# 2.40:1 and black bars on plasma



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I just got a blu-ray and realize that the majority of movies are in 2.40:1.

I have a Pioneer PDP-5070.

Most all of the high def material I've watched thus far has come from HD premium movie channels... not presented in 2.40:1.

So, how careful do I need to be about black bars above and below the movie? Will they ghost image my screen eventually? Or is it pretty much a non-issue at this point.

I know this is an old topic, but I just wanted some insight from anyone out there with a plasma and their experience with this... 

THANKS!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

if thats all your watching and you dont watch regular programing yes you will damage the screen however if your only doing this for about 2 hrs and then switching to full screen material I would not worry about it.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

okay.


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## warpdrive (May 6, 2007)

Yes, you will get uneven wear if all you watch are 2.35/2.40 movies. I would not worry about it as long as you still watch 1.85/1.78/4:3 material from time to time


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I don't know why it makes me so unnerved! "They" say that plasmas are no more affected by ghosting/burn-in than CRTs... I don't remember experiencing problems with my old crts... at least I never saw it.

Maybe it was the fact that the display cost so much.

At any rate... I _want_ to enjoy 2.40/2.35 as they were intended... I just don't want to stress about it while I'm watching them.

Thanks for the input.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

27dnast said:


> I don't know why it makes me so unnerved! "They" say that plasmas are no more affected by ghosting/burn-in than CRTs... I don't remember experiencing problems with my old crts... at least I never saw it.


Its about the same, the big difference is the size of the display makes it that much more noticeable.


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

27dnast said:


> I don't know why it makes me so unnerved! "They" say that plasmas are no more affected by ghosting/burn-in than CRTs... I don't remember experiencing problems with my old crts... at least I never saw it.
> 
> Maybe it was the fact that the display cost so much.
> 
> ...


I feel exactly the same. I have only had my screen since March with only about 100-200 hrs on it and I have been vigilant to not have any bars onscreen thus far to avoid burn-in, which the manual stated should be avoided early on. It has been really annoying watching what seems to be nearly every movie in zoom mode :gah: 

The screen should be 'safe' to view a 2-3 hr movie by now, no?


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## Vader (Jul 8, 2006)

Also, make sure that your display is correctly calibrated (no "torch mode"!). I have a 65" CRT which has mostly seen 2:35 and above, and I have not observed any burn-in after 6 years of use. IMO, the display calibration is a greater indicator of burn-in potential than varying the displayed material (though both are important).


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

I used the values from crutchfield and I think cnet and chose the ones from each that I preferred (they were very close in value). Most values are very low compared to the stock settings (vivid was the 'torch' mode yuck!)


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## Vader (Jul 8, 2006)

I would get a video calibration disc, like Digital Video Essentials by Joe Kane, or "High Definition Benchmark" BD Edition by Stacey Spears and Don Munsil. Predefined settings do not take into account your particular viewing environment, and the preferences of those who produced them might not be in the best interest of your display ("I like the contrast set really high!"). At minimum, I would set the brightness using the "Pluge" patterns, as well as the contrast. While not a danger to your display, setting the color saturation using color bars is also worth looking into (and only takes a few moments).


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## BruZZi (Jul 21, 2008)

warpdrive said:


> Yes, you will get uneven wear if all you watch are 2.35/2.40 movies. *I would not worry about it as long as you still watch 1.85/1.78/4:3 material from time to time*



Yep.

.


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## mariokrt64 (Dec 6, 2009)

I have an HD RPTV, CRT type. For CRT's is recommended to keep the contrast to a low level to avoid image burn-in. I would guess the same would apply to Plasma????Check it out...

My RPTV is more than five years old, with no burn in. I also followed the same pratice of combining 2:40 and 16:9 format watching recommended by the other poster. Also, channels that display a bright logo, sometimes in the lower right corner, should be watch carefully. I have heard people got logos burn-in to their TV's, so you should alternate those channels which others that don't have that, and follow the practices described in this post. Then you should be OK.


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