Are there negative long-term effects to operating a TV on "Retail" Mode over "Home" Mode?

I purchased a Sony Bravia kdl-46 s5100 and when watching telelvision/movies or playing a video game with dark scenes (such as night time scenes), the picture itself would dim, I'm guessing from the Energy Star feature. Once the scene itself gets lighter or there is a lot of movement, it goes back to normal, so it isn't a lasting effect - it's just a bit annoying while it does last! I got around this by operating on "Retail Mode" but am wondering if that has negative long-term effects.

2009-04-14T08:50:13Z

If I could choose your answer for best right now, I would. You have told me what the manual couldn't, what the online reference guide couldn't, and even what the Sony customer service line couldn't! That did the trick. Thank you very much.

A Well Lit Garden2009-04-14T06:33:42Z

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Some TV manufacturers do boost the back lighting brightness when setting a TV to retail mode. This does consume more energy and can shorten the life of the backlighting florescent tubes.

Sony TVs support a feature called Advanced Contrast Enhancer. What you are encountering is this feature. It will turn up the brightness to enhance whites during bright scenes. It will turn down the back lighting to enhance the blacks during dark scenes. This feature can be disabled in the Picture settings of some Sony TVs.