Plasma as a pc monitor?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Anyone doing this? Does the manufacturers warranty against burn in? This is the only issue keeping me from getting a high end plasma. Was wanting a larger lcd but went to frys and I was blown away by the samsung pnc8000 series and the panasonic pvt25 series. Lcd just looked like a jumbled mess compared to the smooth plasma picture. Any new release plasma's coming out soon to drop the prices on current models?

 

[Cheesetogo]

If the ultra low pixel density doesn't mind you, why not?

Assuming that you're not leaving it sitting at the desktop for extended periods of time, I don't think you should have much of an issue with burn in. From what I understand, they've gotten much better with it over the years. I believe that you do have to be careful during the first 150 hours or so, but I'm not entirely sure.

You'd probably find more information over on AVS.

 

[simonizor]

Bad idea. If you're going to be using it for browsing the web extensively or pretty much anything other than watching movies and gaming, you should get an LCD for computer use. Burn in might not be as bad as it was when plasmas were just coming out, but it still happens, especially when you've got a task bar on the bottom of the screen for a few hours a day.

 

[zerocool84]

Anyone doing this? Does the manufacturers warranty against burn in? This is the only issue keeping me from getting a high end plasma. Was wanting a larger lcd but went to frys and I was blown away by the samsung pnc8000 series and the panasonic pvt25 series. Lcd just looked like a jumbled mess compared to the smooth plasma picture. Any new release plasma's coming out soon to drop the prices on current models?

At Amazon you can get the Panasonic Plasmas for much cheaper than anywhere. You can get the awesome G25 at Amazon for a great price. Even the S2's are a great tv.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003924UBG

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

At Amazon you can get the Panasonic Plasmas for much cheaper than anywhere. You can get the awesome G25 at Amazon for a great price. Even the S2's are a great tv.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003924UBG

Hows the picture on the g25? I found a good price on the panasonic pvt 50" and a 3d starter kit for $1699 at Best buy. Seems like a hell of a deal.

 

[zerocool84]

Hows the picture on the g25? I found a good price on the panasonic pvt 50" and a 3d starter kit for $1699 at Best buy. Seems like a hell of a deal.

That's a damn good price. The VT25 50" @ Amazon is ~$1800 If you want 3D then go for it.

 

[Rhoxed]

i have a Panasonic G series from march of 09 - It has never been hooked to anything BUT a computer, and its used atleast 6hrs a day - SOMETIMES i will get image retention for about 1 minute - but it goes away quickly and i have never experienced burn-in.

*EDIT - I move taskbar and icons around every couple hours if im at the desktop for extended amounts of time - not sure if it helps at all, but i was doing it as a precaution when i first got the TV.

 

[doublehamm]

The VT25 50" (thats right, not the 20) is 1499 right now at Ultimate Electronics. More than $600 less than Best Buy has it in their overpriced Magnolia center.

 

[Nebor]

Bad idea. If you're going to be using it for browsing the web extensively or pretty much anything other than watching movies and gaming, you should get an LCD for computer use. Burn in might not be as bad as it was when plasmas were just coming out, but it still happens, especially when you've got a task bar on the bottom of the screen for a few hours a day.

Agreed. I have the samsung and it doesn't "burn in" permanently, but it does retain images after being displayed for only a few seconds. Mine is hooked up exclusively to an HTPC, so I have some experience with what you're wanting.

I'd recommend an LCD. My old Westinghouse 47" LCD was better in pretty much every way, as far as I can tell. Well, the Samsung's bezel is very pretty, so it's got that going for it.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Plasma for home theater, LCD for general PC use.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

The VT25 50" (thats right, not the 20) is 1499 right now at Ultimate Electronics. More than $600 less than Best Buy has it in their overpriced Magnolia center.

The vt20 is the same as the vt25. The vt20 is the same thing but with a silver bezel and a best buy exclusive.

 

[0roo0roo]

bad idea mainly because it doesn't work good for a desktop, a big plasma or any big screen is too big for the resolution, 30" monitors for computers are double hd resolution.

i mean it works fine enough for while you are setting up media center or whatever, but for actual casual browsing? doesn't work really. thats why wmc and other media center have a huge 10 foot gui.
browsing the web from the couch is like using a laptop in bed. sounds almost like a good idea until you try it.

 

[tonyfreak215]

Hows the picture on the g25? I found a good price on the panasonic pvt 50" and a 3d starter kit for $1699 at Best buy. Seems like a hell of a deal.

Burn in is usually only an issue for the first 100 hours of the TV, and only for the brighter colors. (keep your brightness below 50 for those first 100 hrs)

I use my 50" g25 as my monitor. I love it. Games look incredible and I just increase the size for browsing.

If you don't ever want to worry about burn-in, break your tv in according to AVS forums. I'm glad I did as I also got a much nicer picture out of it. (compared against those who didn't).

As for pixel density, how far back would you be sitting? I sit about 6 feet from mine.

 

[RockinZ28]

I'm using my PN58C7000 as a monitor currently. (Need a new gfx card for my main rig)

Wouldn't recommend a plasma as an every day desktop browser. Burn in hasn't been an issue, but I don't blast the brightness which you probably need to do to come close to matching an lcd on the desktop.

Games/movies, yes far superior over LED/LCD.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I love my plasma (currently Panasonic 42" 1080P U2 series, soon to be replaced with 42" 1080P G25 series), but I wouldn't use it as my sole monitor. Plasmas are not meant to sit on a still image for long periods of time, so even something as simple as leaving it on the desktop for ~20 minutes while you grab lunch can be harmful. If you turn on a mostly black screen saver and set it to go off after 5 minutes you'd probably be ok, though.

For games and movies, I absolutely love it though. For text, not so much.

 

[tonyfreak215]

I've left my TV on a still image for 3 hours before, no burn in.

Have your desktop background change every 5-10 min. (It's a built in feature of Windows 7); auto-hide the taskbar; And if you are really picky about it, hide the desktop icons.

 

[Number1]

From the Samsung web site.


Break-in, burn-in, and image retention

I would not use a plasma TV as a computer monitor.

 

[BD2003]

I have a c8000 plasma, and it gets IR very quick. I'd be very nervous about using it as a monitor. You'd probably have the start button permanently burned in before too long.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I have a c8000 plasma, and it gets IR very quick. I'd be very nervous about using it as a monitor. You'd probably have the start button permanently burned in before too long.

Image retention and burn-in are diffrerent things and happen through different processes. With image retention a static charge builds up in the display elements, with burn-in the affected display elements just wear-out faster (or less fast) than the rest. Image retention doesn't take long to happen, but isn't permanent. Burn-in takes much, much, longer to happen, and it's permanent.

Burn-in can't happen too quickly because it's the result of uneven wear. The display elements across the entire panel will all slowly wear out with use over time. If this process happened quickly then it wouldn't be long before the entire screen was too dim to see.

I'm not sure how long it takes on current plasmas for actual permanent burn-in to occur, but it doesn't seem to be much worse than with CRT TVs, and more relevenatly CRT monitors. My CRT monitor has a slight bit of burn in at the bottom where the Windows taskbar sits, but that was after almost 10 years of use and I had to look for it to see it.

Plasma TVs have a lot of potential advantages when used as computer monitor, but I'd only use one primarily that way if I could accept, say, a five year lifetime. That's assuming the temporary image-retention problem doesn't become an immediate annoyance.

 

[RockinZ28]

I have a c8000 plasma, and it gets IR very quick. I'd be very nervous about using it as a monitor. You'd probably have the start button permanently burned in before too long.

Did you do a 200+ hour break-in? I have the C7000 and it is almost immune to IR. I've played consecutive hours of games with a static hud and it barely shows up.

I have a B650 from last year though that I did not break-in properly before use, it gets heavy IR after only minutes. I doubt it will burn in though, I've come home from work and found my gf asleep with this tv on one of the FIOS tv radio channels, basically a still image on much of the screen. Had very bad IR but a few minutes of the scrolling screen removed it.

 

[Nebor]

Did you do a 200+ hour break-in? I have the C7000 and it is almost immune to IR. I've played consecutive hours of games with a static hud and it barely shows up.

I have a B650 from last year though that I did not break-in properly before use, it gets heavy IR after only minutes. I doubt it will burn in though, I've come home from work and found my gf asleep with this tv on one of the FIOS tv radio channels, basically a still image on much of the screen. Had very bad IR but a few minutes of the scrolling screen removed it.

I have the C7000 and did hundreds of hours of the break in slides, and it still gets IR within 30 seconds of a static image.

 

[RockinZ28]

I have the C7000 and did hundreds of hours of the break in slides, and it still gets IR within 30 seconds of a static image.

Hmm, well I had my original replaced with a brand new one from Samsung because of a dead pixel. Had only broken in my original for maybe 50 hours when I got the word it was going to be replaced. Gave me a week to abuse the tv and still had no noticeable IR, other than the two lines from watching wide screen movies with black bars.

With my fully broken in tv, I played 31 hours of Just Cause 2. Slight IR from the mini map hud playing 1-3 hours per sitting. Just got through Mafia 2 with 12 hours and never noticed any IR.

 

[BD2003]

Hmm, well I had my original replaced with a brand new one from Samsung because of a dead pixel. Had only broken in my original for maybe 50 hours when I got the word it was going to be replaced. Gave me a week to abuse the tv and still had no noticeable IR, other than the two lines from watching wide screen movies with black bars.

With my fully broken in tv, I played 31 hours of Just Cause 2. Slight IR from the mini map hud playing 1-3 hours per sitting. Just got through Mafia 2 with 12 hours and never noticed any IR.

I only notice the IR on a black or otherwise solid colored screen. Rarely notice it otherwise unless really looking for it, but its there.

I've seen plasmas that have been run in 4:3 mode so long that the sides are burned in. I also had an old CRT HDTV that I did nothing but watch movies on, and the black bars were very noticeably burned in.

I know its barely related to IR, but I seriously wouldnt use a plasma as a monitor due to burn-in. I've seen burn-in, and its not pretty. Its still a real concern. Using it for a monitor to play PC games....sure, thats fine. To do word processing or surf the web on a regular basis? No way.