Confirm or aleve my plasma fears (1 Viewer)

[Matt Amato]

After a faithful 7 years of service from my Panasonic PT-47WX49 HD RPTV, I'm finally ready to retire the old gal and upgrade to a new set. Having recently moved into a new house with a finished basement perfectly suited for a home theater, I've turned my eye on the new Panasonic 58" V10 plasma. I was paranoid about RPTV burn-in when I pulled the trigger 7 years ago, but I calibrated with Avia and never had any problems. I played plenty of video games and watched a ton of 4:3 content as well as plenty of sports with static overlays. I'm sure this is just a result of having contrast set to its proper levels (if not a little lower) and the only real reason I'm upgrading is the lack of HDMI/1080p/720p support. The set still looks great.

As you can imagine, now that I'm considering a move to plasma, my paranoia has returned. I know that great strides have been made in Plasma technology in the last few years, but I see some people still claiming that burn-in is still real and common and that you have to be a "responsible watcher". Is that really the case? With proper calibration and not doing anything stupid (like leaving it on and paused overnight) how susceptible to burn-in am I going to be? I never want to be in the situation where I have to say "I would love to watch this movie marathon, but it's 8 hours of 2:35:1 and I shouldn't risk it". After all, tv is for enjoyment and if I have to make decisions like that, it detracts from that enjoyment.

If its really a problem, then I supposed I'd go LED, but everything I read still says plasma is quality king.

1. Light controlled environment
2. 33/33/33 Movies, Gaming, TV
3. Picture quality is my most important feature in a TV

Thoughts?

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Burn in won't be a problem for you. You do have to worry about image retention, however this is also a problem with LCDs. Keeping your brightness lower than normal and avoiding persistent images during your first 100 hours of use will "break it in" and you should be fine.

1. That's good because plasmas have comparatively low light output.
2. 1% porn?
3. Enjoy your vastly superior image to LCD screens.

 

[Leo Kerr]

I've heard also that with modern plasmas, if you set the peak white-level to something... reasonable, than you can do just about anything without any significant risk. (Enough qualifiers there?) Reasonable white-level was given to me as a defined brightness -- some number of Nits (more commonly used with measuring light output of LCD screens.) Unfortunately, I can't remember what that number actually was, but I think it was (but don't quote me on this,) in excess of 170 Nits. My desk-top LCD is set and calibrated to approx 140 Nits, and I can't imagine watching that in a dark room!

(Of course I'm used to projectors, so I watch in the dark.)

Leo

 

[Matt Amato]

Thanks guys, that makes me feel a lot better. Now all I need is to decide if the 58" model is big enough or if the 65" is worth the extra dough. I'm probably dreaming on that one and will most likely end up with the cheaper 58.

 

[Adam Bluhm]

Good luck with your purchase. I just ordered a Panny 50" S1 Plasma. Both Best Buys near me were out of stock (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) so I'll be picking it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm excited!!

I was torn initially, because I might do some gaming on the screen and thought I might lean toward LCD. I also like the physical design of the Samsungs (I think less is more and they're beautiful.. the 550 plasma from Samsung). But I was waltzing through Sears and they played clips from the newest Ice Age movie and OMG was it beautiful. I again realized why I have to focus on straight PQ over other issues. I couldn't compromise my PQ for a nice looking bezel or what might be turning into the urban legend of Panasonic burn in, so the Panasonic Plasma it was for me!

 

[Matt Amato]

Adam, I'm not that far from you (live in Plymouth Meeting, work in Exton). It looks like the V10s are all out of stock in my neck of the woods. Though with all the talk of 3D tvs launching in 2010, part of my wants to wait it out. I've promised myself to wait at least until Christmas/SuperBowl sales. Good luck with your S1.

 

[rjones02]

Matt -

I just bought the 58" Panasonic V10. Won't get for 3 weeks...but i researched for 2 months before i pulled the trigger. As my viewing distance is about 10ft, i went with the 58 vs. the 65. This seems to be one of the best option for me. Much cheaper than the Pioneer 151FD that i was about to shell out 4500 for. You're not going to believe it, but got the 58" V10 for $1950! Kind of why i finally made the decision.

I live in Cali now, but didn't live too far from you...used to live out on the main line in college.

Good Luck...and if you didn't buy it yet, i could maybe steer you in the right direction to get that deal. The 65" V10 is only $2880!

 

[Parker Clack]

Matt:

With a dedicated room with light control have you thought about putting in a front projection system? For about the same money you can get a really nice front projector with screen and have a fantastic picture with a huge picture. If had a room available to me that you have front projection would be the only thing I would think of putting in there.

Having said that I have had a Panasonic plasma for about 2 years now and have never experienced burn in even with my 9 year old leaving her favorite program on pause for hours. I was concerned that the station bugs for CBS, NBC, etc. that stay up on the screen all the time would be an issue but they aren't. As far as 3D is concerned yes they are going to have new models coming out with that capability but since it is still a relatively new tech for these sets I would wait for 2nd or even 3rd generation models to come out before investing. That would give you a few years while they develop a standard.

Parker

 

[mjl1297]

Originally Posted by rjones02

Matt -

I just bought the 58" Panasonic V10. Won't get for 3 weeks...but i researched for 2 months before i pulled the trigger. As my viewing distance is about 10ft, i went with the 58 vs. the 65. This seems to be one of the best option for me. Much cheaper than the Pioneer 151FD that i was about to shell out 4500 for. You're not going to believe it, but got the 58" V10 for $1950! Kind of why i finally made the decision.

I live in Cali now, but didn't live too far from you...used to live out on the main line in college.

Good Luck...and if you didn't buy it yet, i could maybe steer you in the right direction to get that deal. The 65" V10 is only $2880!

Just curious but where did you manage to find a 58" V10 for $1950?

 

[rjones02]

I work at a very large bank and we have a deal buying direct from Panasonic. Couldn't believe my eyes when i saw it! Ended up cancelling and going with the Samsung 58" 860 series. I love it.

 

[Carl Gaff]

Go for the big one!!! I've had a Panasonic 65" (wall mounted) for the last two years and it is an excellent TV. No burn in problems at all. I had it calibrated by none other than the infamous Greg Loewen shortly after purchase and the settings are excellent. At his point I have three plasmas: 65' Panasonic 1080P. 3 year old 50' Vizio 720P. 4 year old 42" Vizio 720P. I have had zero problems with any of them. Plasmas will give you better black levels than LCD's and no motion artifacts either. Plasmas might not be the most popular, but for me they are the best.

 

[Hank]

I have a Panasonic TH-50PZ800U that is ISF calibrated. The image is spot on. I play my Xbox with no problems. As Carl stated, they might not be the most popular. IMO they beat LCD in every category. I watch alot of MLB & NFL, no motion blurs at all. While watching Blu-ray Discs the black level is excellent and color accuracy is perfection. Good luck.