Plasma image retention

[Browncoat]

Recently got a Samsung PS50B550 plasma TV and I am happy overall with the unit though I have an question/concern with image retention. I occasionally will watch 4:3 with black bars left and right or widescreen movies with the black bars top and bottom and when I have finished watching I see the black bars for a while afterwards. I can clear by watching "snow" from an analogue tv signal for a while but I believe this is what is referred to as "image retention"? Anyone else have experience with this and able to relate their experience?

Also I have gone into settings / screen burn protection / side grey and changed side bar setting to light and it looks no different to the dark setting. Should it be visually distinguishable? Is this function not working on my TV?

Thanks guys.

[edDV]

Recently got a Samsung PS50B550 plasma TV and I am happy overall with the unit though I have an question/concern with image retention. I occasionally will watch 4:3 with black bars left and right or widescreen movies with the black bars top and bottom and when I have finished watching I see the black bars for a while afterwards. I can clear by watching "snow" from an analogue tv signal for a while but I believe this is what is referred to as "image retention"? Anyone else have experience with this and able to relate their experience?

Yes it is "image retention". Newer plasmas will work this out with slow circular picture movement or other techniques over time but snow is another way. You won't do perminant damage with letterbox or pillarbox for short periods (program length). Just don't leave the TV on with letterbox or pillarbox for long periods.

Also I have gone into settings / screen burn protection / side grey and changed side bar setting to light and it looks no different to the dark setting. Should it be visually distinguishable? Is this function not working on my TV?

Thanks guys.

Side bar setting to "gray" or "light" should take effect when the TV tuner forces pillarbox (e.g. when you tune an SD 4x3 broadcast). If you tune a 1080i or 720p station that is playing an upscaled 4x3 source, the TV station is adding the sidebars. The same would happen if your DVD player is set to wide. In that case a 4x3 DVD would have sidebars added by the DVD player.

[jagabo]

Yes it is "image retention". Newer plasmas will work this out with slow circular picture movement or other techniques over time

That simply blurs the boundary making it less obvious. It doesn't really eliminate the problem. If you put up a full screen flat image the edges will still be noticeably different than the middle.

Also I have gone into settings / screen burn protection / side grey and changed side bar setting to light and it looks no different to the dark setting. Should it be visually distinguishable?

Yes. The gray pillarbox bars are about 50 percent intensity. Really obvious and ugly. But, as edDV pointed out, if you are receiving video already pillarboxed or letterboxed to 16:9 by the broadcaster you can't fix it except by zooming.

[Browncoat]

Side bar setting to "gray" or "light" should take effect when the TV tuner forces pillarbox (e.g. when you tune an SD 4x3 broadcast). If you tune a 1080i or 720p station that is playing an upscaled 4x3 source, the TV station is adding the sidebars. The same would happen if your DVD player is set to wide. In that case a 4x3 DVD would have sidebars added by the DVD player.

What I am saying is that the sidebars displayed when viewing a 4:3 show on this screen are black regardless of what setting (light/dark) I select in the screen burn protection / side bar menu. I had thought that selecting light would produce lighter bars beside the 4:3 image? Am I making an incorrect assumption or is this screen burn protection side bar setting not working properly?

[Browncoat]

Sorry Jagabo, you posted a response whilst I was typing.

So I should definitely see a difference when using the screen burn protection / side bar setting? Hmm, wonder if i'm doing something wrong or if its faulty...

[Browncoat]

I should probably add that the 4:3 shows I am watching are on DVD or media streamed to my TV.

[edDV]

I should probably add that the 4:3 shows I am watching are on DVD or media streamed to my TV.

Try switching your DVD player settings to 4x3 TV. In that mode the TV should be adding sidebars. A wide DVD will show letterbox inside the 4x3 frame.

[edDV]

Yes it is "image retention". Newer plasmas will work this out with slow circular picture movement or other techniques over time

That simply blurs the boundary making it less obvious. It doesn't really eliminate the problem. If you put up a full screen flat image the edges will still be noticeably different than the middle.

For plasmas there is short term and long term burn in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_burn-in
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-misconceptions.html

[jagabo]

I should probably add that the 4:3 shows I am watching are on DVD or media streamed to my TV.

If you are using an upscaling DVD player the DVD players is adding black bars to fill out the 16:9 frame. The TV will have no control over that. As edDV suggested, set the DVD player to output 4:3. Then the TV will padd the frame with gray bars.

The difference between black and gray pillarbox bars will be something like these two images:

[Browncoat]

PS3 is my player also is what I use to media stream from my PC.

[Browncoat]

Ahhh, I am beginning to understand, in order for the grey side bars to work I need to be in 4:3 mode from the TV..

Thank you all for the information.

[Browncoat]

One final enquiry.. Does using the grey side bars actually work successfully to lesson or eliminate image retention in anyones experience?

[Browncoat]

Ok, sorry, final-final question.

I've gotten 4:3 disks playing from my PS3 to my plasma now having the grey bars. but does anyone know how to get 4:3 videos streaming from my PC to the plasma through PS3 to fill the screen so I can set 4:3 on the TV menu and get grey bars happening there too? does this make sense? can it be done?

[edDV]

Ahhh, I am beginning to understand, in order for the grey side bars to work I need to be in 4:3 mode from the TV..

The player would need to be in 4:3 mode. Then the TV fills out the side pillars.

I wouldn't worry about this unless you leave 4:3 video on for long periods (e.g. for games). Otherwise just leave it set to 16:9 and turn it off when you aren't watching.

Ok, sorry, final-final question.

I've gotten 4:3 disks playing from my PS3 to my plasma now having the grey bars. but does anyone know how to get 4:3 videos streaming from my PC to the plasma through PS3 to fill the screen so I can set 4:3 on the TV menu and get grey bars happening there too? does this make sense? can it be done?

You can set your display card to 4:3 or 16:9 for 480i playback. 720p and 1080i are always 16:9.

If you are sending your desktop, I'd recommend you always keep that 16:9.

[Browncoat]

You can set your display card to 4:3 or 16:9 for 480i playback. 720p and 1080i are always 16:9.

If you are sending your desktop, I'd recommend you always keep that 16:9.

Display card? I am using a software program called TVersity to stream media via ethernet to the PS3.


We sometimes like to watch 3 or 4 episodes of a show in a row and if it happens to be 4:3 do you think it would be ok?

[edDV]

You can set your display card to 4:3 or 16:9 for 480i playback. 720p and 1080i are always 16:9.

If you are sending your desktop, I'd recommend you always keep that 16:9.

Display card? I am using a software program called TVersity to stream media via ethernet to the PS3.


We sometimes like to watch 3 or 4 episodes of a show in a row and if it happens to be 4:3 do you think it would be ok?

So what do see at the TV? Does it look like Jagabo's pictures above?

[Browncoat]

Looks like jagabos top picture with the black bars

[edDV]

Then either TVersity or the PS3 are adding the black pillars.

[jagabo]

There may be a setting within TVersity that lets you specify the color of the pillarbox bars.

[Browncoat]

Then either TVersity or the PS3 are adding the black pillars.

Yes I realise that, I was hoping someone may have encountered this before and have a way around.

I have developed a solution of sorts, each 4:3 video on my PC that I wish to stream to the plasma I convert to 16:9 so that it is streched horizontally then when I play it through the PS3 to the plasma I can use the samsung remote to set 4:3 mode and give me my grey side bars. Its a bit of a hassle but.. I still would like to know if setting the side bars grey really helps with the image retention issue, I guess i'll know after i've watched a few episodes or more. A pity it doesnt seem to work on the top and bottom black bars when viewing movies.

Thanks for the responses EDTV and all.

[Browncoat]

again jagabo u reply whilst I am typing a response

I wasnt able to find a setting within TVersity or the PS3 to help with this.

Thanks

[jagabo]

If you can stand to watch distorted videos you can probably get TVersity to stretch 4:3 to 16:9 rather than pillarboxing it.

[Browncoat]

I'm sorry. I mustn't be expressing myself clearly..

The videos I modify are distorted whilst on my PC and when streamed to my plasma until I select 4:3 with the plasma remote, then I get grey or black bars(depending on which I select) and the videos play perfectly as intended in 4:3 aspect ratio.

So in conclusion, though it is a little hassle I can finally get all my videos to play in the correct aspect ratio and with the screen burn protection / grey side bar feature enabled.

[edDV]

The idea behind using gray vs. black side pillars is the neutral contrast will result in less temporary burn in when switching between 4:3 and 16:9 programs. It will also offer some protection if you leave a 4:3 image up for some time. I'd use a 16:9 screen saver or turn it off when not actively watching. A second reason to turn it off is plasmas draw a lot of power.