Watching 4:3 in a Plasma

[THX198]

I recently bought a 42 inch Plasma from Panasonic I callabrated the set using Avia DVD. Would I get a burn-in effect (Black bars on each side) even if my contrast -23 and brightness -20 is set to these levels. I watch cable (HDTV Stations included) approx. 60% of the time and the rest I watch DVD's. Using the stretch mode, zoom or auto is kind of annoying. I tried using the gray bars but I am using component connections and Comcast Cable does not let me switch to gray bars only if I use the SVIDEO. Any recomendations????

[57U]

Plasma TVs are just as susceptible to uneven phosphor wear (called burn in) as RPTVs. Sometimes they're even worse.

Recommendations:

You'll need to use the stretch modes, otherwise if you watch a lot of 4:3 programmes, you will have burn in, especially if you use black, instead of grey. 60% of the time is too much. 10% might be OK.

View all of your SD programming using S-video and the stretch modes. This'll allow you to watch the upconverted 4:3 HD with black bars 5-10% of the time.

DVDs shouldn't be a problem since most of them are 16:9. The ones that are 2.35:1 shouldn't take up more than a couple of percent of your viewing time... and even they tend to not be exactly 2.35: 1 - the width of the bars varies a little.

If you type "Plasma" and "burn in" into a web search engine, you'll read a lot of information, corroborating what I've said.

[THX198]

Thanks for the info! :)

[TSturgill]

Hi, I'm considering that same model plasma from Panasonic. How do you like it and do you watch directv/dish network with it? How does satellite look?

Thanks

[THX198]

I am currently using Comcast Digital Cable with HDTV. The quility looks good. I use the stretch mode but on HDTV the picture looks awsome. No matter which plasma you choose the quility of cable will always suffer. Some plasmas handle the picture a bit better then others. In regards to the Panasonic plama the picture is among the best it can.