LCD Burn in?

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Demon10000

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 20, 2006
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Greetings:

I've got a 47" westinghouse TV with Comcast cable attached via HDMI switched by an Onkyo receiver (most of that isn't important to this question, I don't think).

Comcast annoys the hell out of me by putting black bars on the sides of content. Mostly commercials, but also during some programs such as Family Guy, The Seeker, and various other shows that I watch.

I know that they are doing this because my TV doesn't have any sort of overscan and I can see the whole picture. This allows me to see a small row above the picture with the closed caption data (on some programs), but also, when they do the black bar block-out, I can see a small row across the top where the bars aren't actually covering the entire program. It's very obvious that there is content "behind" the picture, they just dropped a black box over it and didn't align it properly to cover up everything.

This is most obvious in animated shows such as Family Guy (which I know is in full wide screen). Other shows, such as House, appear fine.

But - more to the point.

It appears that these black bars are causing a burn-in on the screen. I don't always notice it, but if there are light colors on the screen (browns, reds, flesh tones, etc), then it is very obvious and it's actually starting to irritate me.

Is there anything that can be done to fix this or prevent it from happening? The TV is only on while we're watching home and near it -- I don't leave it on all day! I would say it gets 4-5 hours of use each day. I didn't think I had to worry about burn in these days, but it looks like I do!

Or maybe it's not burn in and it's something else?
 
I have the 42" Westinghouse LCD and I also have burn-in. I just chalked it up to the fact that it was a cheap TV and I got what I paid for, that's why it's now just for gaming in the game room and the Panisonic Plasma is now in the living room.
 
It's technically not "burn-in" as much as "memory" or "persistence". The pixels are remembering the most used state, and are resisting fully showing another one. Don't you have the option to change the viewing mode from 4:3 to force a wide-screen picture? My tv does this along with a "auto-fit". I know the "stretched look" isn't optimal, but it's better than nothing. There are a few utilities to fix stuck pixels that might help. I can't recommend one though........I haven't tried any personally before.
 
I've had mine for over 3 years and yes...mine has burn in It's the windows login box in the center of the screen from my HTPC even though the logon box was only there maybe an hour, it still permenantly burned in the outline of the box. This also happened with my Xbox 360 and one of the boxes in the main blade but that went away...sorry to hijack your thread...but IMHO..I got what I paid for. The Plasma I have has no issues with burn in at all...
 
Vader said:
The Plasma I have has no issues with burn in at all...
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That's good, but don't be misleading. Plasma's are susceptible too. The technology's are different, but the end-result can be the same.
 
I have read things about creating a white background and also setting it as your screen saver. Also lower the brightness on your monitor for a while. I have heard it works but have never tried it myself.
 
There's a utility called DPT.exe and it has a pixel exercise utility built in that you can run. My Westinghouse 37'' 1080p got a slight bit of burn-in..esque look to it from keeping certain windows on my screen in the same area for hours on end, day after day. The pixel exercise program helps relieve shadowed or semi-stuck pixels. Just let it run for a day or two.
 
rex67 said:
I have read things about creating a white background and also setting it as your screen saver. Also lower the brightness on your monitor for a while. I have heard it works but have never tried it myself.
Click to expand...


Bright white background and then black... flash it for a while and it should get rid of the memory...


I've heard of it being permanent but it's pretty rare.
 
I used something just llike DPT.exe in the past, may have been the same program. My issue was a little more severe. I setup a media PC, and we have been using it to watch Hulu and Netflix streaming movies. Since Winblows can't figure out the difference between active content and non-active content, I had to turn off the screen saver and auto monitor shutoff.

Well most of my house hasn't been very good, myself included, about manually turning the TV off every time you are done watching. After awhile I began to notice icon ghosts (green, black and purple).

Ran the program and everything works great, no more ghosts/artifacts. White Westinghouse 47" TV too. Can't complain considering the price.
 
I'll give the DPT program a shot, but I'm definitely calling best buy. I picked the TV up about 3 years ago and paid $1500 for it. I've been pretty happy with it, and I've even ignored the few stuck pixels here and there that I can only see when there the screen is completely black. I picked up the 5 year plan,and I think it's time to take advantage of it...


Thanks for the tips!
 
That's good, but don't be misleading.
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No one's being misleading..the fact is the Panasonic is a better TV period where as the Westinghouse is a "budget" tv. The point is quality is quality...not talking about the differences between Plasma and LCD.
 
To reduce burn in type effects, keep the TV cooler as these affects are heat related.
 
Def use more caution in the future OP, i've now noticed a few LCD based monitors and TV's with image persistence, burn-in etc etc.

I even ran DPT.exe on one of them for an entire weekend and it barely helped at all (Vista desktop icons seared in).

Good luck either way.

Nenu said:
To reduce burn in type effects, keep the TV cooler as these affects are heat related.
Click to expand...
Interesting, thanks for the tip, will keep it in mind.
 
SJetski71 said:
Def use more caution in the future OP, i've now noticed a few LCD based monitors and TV's with image persistence, burn-in etc etc.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what else I could have done! My TV is only on while it's being watched. I take special care to make sure I don't leave images on the screen in one location (like pausing TV with a channel logo in the corner). I use VMC7 and have a screensaver on it to make sure nothing is on the screen to long.

Point is, I'm very careful and this still happened.


As far as keeping it cool - it couldn't be much cooler without attaching some sort of cooler to the TV. It's mounted to a TV stand, but there is nothing surrounding or touching it. It's a good 2 - 2 1/2 feet from a wall, so heat isn't getting trapped.
 
Vader said:
No one's being misleading..the fact is the Panasonic is a better TV period where as the Westinghouse is a "budget" tv. The point is quality is quality...not talking about the differences between Plasma and LCD.
Click to expand...

Vader said:
The Plasma I have has no issues with burn in at all...
Click to expand...
Just sounded like you were inferring that you had no "burn-in" because it was a plasma.
 
Demon10000 said:
I'm not sure what else I could have done! My TV is only on while it's being watched. I take special care to make sure I don't leave images on the screen in one location (like pausing TV with a channel logo in the corner). I use VMC7 and have a screensaver on it to make sure nothing is on the screen to long.
Click to expand...
Going by your original post, it sounds like Comcast's programming is causing it. Maybe run it in some sort of "stretched" mode during non-critical viewing, like when the kids are watching cartoons or other less important programs. Or maybe even have a separate TV for that kind of stuff, This is what my brother in-law did, he bought some cheapie 26" LCD's with extended warranties for his kids to stay away from his new plasma.

Otherwise it might be time to take advantage of that warranty.
 
For those wondering --

I gave Best Buy a call the day I posted this. They scheduled someone from the Geek Squad to come out to help me fix it. He showed up 2 hours early (normally I'd have been happy, but I'd just pulled a 30 hour shift, and had only been sleeping for a couple hours).

He realized right away that it was "burn in" and ordered a new panel. I informed him of some other problems I had and asked if they could update the firmware. The tech said that he wasn't familiar with updating the firmware and that he'd order a new systemboard too, that way it would have the latest firmware.

He called me a bit later and said that he wasn't sure if he could get a new panel, and if they couldn't get me one, they would give me credit in the amount of my initial purchase towards a new tv.

I'm happy either way, really!
 
ar09 said:
chinese made?!?
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There's often no way to tell who made the panel unless you tear the unit apart.


Glad to hear you're making progress OP. if they comp you $1500 you can get yourself a really nice TV. Make sure to research here first to learn about all of the new features, and to get the best bang for your buck.
 
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