cgs50

Hello.
I have a 50" Toshiba Projection TV and I recently got a DVD Player. In the manual it states how only 15% of total TV viewing a week should be DVD movies because the black bars of widescreen movies cause the tubes of the TV to wear unevenly leaving "ghost images."
What my question is is this: Is this really a problem, and what should I do to prevent this?

Thanks a lot,
Chris

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Gotta go.
My damn weiner kids are listening.

tworischeck

You've stumbled onto a little known fact.

To my knowledge, this is a problem with all manufactuters. I never heard of the 15% rule, but the problem is the same thing that gave birth to "screen savers" years ago... phosphor burn in. There are a few things that can be done to minimize the impact.
1- Buy a tv that matches your viewing habits:
DVD movies... 16x9
B'cast TV.... 4x3
2- View full screen as often as possible
3- Keep the brightness and contrast set a little lower when viewing partial screen images.

Lush

I have never heard of the phenomenon stated that way before. I always thought burn it was due to displaying static images for too long.
I was under the impression that the black bars were due to a lack of display, therefore, the screen can't be "burnt". Maybe what Toshiba is saying this: the phosphors in the center of the screen will be more "used up" compared to the top and bottom areas that are often displaying nothing. Therefore, we end up with uneven "wear" of the screen. Anyhow, my Tosh 50" has been calibrated with Video Essentials since day one, and my diet has been 90% DVD in the past 1.5 years. My settings are as follows: (calibrated in dark room)
contrast 35
brightness 53
color 26
tint at center (component video doesn't affect tint anyways)
sharpness 0
color temp medium
flesh tone/noise reduction off

I am not guaranteeing that if you use these settings, burn-in won't happen to you. I average 3 movies a week and I watch about 5hours of tv/wk. I bought my tv 1.5 yr ago and nothing has happened yet.

cgs50

Thank you guys for all the help.


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Gotta go.
My damn weiner kids are listening.

Xytraguptorh

quote:<HR>Originally posted by cgs50:
Hello.
I have a 50" Toshiba Projection TV and I
recently got a DVD Player. In the manual
it states how only 15% of total TV
viewing a week should be DVD movies
because the black bars of widescreen
movies cause the tubes of the TV to wear
unevenly leaving "ghost images."
What my question is is this: Is this
really a problem, and what should I do to
prevent this?

Thanks a lot,
Chris

<HR>

I've had a Hitachi Ultravision 50" for
about 6 months now and haven't had any
problems with burn in due to watching
letterbox material. I probably average
at least one DVD per day that I watch
that's in the letterbox format. Like one
of the other posters, I calibrated my TV
with Video Essentials and I use component
video inputs. I think I have the
contrast set at about 55%, the brightness
about the same, which is somewhat higher
than the guy with the Toshiba who posted
earlier. This is still much lower than
the factory settings which had the
contrast at 80%. Also, I do the usual
turning down of the sharpness to 0%. So,
I think with these precautions, your
chance of burn-in due to letterbox
material is minimal. Also, I've heard of
16x9 TVs having a far greater chance of
burn-in from watching 4:3 material when
there are vertical bars on the sides. At
alt.home-theater.misc, this seems to be a
regular topic of discussion.

tworischeck

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Lush:
Maybe what Toshiba is saying this: the phosphors in the center of the screen will be more "used up" compared to the top and bottom areas that are often displaying nothing. Therefore, we end up with uneven "wear" of the screen.<HR>

That is correct. Uneven tube wear is commonly referred to as "burn-in".

Ricco

quote:<HR>Originally posted by tworischeck:
That is correct. Uneven tube wear is commonly referred to as "burn-in".

<HR>

Yeah, but on a projection TV??

tworischeck

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Ricco:
Yeah, but on a projection TV??

<HR>

Yes, on a projection TV.

Although the mechanics of the display are different than a direct-view tv, the image is still generated with the same CRT/phosphor technology, which is subject to uneven wear. This can happen when viewing too much 4x3 material on a 16x9 tv, or too much 16x9 material on a 4x3 tv. Simply put, "burn-in" is worn phosphor.

AW

If you keep the contrast to a reasonable level (use a calibration disc like Video Essentials), burn in should not be a problem. I have a 3 year old Sony KP53XBR45 and have not had any burn in problems.

vlad

I think you've finaly hit it. The TV's are set very "hot" from the factory. re-calibrate them using Avia or HE and you shouldn't have a problem.

cgs50

Where would I get a video essentials disc?

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Gotta go.
My damn weiner kids are listening.

AW

According to DVD Price Search, http://www.800.com has the lowest price at $34.94 plus shipping. Otherwise, VE is available pretty much everywhere that sells DVDs. It is a must have disc.

Regards.