Proper Break In Procedures

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Well i just bought my first plasma, a Samsung PN50A450. I grabbed it for just over $700, with free delivery and all. I will not be actually setting this tv in its permanent place until May 1st, the day i move into my new home. My question is, should i go ahead and break the set in now? It wont really get much use until May, and then it'll be off to the races. This will be my main living room t.v, and will be accompanied by my 5 channel surround sound, PS3, HD-DVD, and Comcast HD DVR. I wanted to get some opinions if its worth breaking the set in now, or just waiting until May.


Furthermore, i'd like to get some opinions on PROPER break in procedures. It seems like everyone has their own theory. To clarify, I WILL BE BREAKING THIS SET IN. I don't care to read any comments that it isn't nessecary, as i plan on protecting my investment as a precaution. I've read numerous places to turn down brightness and contrast and play a full screen picture with no still images for anywhere between 100-200 hours. Is this accurate? How low do i set the brightness and contrast? 25%? 50%?? Can i play a blu ray and just keep it on repeat?


I've done my fair share of research into burn in, as well as image retention. This is my first plasma set, and i want to do things right. Any and all help and suggestions are appreciated.


Ohhhh yea, PLASMAS RULE!!!

[Twitch9]

First off new plasmas don't have a break in time, if you want to get a decent calibration go to http://www.tweaktv.com/ and look up your make model number, breaking in plasmas is a thing of the past. The one thing you have to watch out for is burn in, but new plasmas have a screen burn protection.

here is a like to the closest model of you set.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...-pn50a460.html

[VinnAY]

Originally Posted by Twitch9

First off new plasmas don't have a break in time, if you want to get a decent calibration go to http://www.tweaktv.com/ and look up your make model number, breaking in plasmas is a thing of the past. The one thing you have to watch out for is burn in, but new plasmas have a screen burn protection.

here is a like to the closest model of you set.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...-pn50a460.html

I concur with my good friend, Twitch.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by Twitch9

First off new plasmas don't have a break in time, if you want to get a decent calibration go to http://www.tweaktv.com/ and look up your make model number, breaking in plasmas is a thing of the past. The one thing you have to watch out for is burn in, but new plasmas have a screen burn protection.

here is a like to the closest model of you set.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...-pn50a460.html

I appreciate the quick response, but your post pretty much contradicts everything i've read regarding setting up new plasma sets. Are you saying i could take my plasma out of the box and tune my settings first thing? This is the first i've heard...

And i'm using my settings from Avsforum.com....

[Slec]

OP,
I'm in the same boat you are. It may or may not 'do' anything, but I don't care, it's very little work to be on the safe side. Here's what I'm doing with my new plasma (from a bunch of readings):

avoid channels with constant scrolling at the bottom of the screen (I'm using zoom mode for channels that have this. It gets rid of the scroller on ESPN)
Don't watch movies with black bars back to back
Don't play video games for longer than 45 minutes (I've read 90 minutes, but it's more for the wife who will play a game and walk away with it paused for 25 minutes)
As an over precaution, I'm not leaving it on the same station for more than 2 hrs.

Settings for first 100-200 hrs:
Turn everything below 50%
don't use 'dynamic' mode under any circumstance
don't calibrate until after the above hrs have been reached (you'll end up redoing it)

[JJ]

My only ones so far are no TV channel watching, limited game playing, keep the Plasma on Movie mode, and alternate between 1.78 to 2.35 movies. But I'm still using it a lot - and I run the video pattern for an hour every night.

[Twitch9]

Originally Posted by PS3+HDDVD OWNER

I appreciate the quick response, but your post pretty much contradicts everything i've read regarding setting up new plasma sets. Are you saying i could take my plasma out of the box and tune my settings first thing? This is the first i've heard...

And i'm using my settings from Avsforum.com....

Yes, what ever your reading on plasmas, check the date of the article. Plasmas have little or no break in time, the only thing you have to avoid is channels with constant bars, logos or images. Like JJxiv1215 said avoid long periods of gaming. Search forms on this site and you find that many of the OP's have talked about this topic before. Breaking in your plasma is a thing of the past.

As for calibrating from Tweaktv this is a starting point not your final settings, and when you read on calibrating after the first 100 hours this is referring to professional calibration, this way you don't pay for the same service twice. It's not going to hurt your new plasma by having the contrast or brightness levels set by Tweaktv settings, also you will notice their settings are pretty much what all forms are telling you to set you TV to anyway.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by Slec

OP,
I'm in the same boat you are. It may or may not 'do' anything, but I don't care, it's very little work to be on the safe side. Here's what I'm doing with my new plasma (from a bunch of readings):

avoid channels with constant scrolling at the bottom of the screen (I'm using zoom mode for channels that have this. It gets rid of the scroller on ESPN)
Don't watch movies with black bars back to back
Don't play video games for longer than 45 minutes (I've read 90 minutes, but it's more for the wife who will play a game and walk away with it paused for 25 minutes)
As an over precaution, I'm not leaving it on the same station for more than 2 hrs.

Settings for first 100-200 hrs:
Turn everything below 50%
don't use 'dynamic' mode under any circumstance
don't calibrate until after the above hrs have been reached (you'll end up redoing it)

Thanks! This is exactly what i was looking for. If breaking in your plasma is a myth, so be it. Its worth the 100 hours of tv time for the peace of mind.

[Hammie]

The only real break-in I did during the first 200 hours was a color slide show from webapalooza.com for 90 minutes per night. I never avoided black bars. I never zoomed or stretched my screen. I just used it. As far as channel logos, what is the big deal. They are gone during commercials and I am never on a channel long enough to worry about the scrolling banners. When I play a game on my PS3 it never seems to be longer than an hour or so.

In about 500 hours of owning my TV, I have only seen two instances of IR and they were both from an opening splash screen from a Blu-ray. I saw it when I turned off my TV. BTW, they quickly went away after playing a program.

[graf1k]

I ran the thumb drive files for about 8 hours a day for the first 5 days or so with absolutely no game playing and zooming any non-full screen signals. After that I stopped running the thumb drive break in files, started doing a little gaming and started watching movies without zooming the picture. I still turned the picture off every time I paused a game or movie, even if it's just for 5 minutes and no burn in yet. Now I don't even worry about it much. I played The Lost and Damned for probably 3 hours straight on Friday and no image retention or burn in or anything, even where the HUD is. I'd say by now it's still been less than 100 hours of total use and no problems so either I'm very lucky or the whole thing is somehwat overblown. I think people on AVS are less worried about burn in and more about making sure the different colors are used evenly across the whole screen during break in.

[DRC72]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

The only real break-in I did during the first 200 hours was a color slide show from webapalooza.com for 90 minutes per night. I never avoided black bars. I never zoomed or stretched my screen. I just used it. As far as channel logos, what is the big deal. They are gone during commercials and I am never on a channel long enough to worry about the scrolling banners. When I play a game on my PS3 it never seems to be longer than an hour or so.

In about 500 hours of owning my TV, I have only seen two instances of IR and they were both from an opening splash screen from a Blu-ray. I saw it when I turned off my TV. BTW, they quickly went away after playing a program.

Concurred.............. This is pretty much the way I handle my plasma, and I have not had any burn in issues yet.

[Plasmachick]

I didn't break mine in. Been watching it out of the box from day 1 (about a month). Went and got a ps3 for blu-ray, swapped out my Digital Receiver for an HD DVR, and connected a subwoofer to the subwoofer out and never looked back. Haven't seen any IR. I do run my screen wipe that automatically turns the tv off automatically when done.

Don't know if its a good thing or bad thing (the break in). I just chose not to do it. I will get it calibrated professionally when I get some more cash. But that can wait, for now.

[No Ceiling]

Originally Posted by PS3+HDDVD OWNER

Thanks! This is exactly what i was looking for. If breaking in your plasma is a myth, so be it. Its worth the 100 hours of tv time for the peace of mind.

You will still have IR problems. You will still have possible burn-in(if left on still images for long periods of time). You will still have to worry about logos, black bars whatever. So break-in all you want, think "peace of mind" all you want. You will still deal with all the same problems arising with plasma long after your so-called "break" in.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by No Ceiling

You will still have IR problems. You will still have possible burn-in(if left on still images for long periods of time). You will still have to worry about logos, black bars whatever. So break-in all you want, think "peace of mind" all you want. You will still deal with all the same problems arising with plasma long after your so-called "break" in.

Not sure what the hell you're talking about.... Are you an LCD fanboy or something? Everybody has their own view on plasma break in, and i'm choosing to go ahead with it. Not really your problem. But thanks for your completely useless post

[No Ceiling]

I have a plasma, never broke it in. Never had problems. How can you not be sure about my last post. BREAK-IN OR NOT, YOU WILL STILL BE SUBJECT TO IMAGE RETENTION AND BURN-IN. I am not telling you to not break-in your plasma.If you want to waste 100 hours for nothing go ahead.

[lojack1976]

You probably don't need a break in period for that set. That TV has a pixel shift feature so your chances of burn-in is almost nonexistent with normal use. You might get some retention every so often, but nothing permanent. Just be sure to get your picture settings right. No vivid mode. Keep the brightness down to a reasonable level and you may not even get much retention. I broke my TV in because it doesn't have a pixel orbiter like the newer models. I get retention, but nothing like it did when I first got it. Of course that was before I calibrated it when the brightness was cranked up. Now any retention that I get goes away pretty quickly.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by lojack1976

You probably don't need a break in period for that set. That TV has a pixel shift feature so your chances of burn-in is almost nonexistent with normal use. You might get some retention every so often, but nothing permanent. Just be sure to get your picture settings right. No vivid mode. Keep the brightness down to a reasonable level and you may not even get much retention. I broke my TV in because it doesn't have a pixel orbiter like the newer models. I get retention, but nothing like it did when I first got it. Of course that was before I calibrated it when the brightness was cranked up. Now any retention that I get goes away pretty quickly.

Thanks for your insight. I am aware of the pixel shift function on my set. I actually have already used it a couple of times, and its a pretty nice feature to have. I started gaming on it a little bit, and had a little bit of IR show up but nothing serious. I am only at about 75 hours on the set right now, slowly but surely getting a few hours in here and there. I love the set, and i just want to take every precaution i can.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by lojack1976

You probably don't need a break in period for that set. That TV has a pixel shift feature so your chances of burn-in is almost nonexistent with normal use. You might get some retention every so often, but nothing permanent. Just be sure to get your picture settings right. No vivid mode. Keep the brightness down to a reasonable level and you may not even get much retention. I broke my TV in because it doesn't have a pixel orbiter like the newer models. I get retention, but nothing like it did when I first got it. Of course that was before I calibrated it when the brightness was cranked up. Now any retention that I get goes away pretty quickly.

Furthermore, would you recommend i turn all the brightness and contrast settings down for a little bit? I was planning on tuning it to the settings posted on avsforum....

[Plasmachick]

Originally Posted by PS3+HDDVD OWNER

Furthermore, would you recommend i turn all the brightness and contrast settings down for a little bit? I was planning on tuning it to the settings posted on avsforum....

I have to tell you. The 400 series Samsungs (720p) have been said to have IR issues. A friend of mine has one and he's had his about 6 mos and he has some that he can't get rid of. He was playing music daily and kept the menu up. Also, there's a thread on AVSforum.com about it. Seems to be unique to the 720p. Said to have been corrected in the 1080p. Just be extra careful.

[Scoob]

Originally Posted by No Ceiling

I have a plasma, never broke it in. Never had problems. How can you not be sure about my last post. BREAK-IN OR NOT, YOU WILL STILL BE SUBJECT TO IMAGE RETENTION AND BURN-IN. I am not telling you to not break-in your plasma.If you want to waste 100 hours for nothing go ahead.

Burn in? Yea if you abuse your TV. Burn in is a non issue for most plasma owners these days.............