Plasma comes tomorrow, read me up on break in

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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13
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I've read that plasmas need to be "good" burned in for 100-200 hours to reduce the possibility of "bad" burn in later in life. Some folks have said to drop the brightness to 50%, some have said to just watch HD programming, some have said to use a burn in disc, some have said just use a plane white image set on high brightness - no need to vary the image. Who is right?
 

blackangst1

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
22,914
2,359
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Burn in on newer panels are pretty much a thing of the past. Most of the newer panels have what Panasonic calls "pixel wobbling" which basically means it will shift pixels 1 or 2 to the left or right after a certain amount of time. Mind you, this pixel shifting is unnoticable. The biggest problem is with 4:3 viewing, and the possibility of burning in the black box. However, many newer cable boxes/dish boxes have an option to change the pillarbox from black to grey, thus keeping those pixels "on" and preventing burn in.

That said, it is still possible. The general consensus Ive read is the first 100 hours are thost venerable. Avoid letter box or pillarbox for more than several hours at a time. Also, many plasma TV's now have a feature to correct burn in. It basically hits the whole screen with white for a sustained period of time.

Lastly, remember to calibrate your new TV! Generally this means turning contrast and sharpness down to about 50%. There are many calibration DVD's available.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,716
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tbqhwy.com
you really dont need to do anything special, simply tonining down the brightness and contrast for the first 100 hours is fine

if your TV has a THX mode simply use that
 

velillen

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2006
2,120
1
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I didnt do anything special on my panny plasma. Actually pretty much went straight into using it normally. For the most part is was all 16:9 content though. My thought was its still under Best Buy (where i bought it) 30 day return so if it does go bad i can just return it.

And i highly recommend goign to avsforum and finding your tv's series/model thread. Usually plenty of info on the tv itself as well as calibration settings people have used. The ones i found for my tv were 10 times better than any of the default modes
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
13
81
fuckers shipped it to the wrong address. no TV for me this weekend! thanks!
 

Seleni

Junior Member
Nov 2, 2010
8
0
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What. Ouch. Well maybe someone else will enjoy it this weekend.
Sorry to hear that.
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
13
81
well i exaggerate slightly. it's at some depot in New York, not the local depot from where it would be delivered. just an annoying delay, really.
 

sivart

Golden Member
Oct 20, 2000
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The biggest problem is with 4:3 viewing, and the possibility of burning in the black box. However, many newer cable boxes/dish boxes have an option to change the pillarbox from black to grey, thus keeping those pixels "on" and preventing burn in.

How can you call it burn in when the pixel is "off" (I.e. not burning). I can understand if you watch a lot of 4:3 material the bars section could end up brighter on 16:9 material because they haven't burned off as fast as the center of the screen.

I limited my 4:3 material on my 3.5 year old Vizio plasma (no "pixel shifting") during the first few weeks and have had no problems at all. I'm assuming that the technology has improved since mid-2007.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
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Go to AVS forums and they have special break-in images for a plasma. They tell you how to use it and everything.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,716
417
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tbqhwy.com
LCD>Plasma

obvious%20troll.jpeg
 

blackangst1

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
22,914
2,359
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How can you call it burn in when the pixel is "off" (I.e. not burning). I can understand if you watch a lot of 4:3 material the bars section could end up brighter on 16:9 material because they haven't burned off as fast as the center of the screen.

I limited my 4:3 material on my 3.5 year old Vizio plasma (no "pixel shifting") during the first few weeks and have had no problems at all. I'm assuming that the technology has improved since mid-2007.

It has to do with phospher aging. The idea is for the first 100 or so hours all the phosphers age the same amount. Which means theyre lit. In a healthy break in, all phosphers are turned on, or lit (read: not black) uniformly for the first 100 or so hours.

BTW here is the master plasma burn in thread at AVSforums: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=949107

edit: When youre looking at a burned in image, what you ARENT seeing is a darker phospher, or cell, but what you ARE seeing is a lighter, or "burned" phospher, or cell.
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
13
81
Well I'm never ordering a TV over the internet again. I knew as soon as I lifted it up that something felt funny. I didn't think the tv should move within its packaging, should it? When my buddy and I pulled the TV out, we didn't initially see the screen because of the plastic wrap, but we did hear the distinctive crackle of broken glass when we moved it. We both looked at each other like, "WTF was that?" And sure enough...

IMG_0795.JPG


Panasonic didn't really care that their shipping company misrouted the package for almost a week, and destroyed my TV in the process. They want me to just grin and bear it and wait for a new one to come, oh and could I please be available between 12 and 5 tomorrow when they pick this up and between 12 and 5 sometime next week when the new one is delivered, and just forget about the half day I took off last week when they were supposed to deliver it but didn't. No thanks, Panasonic Direct, how about you just refund my money and take your POS back.

Went to HHGregg where this TV was on sale for $800 today. I'll gladly pay the extra $60 over the deal I got online. $60 for no hassle, I get it today, I get a 14 day return policy at my leisure, not at the behest of a shipping company's schedule, and I get a 30 day price guarantee. With BF and the holidays coming up, I wouldn't be surprised to see this TV for 700-750 thereby further negating the reason for buying it online. Next time, I'll simply wait for a hot B&M deal to come around.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,716
417
126
tbqhwy.com
holy shit, ive heard of cracked screens but thats fucking insane, based on how i know mine was packed they must have beaten the shit out of that.

guessing it wasn't pilot who delivers for them, Its what amazon uses and people have great experiences with them
 
Dec 10, 2005
23,990
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That sucks. The shipping company Amazon used for my LCD tv was great. Got to schedule the day of delivery and it was only a 3 hour window in the morning (9-12); even better, they came at 8:30AM.

guessing it wasn't pilot who delivers for them, Its what amazon uses and people have great experiences with them

Just saw this. Pilot was the one that handled my TV.
 

IcePickFreak

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2007
2,428
9
81
Sucks man. Should of had the shippers wait while you unbox it to inspect it for shipping damage. Definitely have them do it for the next set if you can't get a refund. After this I'd tell them to wait so you can inspect it and if they try saying they can't/won't, I'd have em put it right back on the truck while I call Panasonic.

I've heard some people with horror stories ordering sets online, and others having no issues even after purchasing multiple sets. Not sure what shipping companies are good as I was reluctant for the same reason when I bought mine and found a great deal locally, but I've heard plenty of people having good luck purchasing sets through Amazon as well.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
4
76
I'd say I was surprised how damaged your TV was, but I've seen how these carriers handle packages, even ones labeled fragile are just tossed around. Whoever dropped/tossed it had to have heard that thing shatter, unless it fell while it was in a truck or cargo area where no one was around when it happened.
 

velillen

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2006
2,120
1
81
im curious what did the box look like? It must have had a huge dent to break the glass like that. if the box was fine then those damn gremlins are out to get you!
 

Wreckem

Diamond Member
Sep 23, 2006
9,458
987
126
im curious what did the box look like? It must have had a huge dent to break the glass like that. if the box was fine then those damn gremlins are out to get you!

The box could have been in perfect shape. All it takes is the box forcefully fall on its side for a plasma's glass to shatter.

Was Manna the company doing the delivery?

How was the box packed? IE: Was it on a pallet?

I have 60" being delivered by Manna next week. Hopefully it will arrive intact.
 
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Crow550

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2005
2,381
5
81
Oh dude......Feel so sorry for ya. That just blows....I hope they get it replaced quick and your new one lasts a long time.

After the 100 hour break in period. Can you then watch movies that are wider than your screen or 4:3 content with black bars instead of grey?

I don't think I could stand to watch content with grey bars....
 
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Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
13
81
The shipping company was NVC Logistics, if that means anything. But they hand it off to a local company that makes the delivery. No telling who actually broke it. The box itself was perfectly fine, the foam inside though was cracked and broken. When he opened the truck, it was laying horizontally on a wood pallet, but not secured to it in any way.

I don't care, F them, I told them I want a refund rather than have them get my money. So I went to HH Gregg and got the same TV for 800 instead of 740.

I'm running the break in DVD now, and have enjoyed the TV so far, although I am having trouble settling on a display setting. I'm no expert on TV's, so I used some settings I found in an avs forum thread for this TV. It definitely looks like a movie theater, but the images don't "pop" like they do on my old roommate's LCD. But there are so many settings to adjust that I hesitate to blame it on the TV. You have Standard, Cinema, Vivid, Custom, etc. plus all of color/tint/brightness/etc. for each of those, PLUS all of the Service Menu settings. It's kind of overwhelming.

The guy at HH Gregg tried to sell me on the G25 for $1,000. I'm not sure if that one's picture is $200 better.
 

IcePickFreak

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2007
2,428
9
81
The shipping company was NVC Logistics, if that means anything. But they hand it off to a local company that makes the delivery. No telling who actually broke it. The box itself was perfectly fine, the foam inside though was cracked and broken. When he opened the truck, it was laying horizontally on a wood pallet, but not secured to it in any way.

I don't care, F them, I told them I want a refund rather than have them get my money. So I went to HH Gregg and got the same TV for 800 instead of 740.

I'm running the break in DVD now, and have enjoyed the TV so far, although I am having trouble settling on a display setting. I'm no expert on TV's, so I used some settings I found in an avs forum thread for this TV. It definitely looks like a movie theater, but the images don't "pop" like they do on my old roommate's LCD. But there are so many settings to adjust that I hesitate to blame it on the TV. You have Standard, Cinema, Vivid, Custom, etc. plus all of color/tint/brightness/etc. for each of those, PLUS all of the Service Menu settings. It's kind of overwhelming.

The guy at HH Gregg tried to sell me on the G25 for $1,000. I'm not sure if that one's picture is $200 better.

That's what did it. Open up the manual for a big screen plasma or lcd and it will say all over not to transport it with the glass horizontal. All it'll take is one bump and it'll shatter under it's own weight since it's a big piece of glass with no support in the middle. It's good that they gave you a refund without a hassle though.

As far as it not having the same "pop" as your old roomates LCD, plasmas are known for their color accuracy. That LCD "pop" isn't accurate. I can't stand it personally. You can still get somewhat of that same effect with the "Vivid" mode, or there maybe some adjustments for in the menu for it - on my Samsung it's called Dynamic Contrast, but their equivalent to Vivid mode is called Dynamic mode. Not sure what Panasonic's is called or how their menu's are setup though. Samsung is usually noted as having a more robust options menu so the Panny may not have an equivalent of Dynamic Contrast so you can still tweak the other settings, where as the modes are usually like presets. AVS forums is definitely the place to go to read up on your set.