Ok, let's be honest here... (1 Viewer)

[NickSchmidt]

I'm still debating whether I should get a 30" direct view 16:9 HDTV or a 42-47" rear projection 16:9 HDTV. Honestly, rear projection TVs scare me. I've heard it's hard to see dark scenes on them, I've heard the vertical bars when viewing 3:4 signals cause burn in, I've heard that station markers in the bottom left hand side of the screen when watching tv can cause burn in, and I have no idea if playing videogames on them is acceptable. Let's be honest here, is it really easy to cause burn in? Could I use a non stretched mode when watching 3:4 pictures and not cause burn in? Or would I have to stretch the picture out and make everything on screen short and fat?
And for the love of God, do videogames screw up RPTVs? Because I play a lot of Gamecube and PS2.
Please help!! :frowning:

 

[Jim FC]

Yes, it's really easy to burn in a rear-projection TV... if you don't know what you are doing. If you are careful you won't have too much trouble. Three easy steps to prevent burn-in:

1. Turn the contrast and brightness settings down below 50% immediately after plugging the TV in. Once you reach step 3, you'll find that this not only protects against burn-in, but it also improves the appearance of the picture as well.

2. Be very careful on what you watch on the TV for the first month or so, as it breaks in. Don't leave side bars, channel logos, or video games on for more than half an hour or so.

3. After the TV is broken in, get the set calibrated, either with a Avia or Video Essentials disc, or by a professional.

A properly calibrated RPTV won't be too susceptible to burn-in, but you still need to be careful. Don't play video games for hours and hours, and don't leave it on a channel with a bright logo for hours and hours either. Don't fall asleep watching a DVD and wake up eight hours later with the DVD menu frozen on there. As far as stretch modes go, I'd avoid using the 4:3 mode very often, and most people find that the strech modes aren't as bad as folks say they are.

Heavy gaming will shorten the life of any TV set, particularly a RPTV. IF you are OK with this going in, and are careful about the TVs settings and its break-in period, you should be fine.

 

[Chris Strasz]

You may also want to consider alternatives to what you mentioned. I'm in the exact same situation as yourself. Working for a game company, I tend to play a ton of videogames at home on my tube.

I'm interested in purchasing an HDTV, and while i've had many people tell me 'it's not as huge an issue as it's made out to be but it can happen', I still have that thought in the back of my mind that i'd hate for something like that to ruin my TV.

So I started checking out alternatives - DLP and LCD mainly. While these two are rather expensive compared to standard RPTV's, Sony has a new tv coming out called their Grand Wega XBR series. The limitations of LCD still stand today - not as good with contrast and black levels, however, this TV is supposed to have improved upon this.

If I can find that this TV is pretty damn good for picturue quality and has improved black levels and contrast as they say they have to where it's more than acceptable, I may actually end up going with this.

As DLP's suffer from the rainbow effect, and RPTV's are susceptible to burn in - this may be a viable solution. Of course, I'm still a bit irritated that the damn tv is so wide - must they have those unattachable speakers on each side? *sigh*.

 

[Luke_Y]

If it makes you feel better my son plays video games for "hours and hours" at a time on our RPTV with no signs of burn in at all.

 

[Chris Strasz]

Ah that's good to know I'm assuming you've turned down the contrast quite a bit? I'm starting to think I may be more paranoid than anything. It is possible to play on these setups you just have to be cautious is all.
Myself, I wouldn't be watching in 4:3 mode at any time, so i have no issues with stretching (primarily a reason why i'm leaning towards the pioneer SD533HD since it's supposed to be stellar for this and its line doubler).
Luke_Y what TV do you use? Thanks for the input!

 

[John Royster]

play video games on my mits 65819 for hours at a time, maybe about 15 hours a week.

no signs of burn-in whatsoever. I check once a week with 50 IRE red, green and blue fields.

Just know its a possibility and take precautionary measures.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Chris, if you exclude 4:3 material you end up eliminating the majority of great films worth watching. What you should do is mix the programming material.

Nick, Jim FC pretty much nailed it with the initial response in this thread. But also bear in mind the advantages of a well-designed modern RPTV: enhanced resolution, generally more accurate color, and larger size.

Another consideration: field of view. All RPTVs have a sweetspot. And at the sweetspot is there any "hot spotting"?

Despite all this, I'd opt for the RPTV—room accommodations permitting.

 

[Chris Strasz]

Jack,
I wouldn't be excluding the 4:3 material itself (god that would be pretty much everything out there but rather the mode itself. I'd have no problems viewing 4:3 if the stretching was decent, was all I meant.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I've heard it's hard to see dark scenes on them

It is true that ambient light can kill the picture, sunlight in particular. There are ways to darken a room so don't let it be a major concern in deciding.

Bruce

 

[Jack Briggs]

Chris, got ya! Sorry for misunderstanding you. JB

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

>>>Let's be honest here, is it really easy to cause burn in? Could I use a non stretched mode when watching 3:4 pictures and not cause burn in? Or would I have to stretch the picture out and make everything on screen short and fat?

 

[MickeS]

No, burn-in is definitely not a myth, but a recent experience with it made me wonder how severe it is.

I went to someone's house a while ago, and he had bought a 16x9 Mitsubishi RPTV in '99. Since he is not interested in technical stuff, he just wanted it to watch TV on, he had it installed and set up by the dealer. They also set up his Pronto for him, since the TV sound went through his A/V receiver.

However, they never showed him any of the stretch modes or explained different aspect ratios to him, or even put a button for that on the Pronto, they just put the very basic commands on the Pronto. Since he rarely watches DVD's (I don't know if he had ever watched one, he did own a player though), he had had the TV in "torch mode" since '99, all 4x3 material when I came over... it had burn-in, where the edges of the screen in 16x9 mode were much brighter than the middle.

However, this TV had been used exclusively for 4x3 material, and it was in torch mode, for about 3 years. And yet, while the burn-in was certainly very noticeable, it wasn't horrible. During reagular, brightly lit scenes, it was hard to see it unless you looked for it, but during night/dark scenes it was easy to see it.

So, what I'm trying to say is that I'm pretty sure that if you have an RPTV and calibrate it with AVIA or VE, and make sure that you're watching a variety of material, I would bet that the burn-in issue will be almost non existant.

By the way, doesn't burn-in happen on direct view sets too? It certainly does on the direct view CRT screens on the ATM's and at other public places where they're on all time at least.

/Mike

 

[NickSchmidt]

What is this Avia thing you guys are talking about? And how to I get it?

And, seriously, thanks a MILLION for the replies. VERY HELPFUL!

 

[Lew Crippen]

What is this Avia thing you guys are talking about? And how to I get it?

Avia is a DVD that many on this forum use to calibrate their displays and 5.1 sound systems. It generates various test patterns, so that you can adjust your set to match what the producers recommend as optimal. Obviously there is no requirement to use these suggestion for your set. A good many configure their displays according to their tastes, but the recommended setting are a very good place to start. I have three settings that I use according to the ambient light in the room.

There is another DVD that many use, Video Essentials. I don’t have that disk, so I’m unable to comment on it, but a good many on this forum use it, with apparent great success.

The DVD also comes with a couple of color filters, that are used for adjusting the color setting (such as tint) on your set.

Though I can only write for myself, I’d say that most on this forum would highly recommended one of these disks.

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

>>> By the way, doesn't burn-in happen on direct view sets too? It certainly does on the direct view CRT screens on the ATM's and at other public places where they're on all time at least.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Bruce, your two posts here are excellent and thorough. And there's absolutely no reason why you cannot refer to Home Theater Spot by name. No restrictions, sir! Hey, look at this: AVS Forum! Home Theater Guide! Home Theater Spot! Home Theater Talk! DVD Talk!
So there! (We merely discourage the dissing of other Internet A/V discussion boards, is all.)
I also think the dangers and potential of uneven phosphor wear have been very accurately discussed here.
By the way, AVIA is an anacronym for Audio Video Interactive Aid. The calibration disc is produced by Ovation Software, and is available at fine A/V stores and at online DVD retailers. It is one of the best investments a videophile can make.

 

[Bryan Acevedo]

Bruce, FYI, we have brand new 21" monitor's in my office (we are a software company) and our CTO's monitor has burn in from the Win2000 login prompt. His monitor stays on for days with it up. So it is still definitely a problem, even with the latest technology.

Bryan