Do the Grey Bars Hurt a Widescreen TV? (1 Viewer)

I just bought a Toshiba 42H81. If I watch a widescreen movie (2.35:1), I obviously get black bars at top and bottom, and I assume that is not a burn in problem.

If I watch 4:3 TV in normal mode I get grey bars on either side. Am I risking any burn with this? Is there a way to turn them off so they are black? Not too much of an issue, since the recommended stretch mode is pretty OK.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the set. I watched Tombstone (Vista Director's Cut DVD with my also new Tosh 4800) last night and I have never seen such a good picture on a TV.

The gray bars are intended to minimize the risk of burn-in. Black bars pose much more of a threat. Burn-in results from uneven exposure of the phosphors that produce the image; an area that is black is getting zero exposure. The gray is designed to be an "average" of the normal exposure.
Regardless of the color, the key to avoiding burn-in is proper adjustment of the TV. Nearly all TVs arrive from the factory with the contrast set way too high, often at levels that could cause burn-in within minutes given the right image. Back it down immediately, and then get yourself a calibration disc (like AVIA or Video Essentials) to set contrast, brightness and other values properly.
M.

Thanks for the information Michael.

I started with Movie mode and then used Avia yesterday - although I keep losing my preferences somehow. I also can't figure out how to do the white setting (the first video configuration shown), but I just went directly to the advanced DIY section. Maybe they talk about it more in the early sections of the DVD.

By the way, the delivery guys from Best Buy actually goosed up the brightness and contrast by putting the picture on "Sports Mode" when they set it up.