If more than 1 technologies are competing for the same end user / purpose, then you can indeed label which one are more superior / advance in terms of meeting the purpose / end users needs.

Personally, I think it is too early to select a winner in this particular category (plasma vs LCD), and the winner tag itself is not without dispute. A technology can be a winner in quality repoduction but a loser in survival.

LCD is gainning popularity even plasma produces better PQ. Bear in mind that the best technology does not always wins.

You are right, burn in is most susceptible in the early hours of the display life. This is when the phospors are in their infancy. It is better to turn down contrast or brightness in the 1st 100hrs or so. However, most newer displays have anti-burn in mechanisms that the user can choose to turn on. Pixel shifting that moves pixels ever so slightly reduces this effect. As long as content is varied and static logos and tickers are not showed in torch mode settings ie, vivid or showroom display mode, chances of burn in on newer plasmas are pretty low.

The Plasma Break-In DVD image is located here:

http://www.eaprogramming.com/downloads/download_main.htm

I just did the easy thing and downloaded the 1080p jpeg images on a SD card and stuck it into my PV80s SD slot and ran it as a looped slideshow. Saves wear and tear on the old DVD player (and prevents the risk of your DVD player hanging and displaying, say, green for 10 hours straight while you sleep...).

They new plasma screens are pretty resistant to burn-in though, so just use it like your old CRT and not have to suffer dull, dark settings for the first 200 hrs. Any image retention you see should clear up within 15 seconds of you watching another channel. I believe all new Panny plasma panels are pre-seasoned for 100 hrs at the factory.

Guys, looks like the statement "IR is a thing of the past" is a myth. My PV80 has a permanent IR on the top right with the AXN logo stuck there. I went through the break-in procedure as well, and I watch a lot of AXN maybe like 4 hours a day after work. And guess what, the AXN watermark is now permanent. Be careful when watching too much Astro like me.

OK guys, update on my IR issue. The Panasonic service guy came to my house at 5pm. And i showed him the IR on the screen. He told me that I am the very first guy to report this in Malaysia. Therefore, it is a big incident.

So, he took a couple of pictures and saved the pictures that I took yesterday also and jot down a brief report of my viewing habits that he will be sending to Japan. At the same time, he activated a screen wash feature from the service menu, which features an extremely bright white bar scrolling from left to right to clear the IR and he told me to leave it on for a couple of hours. According to him, it will either improve it or completely clear it and I was told to call him tomorrow morning and let him know of the improvements from this screen wash feature.

Meanwhile, he will go and consult the management regarding this to see whether or not the warranty is valid in this case coz IR within 4 months of normal usage is a very rare case and unacceptable scenario. All in all, Panny is really doing everything to keep pv80 purchasers happy. Extremely good and fast service I would say.

Anyway, will further update you guys on my findings.

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Added on April 23, 2009, 5:26 pm

Oh yeah, I was adviced to be cautious with logos that have bright white wordings from the Panasonic service guy too. For now, I would advise astro users to use the Zoom1 aspect ratio when you encounter any logos in channel programs that pose a threat of IR.

not planning to get plasma yet, mostly just needed for PS3 and Xbox360... 32 is enough for just that..

Haha...I get what you mean about 50" now...but would have still been unwilling to fork out another 2K. By the way, am really enjoying my plasma...is it me or are the colours more vibrant? Am using just the "normal" mode, but the colours are very vivid, so have not really adjusted anything. I was watching Red Cliff II (thank god for subtitles!), and actually appreciated John Woo's movie a lot!!
Thanks again! I owe you, I know, I know. 

Wow...suddenly a entry level Panasonic plasma is release to the market and it beats the shit out of Full HD LCD in the market.  I'm absolutely speechless.

The main issue here is price/value ratio of the TV. Plasma can look very good at very affordable prices. There are no sub-4k 42" LCDs that can beat the PV80/X10 in terms of color vividness and black levels. True, the new generation LED-driven LCDs come close, with a crapload of technology behind them but the price... is 5-figures, man.

The closest Full HD is probably Panasonic's own LZ80, LG's 53FR, Samsung's 5-series. And all these are no fight on PQ against the X10. No point talking about Sony X-series, Samsung 8-series. These are just not in the same range.

Any reason why plasma tv is still favorable compared to LCD tv? I tot LCD is better than plasma, excepts its "non-true black" in LCD.

Should we set higher contrast and brightness during break in period or lower?  I keep searching for the previous post, some said we should lower down the contrast and brightness during the 1st 100 -200 hours of break in but some said we should set it to higher constrast and brightness by using dynamic mode with the break in dvd.  Anyone can advise?

think of TV, think of Plasma tv,

think of monitor, think of LCD monitor.

there is ALWAYS a gap in LCD techonology before achieving the so-called real TV.

if people never get to understand the techonology, many will say buy LCD TV better

If you are using looping alternate single color (blank) image, you can set contrast to Max bcos the whole screen evenly phosphors. But if you break in while watching movies, the screen doesn't evenly phosphor (got some area too dark and some very white); so, to reduce the difference, need to reduce contrast. But the best method to break in is to do the 'looping alternate single color image'.  But then, when can you get to watch the NEW TV?

Correct but only if u use the break in dvd. This is because this is a full screen colour alternating display and has no risk of causing burn in due to static TV channels and black borders. Do not use these high brigthness and contrast settings for TV channels and DVD (2:35 and 1:33 ratio) during the early life of your plasma.

strange, i am a lcd user for so long, from samsung to lg to sharp to sony, this is the first time i switch to plasma, i found that plasma color is so much better compared to lcd - games & blu

Can you kindly tell me what brand produce the best LCD Television?

Hi,
I'm looking for a 42 incher replacing my old CRT. Not exactly sure which one to get. Plasma or LCD better? The only thing that will be plugged in is Astro and PS3 of which Astro will be most watched.

Any recommendation? Will possibly mount this on the wall so do take that into account.

Thanks and regards.

hello all, i'm new here, but at this moment i'm looking for a good LCD TV... here's the rough spec i want and i do appreciate if you guys enlighten me with precious pointer in getting a LCD TV... thank you...

screen size : 37" is the minimum, while 50" i think it's too big for my room...
budget : RM3999, of course if i can get the lower, the better
connectivity : HDMI, DisplayPort, S-Video, RCA things like that...

any other things i'm missing?

thanks in advance...

Gelombang Cekal?