What are some DOS & DONTS that we need to know to take care of our plasma TV's?
A plasma panel's phosphors age fastest during the first 100 hours of use. Hence, the risk of burn-in is highest during this time. To minimize the possibility of burn-in, the following are advised during the first 100 hours:
1.
Turn down the contrast and brightness settings to the middle of the available adjustment range or lower. --- This is the most important advice.
2. Avoid black bars by using a viewing aspect ratio that completely fills the screen.
3. Check the 4:3 mode and confirm that the side bars are set to "Mid", or "Bright".
4. TV channels with stationary logos should not be viewed for extended periods of time.
5. Avoid extended display of static images such as video games, computer images, DVD menu screens, etc.
Note: Distinguish between "burn-in" and "image retention" (or "IR") --- burn-in is permanent; IR is temporary.
Don't worry too much about breaking in the TV. If your panel has good phosphors, it's unlikely that burn-in will appear even if you did not break it in. If the panel has bad phosphors, burn-in may still occur despite break-in.
The practice of breaking in a plasma panel is a carry-over from the early days of the technology. I have a feeling that it would not be necessary on my panel, but I still did it just to be sure.
===============================================================
Plasma break-in DVD:
http://www.eaprogramming.com/downloads/download_main.htm
From the author:
It is basically a set of 20 images that are 720p native resolution. The images are full screen colors so that the entire screen is 1 color at a time. The colors go from a white to a dark grey in 5 gradients, white to blue in 5 gradients, white to green in 5 gradients and white to red in five gradients.
CAUTION: Pag nag-hang ang player mo, yari ka!
I recommend tuning into a TV station and zooming in at maximum to crop the station logo from the picture, then leaving the TV on 10 hours a day for 10 days.
These days, burn-in is a non-issue for good plasma panels. The consensus is that the risk of burn-in for good plasmas is about the same as the risk of burn-in for CRT TVs.
=====================================================
I'm just using a progressive scan Pioneer dvd player right now, connected through component connection. And I'm thinking of buying an upscaling one with HDMI. Any recommendation?
The most popular these days is Pioneer 696AV; but Oppo (not available locally) is reputedly the best.