Should I Buy Plasma if 80% of what I watch is in 4:3?

[admin_exported]

Here is the deal - I agree that Plasma has the best picture quality - black levels, contrast etc etc. However, I live in HK, and 80% of TV viewing is still not in HD - its in 4:3 Standard Def. Personally, I really dislike watching 4:3 material after stretching or zooming the image to fit the full screen. If I watch it in 4:3 mode with black bars, I am really risking burn in with a plasma. This is not really the case with LCD. The problem is that I really want a massive TV - 60" + as my living room is quite big and I don't really like projectors (i have one and never use it because I don't like my living room to be pitch black). And a massive LCD TV is really expensive. So if I do decide to buy a plasma, do you still think I risk getting burn in if I watch 4:3 material using grey bars instead of black bars? Basically, this is the only reason why I am scared of buying a plasma.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Burn-in is relatively rare these days, and it's only a problem with those screens prone to it when light images are left stationary on the screen for a long time, not dark ones. So I think the risk is minimal.

 

[Anonymous]

So, if I buy the plasma and always watch content in native 4:3 aspect ratio with black bars on the sides - i won't have any issues with image retention? ÿThats strange, because I downloaded user manuals and they seem to encourage you to watch 4:3 material in full screen mode as a precautionary measure to prevent image retention. ÿIf this is not an issue, then I will seriously reconsider and buy a 60-65" Plasma.

 

[Anonymous]

Panasonic provide the option of grey side bars for 4:3 films. This does significantly reduce the problem.

Burn-in is about uneven use of the plasma. If you only watch 4:3 with black side bars, the plasma pixels where the black bars are do not get used. The pixels in the middle are used, and their brightness will decay with use. If after a period of use, you then switch to a full screen picture, the left/right extremes (where the black bars were) will appear brighter than the middle portion .

So I would urge caution with a new plasma, mixing up 4:3 with other full screen programs, and using the grey bars. Just to be on the safe side.

 

[tvmog]

I accidently left my Panasonic PX80 plasma on a satellite channel that broadcasts its 4:3 material with a black bar top and bottom for many hours. These bars were then faintly visable when watching 16:9 material but faded after a few hours. I would have thought that your main problem over the long term would be the very different usage of the plasma cells in the 4:3 area and the 16:9. This was certainly an issue with my old widescreen CRT which I got long before the routine broadcast of 16:9 material. After a few years the colours in the two areas were noticably different. Obviously CRT and plasma are very different beasts, but I don't think the manufacturers provide those horrible grey sidebars for artistic effect.