# Pet Peeve: Bars and their HDTVs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595 "2006-12-10T20:42:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/21 "2006-12-11T16:55:13Z")
I don’t think burn-in is much of an issue anymore with modern TVs. Certainly not LCDs. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/22 "2006-12-11T16:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Every widescreen TV i’ve ever seen has controls that allow you to have grey or black bars on either side of a 4:3 picture, so you don’t need to make it look ridiculous by stretching it across the wide screen. Hell, the one my friend has will automatically adjust the viewable area for HD and non-HD programming, for optimum picture quality. [/QUOTE] I don’t stretch mine. It drives me crazy to see it. You do need to guard against the “burn-in”, but I figure I flip around enough, and watch enough stuff in widescreen that I’m not too concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/23 "2006-12-11T16:57:28Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] I don’t think burn-in is much of an issue anymore with modern TVs. Certainly not LCDs. [/QUOTE] How modern? I consider any HDTV modern, but it is a problem with some. I’ve never seen it in real life, but if you google hdtv burn in, there are images of it out there. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/24 "2006-12-11T17:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Drop in your penny and the monkey dances. Doors is my monkey. [/QUOTE] Troll. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/25 "2006-12-11T17:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=SNenc] What a colossal waste of money! And it seems the only bars that DO have it set up right are the massive, chain sports bars – the exact kind of place I hate going to because their idea of a large beer selection means they have Heineken. [/QUOTE] I was at a party at a sports bar in a local country club not too long ago, and found myself impressed because the HDTV sets scattered about were all working correctly, with no stretching whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/26 "2006-12-11T17:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Anyone who considers “sports on HDTV” as anything other than an oxymoronic ludicrosity is retarded. You are all retarded. [/QUOTE] Anyone who would use “ludicrosity” and “retarded” in the same sentence is, well, a juvenile fuckwad. But I think your real problem is that you’re a sad attention-whoring troll. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/27 "2006-12-11T17:27:54Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] How modern? I consider any HDTV modern, but it is a problem with some. I’ve never seen it in real life, but if you google hdtv burn in, there are images of it out there. [/QUOTE] First of all they usually do not have black bars, but grey bars. The grey bars approximate the average luminosity of what they expect the TV to show so that wear on that part of the set is similar to the rest of it to minimize burn in. Even so, the manual with my HDTV recommends less than 15% of your viewing be done with grey bars. Thus, if most of the time the TV is going to be displaying non-HD signals they probably should not leave up the grey bars. A compromise might be to set it to panoramic, or whatever the particular manufacturer calls it (undistorted in the middle, stretched at the sides). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/28 "2006-12-11T19:08:25Z")
[QUOTE=Cleophus] All this comes down to breaking one or more of The Three Rules of HDTV: 1. You need to have an honest-to-God HDTV. Not an EDTV or an HD downconverter or anything else that, while is technically capable of recieving an HD signal, is not capable of displaying one. 2. You need to have an HD-capable connection to the TV. Composite and S-Video connections just won’t cut it. 3. You need a source of HD programming. If you have cable or satellite, you may have to pay more for HD programming and an HD box. If you want local HD broadcasts, you need an HD tuner (either built-in or external) and an antenna. [/QUOTE] 4. You have to change the channel to the actual hi-def station. Yes, I know you’ve been watching football on Fox 5 for years, but channel 5 isn’t the hi-def feed. You’ve got to change to channel 243 or whatever Fox-HD is in your area. And **lissener** , it would be easy (and accurate) to call you fuckwit, or troll, or any of the other names that’ve been slung at you here. Instead, I’m going to point out that you’re blatantly _wrong_. Sports programming in hi-def is second only to much of the programming on Discovery HD for showcasing the beauty and clarity of the technology. One would have to either be blind or mind-bogglingly ignorant to try and argue otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/29 "2006-12-11T19:32:48Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] How modern? I consider any HDTV modern, but it is a problem with some. I’ve never seen it in real life, but if you google hdtv burn in, there are images of it out there. [/QUOTE] Hmm, with some searching it seems there might be something to it still but apparently it’s not usually permanent damage with plasma or LCD: > [@](#): > > Plasma displays also exhibit another image retention issue which is sometimes confused with burn-in damage. > {snip} > However, unlike burn-in, this charge build-up is transient and self corrects after the display has been powered off for a long enough period of time, or after running random broadcast TV type content. > [@](#): > > LCD type displays exhibit a similar phenomenon, although the mechanics of the image retention are different. > {snip} > As in the case with plasma displays, this is usually transient and will self correct after a period of off time or dynamic content. However, in severe cases it can become permanent. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595/30 "2006-12-11T19:34:16Z")
Oops, that’s from the [wikipedia article on Phosphor burn-in](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphor_burn-in). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeve-bars-and-their-hdtvs/383595.md?page=1)