IR Differences in Samsung and Panasonic

[dansmail26]

Does anybody have any real life experience in seeing ir differences in the 2012 sets? The Cnet 'accidental' test has led to a lot of talk about this. Have any of our salesman or store owners actually seen a difference?
I'm waiting for an expected pay off of some money, I was all set to buy a GT but wondering if I should go back to my original plans of buying a 6500/7000.
I know this board is pretty much a pure Panny board, but was hoping to get some 'eye witness' reports.

[david_b]

Go see for yourself at a store?

Put the menu up on both for 2 minutes, take them down and see if you notice anything.

Make sure you get back to where you would watch the TVs from, getting right on top of them is kind of unrealworld.

[NightHawk]

The only IR on my 50ST50 I can see is on the darkest gray full screen slides, a very faint "Menu" in the upper left corner only visible from a foot or two away if you look hard for it.
Can't see IR on normal content at all.

[MCS]

Grandkids are here, watching a lot of netflix cartoons that do not cover the whole screen for hours on a brand new 60GT50, no problems at all. I was really worried about this when they got here. The 4 yr old was intrigued with the 3D I wasn't so keen on him wearing $80 glasses then tossing them aside. But the under sea adventure was all to much for him when that giant squid shot out at him. He screamed and ran into the other room. Glasses are put up with no worries of having to bring them back out. There is some one looking out for me after all.

[SiGGy]

The only IR on my 50ST50 I can see is on the darkest gray full screen slides, a very faint "Menu" in the upper left corner only visible from a foot or two away if you look hard for it.
Can't see IR on normal content at all.

Same here. I have the faint "menu" on my VT50. Other bright menu items do hang around for a bit but not very long.

For sure baby the Panasonic when it's new.

[Kevin Miller]

Does anybody have any real life experience in seeing ir differences in the 2012 sets? The Cnet 'accidental' test has led to a lot of talk about this. Have any of our salesman or store owners actually seen a difference?
I'm waiting for an expected pay off of some money, I was all set to buy a GT but wondering if I should go back to my original plans of buying a 6500/7000.
I know this board is pretty much a pure Panny board, but was hoping to get some 'eye witness' reports.

I have plenty! The Panasonics this year smoke last year's Samsung 7000 series, and are definitely better than this year's Samsungs. Two things you should read: My review of the Panasonic TC-P65VT50 here at HDJ at this link: http://www.highdefjunkies.com/showth...981#post345981

and the Results of the Shootout at Value Electronics here: http://www.tweaktv.com/the-kevin-mil...tout-2012.html

[gadgtfreek]

"Smoke" is a broad claim IMO, but we did see that different builds last year had different results, which I why I think you see some people have problems and some don't.

My D7000 NEVER had IR, I couldnt even make it show with a little effort. That is why I find it hard to see where a new model would smoke a model that did not have IR to begin with, unless it was plain abuse or variance among panels. I ran my color slides every few weeks just to see what is going on, and just never saw anything left. My 2011 GT30 is a different story, I always have a Nat Geo rectange, History "H" and Discovery "D" appearing in the color slides.

Im glad to see the 2012 Panny's are better than 2010 and 2011 (my 2010 S2 plain sucked for IR).

I don't doubt what you've seen, but like I said, we see panel variance and IR results between the sets, so it's hard to judge IMO. A lot of folks have problems with 2011's, but my GT30 in normal viewing does not really have any issues. I think if you setup 50 plasmas, same model, they would not all behave the same.

[Dierk]

Our 60" ST50 is a bit past 2 months usage.

Reported earlier that it seemed VERY prone to "Quick Onset, Short- to MEDIUM- Duration IR" - with the worse cases seeming to linger over into the "medium-long" duration time period.

Babied the panel for a couple of weeks, and
1) Even the worse spots of IR - the Uverse "GUIDE" image and a mash-up of the ESPN2/Encore HD logos - have vanished from (MY) vision.
2) Have begun to Carefully use the Uverse "Guide" function again, and the panel now seems somewhat more resistant to Quick Onset IR: that is, calling up the GUIDE no longer "instantly" leaves anything beyond momentary IR.

Have not been brave enough to try a Real Test - such as leaving the Guide or Internal MENU lettering up for a prolonged time - but this at least seems like an improvement.

[TWD]

I've had my 65VT50 for a couple weeks and have not seen any IR. No buzzing either. I have a May build.

[NightHawk]

I've had my 65VT50 for a couple weeks and have not seen any IR. No buzzing either. I have a May build.

Its possible the earliest build dates were more prone to initial IR.
I first had a very early build date (Feb 2012) that had excessive IR at the start that lasted for a couple weeks from just the "Menu" text from the bright white picture menu. Got it to fade considerably by running slides for over a week most of the day and night.
For other reasons I decided to return that set and got another 50ST50 from amazon (lower price) and this one had a March 2012 build date and has been more resistant to early on IR.

I believe the 2012 Panasonics should be give extra care during the critical first 100-200 hours like avoid using the menu system and bright white logos as much as possible during that time period.
Running the slides and/or the service menu aging pattern (bright white screen or moving bright white bar) during off hours for the worst week or two would help get past the critical period quicker.

After the first 100-200 hours the Panasonic appears to be much more immune to IR and there may be less difference in that area between the Samsung models after that point.

[TWD]

I saw my first IR. It was the RETURN logo on the main menu. It took several days to fade. It wasn't real bad. I could notice it slightly during normal viewing depending on the color/scene on that part of the screen. I have been babying the set to avoid IR during the first 100-200 hrs.

This is my first plasma and the picture is fabulous. But it is a shame that you just can't sit down and enjoy the display without having to take special precautions to avoid IR. I wonder how many unsuspecting consumers return plasmas due to IR issues?

For reference, i have a 65VT50 with a May build.

[tazz3]

After watching history channel 2 i see a faint H logo but it goes away fast it dont stick around..
I have not played a video game in months on my plasma

[zappahead]

Does anybody have any real life experience in seeing ir differences in the 2012 sets? The Cnet 'accidental' test has led to a lot of talk about this. Have any of our salesman or store owners actually seen a difference?
I'm waiting for an expected pay off of some money, I was all set to buy a GT but wondering if I should go back to my original plans of buying a 6500/7000.
I know this board is pretty much a pure Panny board, but was hoping to get some 'eye witness' reports.

I have a 1 month old Samsung E450 and have not even a hint
of IR or even a trace of it and I do pause the DVR for 30 min
quite often as it's an old habit so I can skip the commercials.
I'm watching a lot of Encore HD with the solid white logo
and no problems with black bars.
It has something to do with this years 'Real Black Filter'
and the 'Clear Image' panel for the E450, E530, E550.

Your picture will improve as the break in
continues and the heat level goes way down.

This works great on my E450.

Mode - Movie
Cell Light 20
Brightness 50 daytime / 40 for evening and 35 for a dark room (Blacks look amazing at 35!
Contrast 100 daytime / 98 for evening and 93 for a dark room
Sharpness 0
Color 55
R/G Tint 50/50
Color Space - Native
Gamma -1
Dynamic Contrast - off
Black Tone - Darkest
Flesh Tone - 0
Color Tone - Warm1
Size - Screen Fit
Digital Noise Filter - Off

I have tried different settings but always come back to these.
White Balance Calibration
Thanks to 'CTM Audi'.
RO - 21
GO - 28
BO - 22
RG - 20
GG - 27
BG - 23