the like. Playing one of those games for 4 or 5 hours might take 4 or 5 hours of viewing bright content to wash out the retention. But you should be fine as far as burn in goes. On modern screens burn in is only a problem with extreme cases like having a bright white circle on a black background for 20 hours straight or something crazy.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
I'd think that the fact that manufacturers do not recommend a break-in and in fact, outright state that the TV's don't NEED one, says it all.

They might not any more, but they used to (Panasonic Plasma TV FAQ):

4. What is the "break-in" period and what should I do during the break-in period to minimize any risk of image retention?

When your plasma TV is initially installed, the first 100 hours of use is known as the "break-in period." During this time, to minimize any risk of image retention, you should:

1. 1. Make sure the plasma TV is in a viewing mode (aspect ratio) that completely fills the screen. The panel is shipped in this condition, in what is called the "Just" mode.
   2. Turn down the Picture setting (in the Picture menu) to +0.
   3. Briefly engage the 4:3 mode and confirm the side bars are set to "Mid", or "Bright". This can be adjusted in the Set Up menu.
   4. Always return the display mode that fills the screen (such as Just, Zoom, Full, or H-FILL).
   5. Try not to view channels with stationary backgrounds or logos for extended periods of time.
   6. Avoid extended display of static images (video games, computer images, DVD title screens, etc.).

Also, I've never heard a manafacturer state that plasma TVs do not need a break-in period. Do you have a source for that?

Samsung Plasma TVs do not require a break-in period nor do they require any special treatment during the first few weeks of ownership beyond the normal care described in the first few pages of your user's manual.

Samsung FAQ #
Go here and search "plasma break in".

None of the online manuals for the Panasonics I looked at said a word about break-in.

Couldn't find anything about Pioneers, either.

 

[bruceb]

Just because the manuals don't mention a break in, does not mean it is not advisable. Especially about stationary images when the set is initially setup. Even during normal use, it is recommended not to leave an image, like a game, on the screen when the image or picture is not in motion. At some point, it will cause image retention.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Just because the manuals don't mention a break in, does not mean it is not advisable. Especially about stationary images when the set is initially setup. Even during normal use, it is recommended not to leave an image, like a game, on the screen when the image or picture is not in motion. At some point, it will cause image retention.

All of them I read mentioned this. But I don't see how there's any valid proof that breaking a plasma in does anything besides use up some of your panel's life.
If they needed to be broken in, or burned in, the manufacturers would say they did. And they used to do just that.

 

[spidey07]

lol at breaking in a plasma. You want to know how you break it in? You watch it.

 

[djnsmith7]

Congrats on the new display.

Watching the display will break it in & the break in period is usually 100 - 200 hours, & you should have it broken in prior to having it calibrated.

You don't need to run anything for 100 - 200 hours in order to watch the display. If someone out there is saying the display needs a certain number of hours to do anything other than calibrate it, they don't know what they're talking about. That is just total BS.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: djnsmith7
Congrats on the new display.

Watching the display will break it in & the break in period is usually 100 - 200 hours, & you should have it broken in prior to having it calibrated.

You don't need to run anything for 100 - 200 hours in order to watch the display. If someone out there is saying the display needs a certain number of hours to do anything other than calibrate it, they don't know what they're talking about. That is just total BS.

exactly, only reason why im running slideshows is for calibration purposes.