Grey 4x3 Plasma Bars and Burn In

[SuperNewb]

Hey everybody,

I started running my Genesis, SNES, and N64 on my 42" Plasma screen recently and noticed everything looks a lot better in the 4x3 aspect ratio. The LG I have used grey pillar boxes in this display mode and I was wondering how worried I should be about burn in. I haven't noticed anything yet but I haven't had it one for more than 80 minutes or so continuously either. Anybody have experience with this?

Thanks!

[Amon_Re]

Hey everybody,

I started running my Genesis, SNES, and N64 on my 42" Plasma screen recently and noticed everything looks a lot better in the 4x3 aspect ratio. The LG I have used grey pillar boxes in this display mode and I was wondering how worried I should be about burn in. I haven't noticed anything yet but I haven't had it one for more than 80 minutes or so continuously either. Anybody have experience with this?

Thanks!

They still make Plasma tv's?

[Leo_A]

Image retention is still easy to have happen on a plasma. And if you play 4:3 content on your plasma very often, it's going to progress to burn-in that won't go away (Which is why I avoid the technology, I watch mostly 4:3 movies and television shows).

They still make Plasma tv's?

They certainly still do.

[jb143]

They use grey pillar boxes as a way to reduce the burn in...but yeah it could still happen. Especially if it's an early model set.

[j_factor]

That's why the pillar boxes are gray: to reduce the likelihood of burn-in. Plus newer plasmas (last 4 years or so) are less prone to burn-in in general. You should still make a point of giving your set a little widescreen action to offset all the 4:3 time.

[SuperNewb]

They use grey pillar boxes as a way to reduce the burn in...but yeah it could still happen. Especially if it's an early model set.

It's only a year old... Probably would have avoided Plasma if it hadn't been amazingly cheap when I picked it up. Good to know that's why the grey pillar boxes are around.

That's why the pillar boxes are gray: to reduce the likelihood of burn-in. Plus newer plasmas (last 4 years or so) are less prone to burn-in in general. You should still make a point of giving your set a little widescreen action to offset all the 4:3 time.

Thanks! I do pretty much everything else on the TV on widescreen so I'm guessing it'll be fine. Just wanted to check with someone to be sure. Maybe I'll make a habit of switching it to widescreen for a bit every hour or so while playing SNES.

[BlastProcessing402]

Yeah, you can use that time to take your 15 min break every hour like the safety pamphlets recommend, lol

[kupomogli]

You might want to also after a long session of playing games with 4:3 is to go to the image retention options under your menu and do a screen wipe or similar for about 15 minutes. Any temporary burn in will be removed. Even if you can't see anything, it's still recommended.

[SuperNewb]

You might want to also after a long session of playing games with 4:3 is to go to the image retention options under your menu and do a screen wipe or similar for about 15 minutes. Any temporary burn in will be removed. Even if you can't see anything, it's still recommended.

Awesome, thanks.