Image Retention... Need Advice

[JoeDeeze]

Hey all,

I own a Panasonic S30 and enjoy it very much, especially coming from a lcd which exhibited terrible motion blur. However, I have noticed that the display seems more susceptible to image retention than when I first purchased it. I'll be playing Dark Souls and looking at my character's stats, and when I exit back to the game I can see most of the stats still on the screen. It tends to be only on dark scenes and goes away after about 5 minutes, but it is still kind of annoying. Is this common? Are some plasmas more susceptible to IR than others?


Another question: When watching films and the preview screen comes up before the actual preview, I can see faint lines running across the screen from where the white lettering ends. I don't remember seeing this when I tested it out after purchase. Does anybody else get this? I can also see it sometimes running across the screen from where a health bar ends on some games.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I still have a warranty on this guy and I just want to make sure everything is okay. I would still take IR over constant LCD motion-blur any day.


Thanks,
Joe

[My_Two_Cents]

IR does happen with plasma, but I'm curious as to what your picture settings are? If you have the brightness and contrast cranked-up, or are using vivid mode, then that might explain why you are seeing this more than "typical". The only time I'll ever notice it on mine is after a static image has been on screen for some time, and then I go to a completely blank screen. I never notice it during every-day viewing or game-playing, and I have long game sessions on the weekend.

[JoeDeeze]

Yeah it could be the contrast or brightness. Come to think of it, my contrast is around 70 and brightness is 60. I was wondering if sitting too close to the display may impact what I'm seeing as well. What apx. settings would you recommend?

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

Yeah it could be the contrast or brightness. Come to think of it, my contrast is around 70 and brightness is 60. I was wondering if sitting too close to the display may impact what I'm seeing as well. What apx. settings would you recommend?

Oh yes, your contrast and brightness levels are set too high. It's a good idea to have you HDTV properly calibrated.

[Grif32]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

Hey all,

I own a Panasonic S30 and enjoy it very much, especially coming from a lcd which exhibited terrible motion blur. However, I have noticed that the display seems more susceptible to image retention than when I first purchased it. I'll be playing Dark Souls and looking at my character's stats, and when I exit back to the game I can see most of the stats still on the screen. It tends to be only on dark scenes and goes away after about 5 minutes, but it is still kind of annoying. Is this common? Are some plasmas more susceptible to IR than others?


Another question: When watching films and the preview screen comes up before the actual preview, I can see faint lines running across the screen from where the white lettering ends. I don't remember seeing this when I tested it out after purchase. Does anybody else get this? I can also see it sometimes running across the screen from where a health bar ends on some games.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I still have a warranty on this guy and I just want to make sure everything is okay. I would still take IR over constant LCD motion-blur any day.


Thanks,
Joe

Sounds like a defect in the set with the Faint Lines running across the screen. Can you post Pics?

[Grif32]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Oh yes, your contrast and brightness levels are set too high. It's a good idea to have you HDTV properly calibrated.

LOL those are really not high at all for that set.. They seem about right

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Grif32

Sounds like a defect in the set with the Faint Lines running across the screen. Can you post Pics?

If it's what I think it is, it's seen in some plasmas. My 2007 set exhibits this at times, though I don't see it much at all in my GT30. It's particularly noticeable on the MPAA rating screen. The bright box outline shows something like a ghost image across the screen. There is a technical name for this, though I can't remember exactly what it's called right now. It's not a defect, if it's what I think it is.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Grif32

LOL those are really not high at all for that set.. They seem about right

For a plasma? The contrast, nor brightness doesn't need to be that bright for an HDTV. As I've stated before, it's best to have it calibrated by a tech.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by slimdude

For a plasma? The contrast, nor brightness doesn't need to be that bright for an HDTV. As I've stated before, it's best to have it calibrated by a tech.

What he has his contrast set to is fine, even most professional calibrators actually set the contrast higher than that when calibrating plasma's, but his brightness probably should be dropped by approximately 5-10.

[JoeDeeze]

Ricshoe,

Yeah, I can see it most when a rating screen or a preview screen is up. It just looks like faint lines running from where the lettering ends to the edge of the display. I also get it at other times as well, such as where a healthbar or ammo bar is in a game. I will try to post some pictures, but it sounds like we have encountered the same thing. Do you think that it is just something that is common to my display, or is there a way to fix it? I still have a year left in my Best Buy warranty. I'm not sure whether or not I should have a tech come look at it.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

Ricshoe,

Yeah, I can see it most when a rating screen or a preview screen is up. It just looks like faint lines running from where the lettering ends to the edge of the display. I also get it at other times as well, such as where a healthbar or ammo bar is in a game. I will try to post some pictures, but it sounds like we have encountered the same thing. Do you think that it is just something that is common to my display, or is there a way to fix it? I still have a year left in my Best Buy warranty. I'm not sure whether or not I should have a tech come look at it.

It's a phenomenon that's inherent with plasma tech, as I understand it, and can be very pronounced or barely visible (I assume depending on the quality of the display and the picture settings). I've been racking my brain to think of the proper term, but I'm still drawing a blank. Google searching hasn't been much help, either.

To be honest, if you could use this to return the display, then I would do it. Not because of this issue, per se, but because I would exchange it for an ST30 instead. It's a much better display than the S30, not simply a 2D only equivalent. The differences between the ST30 and the GT30 are minimal, and like I mentioned earlier I really don't see this on my GT30. Just a thought. If you can afford the minor price difference, get the ST30.

[JoeDeeze]

I appreciate the advice, Ricshoe. I think I will see if I can return it for a 55" ST30. When it comes to picture quality, I can't settle with this. I was originally considering the ST30 over the S30, but I'm not a fan of 3D. I thought 3D was the the only difference between the two, but I guess not. I think I will give it a shot. Plus, this gives me a chance to add an extra 5" to my display . Best Buy is usually pretty good with their warranties, so I bet if I showed a tech a number of instances where this occurred, they could probably work with me on something.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

I appreciate the advice, Ricshoe. I think I will see if I can return it for a 55" ST30. When it comes to picture quality, I can't settle with this. I was originally considering the ST30 over the S30, but I'm not a fan of 3D. I thought 3D was the the only difference between the two, but I guess not. I think I will give it a shot. Plus, this gives me a chance to add an extra 5" to my display . Best Buy is usually pretty good with their warranties, so I bet if I showed a tech a number of instances where this occurred, they could probably work with me on something.

I honestly think you'll be much happier with the ST30 from an overall picture quality perspective. Good luck with the exchange. As long as you're "upgrading", I don't think they'll give you any grief.

I finally found what I think you may be seeing. I was describing line-bleed (how could I not remember that term?), and a good example is shown below. Look to the right of the text, and you'll see discolorations in the background. I've also linked an article that explains it a little.

http://www.tweakguides.com/HDTV_10.html

line_bleed.jpg

[BigAl87]

Yeah I own the 55ST30 and no problem with IR but sometimes line bleed when I see this exact picutre and I have the TV Calibrated. Richoe is right though, the panels on the ST and GT actually are less sensitive to IR, my Brother in law owns the 50S30 and also sometimes get the Walt Disney Print when that gree picture comes up it's visible, next time you turn on the TV it's fine and it's no longer there. BTW my Brightness is set to like 24 on mine but the romm is very dark.


I would try to change it also for the ST if you can.

[JoeDeeze]

Yeah, line-bleed is exactly what I have. Thanks for looking that up. I also get a ton of IR, too. I will definitely be trying to upgrade soon. Other than these two problems, I love my display. I was looking at the ST30, but I also saw that the GT wasn't much more expensive. Would it be worth it to get the THX? Is that the only difference?

[kris achar]

Dear Friends...

Here is a visual of my settings of a 2D Vseries 50 inches panasonic plasma tv,
When i see many here using brightness level above 50.Iam bit surprised as how they manage to do so in new plasma panels.Since in my set i cannot rise it above 8 to 10.And the eyes starts to strain.
Kindly look at my settings,and for my eyes it appears just about right.

Plasma Tv and HDMI PC Settings - YouTube

And also bear with me on the clarity of that clip since it was shot using a still camera.

Thanks & Love,
kris.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

Yeah, line-bleed is exactly what I have. Thanks for looking that up. I also get a ton of IR, too. I will definitely be trying to upgrade soon. Other than these two problems, I love my display. I was looking at the ST30, but I also saw that the GT wasn't much more expensive. Would it be worth it to get the THX? Is that the only difference?

The contyrast are even better on the GT and Blacks even superior but it was not a huge deal breaker for me as once the ST properly calibrated i think it's a great TV. I think it could defenately be worth it as I believe it's only a couple of hundreds more for a 55GT vs 55ST.

[oppopioneer]

Burn-In Healed! How to fix burn-in.

HDTV Unveiled: Q&A With A Video Wizard

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/HDTV-cal...w-1339-11.html

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by JoeDeeze

Yeah, line-bleed is exactly what I have. Thanks for looking that up. I also get a ton of IR, too. I will definitely be trying to upgrade soon. Other than these two problems, I love my display. I was looking at the ST30, but I also saw that the GT wasn't much more expensive. Would it be worth it to get the THX? Is that the only difference?

As someone who owns the GT30, I would advise you stay with the ST30 unless you really want/need the features of the GT30. I used the THX setting initially (and it was very good), but then I found better settings posted somewhere that I've been using ever since. Eventually, I'll be getting it professionally calibrated, so the THX is not worth it to me. Had I to do it all over again, I'd probably go with the ST30. As far as picture quality and tech, the sets use the exact same panel.

[dobyblue]

Good article. I'll certainly take a little bit of line bleeding over light bleeding any day of the week.

Plasma ftw!