gcribbs

I own a 16x9 HDTV however I would never take the chance of damaging my TV by playing games on it. the risk of burn in just will not allow me to risk my home theater with games.

so instead i use a dedicated 27" TV.

I am just curious if you do use one and if it is one you bought yourself or if you are using someone else's(friend, family) TV.

My thought is that most people who bought their own Projection TV would not risk it this way. maybe a wrong idea

for those who do not have one feel free to vote for the last choice

Trigger

I bought a projection TV and I play console games on it - it's badass. I used to play on a 36" TV, but now on a 61" TV - it's way more immersive. Games aren't gonna damage your TV unless you leave them on pause for a couple days or so... I could be wrong though - did some blue shirt guy at Best Buy say differently? Those guys are experts. I'm sure someone will come in with all sorts of links and data to prove me wrong, but whatever. I have a warranty.

gcribbs

actually any fixed image can damage your screen including the logos many channels put on the screen during shows( it is minimized if they make it transparent)

so if you have a fixed part of the screen devoted to Hit points, armor,...

this can be burned in and damage your screen over time. especially if you play the same game over and over for awhile.

Burnin is not covered by any warranty I see.

This is why I refuse to risk my TV.

Trigger

I know, but I bought the TV so I could use and enjoy it. If it gets burn-in, then I'll just buy another TV - I bought an extended warranty, so maybe the place I got it from will cover it. I can't sit there and play games for too many hours at a time anyway, so it probably won't be a problem. When GTA Vice City comes out, my roommate will probably play that for 16 hours straight... I had planned on telling him to take breaks so as not to damage the TV, but overall I really don't think it's that big a deal... I bought it cuz I wanted to play games on a huge screen and watch DVDs. Nothing sits idle on the screen for that long really.

el_jer

I play on a 120" Front Projection. I don't think I have to worry about screen burn or do I? If anyone knows different please let me know.

As you can imagine it is very immersive. I have an XBOX and the racing games are insane.. I think that new one Quantum Redshift will probably cause me to get motion sickness.

gcribbs

I bought mine for dvds only and maybe some Hi Def later.

I am not letting myself play on it since I fear i will like it and want to keep using it to play games

This is what I was wondering about- was i the only insane obsessive person or not

clemente

You are correct, but you're also leaving out some vital information.
Yes. burn-in can occur from static images such as station bugs, but if your TV is calibrated correctly (and the contrast levels are low) then the chances of developing burn-in from station bugs and even video game use are low.

I own a 55" RPTV and I do play video games on it. My TV is properly calibrated and I usually don't play more than a couple hours and I don't expect any damage. If you check some other forums, your see that many people play video games more than me for longer periods of time and have never suffered any burn-in.

Joshic

I don't have a projection TV, but here's my take. What's the point of buying a great TV if you're afraid to use it for fear of burn-in? If you're taking the time to post in a video game forum, you obviously enjoy gaming quite a bit, and by not using a great TV for video games, you are depriving yourself of enjoying the product you have paid for.

I also don't understand why people buy fancy cars and don't drive them for fear of getting them scratched, dented, whatever. I guess to a certain extent you want to reduce the chance of damage, but if you're not willing to drive it and enjoy it (and instead just look at it standing still), you might as well have gotten a miniature-size model. Many of the small models look very good and cost a lot less!

Lethal Nemesis

That's a good point. Just make sure your set is properly calibrated and enjoy!!

cubanx

I mix it up between two RPTV's and bought a Dedicated 20" Flat screen for the long games like RPG's.

gcribbs

actually I bought my Hi Def Tv for one thing- playing my dvd's using my progressive scan dvd player on a great calibrated TV.

I really do not watch any normal Tv at all. In fact if it wasn't for my brother who watches Tv on it I would almost never change it off input 5. when I am off work I either watch movies(2-3 a day) or play games or goof around online.

otherwise I go out. Regular Tv is not an issue for me.

To be honest I never considered using my HDTV for games since I have always used a 27" Tv for them and never even considered moving my PS2 into the living room.

I was more interested in what other people did since when someone asked me at work why I did not use it. I just told them my TV is for home theater only and I am also concerned that in time I might get burn in ruining my home theater TV.

karnblack

Do you worry about burn in from watching 2.35:1 Anamorphic DVDs?

gcribbs

I do not watch the same aspect ratio the next movie

so if i watch a 2.35:1 one movie. I watch 1.85:1 or 1.77:1 next.

when I play games I do tend to play for a long time(RPG's are my favorite) so 6-8 hours in a stretch are not unlikely. no movies I have are longer than 3 hours or so.

Hey I said I was strange

Since I have so many dvd's (over 560) many friends have asked to borrow dvd's.

My answer- NO!!

I don't want them getting scratches or dirt on my dvd's


oh well now I have done it.


Moving to the Crazy Forum

einTier

Theoretically, you could damage the television by only watching WS movies on it, because even with the 16:9 televisions, there are many movies that don't "fill" the screen, and you are not using the top and bottommost pixels for hours at a time. Over time, they will become brighter when watching full-screen images.

That said, I don't worry about it. I look at it this way. I watch hours of football on it every saturday and sunday. The televisions are sold with this purpose in mind, and yet, every time I watch a game (3+ hours a game) I see a nice bar that reminds me what the score is, and usually what down, time remaining, etc. Usually, there's also a nice station logo in the corner. In two years, I've yet to see any burn-in. If it does develop burn-in in the next few years, the extended warranty from Best Buy covers it (though the factory one does not). If it does so after the warranty expires, I will probably be in the market for a new television anyway. I'll put that one upstairs in the game room where it won't matter.

I play games on it when I want to. I don't typically play them for hours on end, but I have before. My thoughts are that the burn-in phenomonon is greatly overhyped. You could burn in an image on a CRT (see very old arcade games) if you tried hard enough, but no one worries about their 36" Panasonic. Could you burn an image into your RPTV? Sure. Have you ever seen it done with reasonable use?

spainlinx0

I used to work at Best Buy (don't make fun of me) and I remember that the extended warranty did not cover burn-in. Then again you could just say that the sales rep said "it covers everything even burn-in" which knowing that place they probably DID say that, and say you don't care what the contract says you know what the salesperson told you and they will probably cave.

Josh H

I never would take the chance, but then again I'd never buy a projection set either as I just don't care for them.

Besides the risk of burn in, my couch is only about 8 feet from my TV (and that's as far away as I can get) so getting a big projection set would force me to sit too close for my liking.

This is a problem with video games as well, as controller cords limit how far you can sit. Even with one extension cable you're still pretty close. Sure, you could use more than one, but what a tangled up mess that would be.

Of course, this isn't an issue with the gamecube, as a result of the Wavebird wireless controller.

I guess it also isn't an issue if you like sitting close to large RPTV's. I think they look like crap unless you sit a good deal away from them, but to each his own.

Plus, with games you often need to focus on the entire screen, and a larger screen makes this harder to do. I think between 27-36" or so is the ideal size for gaming.

I'll stick with my 27" wega for now. I'll probably use it for gaming for some time to come, as my next TV will probably be a smaller 16x9 HDTV set (preferably a tube) when the prices drop and I don't see games going majority 16x9 anytime soon as Joe Six Pack is being very slow to adopt the 16x9 format.

T-Wolves

I have a Sony 51" RPTV, and I play console games on it all the time. But I rarely play more than an hour at a time, and I make sure not to leave a game paused & walk away. I've had the TV for almost a year, and don't have any burn-in.

And yes, I've calibrated my RPTV using a couple DVDs I bought for that purpose.

Trigger

I tear the tags of my mattress too.