Author Topic: "No more Plasma break-in" (Read 8540 times)

jerix · « **on:** Mar 20, 2011 at 04:21 PM »

After about two weeks of subdued color shade for my pk550 and once in a while use of the color slide to probably help in aging it, with only one movie daily once I get home from work, I totally lost my patience to wait the 150 hours break-in and abandoned the process for my pk550.

With all the readings about break-in, I finally sided with those who do not believe, and adjusted now the TV the way I want it to appear, pushing the contrast to almost the maximum and the sharpness, saturation, etc. based on what my eyes want to see, garnering in the process the instant appreciation from my kids, who have been criticizing the required subdued color specs under the break-in mode because they have been wanting to see more color and brightness.

Now though i am still on cinema (user) mode, with the contrast pegged at 98, brightness 55, sharpness 46, color 53, tint r6 and color temp at w32, the PK550 is giving me the viewing pleasure that was deferred for about 2 weeks. I took this route considering opinions that as long as the TV is on full screen mode and no permanent image is maintained on the screen, this will be okay.

This is an experiment in itself, in opposite to the strict break-in rules adopted by plasma users here. Just like what Carlo is doing in his plasma break-in experiment, I will try to provide in this thread my observations on the picture quality of the TV. I do not intend to use my TV to experiment burn-in issues so i may report only facts about picture quality from time to time. Based on my calculations, i have already spent around 20 hours of subdued colors when i decided to abandon the break-in and adjusted the colors of the TV in its full glory.

chris_santo · « **Reply #1 on:** Mar 20, 2011 at 06:49 PM »

Just avoid black bars and static images for long periods. Your settings will be fine.

thebat · « **Reply #2 on:** Mar 20, 2011 at 07:23 PM »

I didn't do any break in with my Plasma.
Ayun..... ang ganda pa din ng plasma ko

. 3 years na sya ok na ok pa din.
Don't worry about it... just enjoy using it.

Carlo777 · « **Reply #3 on:** Mar 20, 2011 at 11:40 PM »

I, for one, only did a full break-in on one of my plasma units which was the older PV80. The rest went thru a so-so break-in.

I'll post my observation soon enough.

jerix · « **Reply #4 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 05:44 AM »

The VIVID color mode of the pk550 is too much for my eyes. Maybe there is a need to adjust the values of all the colors there to make it more subtle to the eyes. The STANDARD mode is almost at par with the cinema mode but I haven't explore this yet much as i did with the latter.

mars · « **Reply #5 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM »

Quote from: Carlo777 on Mar 20, 2011 at 11:40 PM

I, for one, only did a full break-in on one of my plasma units which was the older PV80. The rest went thru a so-so break-in.

I'll post my observation soon enough.

Sir, this would be a nice reference and may be a definitive answer to the question of which would be better, break-in, or no break-in? I for one want to stop my break-in (40 hours pa lang). But this is mainly due to impatience.

Carlo777 · « **Reply #6 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 01:58 PM »

Quote from: mars on Mar 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM

Sir, this would be a nice reference and may be a definitive answer to the question of which would be better, break-in, or no break-in? I for one want to stop my break-in (40 hours pa lang). But this is mainly due to impatience.

Just 2 more days and we'll get the results.

mrclark · « **Reply #7 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 02:00 PM »

I didn't do any "break-in" period when I bought my Pana 42C10 last August 2009...
just keep on watching.. naka-"JUST" screen mode ako when watching cable, otherwise 16:9 screen mode when watching DVDs

no IRs so far...

jerix · « **Reply #8 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 02:59 PM »

Quote from: mars on Mar 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM

But this is mainly due to impatience.

My main reason in fact.

As it is also said, the break-in will not improve the picture quality of the TV. It will just try to immunize the TV from possible IR.

chris_santo · « **Reply #9 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 07:52 PM »

Image quality improvement may or may not be true, but break in will not immunize plasma from IR. It may only make it less prone to it.

wunder9 · « **Reply #10 on:** Mar 21, 2011 at 09:35 PM »

Seems IR is unavoidable with plasma anyway. So I quit the break-in period after several days, just watched whatever I felt like watching. Now I just use the V120 slides to wash away any IR leftover.

jerix · « **Reply #11 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 05:31 AM »

Wunder, welcome to the club of "No break-in" bro

reynold · « **Reply #12 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 09:10 AM »

i never did some "break-in" on my plasma pv80... in-enjoy ko sya agad and after almost 3 years, panalo pa din ang kulay and no burn in, though there were minimal IR pero di nagtatagal at nawawala rin kaagad

pekspert · « **Reply #13 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 10:04 AM »

Have 2 plasmas, never broke them in. No problem

jerix · « **Reply #14 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 11:33 AM »

My decision to stop the break-in method did not come so easy. It has been my impression that most if not all Plasma owners here went through the process and a deviation on my part may end me with full of regrets. So I am now very happy to read in this thread some admissions by owners of plasma that no break-in was done on their respective units and the TV is still the same.

Carlo777 · « **Reply #15 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 11:54 AM »

Quote from: jerix on Mar 22, 2011 at 11:33 AM

My decision to stop the break-in method did not come so easy. It has been my impression that most if not all Plasma owners here went through the process and a deviation on my part may end me with full of regrets. So I am now very happy to read in this thread some admissions by owners of plasma that no break-in was done on their respective units and the TV is still the same.

All my friends in the U.S and Japan, I mean all, who have plasma TVs did not go thru the process. Some of them even said..."Huh? What's that?" The models range from PX500 (2005 model) to the G10 (2009 model). And some of these guys are gamers.

nsp · « **Reply #16 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 04:33 PM »

didn't bother to break-in my lg pj350. but i always use cinema / cinema (user) mode. mainly due to personal preference. vivid and standard modes are too bright for my eyes.

mars · « **Reply #17 on:** Mar 22, 2011 at 06:27 PM »

Quote from: nsp on Mar 22, 2011 at 04:33 PM

didn't bother to break-in my lg pj350. but i always use cinema / cinema (user) mode. mainly due to personal preference. vivid and standard modes are too bright for my eyes.

Same here bro. Anyway, maybe I'll just wait for Carlo's results before I decide whether or not to continue. Anyway, I still prefer the cinema mode for movies. For TV watching, I prefer my kids' lcd...hehehe. Labo kasi ng cable sa plasma.

mars · « **Reply #18 on:** Mar 23, 2011 at 09:27 AM »

Quote from: jerix on Mar 20, 2011 at 04:21 PM

Now though i am still on cinema (user) mode, with the contrast pegged at 98, brightness 55, sharpness 46, color 53, tint r6 and color temp at w32, the PK550 is giving me the viewing pleasure that was deferred for about 2 weeks. I took this route considering opinions that as long as the TV is on full screen mode and no permanent image is maintained on the screen, this will be okay.

Bro, ano ang settings mo sa advance options (dynamic contrast, dynamic color, etc)? How do you activate the 24fps film mode (grayed out ang sa akin when playing bd's and dvd's kahit naka on ang 24fps sa player). Thanks.

jerix · « **Reply #19 on:** Mar 23, 2011 at 10:13 AM »

Quote from: mars on Mar 23, 2011 at 09:27 AM

Bro, ano ang settings mo sa advance options (dynamic contrast, dynamic color, etc)? How do you activate the 24fps film mode (grayed out ang sa akin when playing bd's and dvd's kahit naka on ang 24fps sa player). Thanks.

Bro sorry, i havent touch those areas yet.

jerix · « **Reply #20 on:** Mar 27, 2011 at 07:35 PM »

image pic of pk550

Mode: Cinema (user)
Contrast: 90
brightness:77
sharpness:70
tint: 50
Temp c7

bopol2 · « **Reply #21 on:** Mar 30, 2011 at 06:51 AM »

just bought my pany 42 plasma is it safe to use for ps3 and xbox 360 do i have to break in if im using it for gaming ,tnx newbie here

mars · « **Reply #22 on:** Mar 30, 2011 at 08:33 AM »

Bro Jerix, did you calibrate your TV? Sa ngayon kasi, satisfied pa ako sa cinema mode. Baka sakali lang na may mas magandang settings or tweaks to improve the pq some more. Thanks.

jerix · « **Reply #23 on:** Mar 30, 2011 at 12:19 PM »

Quote from: mars on Mar 30, 2011 at 08:33 AM

Bro Jerix, did you calibrate your TV? Sa ngayon kasi, satisfied pa ako sa cinema mode. Baka sakali lang na may mas magandang settings or tweaks to improve the pq some more. Thanks.

Bro i got no particular setting. Bara-bara lang, ika nga... meaning i always tweak it the way i want depending on the file. kaya ever changing yung mga settings ko and i seem to enjoy that

Tavus · « **Reply #24 on:** Mar 30, 2011 at 09:22 PM »

Why not watch the tv naturally? wouldn't it break after regular use?

Carlo777 · « **Reply #25 on:** Mar 30, 2011 at 10:45 PM »

Quote from: bopol2 on Mar 30, 2011 at 06:51 AM

just bought my pany 42 plasma is it safe to use for ps3 and xbox 360 do i have to break in if im using it for gaming ,tnx newbie here

Safe. Just make sure that you peg your contrast to about 35 and drop your brightness to about -1, just for the 1st hundred hours.

bopol2 · « **Reply #26 on:** Mar 31, 2011 at 02:18 AM »

tnx sir carlo777 for the info

jerix · « **Reply #27 on:** Mar 31, 2011 at 05:24 AM »

Quote from: Tavus on Mar 30, 2011 at 09:22 PM

Why not watch the tv naturally? wouldn't it break after regular use?

I dont know but to my eyes the plasma is not better for TV broadcasts. So I am still using my CRT.

chris_santo · « **Reply #28 on:** Apr 01, 2011 at 04:05 AM »

Quote from: jerix on Mar 31, 2011 at 05:24 AM

I dont know but to my eyes the plasma is not better for TV broadcasts. So I am still using my CRT.

analog is supposed to be better in SDTV so that is expected. however a better comparison is to have it side by side with the same size and ratio (4:3). I wonder how big a 50" is in 4:3...

BongC36 · « **Reply #29 on:** Apr 01, 2011 at 11:42 AM »

I too didn't do any special break-in procedures when I bought ny PK550, just used Cinema mode, reduced contrast a bit to my preference, set the screen to 16:9 and turn the Pixel orbiter ON. I find Cignal SD channels to very good on the plasma, unlike the LCD that it replaced. HD channels on it of course are gorgeous. Formula 1 races are now broadcast in HD and all I can say is WOW