Sessa17

I'll try this forum first before posting in the HT forum. Forgive me if I'm a little ignorant on the subject.

I just bought an Xbox yesterday (for KOTOR of coarse), & there is a big warning that it may burn images into a projection screen. I have a 48 inch sony rear projection screen, so now I am a bit worried that I may not be able to play my Xbox on it, & in the TV manual it says this type of thing is NOT covered under the warantee. Another thing I noticed is that PS2 & Gamecube do not have this warning, which has me worried a little more. So can anyone help me. Has anyone actually seen this happen. Are their precauctions to take ( I know turn down the brightness & picture, but won't that effect how the game looks). Any help is greatly appreciated, I can't play KOTOR until I find out the answer for sure, & it's killing me having this game & not playing it. Thanks in advance.

RM811

I have been playing on a 50" projection since Christmas and haven't had any problem. Just turn the contrast down a bit and you should be fine. Also don't pause it for hours on end.

Sessa17

Thanks, more help & info. is definitely appreciated from anyone. That is another thing I was worried about, a game like this I may be playing for up to 3-4 hours straight, should I not do that? wouldn't that be the same thing as pausing it for hours?

Josh H

The main concern is for games that have something that's ALWAYS on the screen on the same spot.

Older games were worse in this with Icons like "mario head X # of lives" "Score xxxxx" etc.

But like the other poster said, just make sure the contrast and brightness aren't too high, and if you're still worried about it, just pause and flip over to a tv station for a few seconds every hour or so.

Groucho

Just don't idol when you are choosing what feat you want when you level up, and you should be fine.

dgc

57" sony here. no problems at all.

There are enough cut scenes to break up the static HUDs. To put your mind at ease you could always just switch your video to another source (OTA TV or DVD) after playing a few hours.

As a precaution you could also set your xbox to auto off (after 7 hrs. i think it is) just in case.

Also, when I pause for long periods of time( >30 min.), I always just turn my RPTV off and leave the xbox on.

Hope this helps.

Sessa17

That is a great reply. thanks. Out of curiosity where in Jersey are you from? Just b/c I'm from Jersey also, & I really had to do some driving to hunt down a place that had KOTOR.

Thanks for all the help & please if you have any more suggestions keep them coming.

Also has anyone actually had this happen? And if I were to keep the game on pause for a long time & the TV off, would that still perhaps burn an image. If I take a very long time at creating the character in KOTOR, which I will, just flipping to another channel even though the game is on pause would be a good thing?

sniper308

Seems to me you can't burn the image if there is no image to burn.

I generally do this even on my tube TV, just as a precaution. I realize most people say that you can't have burn in on those, etc but I still do it. No need to waste the power just to display the paused screen.

Joshic

set your contrast to no more than 35% for now, and your brightness should not exceed 60%. to be safe.

then, the #1 priority is for you to get your hands on a calibration DVD so you can properly set your brightness, contrast, tint, color, etc if you have not already done so. either choose Avia or Sound & Vison discs for your calibration.

properly calibrating your TV greatly reduces the risk of burn-in, but the specter of burn-in will be with your forever as long as you own your TV.

goLUCKY

55" Mitz Widescreen and Xbox since launch and no problems at all. I also agree with dgc.

Trigger

I have a 65" rear-projection TV and have been playing Xbox (and PS2 and Gamecube) on it for over a year now and my contrast and brightness is all the way up and there's no burn-in yet.

RoQuEr

Can we make this part of a FAQ and sticky it?

It only comes up ever other week :grr:

http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=302603

Spiderbite

I don't have a PS2 or GC but I find that a little hard to believe.

I have a 65" HD-RPTV and have been playing my Xbox on it since I got the TV last year. No problems whatsoever. I do try to switch up games every few hours or so but I have played Halo all day at some Halo parties & never had any problems. My TV is professionally calibrated but if you have even done Video Essentials or AVIA, you are fine.

If I ever pause the game & I know it is going to be the same static image for more than 5 minutes, I usually change my input so something from cable is running on it. When I get back, I change ack my input and start playing again. Every game I own has that warning in the instruction booklets. It is just a way for the game makers & hardmakers to cover their ass.

You should really have no problems with KOTOR. I am switching things on the scene so often (cut-scenes, inventories, points info, the regular game) that I am not afraid to play it for many hours in a row.

Just try to switch it up every few hours and you are fine. (I currently swap between KOTOR & Outlaw Volleyball---both are damn addictive). I worry more about the black bars when watching 2.31:1 movies than playing video games on it. Enjoy!

Some of you may notice that it seems games makers are trying to stop a lot of static images lately. The best example was DOAX Volleyball. Once you hit the ball, no static clocks, names, scores or anything. Just great graphics!

Draven

Good freakin lord, how does that not look ass-tastic?

I have a 50" Toshiba and haven't had any problems, even doing Halo weekends at my place.

Trigger

They aren't literally all the way up, but I have my tv set to "vivid" which is pretty bright and contrasted.

dgc

Middlesex County, Old Bridge

I was worried about B&Ms selling out on release day so I preordered from my local EB.

El-Kabong

As I understand it, wouldn't burn in take like hundreds and hundreds of hours? Considerably longer than any mortal would inflict on his TV by accident, I would think.

Also - it's not just video games that could be the danger. The hated TV Bug - present on nearly every network - could theoretically cause damage if you really, really loved NBC. Again, the chances are small, but it's a consideration.

cubanx

Exactly. On these your watching movies for at least 2 hours or more if you watch a few movies in a row. I try to mix up the 2.35 and letterboxed movies with 1.78 enhanced movies.

gcribbs

I do this also.

I agree with most of the suggestions except Triggers running everything in Vivid mode suggestion

I actually never play my games on my HDTV since i bought my HDTV for movies and leave my gaming in my bedroom and my 27" Tv.

RichC2

This warning has been in place since the Genesis days - possibly prior. I own a PS2 and Gamecube, all games come with this warning as well.

That said - most TVs aren't at risk really, unless you play for a good 10 hours+ a day with static imaging going on.

A bigger hazard is if you have a family member (my dad for instance) who watches CNBC and the Weather Channel all day. Our 53" Sony DTV (HD Capable) has THE WEATHER CHANNEL logo burnt into the upper left hand corner and our city name in the lower left hand corner with two bars - its not too terribly visible except on bright blues though.

Anyway, my point is - you're fine Just take some breaks and let the TV rest.

cubanx

Yeah RichC2 that Station Bug thing is really crap. My first RPTV had a station logo burn into the lower right corner and also only visible on blue screens, man I was pissed. It was my first RPTV years ago so I had left it torch mode before I became "informed" about calibration and phospur burn

cubanx

Yeah RichC2 that Station Bug thing is really crap. My first RPTV had a station logo burn into the lower right corner and also only visible on blue screens, man I was pissed. It was my first RPTV years ago so I had left it torch mode before I became "informed" about calibration and phospur burn

Sessa17

That's cool, small world. I'm from Middlesex (Colonia) as well, but I live in New Brunswick right now.

Thanks for all the info everyone.