Plasma Screens and Console Gaming
#1
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Beverly, MA
Posts: 5,506
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Plasma Screens and Console Gaming
It seems that everyone and their mother has an opinion about which type of HDTV to get, but no one that I have spoken with about the subject matter plays as many video games as I do. I think I have decided to go Plasma, and was wondering what affect an Xbox or GC (the two consoles I own) or some future console would have on the screen. Do I worry about burn in?
Does anyone here play their games on a Plasma screen?
Does anyone here play their games on a Plasma screen?
#2
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Burn in on newer plasmas has almost gotten to the point where it is a myth. Unless you leave it on a completely static screen for HOURS (like 5+), then you don't have much to worry about. Many people (especially over at the AVSForums) say that you should run a breakin period of around 100 hours of content that is always moving and takes up the entire screen. They also say to run with a very low contrast/brightness for those first hours, after which you can turn up higher. Supposedly once that is done, it is damn near impossible to get burn in.
I don't personally own a Plasma, yet. I use an HD CRT and plan on getting a Plasma as my next tv. They are definitely the best for gaming, making LCD's look like trash in comparison. I have used a 42" Samsung LCD tv with the Xbox 360, and it was flat out awful looking compared to any other HDTV type, especially my CRT. The ghosting was unbearable at times, and the black levels were poor.
I don't personally own a Plasma, yet. I use an HD CRT and plan on getting a Plasma as my next tv. They are definitely the best for gaming, making LCD's look like trash in comparison. I have used a 42" Samsung LCD tv with the Xbox 360, and it was flat out awful looking compared to any other HDTV type, especially my CRT. The ghosting was unbearable at times, and the black levels were poor.
#4
Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a pioneer 50" plasma and have no problems with burn-in. I followed the break-in period flashburn mentions for 100 hours. Varied the content (I kept it on HD Discovery a lot(no channel bug)). If I play a game and there's a static health bar or something, Also, the Pioneer will auto-shut off in 3 hours if no controls are pressed. That's good in case I forget or something.
I think the break-in period is important.. I tried not to play games with static items on the screen until the 100 hours was done.
I think the break-in period is important.. I tried not to play games with static items on the screen until the 100 hours was done.
#6
I thought about getting a plasma but decided against it. Burn in would always be nagging at the back of my mind no matter how small. Im glad I decided against it because of all th e 4:3 shows I watch on my TV. The 'black bars' that are now on the right and left of my old prerecorded TV shows that I watch also cause burn in. I dont know about you but its not unusual for my TV to be on for more than 5 hours at a time. Especially on a gaming marathon with bright red or green health bars in the same place. Sure cant be GOOD for the TV right? The brighter and longer plasma burns the dimmer it gets in that spot. Thats a fact of life.
#8
Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Save Ferris
I thought about getting a plasma but decided against it. Burn in would always be nagging at the back of my mind no matter how small. Im glad I decided against it because of all th e 4:3 shows I watch on my TV. The 'black bars' that are now on the right and left of my old prerecorded TV shows that I watch also cause burn in.
#9
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Save Ferris
I thought about getting a plasma but decided against it. Burn in would always be nagging at the back of my mind no matter how small. Im glad I decided against it because of all th e 4:3 shows I watch on my TV. The 'black bars' that are now on the right and left of my old prerecorded TV shows that I watch also cause burn in. I dont know about you but its not unusual for my TV to be on for more than 5 hours at a time. Especially on a gaming marathon with bright red or green health bars in the same place. Sure cant be GOOD for the TV right? The brighter and longer plasma burns the dimmer it gets in that spot. Thats a fact of life.
I have owned previously 3 RPTV's (one of which is HD), and never had a single problem with burn in, especially from black bars. Two of which were 4:3 tv's that we watched plenty of widescreen movies on. The new one is a 16:9 tv and we watch plenty of 4:3 programming on with no problems. Not to mention that over the years I played all sorts of different consoles on each tv.
The fact that you might be gaming for 5+ hours is meaningless, it would only matter if the same exact image was there for 5+ hours, and even then it might only cause image retention and not burn in.
As to the life bars being in the same place. Guess what, they aren't completely static. Any game I can think of that has static bars, they go away for sometime, either from dieing, loading, saving, going into the menu, etc, etc.
Like Pixy said, go grab your tin-foil hats.
#10
Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Houston
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
On a side note -- Nintendo got rid of their HD out on the gamecubes. Older models have them, newer ones don't. And then you have to find the HD cable for the CG. It's worth the effort, though...
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 336
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm gaming on my xbox 360 on a 50" panny 50px500u and I have no signs of burn-in. I followed the 100 hr suggested burn-in settings, and then followed that up by another 1000 hour "lower then norm" setting and it's been going strong. I wanted to be extra safe with my set, but I have no issues with any burn-ins or anything.
Extremely happy with my plasma, and the way it works and looks with the xbox 360.
%Z
Extremely happy with my plasma, and the way it works and looks with the xbox 360.
%Z
#13
If I had a plasma, it would take constant effort to not worry aobut burn in. Hopefully rational people can see that its not so off the wall as 'tinfoil hat' paranoia (theres lots of documented examples). If you have to hammer something over and over to yourself to not worry about your screen its not worth having IMHO. I dont know about you, but I couldnt just blow it off if for instance my girlfriend left a game on pause while she blabbed on the phone for a few hours when im not there. 'BAH A FEW HOURS IS NOTHING' but ask any manufacturer-- ITS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Why allow yourself such a vounerability? I just decided not to ever ever ever have to worry about it hurting my TV. The less babying my TV requires the better IMHO.
Im sure nobody ever has had any problems with plasma but If I had one I would tell people its a non-issue so that I could sleep easy. I hate buyers remorse.
Why allow yourself such a vounerability? I just decided not to ever ever ever have to worry about it hurting my TV. The less babying my TV requires the better IMHO.
Im sure nobody ever has had any problems with plasma but If I had one I would tell people its a non-issue so that I could sleep easy. I hate buyers remorse.
#18
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by joshd2012
DLP is horrible for gaming because of lag times. Some models are better than others, but it will always be a problem.
I had finally picked up the HD pack for the Xbox since it no longer is a $45 item (bought the "regular" AV pack a year ago for $19-$5 GGC, and bought the HD pack this year for the same).
#19
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by joshd2012
DLP is horrible for gaming because of lag times. Some models are better than others, but it will always be a problem.
I have never noticed any delay on my Samsung HLN467 DLP on any of the gaming systems: PS2, Xbox, and Cube.
#20
Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Save Ferris
Im sure nobody ever has had any problems with plasma but If I had one I would tell people its a non-issue so that I could sleep easy. I hate buyers remorse.
#21
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Blu-Ray: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Petition
Posts: 6,677
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm not saying that everyone will experience lag on every game, but I'm also not going to want experience stuff like this:
My next purchase will be a 1080p LCoS. I'm happy with my 720p LCD for now.
The only problem I've faced with this TV is like that of the previous review (lag on some xbox games). The only game I experience extreme lag with is MVP Baseball 2005. At first I thought it was my wireless controllers, but after researching online I found it to be the TV itself. MVP Baseball 2005 is one of the newer games that uses true 480p. Using the original A/V cables produced about a 1 second lag when playing this game, which is significant when gaming.
I ended up buying some monster component cables and changing my xbox dashboard settings to support 480i, 480p, and 1080i. This made the lag a little more tolerable, but was still apparent for this particular game. All my other games seem to function fine now.
I ended up buying some monster component cables and changing my xbox dashboard settings to support 480i, 480p, and 1080i. This made the lag a little more tolerable, but was still apparent for this particular game. All my other games seem to function fine now.
#22
Retired
Kind of mixed then. Kind of moot as gaming won't be much of a factor when I get around to buying a big HD set as I'll probably just keep my 27" Wega for gaming. Especially since I only plan on buying an Revolution (if any console) next gen and it looks like it won't support HD anyway.
I just want to get what looks best in my budget at the time for DVDs mainly and TV secondly. If games look good on it, great. If not, no big deal given how little I play these days (and most of that on the DS anyway).
From a few comparisons, DLP has impressed me the most thus far. But needs to get a little cheaper (or me a little richer).
I just want to get what looks best in my budget at the time for DVDs mainly and TV secondly. If games look good on it, great. If not, no big deal given how little I play these days (and most of that on the DS anyway).
From a few comparisons, DLP has impressed me the most thus far. But needs to get a little cheaper (or me a little richer).
#24
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Beverly, MA
Posts: 5,506
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thanks for the opinions guys, its so funny because it seems that everyone has their own opinion about this stuff
it sounds like there is no reason not take the plunge with a newer plasma!
it sounds like there is no reason not take the plunge with a newer plasma!
#25
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,832
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I keep reading this same conversation on various forums...
(Seeker of a new display): "I'm thinking of getting a plasma, any burn-in concerns for a gamer?"
(Several people): "No problems here, I use my plasma for gaming a LOT. No burn-in signs at all".
(Someone who doesn't have a plasma): "You guys are just in denial. It's obviously burning the image in because that's what I *heard* it does. You just don't want to admit that you made a bad choice."
Um, OK. Yes, that's what it is. My plasma is screwed with burn-in images and I'm really miserable. But hey, I got screwed so I'm going to try to screw other people too. It's like Amway.
(Seeker of a new display): "I'm thinking of getting a plasma, any burn-in concerns for a gamer?"
(Several people): "No problems here, I use my plasma for gaming a LOT. No burn-in signs at all".
(Someone who doesn't have a plasma): "You guys are just in denial. It's obviously burning the image in because that's what I *heard* it does. You just don't want to admit that you made a bad choice."
Um, OK. Yes, that's what it is. My plasma is screwed with burn-in images and I'm really miserable. But hey, I got screwed so I'm going to try to screw other people too. It's like Amway.