LCD TV pillar bars and burn-in?
Thursday, June 21st, 2007Question: Just picked up an LG LCD television. When you are on a non-high definition channel and you see the pillar bars on either side of the picture, do you have to worry about burn-in? I worry that from watching a channel with pillar bars for hours might leave some image retention
Any other advice? So far I’m really digging the TV.
Answer 1: You don’t have to worry – LCD doesn’t have burn in. But there is a way to change the grey into black. I know when I changed the pillars from grey to black it made TV watching (on regular channels) a whole lot better and easier.
Answer 2: It’s very rare that burn in would occur on an LCD. I have Cablevision, and you can program the box to automatically switch to the optimal resolution depending on the channel you are watching (480i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p). Doing so will get rid of those pillar bars on the side when you watch a non-HD channel, without having to manually “stretch” the picture.
Answer 3: I know what they say about newer plasmas not having burn-in, but I still prefer LCD. I have seen new plasmas that still suffer from image retention. LCD will never give you a problem.
Answer 4: My Samsung plasma has anti burn in technology the eliminates it. Should be no problem with the set you got. LCD’s do not have burn in, to my knowledge – only LCD projections would. I wouldn’t worry about it. I play alot of videogames on my LCD, and I also have left the DirectTV menu on the screen for long stretches inadvertently. I’ve never seen any sign of burn-in.
Answer 5: I just purchased my second Panasonic plasma and the picture quality is amazing. I think HDMI cables also help. My other Panasonic is 3 years old and I don’t have any burn in effect. Just an FYI since you asked about LCD, but they should both be free from burn-in.
Answer 6: With the box I have from Cablevision (Scientific Atlanta), when the cable box is off, you press the Info and Guide buttons on the box simultaneously. This takes you to the HDTV setup wizard. Try that first, if it doesn’t work your user guide should have similar information.
Answer 7: LCD won’t burn but please don’t stretch a standard def picture. Not for any technical resaon, it just looks bad and it will annoy any vidiots who might be watching.