phosphorus etching on 16x9 hdtvs?

[drewson99]

hello all,

I have been informed by my local hdtv dealer that if I am going to watch 4x3 media on my 16x9 hdtv, that I should keep it to less than 20% of my overall viewing time. this is because of uneven phosphorus etching which can occur on the left and right sides.

most tvs these days have mechanisms to counter this effect, such as grey black bars or, a shifting 4x3 image, so that every time you watch a new 4x3 video source, it shifts the used portion of the 16x9 screen over a tiny bit, so that over time, the whole screen is used equally.

*DESPITE* this last function, they still say watch 4x3 less than 20%. I have to argue with this logically. If it truly shifts the image so that over time the entire screen are gets an even disctribution of etching, why would it matter how much you use it for 4x3 source?

This is a big issue for me, and if someone here knows something about this I would be much obliged. I fear that these guys are just "playing it safe" and overdoing it a bit.

thanks all,

Andy

[Bob W]

Never heard of that. I have a Samsung DLP so no problem with etching since the DLP's don't have CRT's.

[garryheather]

Shouldn't be a problem with today's modern TV's. Plasma's can suffer from this, but that's mainly where stations put a bug (logo) in the corner of the screen which never moves and it does sometimes stay "resident".

I have a 16x9 set and have always watched 4x3 content without stretching it and have no problems. Don't forget that each pixel changes within that frame so none of them should really get burnt through etended duration.

[kaneda006]

you will get burn in. we got some on our 16:9 toshiba. don't watch 4:3 content non stretched. it will etch. i would avoid projection tvs totally if possible. the technology is dated at best, and there are other alternatives.

[garryheather]

Alright, don't buy a second hand Tosh - get a nice new Panasonic Qintrix and you'll be fine.

Alternatively, don't set the brightness and contrast to 100% and leave it on some crappy gaming satellite channel 24 hours a day...