Plasma: The Straight Facts From Current Owners

[ShockWave]

Originally Posted by xneox

Sounds like the Pioneers are better avoiding IR...after watching letterbox, I see lines where the black bars were. It goes away after a minute or so of full-screen viewing, so it's truly no big deal...but it's there.

My orbiter is set to 'Periodic' (formerly 'Force') 1.

I agree. I have a panny and I do get IR, but like you said it's gone pretty fast. Five minutes tops for me on my model. But my Kuro I notice none at all.

[lokir1]

Plasmas tech has fixed all the problems that plaged them when fisrt released its all propoganda plasmas are the best period

[ShockWave]

Originally Posted by lokir1

Plasmas tech has fixed all the problems that plaged them when fisrt released its all propoganda plasmas are the best period

Absolutely!!! Plasma's are really cutting edge tech. I really love them, I would pick just about any plasma over anything else. I have owned just about everything else. I have never been happier with a set! Go Plasma!!!!!

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

Originally Posted by xneox

My orbiter is set to 'Periodic' (formerly 'Force') 1.

Is there any downside to using force 1? If not then why wouldnt the default be on force 1? Just curious

[lojack1976]

My Panny gets retention but it doesn't last long. It has an orbiter but its not adjustable. It still does the job though. My Kuro had a little retention at first which quickly went away in just a few seconds. Now that my set is pretty much broken in I don't see any retention at all.

[Kryptonic]

You'll get IR, but it's usually only noticeable on a blank input, and it goes away very quickly. I watch a lot of letterbox DVD's and BD's and the IR goes away after watching full screen content for 5-10 minutes. No worries. Buy the best - plasma.

[oyboe]

I have owned a Panny PZ700U for about a year and a half and have never noticed any IR. I ran it on standard resolution (not vivid) for the first week or so. I rented the calibration DVD fm Netflix, but not sure if it was really necessary.

[Blu_Ray_UK2007]

I have a 50" Sammy Plasma.. not had any burn in.. some IR.

I watch 2:35.1 all the time, and watch tv channels with static logos, game for hours ect.. if IR really bothers you 99% of new plasma's have white wash anyway.

[PSB_Paradigm_HSU]

bump

any thoughts?

Is there any downside to using force 1? If not then why wouldnt the default be on force 1? Just curious

[SamC]

Originally Posted by ShockWave

Absolutely!!! Plasma's are really cutting edge tech. I really love them, I would pick just about any plasma over anything else. I have owned just about everything else. I have never been happier with a set! Go Plasma!!!!!

Agreed. Plasma got a very bad reputation 10 years ago, they cost 5,000 bucks for a 42", had a life expectancy of 5,000 hours, and would burn into the screen, weighed 200 pounds, those old plasmas don't even compare to what we have today.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by PSB_Paradigm_HSU

bump

any thoughts?

Is there any downside to using force 1? If not then why wouldnt the default be on force 1? Just curious

No down side that I know of.

I'm sure the default setting of 'auto' is more than sufficient to prevent burn-in...I don't know exactly how it works, but I'm guessing it detects static images and orbits accordingly, avoiding the orbiting when images are dynamic. For me, setting it to 'force' (periodic) eliminates the possibility that a tiny static image on an otherwise dynamic screen would be missed. Probably never happen, but with no down side, why risk it?

[moviefan]

Originally Posted by nremdn

Ok, I have been a Samsung 120hz lcd owner for the past year and a half, but my growing blu-ray collection and desire for the highest picture quality I can get has slowly pushed me towards plasma (the tv I am very very interested in is the Panasonic TC-P50V10, due to being the highest rated HDTV of 2009 in picture quality).

Not true, the highest rated plasma TV for the last 2 years has been the Pioneer Kuro Pro Elite which is no longer in production.
Having said that, the Panasonic is a great choice. I think you will love the plasma for movies ... great blacks and no motion blur. Go for it!

[xneox]

Originally Posted by moviefan

Not true, the highest rated plasma TV for the last 2 years has been the Pioneer Kuro Pro Elite which is no longer in production.

Not true. While generally accepted within the HT community that the Kuro still wears the crown (by an ever-decreasing margin), they disappeared from most lists right after the announcement. Why review something if it's no longer available?

[CollinViegas]

I currently own both, a Pioneer Elite PRO151FD and a Panasonic TC-P50V10...

The Panasonic comes extremely close in most aspects out of the box. However after both are ISF calibrated the Pioneer easily wins the crown.

They are fairly close in color reproduction, however the Pioneer wins hands down in Black level reproduction and low light detail. 2 very important factors to overall image quality.

Considering the Pioneer is a full 10" bigger {44% bigger} the simple fact that it produces a better picture than a smaller and newer television should convince the original owner to hunt one down instead. They are still being sold where I live for roughly the same price as the panasonics. Only reason I picked up the Panny was because the store only had the pioneer signature series instock and I needed the speakers built into the TV for the room it is in.

[Trean]

Originally Posted by xneox

No down side that I know of.

I'm sure the default setting of 'auto' is more than sufficient to prevent burn-in...I don't know exactly how it works, but I'm guessing it detects static images and orbits accordingly, avoiding the orbiting when images are dynamic. For me, setting it to 'force' (periodic) eliminates the possibility that a tiny static image on an otherwise dynamic screen would be missed. Probably never happen, but with no down side, why risk it?

I can't find anything online about force 1, although I didn't do an extensive search.

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say force 1 is not the default because it continually forces orbit, creating continually wear and thus shortening the lifespan of the product. Like I said, I have no evidence stating that the orbiting causes wear; however this seems like the most logical conclusion on why the default setting is not force 1.

[crackinhedz]

shifting of pixels will not cause wear...the reason its not default is

a. its not needed once the tv has had time to wear in
b. since pixels do shift, someone sensitive to this shift would notice it as distracting, and perhaps those who are unaware of its presence think of it as a degraded picture.

...just my opinion.

If I sit there, I can literally watch the image "jump" or "twitch" so to speak (every one minute). Not very obvious, but its there.

After your plasma has been used over time, you can turn the pixel orbiter off, as it would not be needed anymore.

[crackinhedz]

http://samsungplasmatvfaq.com/index....el_shifting.3F

What is pixel shifting?

Pixel shifting is a feature in Samsung plasma displays that prevents static images (e.g., station bugs) from causing image retention and burn-in. The entire video frame is moved periodically so there are effectively no static images. One[1] definition reads: "the image rotates in a circle in a way imperceptible to the viewer with a defined rhythm and pixel interval." Basically, the firmware moves the video horizontally and vertically so many pixels every n minutes. You can define the number of pixels moved and their interval using the pixel-shifting parameters in the setup menu

It should be noted that pixel shifting is DISABLED while using "Just Scan" mode. This is because "Just Scan" displays pixels exactly as delivered from the source. For HD broadcasts where pixel shifting is desired (due to channel logo, etc) use "16:9" setting.

[ToonyLoons]

I have had my plasma for almost a year and I LOVE it. I have only recently started to notice some slight image retention on my PS3 because I switched it to game mode. While game mode is not the best for the TV because of the very bright and vibrant colors, I like how it looks while gaming on my PS3 or Xbox360. The IR is very minor, can only be seen on a blank screen and goes away very quickly that it really does not concern me.

I do have my orbiter set to Force 1, but i have had more then enough time to "break in" my TV as well, so I may change the setting or turn it off in the near future.

Unless you really want something like the motion settings from an 120Hz or 240Hz LCD, I would say you can't go wrong with a plasma, especially a Panasonic or Pioneer if you can find one.

[Cpt_Dylan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by theu715

I actually have a 46" Panny plasma (not even a year old) and I've tuned it out with a calibration disc to the best of my abilities, but I still get IR on games, movies, and ESPN. If a watch a 2 hour movie, as soon as it's over there are bars still on the screen when the screen is black. Typically I run the white wash bar through it and it goes away, but sometimes it stays for a little longer. It is kinda annoying to me, because I've been thinking about canceling cable and just watching everything online to save money, but I don't want to run the chance on ruining my TV. Anyone else have this type of issue?

Actually I have the same problem as you. You have the 80u, I have the 800u.

I have the oribter on force 1 too. I use THX mode most of the time, and even in that mode I get IR from almost anything. It's much worse in any other mode though, even after calibration. The Blueray default screen from my blueray player leavs IR after just 5 seconds. The menu from my receiver, leaves IR after just 5 seconds on the screen and takes quite a while to go away (that's the only case where it takes a while to go away) ... But even if for example I put in a DVD and let it sit on the title menu for just 5 seconds, if I switch to a black screen I can see IR. The weird thing is, for like the first 6 months I owned this tv, I didn't notice ANY IR, ever.

I sit quite close to my tv, (max distance of 7 feet to my eyes) and from farther back I can't notice it at all, so that's worth pointing out. I usually notice it when leaning forward, which probably creates about a 5 foot distance to my eyes. My room is almost always dim as well, and I also don't notice it as much when there is more lighting, so my close proximity to the tv, and dim lighting could be why I notice it so much more than some of you guys. It usually goes away quickly at least (except when it's from my receiver's menu).