I thought plasma image retention was a non issue?

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I have a PN50C550 50" samsung plasma and really like it except that the image retention seems REALLY bad. If we watch an hour and a half movie that has letterboxes when we switch to another channel after watching the move the lines will remain. However eventually the lines will just disappear. :confused:

Is this typical of modern plasmas or should i be concerned? Its not too late to exchange it if i have to but i really do like this one besides this issue.

Last time i dealt with image retention was our old rear projection DLP and once that image was burned in it was there for good. Does it just not work that way anymore?
 
Image retention and eventually burn-in are of greatest concern during the first 200 hours of use, which is considered the break-in period. Make sure pixel shift/orbit/wobble or whatever Samsung calls it is enabled.

Its still a bit of an issue after. Yes, it varies by brand, but it is an inherent limitation of plasma technology, and so is not ideal for media which displays extended bright static images like often see for general computer use (start menu or maximizing a browser w/ the bright white URL bar to the exact same location for hours and hours, playing madden w/ bright white lines, static bright non-transparent HUDs in some games, etc).

Tried to warn peeps in here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1585614
 
The pixel shift is on. Still though this has happened in as little as an hour it just dont seem right to me.

Apparently what i am seeing is referred to as ghosting, hmm.
 
If you are on factory settings, you are also still likely on showroom floor display mode, which has very high brightness/contrast/etc to make the image really "pop". Personally, since my viewing area is bright w/ a wall of windows to my left, I actually like this, but its not ideal for new plasmas.

Most reduce this considerably once home (usually to half or less that brightness), which reduces IR/burn propensity and produces truer colors/saturation.

On the positive side, I was able to fix all of my uneven pixel wear on my plasma by "reverse burning" using software that takes a screenshot of your display and creates an inverse image that you leave on for a while. So it wasn't truly permanent. Other image retention will just go away after switching channels or turning the TV off for a while. But yeah, its one of the advantages of LCD over plasma.
 
They have a thing built in that scrolls across the screen to remove image retention and it works so far.

I just cranked the contrast down for now while it breaks in. I dont use it connected to a PC and rarely use our consoles so it should be cool. Im probably just being over cautious because of what happened with our old DLP.
 
That much image retention is a strange thing. It might be something to do with makes and models...

Panasonic S42 which I used for gaming straight out of the box in marathon sessions, and I've never seen retention on it. Never. Even with a static Civ V hud on the screen for 4-5 hours.

In any case, retention should never be permanent on new plasmas and it should stop being a problem after a while.
 
I have a Samsung PN50C8000 and can confirm that slight image retention does exist on these screens.

It DOES improve after a number of hours of usage, but it doesn't ever seem to go away completely. I occasionally use the side scrolling white-to-black image to help remove it as well, and it does work after about half an hour or so.

I hear the Pannysonics are better in this regard, but it still seems to be a slight issue with the Sammy.
 
I have a Samsung PN50C8000 and can confirm that slight image retention does exist on these screens.

It DOES improve after a number of hours of usage, but it doesn't ever seem to go away completely. I occasionally use the side scrolling white-to-black image to help remove it as well, and it does work after about half an hour or so.

I hear the Pannysonics are better in this regard, but it still seems to be a slight issue with the Sammy.

As long as it don't stick im ok with it. Watched a movie last night that had the bars on top and bottom and sure enough it was there after. This time though instead of running the side scroll i watched tv for about 30 minutes and it was gone completely.
 
Panasonic plasmas are the best concerning image retention whereas LGs are the worst.
Pannys professional plasma displays are much better than their consumer models in that respect, thats why many "ordinary" people buy them for gaming as their home HDTV.
 
Image retention and eventually burn-in are of greatest concern during the first 200 hours of use, which is considered the break-in period.
^^^^ This, and if you're not going to use break in slides then you're "supposed" to run full screen content, zoomed if necessary, for the first 100-200 hours.


Is that advice 100% necessary? Of course not. But since you seem particularly sensitive to the peculiarities, i'd follow it.

Good luck either way.
 
Set your pixel shift to its max settings, 4-4-1 if I remember right. Thatll move the max number of pixels, the max amount of distance in the shortest amount of time. Thats the setting I have on my 42" Sammy and Ive never had any IR even after playing Final Doom on it for a couple hours. And as mentioned, make sure the contrast isnt at 100.
 
Perform a proper break-in procedure.
Download break-in dvd and run it for 150 hours.
Watch video proportionally scaled to eliminate black bars (if your TV permits). Panasonics are excellent in scaling. Unfortunately Pioneers (the least affected by IR) are not able to scale properly.
Use break-in DVD from time to time as profylaxis.
 
I have a Panasonic VT25 50" which according to many reports is about as high end as you can get for a TV, Im sure there are more expensive models that are better but that is just hear say. I did a proper break in of shifting color images for the first 200 hours. I just left it on and let it run for 24/7 while I was at work and sleeping etc.... Now I virtually have ZERO retention. Sometimes if I leave my PS3 interface idle when the TV is in Game mode it will leave a mark but it disappears in about 5 mins. You have to let those phosphors age a bit more.
 
Set your pixel shift to its max settings, 4-4-1 if I remember right. Thatll move the max number of pixels, the max amount of distance in the shortest amount of time. Thats the setting I have on my 42" Sammy and Ive never had any IR even after playing Final Doom on it for a couple hours. And as mentioned, make sure the contrast isnt at 100.

A 4 pixel shift isn't going to do anything for aspect bar burn in.

If I owned a plasma I wouldn't use it for gaming/computer use, just movies/TV and I might consider zooming to eliminate aspect bars.
 
I have a Samsung PN50C8000 and can confirm that slight image retention does exist on these screens.

It DOES improve after a number of hours of usage, but it doesn't ever seem to go away completely. I occasionally use the side scrolling white-to-black image to help remove it as well, and it does work after about half an hour or so.

I hear the Pannysonics are better in this regard, but it still seems to be a slight issue with the Sammy.
I am sure it varies by model, but my Panasonic (well now my parent's, sold it to em for an LCD since my browser bar and a couple elements were an issue since I was using it 100% for PC use) does the same thing.

The cable box hooked up to it does gray bars instead of black on non-HD channels, it broke in which helped, and reduced brightness contrast. Excellent for TVs and movies, but yeah as was mentioned for static images the pixel shift just blurs, it doesn't resolve IR/burn issues.

Its all about compromises in different technologies and pricepoints.
 
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