Plasma TV: is this normal?

TriedandTested · 27 Jul 2008 at 23:55

Set up my nice new plasma and tested the PS3 on it. Looked fantastic. When I went up closer to the screen (PS3 menu in use) i could see a duplication of the image behind. Eg, the PS3 icons on the menu on a black background had another duplicate icon just a little bit behind.

Normal?

Also, after trying out Stardust on the new big screen for about 15 mins I noticed some screen burn. It went away after a short while but how long should I be running the TV in for to stop this happening?

badbob · 28 Jul 2008 at 00:00

Do you have a panasonic by any chance? Those have two layers of glass, and can cause relfections/ghosting.

As for SB, did you chance from dynamic to movie? Reduce contrast, disable dynamic contrast?

TriedandTested · 28 Jul 2008 at 00:16

Yes it is a Panasonic! It must be the extra layer of glass; you can only notice it standing right next to/above the screen.

I haven't changed any of the settings yet. Should I? Is there a recommended setup for this screen like there are others? It's a TH42PX80B.

2StepSteve · 28 Jul 2008 at 00:39

Yeah its normal

I have a TH42PZ80 the extra layer of glass does make it show a double image when looking from the side.

Settings I use are :

Viewing Mode: Cinema

Colour Balance: Warm

Colour Management: Off

P-NR: Off

I have contrast and brightness just below the middle.

Colour set to quite a few notches below middle.

Sharpness a couple of notches above middle.

TriedandTested · 28 Jul 2008 at 01:19

Thanks! I also found this in the meantime..

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Panasonic-TH42PX80/Settings/

Might be useful to you as well.

Mul · 28 Jul 2008 at 09:31

2StepSteve said:
Yeah its normal I have a TH42PZ80 the extra layer of glass does make it show a double image when looking from the side.

Settings I use are :

Viewing Mode: Cinema

Colour Balance: Warm

Colour Management: Off

P-NR: Off

I have contrast and brightness just below the middle.

Colour set to quite a few notches below middle.

Sharpness a couple of notches above middle.

TriedandTested said:
Thanks! I also found this in the meantime..

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Panasonic-TH42PX80/Settings/

Might be useful to you as well.

Both very informative. Cheers for that. I've got a 42PZ80 in the cart waiting to make a decision on speakers and a stand and I was looking around for methods of breaking in the plasma.

rubberduck · 28 Jul 2008 at 11:48

Best method to break in a plasma is just through normal use. As long as you don't go crazy and put in some marathon gaming sessions you should be ok.

As for the settings suggested they do indeed look great when watching DVDs in a fully blackened room. For TV viewing during the daytime you may want to have a play around and find out what works best for you.

Corasik · 29 Jul 2008 at 01:35

Actually I believe its a very high quality acrylic type sheet rather than glass, and its there to protect the fragile glass panel from small pokey fingers etc

But your right, it does tend to cause ghosting from certain angles when viewed from a very short distance.

Corasik · 29 Jul 2008 at 01:43

TriedandTested said:
Also, after trying out Stardust on the new big screen for about 15 mins I noticed some screen burn. It went away after a short while but how long should I be running the TV in for to stop this happening?

That is image retention, and its fine, perfectly normal, dont need to stop it happening.

As the plasma's excite the phospor coatings, they get hot, and retain some of the energy for a while. It will simply fade away over the course of the next few minutes.

Turn off a plasma screen in a dark room, and you can often see a ghost of the last display for several minutes before its gone. Retention just means the phospors are still slightly "charged". Burn on the other hand is where the phospors have actually faded (Think of what happens to paint thats been left in the sun.. it fades). If you were to leave the screen with bright white text on a black background, eventually the white areas would start to fade. Then if you displayed a 100% white screen you could read where the text had been before.

You have to seriously abuse a modern plasma to burn it. (Busness TV which is left 12 hours a day on sky news will end up with horrible burn due to the bright red sky news "dogs" and the message ticker thats constantly scrolling on the bottom of the screen. Or an airport arriveals board

.

But I play Wii/PS3 on my plasma, and use it for movies, and TV use, and its absolutely fine. (2 years old and counting)