Do I need to 'break-in' my new plasma?

Hey guys. I got a good deal on a panasonic viera 50' (TC-P50S30). I've been reading different opinions on whether or not I need to 'break-in' my tv before I go higher with brightness or play games for extended periods of time. Does anyone have any advice for me? I've read that the newer plasmas have eliminated this and others say at least 100hrs of full screen normal viewing will do the trick. Any advice?

In all honesty, i would say it is not necessary to break in your new plasma. But if you had any concerns it would not hurt to do it anyway.

I would simply adjust the contrast and brightness settings to a reasonable level, and not worry about it.

If you were planning on a professional calibration in the future, then a more carefull break-in might be needed to assure "proper" color adjustments. But this would be for the videophiles who agonize over every hue of blue, green and red.

Otherwise just use and enjoy your television from the start.

I'd give it some break-in time just to be safe. It's good to know that plasmas still look best when you don't turn up the brightness/contrast. I've heard that newer plasmas have tech that has pretty much gotten rid of burn in, but it wouldn't hurt to give it some break-in. I've played games on my plasma that's around 7 or 8 years old and havn't had any burn in issues. Especially now, a lot of games rarely have a static image on screen for a long time, so you should be pretty safe after some break-in time.

I never fully understood the need to. If you go to avsforum just about everybody will say "yes", but in reality it isn't like the tv wasn't turned on before it arrived in your home.

I never fully understood the need to. If you go to avsforum just about everybody will say "yes", but in reality it isn't like the tv wasn't turned on before it arrived in your home.

Heirren

[QUOTE="Heirren"]

I never fully understood the need to. If you go to avsforum just about everybody will say "yes", but in reality it isn't like the tv wasn't turned on before it arrived in your home.

quikdash6

Test? I don't know about test, but when you first turn on a new tv it is certainly NOT the first time the set is being turned on.

I also recently purchased a new 2011 samsung plasma and do notice that it does retain some same games if you play them for a little while. Mostly the health bars etc. But with the new plasmas when it happens it usually isnt permanent and a little regular tv viewing or movie will remove it. Though I would recommend not to have your tv on "torch mode" aka dynamic, or vibrant setting etc. Put it on normal for a little bit and put the brightness down to maybe 60-70. You can go lower but the picture just gets very muddy and ugly.

It's not necessary, but if you don't do it, make sure A) NOT to calibrate your TV until you've watched it for 100 hours, B) do not crank the contrast and brightness above 50 until you have watched 100 hours, and finally, C) don't watch anything in letterbox or 4:3 aspect... stretch or zoom the image accordingly. After about 3 weeks of this with regular watching, you should be able to calibrate it and do most anything you like. I personally broke mine in using slides... it was on for 4 days straight, which wasn't fun, but it sure beats 3 weeks (or however long it takes you to watch the new TV 100 hours.)