[mythtv-users] Getting a Plasma, Scared of Burn-In

[Matt Grommes]

I was listening to a podcast interview with the head of Panasonic's 
flatscreen TV division and he dismissed both the concerns about burnin 
and lifetime for plasmas. I'll have to dig up the other review I was 
reading where they talked about burn-in as well.

http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail562.html is the link to the 
interview. The guy sounded pretty knowledgeable.


David wrote:
> I'd be interested in where you heard that, because from everything I see 
> burn-in with plasma is still a very real concern, and plasma sets are 
> much more sensitive than CRT's.  With modern CRT's burn-in is almost a 
> thing of the past (not entirely, but practically).
> 
> What *has* improved with recent plasma TV's is half-life.  For those who 
> don't know, the plasma gas used in plasma TV's has a finite life, 
> measured in hours (or thousands of hours).  At their "half-life" they 
> are half as bright as when new.  Brightness steadily declines over time 
> to the point that the TV becomes unwatchable and must be trashed.  
> While, say, a DLP bulb has limited life measured in several hundreds of 
> hours, picture quality is generally constant until the bulb burns out, 
> then after spending $200-$300 for a new bulb the picture is as good as 
> new again.  You have no such recourse with a plasma -- when it's dead, 
> it's dead, you can't pump more plasma gas into it.  You're left with a 
> very expensive wall ornament.
> 
> In the early days of plasma, when the smallest ones cost $10K-$15K, 
> half-life was somewhere around 2-5 years depending on the frequency of 
> use.  Recent models have improved to a half-life of reportedly near 
> 80,000 hours as I recall, which would be a half-life span of over 9 
> years if the TV was left running 24/7.  Of course none of these newer 
> models have actually been around long enough to test that claim.  :)
> 
> But while half-life seems to be a non-issue these days, burn-in is still 
> a major factor according to what I'm still seeing.
> 
> David
> 
> Matt Grommes wrote:
> 
>> From what I understand, burn-in really isn't an issue with new-ish 
>> plasma displays. Any more than with a CRT anyway. That was more of an 
>> issue with the first few generations of products.
>>
>>
>> Peter Santerre wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I'm getting a good deal on a last-years-model Plasma TV (NEC 50" MX3) 
>>> and will be hooking it up to my Myth box.
>>> I'm very nervous about burn in, as this would be considered a very 
>>> large purchase on my current salary :)
>>>
>>> What do other users of Myth do to prevent this issue, while still 
>>> keeping the WAF rating high?    I guess I imagine while watching DVD, 
>>> TV, etc the screen would not blank, but if it was idle on a menu for 
>>> 30s or so it would black it out.  Sort of like MythMusic does I 
>>> guess.  After 30s of no activity it goes full screen with my choice 
>>> of music display.
>>>
>>> I know that plasma TV's are getting better and better about not 
>>> getting burned, and maybe I'm being over paranoid, but like I said, 
>>> this is a big purchase, and ruining it would be a very sad day :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>