'Ghost Lines' a sign of a Defect in my Plasma?

[RoadSter]

About two months ago I picked up my first HDTV, a Panasonic 46" PZ80U. I had a lot of reasons to go with Plasma over LCD - and I've been pretty happy with it, although I haven't calibrated the picture fully yet.

Since most programming is still SDTV, and I can't stand for warped aspect ratios, I was watching a movie in 4:3 Grey Bar on my DISH 722. When the end credits rolled, I noticed banding in the grey bar area on each line of text - the grey dimmed the more text was on that line of the screen.

So, seeing as the grey bars are not broadcast and are generated by the reciever then sent to my TV via HDMI, assuming it's not a signal issue with the cabling then I'm left to wonder if the issue is the TV, or if it's something in the reciever?

Anyone had similar issues? Should I worry?

Thanks for any input.
-RoadSter

 

[jayn_j]

If you were using component, I would say it was a problem with reflections in your cables. That is often dirty pins, a loose connector or damaged cable.

However, nothing like that should happen in a digital signal path. Have you seen this on just the one movie, or is it a common occurrance?

If just once, it probably was a problem at the uplink. Check and see if it happens on other channels.

If so, it may be a simple matter that you have your brightness and contrast set too high and some mild artifacts are showing up. Try using movie mode, or turning down the contrast and see if that helps.

Sorry, that's all I got right now.