plasma owners - thoughts on calibration discs and break in dvds?

[LordSnailz]

woohoo! finally decided on sammy 50" HPT-5054, going to pick it up next weekend.

Got two quick noob-ish questions, are the calibration discs and break in dvds, such as http://www.eaprogramming.com/ or AVIA, or DVE worth it?

Second, are there anything steps I should take in order to prevent burn-in?

thanks in adv! can't wait!

 

[Mrfrog840]

DVE is worth it. I have had the HD DVD on pre-order for 6 months now.... DVE is worth the buy as it will get you as close to ISF as you can...

If you want to go all out, get ISF calibration, although it will run you 200 bucks, but it will be worth it beyond your belief.

 

[V00DOO]

I bought the Panny 42" Plasma 2 weeks ago. I just broke the 100 hrs mark using the break in DVD disk you linked and watching TV. I have the DVE but haven't had the chance to calibrate the TV yet. I believe you can rent the AVIA from Netflix or Blockbuster if you intend on using it once. If you have time read this AVSForum.

 

[Apex]

DVE is definitely worth the $16 or so.

 

[nife4]

I've had the 50" Panny since the beginning of Feb. and I'm still afraid of burn-in. Also, there is 1 stuck pixel, is there anyway to get it unstuck?

 

[LordSnailz]

bumpity for the morning crowd!

 

[ScottFern]

I paid $100 for an IFS calibrator to come out to my house and calibrate my set. He wasn't able to set the colors perfectly because the settings wouldn't stick however he tweaked everything else and it was definitely worth the money. I think he used that AVIA dvd to do it. I have a Vizio 50" plasma by the way. Smart man if you decided to go plasma!

 

[brxndxn]

Originally posted by: ScottFern
I paid $100 for an IFS calibrator to come out to my house and calibrate my set. He wasn't able to set the colors perfectly because the settings wouldn't stick however he tweaked everything else and it was definitely worth the money. I think he used that AVIA dvd to do it. I have a Vizio 50" plasma by the way. Smart man if you decided to go plasma!

When you pay $100 for a guy to come out, are you paying him merely to come out and adjust the 'color, tint, hue' levels of the TV? Or does he hook something up that us consumers don't have access to and actually calibrate something?

 

[ScottFern]

Originally posted by: brxndxn

Originally posted by: ScottFern
I paid $100 for an IFS calibrator to come out to my house and calibrate my set. He wasn't able to set the colors perfectly because the settings wouldn't stick however he tweaked everything else and it was definitely worth the money. I think he used that AVIA dvd to do it. I have a Vizio 50" plasma by the way. Smart man if you decided to go plasma!

When you pay $100 for a guy to come out, are you paying him merely to come out and adjust the 'color, tint, hue' levels of the TV? Or does he hook something up that us consumers don't have access to and actually calibrate something?

Yes, he brought special equipment and was PLANNING on tweaking my color levels, and he even got into the hidden menus. However, the firmware on my plasma wouldn't let the color level changes stick. So he was going to give me those services, but in the end wasn't able too. Thats why he only charged me $100 and not $250.

 

[Shadowknight]

I'm having a professional calibrator from Atlanta drop by my place this afternoon, actually. He hasn't called and told me exactly when he's coming, though He was in Raleigh yesterday, and apparently some issues with a TV required him to stay there overnight because it took longer than expected to get the calibration done correctly.

 

[Reel]

Can someone take the time to explain why you break in a plasma TV? I have not heard of this practice. Thanks.

 

[us3rnotfound]

Originally posted by: brxndxn

Originally posted by: ScottFern
I paid $100 for an IFS calibrator to come out to my house and calibrate my set. He wasn't able to set the colors perfectly because the settings wouldn't stick however he tweaked everything else and it was definitely worth the money. I think he used that AVIA dvd to do it. I have a Vizio 50" plasma by the way. Smart man if you decided to go plasma!

When you pay $100 for a guy to come out, are you paying him merely to come out and adjust the 'color, tint, hue' levels of the TV? Or does he hook something up that us consumers don't have access to and actually calibrate something?

I'd like to know this, too.

Also, how could one adjust a projector? Can the AVIA dvd still be applied to fix some issues?

 

[purbeast0]

I've used the AVIA disc before on my Samsung DLP 2.5 years ago and trust me, it's a waste. That DVD is geared more towards the big ole crt projection TV's.

 

[mercanucaribe]

1365 x 768

For that price you can get a 1920x1080 TV.

 

[funboy6942]

Burn in, break in, calibration, afraid to watch the tv because it may get burn it, have to limit what shows you watch because it may cause burn in, cant play video games or hook up the pc to it because it may cause burn in, is having a plasma penis that important to some to wave at friends and family to have that much trouble with a tv set?

Wouldn't it just been better to deal with changing a light bulb every few years and watch what ever when ever, or is waving the plasma penis over everyone you know a better feeling you get then actually enjoying what you bought it to do? As far as picture quality goes for contrast and blacks, from what all I have read so far, its crt-dlp-lcd-plasma, so having a plasma tv is really just so you cant tell your friends you have it, but dont watch the sports channel for more then a hour or you will burn the stations logo into the screen
Why really bother unless making everyone feel smaller then you is much higher on your list because you paid so much for a plasma?

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
I've used the AVIA disc before on my Samsung DLP 2.5 years ago and trust me, it's a waste. That DVD is geared more towards the big ole crt projection TV's.

The real waste for me was buying it, since according to AVSForums, I found out after the fact that you need a HD version, due to the difference in how HDTVs with color, tint, etc, vs. old school CRT televisions. It helped a bit, but I can tell that it wasn't quite working with my particular Hi-def set. On the otherhand, it worked great with my old coaxial RCA tv from 1998, improving the picture very noticably.

EDIT: As to the break in period, for sets vulnerable to burn in, the first 100 hours are more likely to cause burn in than in the rest of the sets life. Once you get past that period, you don't have to worry about it as much. This usually applies to CRTs and Plasmas. Does it apply to LCDs? Cause I dunno.

Final EDIT: LCDs are vulnerable to image persistance, which is sort of like burn-in.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Burn in, break in, calibration, afraid to watch the tv because it may get burn it, have to limit what shows you watch because it may cause burn in, cant play video games or hook up the pc to it because it may cause burn in, is having a plasma penis that important to some to wave at friends and family to have that much trouble with a tv set?

Wouldn't it just been better to deal with changing a light bulb every few years and watch what ever when ever, or is waving the plasma penis over everyone you know a better feeling you get then actually enjoying what you bought it to do? As far as picture quality goes for contrast and blacks, from what all I have read so far, its crt-dlp-lcd-plasma, so having a plasma tv is really just so you cant tell your friends you have it, but dont watch the sports channel for more then a hour or you will burn the stations logo into the screen
Why really bother unless making everyone feel smaller then you is much higher on your list because you paid so much for a plasma?

Funboy, I know you love your money saving ideas and you are always tooting your own horn about some front projector or DLP you found a good deal on, but you don't know what you're talking about.

Plasmas have almost no chance of burn-in these days, even if you game or watch the same static content for hours on end. All of the people I know who own plasmas play games and watch channels with static content. None of them have burn-in issues. I didn't break in my plasma. You should calibrate any television you buy.. it's not setup for best viewing out of the box, regardless of the technology or manufacturer. My TV is hooked up to my PC and I use it regularly as a monitor. Black levels and contrast ratios on your typical plasma are much better than anything else you'll find in the same price range, outside of CRTs.

 

[funboy6942]

Who was tooting a horn, I didnt mention anything, you did, and everything I have read on plasmas, and read in forums, such as this one, people are always talking about burn it and calibration, and how they cant watch this or that, it just makes me wonder what is so great about a plasma tv other then you can say "I own a plasma"?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Reel
Can someone take the time to explain why you break in a plasma TV? I have not heard of this practice. Thanks.

The big knock on plasma is that they suffer burn-in easily. Most plasmas with burned in screen marks had that happen almost immediately out of the box. (Guy hooks it up and immediately starts an X-Box 360 marathon)

But once the set has a few hundred hours under its belt this problem is greatly reduced. So by using a break-in disc, you can safely run the TV and grind off that first few hundred hours. At that point it's no more succeptable to burn-in than your average tube TV.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Who was tooting a horn, I didnt mention anything, you did, and everything I have read on plasmas, and read in forums, such as this one, people are always talking about burn it and calibration, and how they cant watch this or that, it just makes me wonder what is so great about a plasma tv other then you can say "I own a plasma"?

Plasma TV will give you better picture than any other types of TV except for top of the line CRT.

You can do everything on plasma that you can on any other TV but it's strengths are TV and movie viewing.

I didn't break-in my plasma and I don't baby mine. It's just a TV and if something happens to it, it just gives me an excuse to upgrade to something bigger and better. Technology is always getting faster, cheaper, and better so it's no big deal. It's just a TV and another appliance.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

search the AVS Forums. Many tvs have calibration setting. I also bought that 42" Panny a couple of weeks ago, and there are websites with the calibration settings on them that you can use.

Also, don't buy a break in DVD....download the image. Again, available on AVS Forums. As long as you have a DVD burner you're good to go. I didn't use a break in DVD, however. You can get by with just letting the TV run an a channel that has no static logos and as long as the image is stretched to fill the screen. An HD channel is even better.

 

[LS20]

i pilfered an AVIA disc.. used it on my 42" panasonic

eh.. didnt have the patience to make everything 100% correct. not that big of a deal to me... i now just adjust my pictures setting by feel. picture and sound are subjective - whats quantifiably "correct" iusnt necessary the most "pleasing"

kinda like people working hard to tune their audio system to play flat to reference for accurate fidelity.. and then be disappointed with the sound. if you want a little more bass or treble? tweak to your liking

 

[Gunslinger08]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Who was tooting a horn, I didnt mention anything, you did, and everything I have read on plasmas, and read in forums, such as this one, people are always talking about burn it and calibration, and how they cant watch this or that, it just makes me wonder what is so great about a plasma tv other then you can say "I own a plasma"?

I wasn't only talking about this thread. You post all the time about your love for projection and you're always in these threads talking about how great it is. You don't know much or were misinformed about plasmas.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: LS20
i pilfered an AVIA disc.. used it on my 42" panasonic

eh.. didnt have the patience to make everything 100% correct. not that big of a deal to me... i now just adjust my pictures setting by feel. picture and sound are subjective - whats quantifiably "correct" iusnt necessary the most "pleasing"

kinda like people working hard to tune their audio system to play flat to reference for accurate fidelity.. and then be disappointed with the sound. if you want a little more bass or treble? tweak to your liking

Exactly. I just tune with my eyes. Whatever looks good to me as I'm the one watching the TV. I don't need to pay some video nerd to tell me color on my TV is off by this much. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: LS20
i pilfered an AVIA disc.. used it on my 42" panasonic

eh.. didnt have the patience to make everything 100% correct. not that big of a deal to me... i now just adjust my pictures setting by feel. picture and sound are subjective - whats quantifiably "correct" iusnt necessary the most "pleasing"

kinda like people working hard to tune their audio system to play flat to reference for accurate fidelity.. and then be disappointed with the sound. if you want a little more bass or treble? tweak to your liking

Exactly. I just tune with my eyes. Whatever looks good to me as I'm the one watching the TV. I don't need to pay some video nerd to tell me color on my TV is off by this much. Ignorance is bliss.

:thumbsup:

But of course someone who spent $200 to have their TV calibrated is going to notice "all the difference in the world" just like someone who spent $200 on Monster Cables.