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Setting this plasma TV up for PC gaming

S

StoleMyOwnCar

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 30, 2013
Messages
3,526
Alright, I've had this plasma TV for a a few months now. It's a Samsung 51 inch 5500. I probably overpaid for it at 800 bucks, but it was all they had in the store. I also didn't need the 3D, but whatever.

I've been mostly using it for watching anime, but I also recently got a 360 controller receiver. I'm pretty much set up for gaming on this plasma TV but I want to know the optimal way to go about it.

Some specific questions:
- Is there a way to make use of this TV's supposedly absurdly high refresh rate when it comes to PC gaming (ie > 60Hz via HDMI)?
- Also, why is it that when I put out a 1080p signal to it over HDMI some screen parts are cut off? I have to have the TV scale it down. I'm kind of confused because this is a full 1080p TV, so why does it have to scale down my to fit.
- Finally I know some HUD elements may get burned in after a long time. I've read that Samsungs are pretty good at preventing burn-in, but is there a period of time after which I should cycle the picture a bit?
- And anything else I should know?

Note I haven't burned it (ie I've heard there's something people to do to get the panel ready for hundreds of hours, not the same as burn-in) in much since I don't use it a whole lot.
 
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- Is there a way to make use of this TV's supposedly absurdly high refresh rate when it comes to PC gaming (ie > 60Hz via HDMI)?
Click to expand...

No, it's not real whatever thehz they claim. It's interpolated. You're going to want to disable that otherwise you'll get input lag.

- Also, why is it that when I put out a 1080p signal to it over HDMI some screen parts are cut off? I have to have the TV scale it down. I'm kind of confused because this is a full 1080p TV, so why does it have to scale down my to fit.
Click to expand...

It's overscan. Generally it's done to hide artifacts and such from regular programming that may display on the edges of the screen.
 
Actually scratch that. What I thought was "scaling" was actually turning off overscan, according to this post. (they're using a larger model, but settings look to be the same..)

But yeah still open to opinions and stuff on everything else.
 
... Okay, I kind of expected more people here to be bigger fans of plasma, I guess I was wrong...
 
1. turn off overscan on tv and in gpu drivers, set 1:1, 16:9 aspect mode
2. use 60 Hz
3. disable all extra useless video processing features and activate game mode if it exists
4. look into 4:4:4 support
5. set gpu to send RGB signal with pc levels if tv supports them, otherwise video levels
6. proper 200 hours break in would be useful, especially prior to gaming
7. don't use excessive contrast
 
I used a plasma for PC gaming and it was fantastic :p

Your screen is around 60Hz input max.
The high refresh is not used in the same way, it is flashing the plasma cells on/off very fast to allow them to ignite properly (pulses at a higher power level) and is integral to the way plasmas work.

Give it a decent burn in period before you put static images on it, anywhere on the screen.
There is good reason why this is given as advice.
So basically no PC use on it until its properly burned in and keep the contrast down until it is over.
You will hate burn in, dont screw this up.

Once the burn in period is over, go here and set up the basics of the screen/gfx card correctly.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/


To keep the screen in good condition, it is wise to also play plenty of full screen video on it.
This evens out the wear so there is less chance of burn in.
The newer screens are much less prone to burn in, but only if they also get used in a way that can average out the wear.
Best not to leave it displaying static images for too long, especially if you arent in the room.

There are ways of getting rid of burn in but they do it by wearing out the display a lot to average the wear.
Severe burn in can be permanent, but you have to be pretty negligent to get it that bad.
 
Because of the low PPI and the issue with the color red - especially a problem if your text has red in it.
Maybe not all have the color problem.

I think it has to do with "4:4:2," but I don't understand that.
 
icor1031 said:
Because of the low PPI and the issue with the color red - especially a problem if your text has red in it.
Maybe not all have the color problem.

I think it has to do with "4:4:2," but I don't understand that.
Click to expand...

None of those are inherent to plasmas.
 
Panmaster said:
Probably the near perfect 180* viewing angle.:rolleyes:

To be fair Samsung plasmas are inferior to Panasonic.
Click to expand...

It depends on the model. Some Samsung PDPs are on par or superior


StoleMyOwnCar: The 600Hz refresh rate they are referring to is called sub-fields. Samsung typically uses 10 subfields per frame at 60Hz (10 x 60 = 600)
 
Game on my Pioneer plasma all the time over HDMI, which is going through my receiver. I've had my set for about six years and have never had burn in.
 
Nenu said:
I used a plasma for PC gaming and it was fantastic :p

Your screen is around 60Hz input max.
The high refresh is not used in the same way, it is flashing the plasma cells on/off very fast to allow them to ignite properly (pulses at a higher power level) and is integral to the way plasmas work.

Give it a decent burn in period before you put static images on it, anywhere on the screen.
There is good reason why this is given as advice.
So basically no PC use on it until its properly burned in and keep the contrast down until it is over.
You will hate burn in, dont screw this up.

Once the burn in period is over, go here and set up the basics of the screen/gfx card correctly.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/


To keep the screen in good condition, it is wise to also play plenty of full screen video on it.
This evens out the wear so there is less chance of burn in.
The newer screens are much less prone to burn in, but only if they also get used in a way that can average out the wear.
Best not to leave it displaying static images for too long, especially if you arent in the room.

There are ways of getting rid of burn in but they do it by wearing out the display a lot to average the wear.
Severe burn in can be permanent, but you have to be pretty negligent to get it that bad.
Click to expand...

Well I have actually been using it for PC for a while now (just not gaming), but I've been pretty careful about how I use it. I mainly watch anime full screen on it, and make sure to try to cycle back to my desktop (which changes images every few mins and has no icons) whenever I'm gonna be afk for a longer time. I've noticed some IR on it after coming back from shorter afk periods where I didn't, but nothing that hasn't gone away by using the included black to white gradient thing that Samsung includes. I haven't had anything permanent. It's also only visible on black straight backgrounds before I erase it. Samsung actually seems to have included a mild anti-image retention thing that works in the background when there's no input. It's like a vertical light bar going right to left across the screen. It's nice. Side note this is my second one of these. I actually had one but returned it because it had a stuck pixel that developed later on. Weirdest thing ever, I didn't even know these got stuck pixels.

The main thing I'm wary of is the HUD...

Thanks for all of the info though guys, this is some good stuff. Reading all of it and taking it to heart. Pity I can't game at a higher refresh rate on this, but oh well. It still feels faster than any of my LCD's though. o.o



One more question. Since this is a 3D TV, is there something special I have to do to play 3D on it with Nvidia graphics cards? I noticed in the Windows display manager there was an option to enable Stereosomething 3D, so I did. But I don't notice any difference. Do I just have to use the 2D->3D option on it? I normally don't care for this, but I'm like "well if it's there, I might as well try it out some".
 
I forgot to mention that some perceived burn may not be burn in.
My old Panasonic plasma used to show some retention that would fade over a pretty short time, it is a minor issue with the plasma tech.
There was definitely some short term IR that wasnt permanent on my TV.
Careful not to over use the anti IR tool, it wears the screen out.
I didnt ever run a tool like this, I just played video regularly.

To use 3D gaming you need to buy NVidias 3DTV Play app.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-overview.html
Use a 3D mode the TV supplies, probably checkerboard.

You wont get full 1080p 3D in both eyes, it will either do 720p or a 1/2 res 1080p mode (due to the standard not existing with HDMI 1.x, because of lack of bandwidth).
The 1/2 res modes use 1/2 of the screen for one eye and 1/2 for the other.
The checkerboard mode divides the screen up like a massive chess board, with respective square colours for each eye (although they arent coloured, just one colours area is used for one eye, ...).

edit
forgot to add:p
3D movies should play full 1080p per eye because they use 30Hz or less, HDMI 1.x has enough bandwidth for this.
Gaming needs well over 30Hz per eye or it is really crap.
 
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