HDTV displays and gaming
My screen is fine now (yeah!). This prompted me to get some research done on the subject of gaming with a plasma screen. Though many people talk about RI with plasmas, it seems that DLPs and LCDs aren't safe from full on burn-in either. Anyway, here's what I came up with, it's part of a collective Wiki FAQ over on Arcadians. It's a work in progress, I have much more to say on the subject but I do not know how all the wiki formating codes work yet.
I quote myself:
The current word on the street is that plasma screens are not the best option for gaming while plasma owners tend to disagree. If you feel about arguing on what is the best thing for your console, might as well walk into a religion forum - Don't expect to see any clear winners. The reason why there is so much debate revolves around the fact that plasma screens, while providing the best image and best response time, are also quite temperamental and are easier to fuck up. It comes down to this: choose your poison. If you are ready to take a few extra precautions then you will be very happy owning a plasma TV for gaming and watching whatever else you could throw at it.
When it comes to image quality, brightness of colors, angle of view (any, actually), good contrast ratios and pixel responsiveness, plasma usually wins hands down. So what's the problem?
Plasma is criticized for it's weakness against Residual Image which is also known as Ghost images. These are images that stay on your screen for a bit after watching something with static elements (stuff that did not move) for an extended period of time. RI does not become apparent until you watch a back lit screen or something of the like but won't be really visible while watching anything else like a movie or a TV show. Usually RI will wash away after a few minutes of watching something else in full screen with dynamic content. In some more rare cases, RI might stick around for a few hours. This is not to be confused with burn-in which talks about straight through phosphor burn, leaving a permanent image trace on your screen. Forever. Sad face.
This being said, there is little wonder as to why gamers fear plasma displays. On paper it sounds like they are the worst possible thing for a gaming because of the many static elements that stay on the screen for extend periods of time. This is exactly what we are trying to avoid, right? I'll say it right here though, while many games are quit fine, some others are notorious for causing trouble. Need for Speed Most Wanted, World of Warcraft (duh!), Guitar Hero (1 and 2) and Ninja Gaiden (both black and sigma) have been known to leave heavy RI.
With the latest innovations in plasma displays and some remotely decent precautions, actual burn-in becomes quite difficult to achieve, but RI is a problem and will remain so during the first few hundred hours of your display's use. The first 100 hours of use are the most crucial as the phosphors are brand new and more powerful, after 1000 hours of use though your TV will be pretty much in the green and almost safe from anything you could throw at it. All this RI and burn-in business has to do with the way plasma displays work. They use gaseous phosphors which need to be "aged equally", therefore, plasma screens need to be broken in (also known as the break in period) before they become more resistant to RI and burn-in. As soon as you get one it is recommended that you let it run for as long as you can with "break in safe content". By that we usually mean stuff with no static elements that stretches to every corner of your screen. As I mentioned before, the first 100 hours are the most crucial. There are many reports of plasma screens used in stores in a way that would usually make a grown man cry but in the end they all came out fine, even after weeks of showing the exact same thing over and over again. The rule of thumb is that IR will often occur as your display is still new, but eventually that stuff will go away after a while (usually quickly but not necessarily so). Burn-in can occur but you have to mistreat your TV so badly for a very long extended period of time that you probably deserved it.
Steps to be taken as you game with a plasma screen:
- Don't think about it during your first 100 hours of use
- Calibrate your display and most of all, turn down contrast and brightness. I feel I should put this in bold.
- Don't you dare not follow the first two steps mentioned above, especially together.
- Be careful about playing games before 1k hours of use. It can be done but some games are just too nasty for that. Test them out first, use your brain.
- Vary your viewing content and make sure you will (as often as possible) watch stuff that stretches to every corner of your screen with as little static elements as possible. None at all would be awesome.
- You can even use this free Break In DVD (SVCD)
Conclusion: it's all about the break in period. Once you are over the 1k hour hump, you will probably be the envy of most gamers. Until then, try to tolerate the insults.
But if you are reading this then you are a gamer, and if you are a gamer you might want to know more about this specific residual image thing. Here are some links on the subject:
AVS forums burn in and break in thread
If you have a ghost image, watch something else in full screen with moving objects with as much color as you can. Kid shows are awesome for this. Your RI should wash away within minutes, most likely less than 10. If the image persists, keep on doing it for a couple of hours instead. If it still persists, call your tech support. There are hidden tools in your plasma that tech can run you through to help you get rid of it. One of these tools is a white scrolling bar that usually does the trick with nasty images. There is not much that can be done about actual burn in though.
I quote myself:
The current word on the street is that plasma screens are not the best option for gaming while plasma owners tend to disagree. If you feel about arguing on what is the best thing for your console, might as well walk into a religion forum - Don't expect to see any clear winners. The reason why there is so much debate revolves around the fact that plasma screens, while providing the best image and best response time, are also quite temperamental and are easier to fuck up. It comes down to this: choose your poison. If you are ready to take a few extra precautions then you will be very happy owning a plasma TV for gaming and watching whatever else you could throw at it.
When it comes to image quality, brightness of colors, angle of view (any, actually), good contrast ratios and pixel responsiveness, plasma usually wins hands down. So what's the problem?
Plasma is criticized for it's weakness against Residual Image which is also known as Ghost images. These are images that stay on your screen for a bit after watching something with static elements (stuff that did not move) for an extended period of time. RI does not become apparent until you watch a back lit screen or something of the like but won't be really visible while watching anything else like a movie or a TV show. Usually RI will wash away after a few minutes of watching something else in full screen with dynamic content. In some more rare cases, RI might stick around for a few hours. This is not to be confused with burn-in which talks about straight through phosphor burn, leaving a permanent image trace on your screen. Forever. Sad face.
This being said, there is little wonder as to why gamers fear plasma displays. On paper it sounds like they are the worst possible thing for a gaming because of the many static elements that stay on the screen for extend periods of time. This is exactly what we are trying to avoid, right? I'll say it right here though, while many games are quit fine, some others are notorious for causing trouble. Need for Speed Most Wanted, World of Warcraft (duh!), Guitar Hero (1 and 2) and Ninja Gaiden (both black and sigma) have been known to leave heavy RI.
With the latest innovations in plasma displays and some remotely decent precautions, actual burn-in becomes quite difficult to achieve, but RI is a problem and will remain so during the first few hundred hours of your display's use. The first 100 hours of use are the most crucial as the phosphors are brand new and more powerful, after 1000 hours of use though your TV will be pretty much in the green and almost safe from anything you could throw at it. All this RI and burn-in business has to do with the way plasma displays work. They use gaseous phosphors which need to be "aged equally", therefore, plasma screens need to be broken in (also known as the break in period) before they become more resistant to RI and burn-in. As soon as you get one it is recommended that you let it run for as long as you can with "break in safe content". By that we usually mean stuff with no static elements that stretches to every corner of your screen. As I mentioned before, the first 100 hours are the most crucial. There are many reports of plasma screens used in stores in a way that would usually make a grown man cry but in the end they all came out fine, even after weeks of showing the exact same thing over and over again. The rule of thumb is that IR will often occur as your display is still new, but eventually that stuff will go away after a while (usually quickly but not necessarily so). Burn-in can occur but you have to mistreat your TV so badly for a very long extended period of time that you probably deserved it.
Steps to be taken as you game with a plasma screen:
- Don't think about it during your first 100 hours of use
- Calibrate your display and most of all, turn down contrast and brightness. I feel I should put this in bold.
- Don't you dare not follow the first two steps mentioned above, especially together.
- Be careful about playing games before 1k hours of use. It can be done but some games are just too nasty for that. Test them out first, use your brain.
- Vary your viewing content and make sure you will (as often as possible) watch stuff that stretches to every corner of your screen with as little static elements as possible. None at all would be awesome.
- You can even use this free Break In DVD (SVCD)
Conclusion: it's all about the break in period. Once you are over the 1k hour hump, you will probably be the envy of most gamers. Until then, try to tolerate the insults.
But if you are reading this then you are a gamer, and if you are a gamer you might want to know more about this specific residual image thing. Here are some links on the subject:
AVS forums burn in and break in thread
If you have a ghost image, watch something else in full screen with moving objects with as much color as you can. Kid shows are awesome for this. Your RI should wash away within minutes, most likely less than 10. If the image persists, keep on doing it for a couple of hours instead. If it still persists, call your tech support. There are hidden tools in your plasma that tech can run you through to help you get rid of it. One of these tools is a white scrolling bar that usually does the trick with nasty images. There is not much that can be done about actual burn in though.