Question about burn in

[momv630]

What's this about "burn in" that I here that projection tv's can get?

It's got me all crazy thinking if I watch a program or two with the black bars on the sides, my tv will get burn in.
My Hitachi manuel says it could be a problem but when I asked the guy at Circuit City he said "don't worry about it, the Hitachi's have something (?) that don't get that".  Is he just telling me that or what?
Do I have to worry about watching too many programs with the black bars on the sides?  I hate stretching it, it looks all.....s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out.

Any help?

[foxeng]

Burn in is a real problem even though the manufacturers are getting better. It happens when a image stays too long on a screen. In a projecter, the image is burned in on the tubes and not the screen. In a plasma, the little cells darken up (layman's terms) and once that happens, you through the plasma TV away. (or suffer through the burn in.)

Burn in is the same thing that happens to your retina if you stare into the sun. The part that is subejected to that intense (in TV terms prolonged) exposure is imprinted in.

You can get burn in on a 16:9 if you always watch 4:3 material in 4:3 mode with bars on the side. In that case the bar area ages differently than the 4:3 area since it is constantly changing intensity. That is why you are now starting to see stations put something in that area like gray. Alot of STBs have this as well. Gray doesn't stop the burn in but it slows it down since the area now has something other black with its in sharp contrast to the lighter areas. I know people hate to stretch 4:3 to 16:9, but that is the only way to keep burn in from happening.

[Steve Mann]

The most important thing you can do to prevent burn in is to reduce both the contrast and brightness settings to below half way (they come cranked up from the factory). Do that at once if you haven't already. Then buy or borrow a calibration DVD such as Avia's and calibrate the color, contrast and other settings completely. Not only will you have a better overall picture, but you will have all but eliminated your chance of burn in.

Btw... if you purchase the Avia dvd, look around as I don't think the link above has the best price, it was just for information purposes.

[Matt Heebner]

Not to say it doesn't happen...but I personally have only seen a few instances of burn-in on a RPTV. I have seen a few projection type video games at taverns with pretty significant burn in.
OTOH......my fav. watering hole just got rid of their 50" analog Mits RPTV that was atleast 10 years old. ESPN on that thing 18 hours a day for 10 years (the bar is open 364 days a year) and although the tubes were well past their life (very, very dim) there was absolutely NO burn-in. I still don't understand it. I have seen burn on a friends RPTV....a health meter from some game when Playstation first came out. He said he palyed that damn game for like 12-15 hours straight on the weekends. It was very very faint, but on light backgrounds you could see it in the upper corner.


If you calibrate I don't think you have any worries.

Matt

[momv630]

Ok, sorry for all the questions but how does this calibration DVD work?  Will the instructions tell me what to do because I've never heard of this. Can I get it at an electronics store somewhere?
My Hitachi has "Auto Digital Convergence Adjustment" that aligns the tubes, is this the same as calibration?

Thanks

[Steve Mann]

Originally posted by momv630
Ok, sorry for all the questions but how does this calibration DVD work?  Will the instructions tell me what to do because I've never heard of this. Can I get it at an electronics store somewhere?
 

The DVD has test patterns and other on screen displays that will help you adjust your settings properly. Yes, the DVD has step by step instructions that cover everything including audio calibrations if you have a surround system.

You can find the DVD at local electronics stores, Best Buy has it, but you'll likely find the best price online somewhere.

[momv630]

great, thank you so much.

[Steve Mann]

Be sure to post if you have any questions once you start the calibration process.

Good luck,

[momv630]

Originally posted by momv630

My Hitachi has "Auto Digital Convergence Adjustment" that aligns the tubes, is this the same as calibration?

Thanks

[Steve Mann]

Originally posted by momv630
My Hitachi has "Auto Digital Convergence Adjustment" that aligns the tubes, is this the same as calibration?

No, it is not. Convergence is the aligning of the three CRTs (projection tubes) so that they produce one seemless, sharp picture. Without going into long, boring technical details, it's the procedure used to aim the projection to is sharpest, best picture. The calibration we've been speaking of previously, is completely different. It's a type of calibration that can be (should be) done on EVERY type of TV whether it is a projection type or not.

The short answer to your question is no.