N00B!!! How exactly do you run a plasma in anyway?

[The_Lhc]

Had my KRP-500A for two weeks (had to go on holiday and leave it this week!

), and it's occured to me that I've actually got no idea what to do to "run it in".

Currently I've just got it set to Pure mode, which seems pretty good to me, it's not especially colourful but I prefer that, it's how things usually end up after I've done the old THX calibration thingy anyway but what are you actually meant to do, turn all the settings down low or what?

I've not seen any sign of image retention or anything so far but it's better to be safe than sorry, especially given I'm unlikely to be able to get another one if I mess it up!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Just avoid all the high contrast settings and leaving high-contrast static images on the screen for extended periods, and you'll be fine.

 

[mgillespie05]

hi there ill be collecting my krp-600-a in a week r 2 and a week later of 2 spain for 2 weeks ,is the pain that bad ,

 

[The_Lhc]

Andrew Everard:Just avoid all the high contrast settings and leaving high-contrast static images on the screen for extended periods, and you'll be fine.

Cool, cheers Mr E.

 

[The_Lhc]

mgillespie05:hi there ill be collecting my krp-600-a in a week r 2 and a week later of 2 spain for 2 weeks ,is the pain that bad ,

I made it worse because I'd faffed around for 5 months whilst the TV sat in the stock room of the dealer, so having got off my backside and had it installed only to go away less than a week later was pretty annoying! All my own fault though...

 

[SpiceWeasel]

The whole running in a plasma routine for the 1st 100 hrs or so was recommended on much older plasma technology from a good few years ago. Basicaly screen burn was more likely to occur in the 1st 100 hours or so as the phosphurs in the screen are at their softest and brightest during this time. After 100 hours or so the phosphurs harden and screen burn became much less likely to happen, so it was recommended to run in a new plasma for 100-200 hours at reduced settings to avoid screen burn. A bit like running the engine in on a new car.

With todays technology it is almost impossible to get screen burn unless you seriously abuse it by using extremely bright settings and leaving a static image on the screen for many hours at a time. You may get some minor image retention but this will disapear after a few seconds of normal viewing. Modern plasma's also have special jiggery pokery built in that moves the picture around slightly if a static image is displayed for an extended period of time, unnoticable to the naked eye. Some models also have screen savers and there is always the timer feature if like me you have a habitt of waking up with the tv still switched on.

I was really worried about this when I bought my 1st plasma last year, but I had nothing to be worried about. Just set it up properly with the THX optimiser and enjoy. I did try to take it easy for the 1st 100 hours where static images where concerned but this was more for peace of mind than anything. I had a good 5 hour gaming session after only a few hours use and I did see some minor image retention when I turned off the PS3, but this disapeared after only a few seconds of normal tv viewing.

I have fell asleep a few times before with the tv left on and woke up the next day to find my sky box has thrown a wobbly, it had frozen up showing a static image of the channel I was watching. The 1st time it happened I thought oh god I have just ruined my tv as it must of been showing the image for a good 8 hours. Reset the SKY box and noticed the image retention but after a few seconds of normal viewing it was gone.

I had to re-tweak after 100 hours or so from my initial THX calibrated settings, but not by much. You will also notice that the tv runs fairly hot during the 1st 50-100 hours, thanks to those phosphors running bright and hot. But will give off alot less heat after this period.