RPTV Experts! Did I cause burn in or not? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Miller]

Evidently in a sleepy stupor last night, I cut off my Panny RP-91 & Denon 3300, but left on my Tosh 65H80. I realized it this morning. The TV sat all night on, but with absolutely no image being displayed. Are the guns "on" or "lit" when there is no signal source coming from anywhere? Did I cause a black image to be displayed all night or is there actually no image there?
I really freaked this morning. Now that I've had time to calm down, I'm trying to figure out if my screen is dimmer or not. If I did any damage, it is not immensely noticeable, but I would love some help.
Peace,
DM
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"We all end up dead, the question is how and why."

 

[Luke_Y]

Dave, I have absolutely no technical knowledge on this but if it makes you feel any better I have done exactly what you did several times (once for a couple of days

) with no visible ill effects.
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Luke

 

[Kevin Tiedje]

No,
Burn in like it sounds requires the CRT to be displaying the same image for a long time. The phosphor on the tube of a CRT burns off over time. The problem with one image is that it makes an inconsistent wearing of the tubes. The resulting problem will be that a particular color will appear brighter in spots and dimmer in spots where burn in has occurred.

 

[Guy Kuo]

Dave, you left it on but there was no image displayed during that time right? If so, then you haven't injured the display and can relax. The phosphors on the tube face don't wear if black is displayed. Yes, the cathodes in the electron guns wore a bit, but it would be a completely insignificant amount. The problem would be leaving an image running which has a static element like the BBC America network bug, or CNN's news ticker. Of late, all those super bright "LIVE" symbols are a new threat.
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Guy Kuo
Link Removed
Ovation Software, the Home of AVIA DVD

 

[Dave Miller]

Guy,
Yes, to your first question. You said:

The phosphors on the tube face don't wear if black is displayed.

Can I play devil's advocate? If the above is true, why is everyone worried about burn in from showing 2.35:1 or 4:3 material on a 16X9 TV such as mine? If I'm not supposed to be worried, then I won't be. Thanks.
Peace,
DM
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"We all end up dead, the question is how and why."

 

[Dwight Amato]

I believe the problem then is you are not displaying anything on the top and bottom but only in the middle portion of the screen. You will then have burn in throughout the middle, but not on the top and bottom. Burn in is burn in...

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I'll have to confess. I left mine on one night too. If there is no signal, you're ok.
This is different from watching a 4:3 on a widescreen, where the gray shows up on the sides, because the gray 'is' a signal.
Glenn

 

[Guy Kuo]

Exactly as above. The problem of not completely filling the actual physical screen with the image is that some part of the screen doesn't get used equally along with the area that is being lit up. Those areas which are lit gradually wear the phosphor and become dimmer. The region of the black bars don't wear and over time appear as brighter or more blue than the areas which have been worn. The tint change is due to the blue gun wearing down faster than the others. Hence, the worn portion looks yellower than the less worn portions of the screen. With black bars, it isn't that the black is wearing the phosphor, it's that the unworn area where the black bars are don't wear down as much as the lit up image area.
Displaying a 4:3 image in the middle portion of a 16:9 used to create this horribly, so the manufacturers tried to lessen the problem by lighting up the black sides with gray so those areas would wear along with the image region. Unfortunately, the match between gray and the average picture isn't perfect and even that arrangement eventually produces a visible burn.
The things for avoiding visible burn are...
1. Keep contrast turned down as far as possible.
2. Vary your viewing material so you aren't in the same aspect ratio and screen zoom. That helps even out the wear pattern so it doesn't become super noticable.
3. Avoid images with fixed, bright features like the plague. That includes video games. If your must watch something that has fixed, bright features turn the contrast so the picture is only half as bright as normal.
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Guy Kuo
Link Removed
Ovation Software, the Home of AVIA DVD