Panasonic 50GT50 Image Retention/Screen Burn and other niggle

[Son_of_SJ]

Am reading all this with interest, and a little concern, as have been toying with replacing my KURO for a GT50. Have spent plenty of hours gaming on the KURO over the years, often for extended periods, and never once had an issue with IR. Rocketrazor, has the IR fully dissapeared now?

I had a Kuro, and I never had any problem at all with IR, though I did buy it 2nd hand, so it had obviously been well run in by then.

I sold my Kuro for three reasons. Firstly, the 5 year warranty had just run out, secondly, I wanted a smart tv, and finally, I wanted to sell it while it still had some value. With hindsight, after the problems I've had, IR, and DSE, I'm not sure I'd make the same decision.

If you still have some warranty left on your Kuro, I'd definitely stick with it, if you don't , then you have probably got to make a decision.

Is the GT better than the Kuro? In some ways, yes, but in many other ways, no.

The Kuros are better made, have better components, better with motion, better screen uniformity. The KRP and 5090/6090 will be as good at blacks as the GT, the LX508D that I had, wasn't quite as good with blacks, but it still beat it on everything else.

The truth is, I like my GT, but I loved my Kuro. That's the difference for me.

Thanks Bernard, helps to hear from someone who's already made the change. Main reason for thinking if changing is wanting a larger screen (am thinking 55, or maybe even 65 if the wallet will bear the strain!); based on what your saying it wouldn't be worth the change of only going up to 55, if the bank account will handle a change to 65 then still have a dilemma on my hands. Good luck over the weekend rocket razor, let me know how you get on?

Hello Mr Malarky,

Interesting to hear from a fellow Kuro 5090 owner. I'm glad that you explained above why you were thinking of changing from your Kuro.. As I've gradually increased the sizes of my TVs, often without people noticing, I can say CATEGORICALLY that if you want a bigger screen, then going from the 50 inches of your Kuro to a 55" would be a complete waste of money. You must go to at least a 60", and preferably to a 65", to notice the difference. If that is too much financially then stick with your Pioneer 5090 - it's still a very good set, even if mine is now in my second bedroom. You could maybe consider updating it with a separate Freeview HD or Freesat HD set-top box, but that's all until you can afford a (good) new (much) bigger TV.

By the way, the link below gives the European sizes of the various new Panasonic ranges. I think you said that you wanted a GT50 set? Not in 60" or 65" (in Europe) in the outgoing range you won't! The only big options in new Panasonic plasmas are now the 60", £4,000 ZT60, or the 65" VT60. If you can still get an outgoing 65ST50 or 65VT50 I would grab one!

http://www.whathifi.com/news/ces-2013-panasonic-2013-tvs-sizes-prices-specs-pictures-release-dates

 

[rocketrazor]

Well, don't panic yet. Just be careful with the settings for a while. You could try switching to one of the Professional presets, as they have a luminance cap. You can also engage the Pixel Orbiter function here.

Incidentally, the horizontal lines you're describing are line bleed, which is a characteristic of plasma television technology. If you can stomach Noel Edmonds, try watching Deal or No Deal and you'll see this quite clearly. Line bleed isn't a problem as such and tends to be more evident on higher contrast settings. To me, the Professional presets are plenty bright enough, though you may need to adjust if you're used to watching LED televisions (I'm not sure if you're a long term plasma owner, so excuse me if I'm stating the obvious).

I checked out the line Bleed on Ripper Street credits last night on my 42" G20, its there also, guess I missed it because its a smaller screen, only noticed it becuase I was actually looking for it!

 

[rocketrazor]

Thanks Bernard, helps to hear from someone who's already made the change. Main reason for thinking if changing is wanting a larger screen (am thinking 55, or maybe even 65 if the wallet will bear the strain!); based on what your saying it wouldn't be worth the change of only going up to 55, if the bank account will handle a change to 65 then still have a dilemma on my hands. Good luck over the weekend rocket razor, let me know how you get on?

IR all gone now gents :dance: took long enough though. Annoyingly I have started to notice more rapid IR now, like cheking the lotto numbers, only on screen for 2 minutes, yet took another couple of minutes to disappear after I changed channel! Guess I'm just actively looking for it now!

I think if I had the choice and I already had a 50" Kuro I'd stick with it.

Best of luck

 

[Oldboy]

Interesting thread guys, makes a good read.

What I would say is that the IR problem rocketrazor has encountered with his GT50 is the exact same issue I had with my two Panny plasma with exactly the same game, Fifa seems really bad for IR because of the prominent white EA logos that are often displayed on a black background which is a big no no where plasma is concerned so i'm told. My G20 suffered from screen burn because of the EA logo in Fifa and unfortunately at that time Panasonic didn't even have a screen wipe option in the menus so the only option to try to get rid of it was the analogue snow method and a disc I bought with a selection of wipe patterns on it but nothing even shfited in slightly so in the end it was replaced after a battle.

My GT30 had some bad IR and the screen wipe did help but I was really reticent to even game on the screen at all and if I did I done so with the tv in (calibrated) Game mode with Pixel Orbiter on all the time but even then I got IR badly with both Fifa and Borderlands, in my opinion the Panasonic plasmas just aren't suited to extended gaming periods but for movies and tv they are truly excellent. I'm convinced gaming was at the heart of the issue I had with my GT30 with a really weird screen effect even after having the panel replaced.

If I were to buy a plasma tv again I would certainly want to have a dedicated LED tv for gaming which pretty much goes against the point for me as I would then need to create a gaming room in my bedroom adding yet more problems and cost as I would then need to add another surround system and find room for it all, I would much prefer to keep it in the living room and use my existing setup.

The idea of buying a 2nd hand Kuro has been something i've considered and even now a good one isn't cheap but I think is the better option than getting a GT50 if you intend on using it for gaming. What is going on with Panasonic plasmas that makes IR such an issue though, especially when it comes to gaming??

 

[strapped for cash]

Glad to hear the IR has gone. Hopefully this will become less of an issue with time.

 

[rocketrazor]

Glad to hear the IR has gone. Hopefully this will become less of an issue with time.

Cheers Strapped. What happened to the settings you posted here? Good job I printed them off, will try them at the weekend!

Also noticed the DSE you guys have been discussing for the first time. Rather annoying, but then in the next shot I noticed just how good the TV is also. To be fair I had been changing the settings to reduce the IR when gaming and then watched MOTD highlights! Changed my settings back to default and was much harder to spot. One thing I would say is I found it far easier to spot on BBC's football than ITV's, both in HD

 

[strapped for cash]

Hi RocketRazor,

I deleted the settings as I wasn't sure they looked so great after watching a range of content, Just goes to show, copying settings isn't a route to image accuracy. Give them a go if you printed them out. The worst that can happen is they look odd and you return to your original settings.

Sorry to hear about the DSE. Pain, isn't it...

 

[rocketrazor]

A little bit annoying, i'll find out more after the football tonight with it being the first night of football after noticing it!

 

[mr malarky]

Thanks for the update rocket, glad to hear its all cleared up. Sat here now looking at my kuro and asking myself "do I really want the stress of having my heart in my mouth every time I turn off the Xbox?". Honestly, don't think I do, so reckon I'll stick with it until Panasonic sort themselves out on the IR front!

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Hi RocketRazor,

I deleted the settings as I wasn't sure they looked so great after watching a range of content, Just goes to show, copying settings isn't a route to image accuracy. Give them a go if you printed them out. The worst that can happen is they look odd and you return to your original settings.

Sorry to hear about the DSE. Pain, isn't it...

I preferred your original settings in Professional 1 actually Strapped, the greens look wrong in the Cinema settings, and I definitely don't want to take any risk with full contrast anyway.

 

[professorhat]

If you want to own a plasma.....

1) Run it in properly on low contrast / low brightness settings - existing presets including THX must not be used until run in.

2) Do. Not. Use. It. For. Gaming. Ever. Get an LED if you want to play racing drivers.

Rubbish - I've had three plasmas, never run any of them in and used them all for gaming (mostly racing games in fact). I have three friends who have all done the same. I even accidently left a game running one night when I fell asleep - over 8 hours with the same static screen. There was some IR, but it cleared up in a matter of minutes (this was my old Panny which is still going strong in the spare room after 6 years now).

I'm not saying don't run them in - it's a personal choice and is probably sensible if you're worried / have seen issues before. However, just stating I've never seen the need and probably most people who ever bought a plasma TV have never done so either. It's certainly no guarantee that if you don't, you will get issues.

Judging by some of the posts I've seen over the last few years, there does seem to be some issues with some of the Pannys lately - best bet I'd say is to spend a few more pounds and buy from somewhere you trust (rather than flog-it&leg-it.com). Make it clear that you will be using the TV for gaming and if you have serious IR / screen burn issues, you will be bringing the screen back for a replacement. If they balk at the idea, then say thanks very much, I'll be off somewhere else.

 

[rocketrazor]

IR back now, which is a real pain, having so many issues with it at present hence my other thread for what you guys think is ok and what is not. Considering contacting the store I purchased from soon to see what they say. I never had these issues on my G20!