HDTV Forum

Six years ago I bought a 65" hdtv, a Mitsubish, after so many problems, I talked with their home offices. They admitted that they had this burn in problem, but if they fixed mine then they would be on the hook for everyone else. Asked them to replace, fix so that the problem wouldn't happen again or refund, had 1yr free finance form Mitsubish. They told me to keep the t.v. and forget the payments. In other words they gave my the t.v. for free, rather than fix it or replace it. I'm look ing for a new t.v. but I just don't think it will be Mitsubish, extented didn't help at all, was told why didn't I read the owner book before Ibought the t.v. I hope you get better sevice than I did. Free t.v. not worth much when it doesn't work right.

They admitted that they had this burn in problem

Wasn't much to admit... it's in the manual. It's not a Mits problem. It's the nature of projection CRT technology no matter who's name is on the front of the cabinet.

looking at Samsung HL-T7288W, This is a DLP. How do I make sure I don't have a problem again?
I have been reading and reading, but a bit confussed, any and all good advice is welcome.
Thanks for the help.

You won't have a burn-in problem with DLP (or LCD) - that's limited to CRTs and Plasma. Although DLP and LCD have their own problems (light engine failure, dead pixels, etc.).

Just caught this article. I have a 73' mits crt that is also 6 years old and to my eyes still looks as good as the day I bought. I was just wondering if there are other reasons for burn in except age of set. I have watched it quiet a bit

Burn-in has nothing to do with age. It has to do with a constant image on the screen. This happens a lot with video games and used to happen a lot with tv station logos. It even happens on old tube CRTs (my in-laws used to leave the tv on a lot with the audio muted and the word MUTE was burned in). If you change the tv channel or video game screen periodically then you probably won't see it.

LCD is not impervious but it is rated as equal or better than direct view CRT.

OAR, Original Aspect Ratio - Black Bars and Burn-in
viewtopic.php?t=3182

I would like to thank each for your words, I'm not much with a computer. I will look into each one of the subjects and hopfully it will guide me in the selection.
Once again thanks

I have an older Mits as well, and it also has edge burn in, despite my setting the contrast, brightness, etc. by calibration disks.

I read the manual, read lots of forums that said it wouldn't be an issue if properly set up (not left in torch mode), but the bottom line is that Mits provided NO way to stretch an HD signal. It was available on the non-HD inputs. The first years of viewing was strictly OTA digital transmission, so I had no way to eliminate the black bars on the side of the digital transmission. This was and still is common to have the 4:3 SD picture sent in 1080i/720p with black bars on the edge of the picture. My satellite receiver now allows me to stretch this, but the years of viewing OTA with black bars on the side led to the green phosphor not aging as much on the sides as in the center. There was no stationary image, just uneven wear.

This is only visible in certain scenes, but I know it's there and it is annoying to me. I really like the set a lot and feel they did a great engineering job on every aspect of the set, other than this total lack of aspect control on any HD signal. It is in this regard that I believe they hold some responsibility. Since I had an extended warranty, I tried to get them to replace the green tube, but the service guy came in, screwed up all my screen voltage adjustments and started banging on the tubes themselves. After doing this he stated that the picture was much better now and wasn't I much happier? I looked at the total jacked up grey scale tracking and now the blue tube had visible retrace lines visible on dark scenes. I told him "No", the picture is not better and the issue is not that the tube is broken, but that it needed to be replaced due to the uneven wear. They told me "burn in" is not covered by warranty. I knew that, but since I had not logged a single call in all the years of having the set (I was entitled to annual cleaning/etc. which I did myself), I was hoping they would at least supply me the green tube, and I'd do the work myself.

I also had a tuner issue with this set and didn't understand that the tuner was at fault for years (I'm and electronic service engineer with over 35 years of experience) as it was difficult to isolate. I pointed out the problem and told them how I had pinned it down to the tuner section. They said they would report it and get back to me. After a week or so they called back and said they would not replace the tuner because it was too expensive and they didn't believe it could possibly be the problem! In disgust I gave up my pursuit of this and resigned myself to the fact that the integrated tuner was flawed and have only suffered minor loss of function, since the satellite tuner works fine, and allows for aspect control of all signals.

So, no tube... technically not their problem as stated in the owners manual, but since they gave me no means to avoid the problem, I think they own some responsibiltiy. No tuner... no proof (in their words) and too expensive! What would I have an extended warranty for? In case the power cord went bad and I needed them to cover the $5 cost? I realize this is a service company problem, not directly Mits again, but I think they are hiding behind rhetoric on this and hoping not too many push them to taking action. I'm sure if I pitched a big fit and complained long enough, they might have offered some resolution, but the set is getting old, and I will likely replace it when my new house is completed.

I think Mits was in a terrific positon years ago and I sold many sets for them when friends and family would come over to see my set. It was calibrated and showed a beautiful picture, when the program material allowed. I think not owning up to these issues only hurts a company long term. While I liked the picture on my set, I'll likely be replacing it with an non-Mits unit. They "saved" the money on the tube and tuner, but they lost a customer for life. I guess time will tell if they made the right choice...

AaronS

The burn-in is not a Mitsubishi problem. The black pillars on 4:3 HD channels are placed there as part of the transmitted picture and is actually a 16:9 total picture provided by the station. Many providers today add their own colored sidebars for those pictures such as ESPN. It would be difficult to expand a 16:9 picture on a 16:9 screen. It's the content provider's fault, not the hardware provider.