Grats on everyone's new HDTVs : )Midgen wrote:Spend a couple hundred bucks getting them calibrated. You will *not* regret it.
I was looking at new TVs at Frys and the ones that stood out were plasma. Nice crisp picture on most of them regardless of your viewing angle. Now that I know they don't have a short lifespan I'll keep them in mind if I decide to get something new.Plasma life span: The life span of plasma TVs is another area that's improved dramatically over the last few generations of the technology. Partly in response to claims made by LCD TV makers, plasma manufacturers are now claiming their panels last an extremely long time. Most plasma makers today claim that their 2005 models have a life span of 60,000 hours before the panel fades to half-brightness. According to a 2000 Nielsen study, the average TV in a household is on for 7 hours, 40 minutes per day. Even if the real figure is closer to 30,000 hours, that works out to more than 10.5 years before the plasma reaches half-brightness--about what you'd expect from a direct-view CRT.
In short, plasma is a perfectly durable technology that's still a much better value than LCD in larger screen sizes.
Rich, natural color with deep detailed black
Panasonic Plasmas produce deep, rich blacks for exceptional contrast and striking image quality.
With most large screen LCD TVs, blacks look grey with less detail - definitely not what you want in your family room!
Smooth motion during high-speed action
Our HD Plasma TVs give you crisp, smooth action in high-speed scenes. Very important for sports and movies.
Most large screen LCDs are not so good for fast motion; they often look blurry.
Full range of colors
Panasonic Plasmas reproduce the full range of colors specified in HDTV broadcast standards.
Most LCD TVs cannot.
Consistant brightness from every angle
Panasonic Plasmas look great from every angle. Invite the whole neighborhood!
Most LCDs suffer from picture fade when you look at them from an angle.
Environmentally friendly
Panasonic Plasma panels are environmentally friendly. No lead. No mercury. No worries.
Most LCDs have mercury.
Panasonic Plasmas have durable glass screens
Panasonic Plasmas have durable glass screens that are much more resistant to impact than typical LCD screens, so they stand up to life in your family room.
Most LCD screens are quite delicate.
Here's the scoop:Animalor wrote:Aren't Plasma TV's more susceptible to burn in however?
Plasma TV Screen Burn-In: Is It Still a Problem?
Review Date March 2006
Reviewer: Phil Connor
Copyright © 2006 PlasmaTVBuyingGuide.com. All Rights Reserved.
Besides questions about the average lifespan of plasma TVs, the question I get most from people has to do with plasma TV screen burn-in. Which raises the question: What is plasma display burn-in, and how does one know what to expect and is it still a problem?
All phosphor based display systems (CRT direct and rear view and plasma) are susceptible to image retention also known as "ghosting, image shadowing, image burn in." This is due to physical properties of phosphor and how it reacts to light and electric impulse.
The good news is that for the past couple of years quality manufacturers have been steadily working on improving plasma technology resistance to "burn in" with great success. One technique used is motion adaptive anti burn in technology, which focuses on moving the on-screen image ever so slightly. The goal is to avoid detection by the human eye, but still move the image enough to cause color changes in the pixels. A second improvement by some manufacturers is improvement in the phosphor gas itself in order to make it more resistant. The green phosphor is the most important in this process. This is also a key element in increasing phosphor and screen lifespan to CRT levels.
As a result of these advancements, a couple of prominent manufacturers now claim that plasma TVs have the same burn in resistance and susceptibility as CRT TVs. When was the last time you heard someone say that they were concerned about image burn in on their tube TV? Never?
But to digress, burn in, simply put, is a damaged pixel, whose phosphors have been prematurely aged and therefore glow less intensely than those of surrounding pixels on the plasma TV screen. The damaged or "burned in" pixel has developed a "memory" of the color information that was repeatedly fed to it in a static manner over a period of time. And that phosphor color information has actually become seared or etched into the plasma TV glass. Hence the term, "burn-in." Once these phosphors are damaged, they cannot give the same output as the other phosphors around them do. But pixels do not suffer burn-in singly. Burn-in occurs in the shape of a static image that persists on TV screens -- things like network logos, computer icons, Internet browser frames, or an entire image that has been displayed in a static manner etc. Network logos were a problem initially but they have now become sensitive to the problem and have also adapted a motion logo technology which prevents burn in.
So, how do you prevent burn-in on your brand-new plasma TV screen?
(1) Some obvious advice: Do not leave static images on your plasma TV screen for more than an hour. Turn off your unit when you are not watching it. Do not pause DVDs for more than 20 minutes at a time.
(2) Know that plasma screens are more prone to burn-in during their first 200 hours of use. When phosphors are fresh, they burn more intensely as they are ignited. This means that relatively new plasma display TVs are prone to "ghosting", which occurs when on-screen images appear to stay on the screen belatedly. This is a function of the high intensity with which new phosphors "pop," and this phenomenon usually "washes out" on its own, as the screen displays subsequent images. Displaying a bright, or moving snow image (as with a DVD or VCR with no input) will "wash" a ghost image from the screen in most cases. Many plasma manufacturers have installed anti-burn settings, which are monotone gray or snow screen settings which recalibrate pixel intensity levels uniformly - thus eliminating any image retention (ghosting). It is a good idea to run this type of program after the first 100 hours or so.
(3) Adjust the CONTRAST setting at or below 50% on your new plasma TV. These days most plasma TVs are preset to either peak or very high contrast (also called picture setting on many TVs). This forces phosphors to glow more intensely, which decreases the length of time necessary for burn-in to occur. Our advice is to reduce the contrast setting to 50% or less for the first 200 hours of use. And, be sure to avail yourself of your plasma's anti-burn-in features.
(4) Some plasma televisions burn-in more easily than others. In my experience, AliS type panels -- the ones utilized by Hitachi and Fujistu -- seem more readily given over to problems with burn-in. As well, be more wary of the 2nd and 3rd tier brands as their technology is usually not as up to date as some of the better 1st tier brands.
(5) When displaying video games and other content which have static images, use your burn-in protection features like power management settings, full-time picture shift (both vertical and horizontal), and automatic screen-saver functions. Check your Owner's Manual for further information.
(6) Realize that quality matters with burn-in as with everything else. Purchase a plasma display that has really good scaling, so that you can watch 4:3 TV programs in widescreen comfortably. It is better not to display black bars on your TV screen for prolonged periods of time (especially in the first 200 hours), so you are probably better off watching most everything in "full screen" mode. This should not be much of a problem todays selection of widescreen HDTV and DVDT content.
Also, higher quality TVs tend to be more resistant to burn-in -- though not entirely immune to it. Of the plasma displays I've owned and/or tested extensively, NEC, Sony, Pioneer, and Panasonic seemed least prone to burn-in once the plasma screen was properly broken in.
Note: There are some applications which are simply not well suited to plasma display technology. The static flight schedule signage at airports, for example. It amazes me to walk into an airport and see a ruined plasma display monitor hanging from the ceiling with what is obviously an extreme case of permanent burn- in. As LCD monitors have increased in size, they are being used to replace plasma displays in this types of setting.
The Bottom Line on Burn-In
Plasma TV burn-in is not an issue that should cause undue concern in the average user. With a modicum of caution, most plasma TVs will probably never have a problem with image retention. A viewer may experience temporary ghosting, but this is not cause for alarm.
do you have live yet?!Canelek wrote:Just picked this up today....damn if Gears of War ain't looked so damn fine.
http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/Plas ... 53XXAA.asp
Had the 30" CRT SlimLine for the last year or so, and loved it. However, the 42" Plasma blows it away, if not just for the size difference.
Been playing GoW and NHL 2007 for last couple hours and it is stunning w/ the 360.
we just got a 42 inch samsung lcd that does 1080p!Winnow wrote:If I wasn't a projector fan, Plasmas seem like a no brainer these days for best picture, viewing angles, etc. (the other formats will continue to improve as have Plasmas)
I can't stand picture fade and both DLP and LCD HDTVs have that. CRT HDTVs are too small.
I'm not bashing LCD and DLP as I love my LCD PC monitors. The LCD technology should continue to improve for larger size displays so eventually the 50"+ LCD monitors will look as nice as the pretty 24" PC monitors. Currently, I prefer the picture on Plasmas.
Here's a comparison between Plasmas and LCDs which is somewhat biased of course, coming from Panasonic:
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_elect ... vs_lcd.asp
Rich, natural color with deep detailed black
Panasonic Plasmas produce deep, rich blacks for exceptional contrast and striking image quality.
With most large screen LCD TVs, blacks look grey with less detail - definitely not what you want in your family room!
Smooth motion during high-speed action
Our HD Plasma TVs give you crisp, smooth action in high-speed scenes. Very important for sports and movies.
Most large screen LCDs are not so good for fast motion; they often look blurry.
Full range of colors
Panasonic Plasmas reproduce the full range of colors specified in HDTV broadcast standards.
Most LCD TVs cannot.
Consistant brightness from every angle
Panasonic Plasmas look great from every angle. Invite the whole neighborhood!
Most LCDs suffer from picture fade when you look at them from an angle.
Environmentally friendly
Panasonic Plasma panels are environmentally friendly. No lead. No mercury. No worries.
Most LCDs have mercury.
Panasonic Plasmas have durable glass screens
Panasonic Plasmas have durable glass screens that are much more resistant to impact than typical LCD screens, so they stand up to life in your family room.
Most LCD screens are quite delicate.
A power conditioner is an electrical device that provides "clean" AC power to sensitive electrical equipment. A typical power conditioner for home or office has up to 10 or more receptacles or outlets and commonly provides surge protection as well as noise filtering. Many models also provide Ethernet, cable and phone line conditioning.
Most people are familiar with surge protectors, which guard against damage due to sudden spikes in the electrical current. While surge protectors safeguard equipment, a power conditioner cleans the signal, eliminating interference on the line. This can translate to faster, more reliable network operations, improved modem throughput, better quality cable TV feed and superior audio/video for home theater systems.
Line noise can result from a number of issues including random fluctuations in the AC current, inferior or damaged wiring, interference from other machines or appliances, overhead fluorescent lighting or even bad weather. "Dirty power" impedes signal clarity by causing disruption of signal integrity. In the example of a television set, static translates to a visually degraded picture or "snow." Audio signals suffer distortion. A dial-up modem might get frequent disconnects, while static on a DSL or cable modem will negatively impact data transfer speeds.
A good quality power conditioner is designed with internal filter banks to isolate the individual power outlets or receptacles on the power conditioner. This eliminates interference or "cross-talk" between components. If the application will be a home theater system, the noise suppression rating listed in the technical specifications of the power conditioner will be very important. This rating is expressed in decibels (db).
The higher the db rating, the better the noise suppression. Good units start at a rating of about 40-60db for noise filtering. If a device does not state the db rating in its specs it may be better to move on to a different model or manufacturer.
For surge suppression, be sure the unit has an adequate "maximum watt" capacity for your needs. Plasma HDTVs, for example, use more electricity than LCDs. One popular 50-inch plasma HDTV is rated at 555 watts. With a multi-channel receiver and other components, wattage can add up in a home theater system.
The power conditioner will also have a "joule" rating. A joule is a measurement of power or heat required to sustain one watt for one second, known as a watt-second. Since electrical surges are momentary spikes, the joule rating indicates how much watt-energy the suppressor can absorb at once before becoming damaged itself. The higher the joule rating, the greater the protection.
Today's computer and home theater systems represent substantial investments. For this reason some high grade power conditioners come with monetary guarantees against damage to connected equipment due to electrical surge -- in some cases up to US$500,000. These particular power conditioners also come with lifetime guarantees. Considering their cost, they are a worthwhile investment to protect equipment and provide clean power for the best possible audio/visual experience.
A fine grade power conditioner with all of the features mentioned above and a noise suppression rating of 60db might have a list price of well over one hundred US dollars, but can usually be found for US$69-$99 with some diligent shopping. Units with list prices in the two-hundred dollar range normally have extended LED indicator lights and are "flashier." They might also have higher wattage and db ratings, but this is not necessarily true, so check specifications.
Although the term "power conditioner" is often used interchangeably with "line conditioner," these terms can also refer to devices that not only condition power but also regulate voltage. This type of line conditioner, often used in industry, will boost voltage when it drops or act as a surge protector when it peaks, maintaining a steady flow of electricity within a set range of voltage parameters. The typical power conditioner used by the householder for computer and home theater systems does not commonly include voltage regulation.
