Calling all PLASMA owners...help.

She-ra's Panasonic Viera 1080 is on its way! Do any of you current Plasma owners have any suggestions regarding settings, burn in period, or just anything else regarding Plasma tech? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It will be used in a dark room.
It will be used for gaming.

Also...since this is going to be used in her bedroom, she doesn't have the interest or room for a full blown 5.1/7.1 speaker setup. Do you have any rec. in that dept as well? I don't think she really wants to spend alot on the sound system, she is just looking for something that sounds better than the buit in's. (Soundbar?)

With Plasmas, for the first 100 hours, you should not watch any 4:3 (full screen) content or even widescreen movies with the black bars at the bottom and top. If you are going to watch them make sure you stretch them or zoom in so the picture fills the screen. After the 10 hour break-in period you should be fine. Also some plasmas have an anti-burn-in feature so check out the manual for that as well.

As far as getting better sound than the current speakers, well you mentioned that the TV was for the bedroom so I would give the TV speakers a try, you may be surprised. Otherwise you can try one of those Yamaha Surround Sound Bars that go under the TV but sounds like surround sound.

ok, but curious, what is the set doing during this initial 100 hours? what is "breaking in"? (the gas?)

what mode do you use falcon, and do you use this mode for all program material?

and this may be asking for a bit much, but if you could jot down your calibration settings for us, just for a rough estimate, that would be awesome. (take your time)

bladerunner... for the first 100 to 150 hours of viewing, do not leave any static images on the screen for long periods (like DAYS). Yes, you can play videogames, but keep the contrast and brightness settings to a moderate level (NOT BRIGHT) to "break-in" the plasma phospheric pixels. All Pioneer and Panasonic plasmas are set with a "pixel shift" default setting, which subtlely moves the small pixels around so as to avoid so-called "burn-in" (actually premature aging of the pixels).

Even after "breaking in" a plasma, it's not recommended to keep the contrast overly bright (like you see on retailers shelves with LCD displays), as (1) it's unnatural to the original content's image being broadcast, and (2) will use more energy (heat) to keep the image that bright (and even LCD TVs can get "hot" after leaving the contrast at a higher setting, as well as shortening the life of the built-in backlight bulbs, unless it's and LED-lighted LCD model).

Remember to sit at least 6 feet away from the set (42" model), and 8" or more from a 50" set, as any closer and you might see the "screen-door effect", which to some viewer's eyes they notice a "grid" to the image created by the pixels (like looking thru a screen door with very small holes) - a proper distance away and you'll never see this effect. A similar situation is found with LCD TVs, as the closer you sit the more blurrier the overall image looks. So, for your eyes sake (and full enjoyment) sit at least 6 feet from the display.

As for optional surround sound setup, that depends on your personal tastes, budget, and the room environment (will the sound affect relatives in the next room), etc. Does she want a full-sounding experience? (then buy a surround sound system catered to your budget). Those "sound bars" are rarely cheap, although I have seen a few for under $200 (but have never listened in store).

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

Well, that's a little different than what I was told and I have NO screen burn in whatsoever.

I was told by the installer's, keep your brightness down for the first 150 hours. What you want to stay clear of are channels that run ticker-tape on the screen, such as news channels that run stock tickers below the screen. Sporting events display that kind of crap, as well. If you do watch that kind of channel, just be sure to change the channel every hour or so.

On the brightness thing, you'll notice when you get your set that there are some pre-defined settings to choose from -- each of which can be customized via manual adjustments. There are two pre-defined settings you'll need to stay clear of for the first 150-hrs. They are "Vivid" and "Game" -- stay clear of those until after the 150-hrs is up -- however, they can be adjusted to tone done the picture setting and brightness. Also, don't pause things for too long and make sure your pixel shifting is turned on. A good rule of thumb for the first 150-hrs is don't fall asleep with the TV on.

Also, keep in mind that plasma uses a lot of power compared to other HDTVs, so be pre-warned that your electric bill might shoot up and extra $20 a month, I know mine did.

I'm not sure about the games because I don't have a PS3 or an X-Box with an HD player. I do know my PS2 looks like total crap on my set, but obviously because the native resolution is designed for 480i SDTV. I brought this up in another thread but I still have not got around to some of the suggestions to make the game PQ look better.

Anyway, once you get past the 150-hr mark, you can abuse the crap out of it without any problems. Trust me, though, you're going to love Brooo-rays on this set!

so basicly you two are saying that we won't get the full benefit of the set upon unpacking. thats kind of a bummer for us impatient ones isn't it. lol.

so, we should just unpack it, throw a 1.78 film in the player on repeat and leave it sit for 4 days or so on half brightness? would this method work, or would it get too hot? (we don't like watching distorted/streched films).

edit.

tim,
buy a 27" cough sony 4.3 wega off ebay for your ps2 games. thats what i did and they look good. ive noticed that anything bigger than 30" and the image starts to wane.

thanks fellas.

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[Post edited by bladerunner1 on Dec 7, 2008 - CST 10:50 PM]

bladerunner.... the thing about the "burn-in" is, the pixels are "virgin" (never been used), so it's important to "break 'em in" with lower image settings for the first 150 hours, so as to avoid pre-mature aging (or evern having a pixel that remains "on" or lighted even in a dark scene - a defective pixel from improper break-in). Once you break-in the plasma, THEN regular use will not age the pixels beyond what is normal (which is about 20 years of viewing 8 hours per day before it will ever reach half-brightness).

Yes, Tim's info is correct, but I still don't think you should use the "torch" settings as it -will- use more energy on average than an LCD set. However, and this has been confirmed with tests, if you use your plasma with slightly lower image settings, it uses just a little more energy every month than a comparable LCD set (50" plasma vs 50" LCD). I saw one report in an A/V magazine that said a plasma used maybe $6 to 10 dollars more energy [cost] than the average LCD. It's very close because many LCD owners do, in fact, keep their viewing mode set to "dynamic" or "vivid" [nicknamed the "torch" mode], which is an unnatural boost in contrast, brightness, and color, and causing their set's backlight to run hotter (which used more energy obviously).

Yes, you can break-in your set faster, but playing a 1.78:1 disc like you said above, but I would not run non-stop for the 5-7 days. Rather, do it in 8 to 12 hours periods over a few week.... or just watch it normally at lower settings(!), and before you know it your phosphers will have broken in correctly for their long life of normal aging.

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

You know blade that's why I didn't get a plaz but instead got the DLP. No burn in worries because I wanted to play video games and I knew that one phone call and BAM I would be paused for awhile but the plaz picture is great and when I get one I'll follow these guys advice.

Well, the tourch setting on the Panasonic can be a little too vivid. While the color is more vivid and brightness is much higher, the backdraw is it tends to make things look unnatural and increases the visual flaws such as nosie and grain. I usually just use the custom setting and adjust it to where I want and I try to get my settings closer to a natural tone and something closer to real life. Nevertheless, it's still an awesome picture!

Quote:
You know blade that's why I didn't get a plaz but instead got the DLP. No burn in worries because I wanted to play video games and I knew that one phone call and BAM I would be paused for awhile but the plaz picture is great and when I get one I'll follow these guys advice.

yeah. burn in was also a concern when i bought my dlp. but honestly, i got a dlp because i wanted a BIG picture, and at that time (early 2007) BIG picture lcd/plasmas were too expensive and imo, didn't look as good (blacks) as my samsung. my how things change fast! still though...our "old tech" dlp's have BIG screens, and won't be totally obsolete until you can get a 56"-70" lcd/plasma for the price these 50 inchers are going for now.

...the lightbulb issue "blows" though. (no pun intended) but i have yet to lose one. (knock on wood)

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[Post edited by bladerunner1 on Dec 8, 2008 - CST 4:46 PM]