Plasma TV for video gaming?

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ww3676

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I hope someone here on this site uses a plasma TV for gaming, as I am considering getting one with the hope of using it to play games on. I understand all about the burn-in issue, but I wonder if I bought a good plasma with a pixel-orbiting feature and played in 30 mins increments running the screen saver feature for a minute or two it would negate the problem.
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Funny, I already have a DLP projector that I use for games... but I have to move to a smaller place in a month and will have no where to set it up again any time soon.
 
A bit of a warning on Plasma TV's - they have an INCREDIBLY short lifespan. If you get 4 years out of one your lucky. A customer at the print shop I work at does home theater installations and he's told me the horror stories. Aparently every time you turn the screen on it dims just slightly meaning that eventually, through normal use, your screen will be too dark too see. Not to mention the fact that I was also told that after about a year or so, large groups of pixels will just go dead. Anyway, just wanted to give a warning.
 
I Don't think its a good Idea for gaming. Leaving static images on the screen for a long period of time can damage the TV. A lot of games have static images on the screen (Health bars and other things like that) changing the channel every 20min would be a pain in the ass. I wouldn't reommend it, Spending an ass load of money on a TV you could ruin because You were stuck on a Boss in Final Fantasy X would truly piss me off.
 
[quote name='sisco1986']I Don't think its a good Idea for gaming. Leaving static images on the screen for a long period of time can damage the TV. A lot of games have static images on the screen (Health bars and other things like that) changing the channel every 20min would be a pain in the ass. I wouldn't reommend it, Spending an ass load of money on a TV you could ruin because You were stuck on a Boss in Final Fantasy X would truly piss me off.[/quote]

Burn-in with static images is a major problem with gaming on a plasma. I have an LCD projection TV. LCD or DLP projection televisions are relatively (as opposed to other projection TVs) thin, light, have great picture quality and DO NOT suffer from burn-in. They are also cheaper, inch-for-inch, than plasma TVs. Look at the Samsung DLPs, the Panasonic LCDs. and the Sony LCDs before jumping on the plasma bandwagon.
 
[quote name='mcwilliams132']Let's dispense with the myths...

A simple google search will net you a number of "myth busting" articles...

Plasma TV's can last for a decade or more...

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-lifespan.html
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You're right they can, but they don't normally. Plasma televisions use plasma (suprise, suprise) as a charged medium to present the image. However, this plasma does become inert after a number of uses (not a period of time). So if you turn the tv on for 1/2 hour, 3 times a week.. yea, it may last a decade. If you use it at a normal rate, its about 4 years, if you use it like many gamers.. you're lucky to see 2 to 3 years. They can be recharged, but its expensive and currently hard to get done.

LCD televisions don't have this problem btw, if you're going to go thin, spend the extra cash.
 
yes it is true that Plasma will dim over the years however they last so long that you will hardly notice. I believe the number is somewhere around 5-7 hours a day for 15 years is the average. If you have a job, this should not be an issue. I can only watch 2-3 hours a day on a good day. Also, if you are the type of person willing to buy a Plasma TV my guess is that within 8-10 years (at the longest) you will be looking for another TV anyway (they are only going to get bigger and cheaper).

As for burn-in, this is another overblown issue. It's not a myth because it used to be true with the first models but the ones being made today do not really suffer from burn-in unless you are abusing your TV. The light in each pixel that comprises the picture is actually continuously rotating within each pixel. It is virtually imperceptible to the human eye. This acts as kind of a screen saver to reduce the likelihood of burn-in. If you do leave the TV on pause or play a game with a health bar that doesn't move for hours upon hours on end then you might have something to worry about. Normal use shouldn't burn in any image though.

Plasma TVs for gaming are super sweet - especially for games that operate in 16x9 and progressive scan. I-Ninja and Madden are great examples. I've had a plasma for 7 months now and the picture and everything work great and I use it is my only gaming TV.

That being said, LCD and DLP TVs have their advantages and disadvantages too. They are cheaper but take up a lot more space. There is something unbelievably cool about a TV just hanging on the wall. I say go for it.
 
OK, I just did the math... my plasma is supposed to last for approximately 60,000 hours of use. If you have it on for 10 hours a day every day it should still last 16.4 years... If you leave it on all day every day it should still last 6.8 years... That's fine by me...
 
Plasma screens are not a good choice for gaming due to the burn-in issue. It's that simple. All it takes is one incident with the wrong game and the unit is shot. Most companies will not cover it under warranty as they speciically warn against such situations.

The newest generation is less vulnerable but that is a very relative thing compared to other display technologies. Plasma screens are still by far the most vulnerable followed by LCDs. I have an acquaintance in the rental business whose path I cross because of my own work at trade shows. He had no fewer than a dozen recently purchased screens ruined by their use at E3 this year. He now has a policy that renters must show what material they are going to use for the show to see if it is in the danger zone. Use of non-approved material will result in a penalty fee. This is something he has never had to do previously for any other type of equipment he handles.
 
Well, I am just hoping I can play in 1/2 hour increments, with pixel orbiting turned on. After 1/2 hour I will use the screen wipe feature just in case, for 5 mins. Sounds like an awful amount of trouble to go through, but I am in love with the picture quality on plasmas. I currently own an LCD tv as well, and frankly am not 100% impressed with it. The color difference between objects on screen seems far to great: To me it's like viewing the world in call-shaded vision.
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I also do not like DLP or LCD projection TV's, mostly due to having to replace the bulb. After having projectors that I had to replace a $400+ bulb on it every 2000 hours, the cost of use was too much. I know the bulbs on those TV's are supposed to last a lot longer than that (like what, 5-10,000 hours?), but the word on the street is they last under the minimum amnout the factory specs quote.
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Nothing lasts as long as they specify since the conditions of your real-world situation will almost always reduce the life of the product. But for things like DLP TVs the light source life appears to be quite good. Since the field of view is fixed and substantially smaller than a typical projector is asked to produce, and very importantly, the throw distance (distance from light source to viewing surface) is miniscule the task is immensely less demanding than for a projector.

It won't help if you're shopping today but there are some really nice developments in the DLP sector that will make 2005 a big year for that technology. True 1080 support, thinner units, and greatly reduced chipset cost for HDTVs in general will give DLP a big boost.

Since much of the games I favor are major candidates for causing burn-in and I like to have lengthy uninterrupted sessions, I'm keeping a close eye on DLP. I may go weeks without turning on any omy game systems but when I do I don't want to put up with any compromises. This is one of the reasons I invested in a HDLoader setup to spend more time playing rather than waiting for data to load.
 
I'd get a rear projection DLP instead of a Plasma. The picture is excellent on the Samsung DLP models that I've looked at and they don't suffer from burn-in.
 
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