Yes, Another Black Bars Question

[VenomXR8]

Hi all,
Allthough my question does involve the black bars you see on some of the blu ray discs on certain aspect ratio's (which i have no problem with, i actually prefer them) My question is that I have a 50 inch pioneer plasma which I use for watching blu rays and with repeated viewings is there a chance the black bars could "burn" into the plasma screen and create a shadow when you are watching a full screen image?, Ive heard if you have an static image displayed on a plasma screen for to long it may burn in and I was just wondering if it applies to black bars???

[Redrox]

Nope, the black 'bars' are actually no video signal. It is like beeing turned off so nothing can burn into your plasma screen.

[MouseRider]

Redrox is right, black areas mean that the plasma isn't "lit" so nothing will burn in.

In extreme situations, what might happen is exactly the reverse, there may be uneven wear on the screen but under normal conditions, you'll probably have a new TV before you notice the difference.

[VenomXR8]

Cool, thanks 4 the info

[AV_Integrated]

No, Redrox is not right.

Burn in is more accurately called 'uneven phosphor wear' and it occurs when areas of the screen are 'lit' while other areas of the screen are not 'lit'. So, the black bars, with no signal, are not using phosphor time, while the areas showing the film ARE using phosphor time.

Absolutely burn-in is possible!

Of course, with current plasma displays, you likely would need to leave the image up on screen for about 48 hours or so before you would get burn in to show up at all.

I personally have had my cheap 50" Sampo plasma for 3+ years now and while it is extremely prone to short term shadowing with things like the PS3 entry screen logo, I have not had any occurances of burn-in. This display uses fairly cheap glass and no burn-in protection at all. All I am is 'aware' of the potential risk so I watch a fair bit of 4:3 content in 16:9 aspect ratio to help allow me to watch 2.35:1 movies in their correct aspect ratio.

[Snowgod]

Current Plasma TVs have a higher contrast ratio and as a result, burn in is less of a problem if it even exists. older Plasma sets were not so fortunate.

[ClaytonMG]

AV_Integrated is absolutely right, which is why they use gray bars now instead of black when watching a 4:3 source.

[CptGreedle]

thhe term "burn-in" usually implies the lighted parts of the image. It is most apparent when you have a logo or menu or other image that stays on the screen a long time. This will burn that image into the screen. Modern TVs have preventative methhods to lower this effect, and it can often be remedied if it happens.
Therefore, the black bars will not "burn-in" to the screen. HOWEVER it CAN cause an uneven phosphor effect. The lighted parts can start to change through more use and wear, which can cause the black bars to look more vibrant, etc when there is image there. This will not likely be anytime soon as the images you watch would have to be fairly bright and usually on for a long time. It may happen someday when you notice that the top and bottom has more color or some other effect like that. But since I think your TV will get a lot of use in all locations (since a lot of films fill up the screen), I doubt it will be any trouble in the average life-span of the tv.
There are some screen tests that some companies run that "reset" the burn-in effects on screens by exposing the screen to bright neutral colors and various shades to try to minimize or erase any burn-in scarring. It might not help it some cases but I don't think you have to worry about that.