How big of a threat is burn-in for 4:3 material on 16:9 TV? (1 Viewer)

[Eric T]

I have a 55" Mitsubishi WS HD RPTV. As some of my favorite Kubrick movies are lamentably in 4:3 AR, I have to watch these either stretched or with gray bars on the side.

I prefer to watch them in 4:3 mode to maintain the proportions of the picture, but I'm worried about my screen burning in. What is a "safe" amount of 4:3 viewing on this set? Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Michael Reuben]

I've had a Toshiba widescreen for over 3 years now. I'd say at least 40% of my viewing is 4:3 material (TV broadcasts and DVD editions of TV shows). I never stretch or crop this material, and my set shows no trace of burn-in.
The key to avoiding burn-in is proper calibration. If you watch 4:3 material with the contrast at the factory default settings, you'll get burn-in very quickly. With the contrast adjusted downward and all other settings appropriately adjusted with AVIA or Video Essentials, the chances of burn-in are greatly reduced and the life of the set is greatly extended. (Full disclosure: My set was also ISF calibrated and adjusted by professionals.)
One other tip: When I say 40% of my viewing, I mean just that. Whenever I walk out of the room leaving the set on -- whether it's for five minutes or half an hour -- I make sure to take it out of 4:3 mode.
M.

 

[WesleyHester]

I not only agree with everything Michael Reuben told you 110% but I do and have done exactly what he has. I've had my set for 2 years without even a hint of burn-in.

My HD set is an "older" one that locks into full mode with progressive signals so I have two DVD players with aspect ratio control to properly display 4:3 material (DVD movies only for me thought). I, like Michael, prefer to watch 4:3 in it's OAR (original aspect ratio) too.

I too calibrated my set with both Avia and Essentials as soon as I took delivery of the set.

Furthermore, I too "take it out of 4:3 mode" whenever I leave the room or for whatever reason stop viewing just to be safe. I do it by switching to the tv's NTSC tuner which I have set to WIDE which stretches the image equally to fill 16:9. I personally prefer this over panarama. It's funny but I believe you CAN get use to 4:3 ZOOM given enough time.

Anyway, remember to correctly set your television via AVIA or Essentials ASAP.

My tv settings "out of the box":

Color: 31
Tint: 31
Brightness (Black Level): 31
Picture (White Level): 63
Sharpness: 31

And after calibration:

Color: 31 (got real lucky here)
Tint: 40
Brightness: 17 (very big difference but the picture looks great!)
Picture: 53
Sharpness: 0 (didn't seem to affect anything so I "turned it off")

Anyway, goodluck. One thing about my set though is that it too show GREY bars with NTSC signals which I prefer to view WIDE without them.
The Progressive DVD players and HD Satellite receiver I use produce BLACK bars with 4:3 set to NORMAL which I personally prefer.

 

[elMalloc]

Too much to worry about.

 

[Larry Schneider]

Eric, the Kubrick movies look great zoomed to 1.78 - they way they were presented in the theater.

 

[Eric T]

Larry, were the theatrical presentations cropped on the top and bottom?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Too much to worry about.

Maybe you're in the wrong hobby.
M.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Once the monitor is calibrated out of "torch mode", the chances of burn-in are reduced significantly. I don't watch alot of 4:3 material but I do watch alot of 2.35/1 films and haven't seen the slightest hint of problems.

Bruce

 

[Larry Schneider]

Yes, the Kubrick films were matted in the theater.

 

[Jeff D]

I'll say this... calibration is the key. Most important thing you can do is calibrate it and check it often.

For some reason (the damn reset button on the remote which bumps contrast to 100) I've got slight burn in on the green CRT, maybe that's blue. One of them.

I'm not sure if the fact that I watch a lot of hockey on my tw56x81 has anything to do with the problem. I have a feeling the white ice may be overworking something...

 

[Jeff D]

Oh, and i've switched to watching almost everything in wide mode. Short fat wide people look normal. The 16:9 native stuff looks odd with the tall thin people.

 

[Michael Reuben]

It just occurred to me that this thread really should be in Display Devices (TVs, Projectors). Moving it now . . .
M.

 

[Kwang Suh]

Oh, and i've switched to watching almost everything in wide mode. Short fat wide people look normal. The 16:9 native stuff looks odd with the tall thin people.

This also boosts your self-esteem. Finally, the members of Friends look normal.