Many problems Sony 46W4500

[Clare Newsome]

We are mentioning it in print (latest Ultimate Guide, just out, does just that; for example), but as previously mentioned, this website actually has far wider audience than the UK mag - more than 550,000 different people visit this website every month!

I've just accessed the stats, and the amended reviews of the two W4500 TVs (clearly mentioning that some users have had problems) have been viewed by more than 60,000 people in the last month alone - which on top of this being the most popular thread on the Forums (80,000+ views and counting) means the message is getting across...

 

[Anonymous]

After following this and other similar threads for some while, I, with not a little trepidation, purchased a 40W4500 from Richer Sounds in mid November. And even their salesman tried to tell me that the Samsung 40A656 was a better tv than the Sony and I should buy that instead.

But I resolutely stuck to my original decision and went ahead with the Sony. And after 4 weeks of viewing, all I can say is that I'm absolutely sure I made the right decision (apart from anything else, I wasn't keen on the reflective Samsung screens).

The standard definition picture is way better than I had been lead to believe (and seen in store) and as for HD, that's truely amazing and as good as anything I've seen full stop (including plasma's set up in friends homes - indeed they have been suprised by the quality of the Sony).

I think if my tv does suffer from the shadow effect or back light bleed then it must be so minimal as not to effect in any way the viewing experience. I may be lucky in getting a "good" one, or the many people on here are the unlucky ones, it's hard to say. But given how popular this tv is (best selling tv in Europe as far as I'm aware) I genuinely believe I'm actually in the majority.

I hope those who are unhappy with their sets get a resolution that they're satisfied with, but for those that are considering buying one of these sets all I can say is that in my opinion, it fully deserves the awards it has won and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

 

[Anonymous]

All just want to add my first impressions of my 46W4710.

None of the issues highlighted are present with this set at this point.

The SD picture looks very good, much better than i have seen in the shops.

Will be hooking up my blu-ray to it tomorrow to try some HD.

Its a shame that so many sets appear to have problems, and Sony and other manufacturers of these types of goods should have better QC, but i personally know 4 other people with this set all having no issues and all who are extremely happy with their purchase.

As am I.

Cheers all

 

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody!

46W4730 (same as 4500) owner here from Germany. I experience the clouding issue as well and it really bugs me. Since I still have the chance to return the flatscreen, I'm hoping for some good input from you guys in ordr to make a wise & informed decision.

Here's my story: I got my first KDL46W4730 a couple of weeks ago. I was absolutely stunned by the brilliance and quality of the flatscreen, it was awesome. The only downside were dead pixels, which really bugged me - so I returned the flatscreen in exchange for another one. And here's where the tragedy started ... the new TV seemed fine at first, no dead or stuck pixels whatsoever. After a couple of hours of watching, I noticed the clouding phenomenon though. And what followed wasn't any better: I got the impression the picture quality in dark scenes is FAR worse than it was on my first set. Somehow the colours seem a bit washed out. I'm not sure if anybody would notice who hasn't seen a proper KDL4500 before, but to me, the difference was quite obvious. For some reason, clouding (at least for me!) seems to go hand in hand with worse picture quality altogether, except for very bright scenes where the quality becomes crytalclear again.

I addition to that, I've noticed something I didn't notice on my first set. When I use the Playstation3 with the TV, in scenes with mainly text or basic graphics such as straight lines, the letters of the text or lines seem to flicker a bit at the edges when in darkgrey. Bug or feature? Is this normal behaviour or is something wrong here as well? I couldn't say with certainty whether this was the case with my first set as well, but I've never noticed there.

It would be great if you could share your experience here. Anyone noticed worse picture quality altogether when the clouding issue appeared as well? What about the straying edge phenomenon (in letters e.g.) when using the Playstation? And: Any of the long term posters here who were struggling with the clouding in the beginning want to share your status quo ... did any of your sets got better - or worse?

Thanks for any help! As already mentioned, I still can return the set, and although I loved the pic quality of the first set, I'm not too sure whether I want to keep this one or even try out a third one.

 

[Anonymous]

ChingChang,

My set doesn't have any clouding but has backlight bleed in the top two corners. I've noticed with my set that although the W4500 displays very black blacks thats all you see and there's very little detail in shadows, etc.

This is pretty annoying playing games like GTA4 where the detail in building shadows is pretty much completely lost. I compensate a bit by bumping up the in game brightness controls.

My set is calibrated well but I may need to tinkle around with it a bit more. I was under the impression that this is a limitation with the LCD technology and you really need plasma for bringing out detail in dark scenes/shadow.

 

[Anonymous]

@Ehonda

It is possible you have your output on your PS3 or Xbox set wrong - I have read on other threads re High Low white settings(?)

Sorry to be vague can't find those threads now!

 

[Anonymous]

EHonda:

ChingChang,

My set doesn't have any clouding but has backlight bleed in the top two corners. I've noticed with my set that although the W4500 displays very black blacks thats all you see and there's very little detail in shadows, etc.

This is pretty annoying playing games like GTA4 where the detail in building shadows is pretty much completely lost. I compensate a bit by bumping up the in game brightness controls.

My set is calibrated well but I may need to tinkle around with it a bit more. I was under the impression that this is a limitation with the LCD technology and you really need plasma for bringing out detail in dark scenes/shadow.

Hi EHonda,

first of all, thanks a lot for your reply! GTA4 is exactly what I was playing. I got crystal clear contours and brilliant qualitity on the first set, although I had to adjust the display mode in GTA4 menu first. Then on the second set, colors seem extremely washed out somehow - too little contrast, no real colour quality.

Can you do me a big favour? When you are in GTA4 and leave for the PS3 main menu by pressing the PS-Button, the Playstation menu and the GTA4 card, setup etc. menu will be layered. There are two thin, horizontal darkgrey lines in the upper third of the screen. Mine are always flickering, pixels keep disappearing and reappearing. I'm not quite sure whether this is "normal" behaviour or not, all I can say is I haven't noticed this on my first set and my car navigation sometimes has the same, where it's a clear bug. Probably it has to do with the display mode, since GTA4 only supports 720p and this might be a resising issue or similar. I'm just completely lost now and very disappointed, since I can understand the great reviews on the one hand (my first set was amazing, if it wouldn't have been for the pixel errors), on the other hand I don't want to be stuck with a rubbish set like the one I have now.

 

[Anonymous]

I'll have a look at this tonight.

BTW - GTA4 does support 1080p but you have to "force" the ps3 into booting as such. Go to your screen resolution settings and go to custom under hdmi menu and uncheck 720p and 1080i. It'll now boot in 1080p. However, you have to check 720p again for games that are not full HD. A real pain! It seems to be a bit of a bug with the game/firmware.

Re: the PS3 settings. I'm planning on tinkering around with these tonight. At the min for games I output the colour as limited RGB but will see how it fares with full range RGB. May be with the settings I have I'm getting a more pronounced black crush.

 

[Anonymous]

Just as a side note.

Have stated on this thread of my clouding/backlight bleed issues. Now I am touching every piece of wood in the flat when I say this, but I am pretty sure mine is getting better.

the bit in the corner is definately not as light as it first was.

 

[Anonymous]

For people using 40W4500 on the PS3, how can I force it to display 1080p when playing games on my PS3? Blue Rays are fine but for example when I play Call Of Duty 5 it automatically changes to 720p, I have tried unticking 720p & 1080i in the display preferences on my PS3 but then the TV goes to 576p (which you can't untick).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Kamran:

For people using 40W4500 on the PS3, how can I force it to display 1080p when playing games on my PS3? Blue Rays are fine but for example when I play Call Of Duty 5 it automatically changes to 720p, I have tried unticking 720p & 1080i in the display preferences on my PS3 but then the TV goes to 576p (which you can't untick).

Any help would be appreciated.

Are you sure the game supports 1080p? Most games are 720p therefore thats what it'll output as. The back of the game case will tell you what resolutions the game supports.

Also, re:chingchang. I checked last night and I'm afraid I didn't have the same display problems you're having.

 

[Anonymous]

I have exchanged three sets because of clouding and backlight bleeding and i must say i am happy with this one though is not entirely free of this issues. unfortunatelly last night when i tried to wipe some fingerprints from the screen i noticed a slight movement of the screen (panel) inside the tv frame. Can anybody confirm that is normal? ( It moves when i gently press mostly at the corners...less than 1 mm)

 

[Anonymous]

dnllng:
I have exchanged three sets because of clouding and backlight bleeding and i must say i am happy with this one though is not entirely free of this issues. unfortunatelly last night when i tried to wipe some fingerprints from the screen i noticed a slight movement of the screen (panel) inside the tv frame. Can anybody confirm that is normal? ( It moves when i gently press mostly at the corners...less than 1 mm)

Yes, this is normal for an LCD panel.

 

[Anonymous]

Michael - me too! Noticed bleeding from all four corners when first got it. Had set for 2 weeks now and must say it's not as noticable now. Either I'm getting used to it or it's actually starting to fade. Hopefully past reports of having to "run in" this set for so many hours is true. Keep us informed!

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:

I'd be interested in more reliable, first-hand accounts of genuine problems (ie it's a problem in everyday use) to get a better handle on the real scope of the situation, too.

Still no news from Sony, BTW....

Hi all,

have just purchased a KDL40W4500 from Comet, I have a white/grey clouding problem in patches in corners and edges of the screen on dark scenes, plus i'm getting a juttering/ghosting effect (specially in sd), i have Sky HD and PS3 plugged in via HDMI and Tacima main conditioner, have tried different HDMI leads (QED/Sony/Standard sky), not a problem with the leads.

Update: turned set on this morning played I AM Legend and the picture can't keep up with itself, vaulty set is going back!

does anybody know the reason why the Comet version of the W4500 is all black, when everywhere else it has siver stripe?

 

[Anonymous]

I've just totally elliminated the b/light bleed from all corners of the TV. I placed a table lamp behind the TV and amazingly the clouding has disappeared - totally! Try it for yourselves. Just for the record, It's a 60w energy saving bulb. Even with the lamp being the only light on in the room, there are no clouds.

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

I took my KDL40W4500 back to Comet, the replacement is perfect, worthy of the 5 stars awarded (I was doubting What Hifi for a moment). There are faulty units out there, first set had very bad clouding, even with backlight to minimum, and bad sync with blueray. New set is perfect....no clouding WHATSOEVER!!!

Thanks to Comet for the Excellent service and What Hifi for a spot on review!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

EHonda: Also, re:chingchang. I checked last night and I'm afraid I didn't have the same display problems you're having.

Hey EHonda,

thanks a lot for your reply. I posted my little "phenomenon" on YouTube.

Here's the sort-of flickering line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSJkbH1njGY
If you have a close look at the dark grey line at the bottom, pixels keep going on and off.

Same with the letters, example taken from the GTA4 menu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fceDpQmVJKk (straying pixels on the right sight of the 'n'. I will develop a steady hand in my next life, promise .

I'm not too sure whether this really is a bug / problem or not, all I can say is I haven't noticed any of that on my first set. In addition to that, larger moving areas of about the same colour (blue skies, dark areas) look extremely "pixely". I'll post a vid of that later on since this definitely looked way different on my first set - and I'm using the same cables, settings and output signal as before.

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone found motion flow to be effective for upscaled dvds? I've connected my Sony DAV-DZ260 to the set by HDMI. All enhancements are off as starting point. I've selected cinema pic mode and 1:1 pixel mapping. The picture quality is excellent but with fast motion or a pan in close up, there is a disorientating effect on the eye. It's not quite ghosting but it does seem disorientating until the camera catches up.

 

[AndrewH13]

Clare Newsome:To me it looks like a damaged set - we've had two 46W4500 sets in, and neither looked like that....

Hi Clare,

Did you look at them in the dark, or with a subdued table lamp. My Sony 40X2000 is great during the day, even looks like it has the blacks that What Hi-Fi talk about! At night watching a film however..... cloud top left hand corner even with backlight at zero, and nice shades of grey on dark screens, unless a spotlight is shined on it, then it looks reasonable. I've seen the light and have a Pioneer Plasy coming wednesday.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I just had my replacement 46W4500 delivered. It displays similar issues as the original. I've decided to live with it as under most circumstances its not a big problem. I'm putting it down to a current LCD trait. I wish I could have afforded the Loewe version. Next time maybe

 

[Clare Newsome]

AndrewH13:
Clare Newsome:To me it looks like a damaged set - we've had two 46W4500 sets in, and neither looked like that....

Hi Clare,

Did you look at them in the dark, or with a subdued table lamp. My Sony 40X2000 is great during the day, even looks like it has the blacks that What Hi-Fi talk about! At night watching a film however..... cloud top left hand corner even with backlight at zero, and nice shades of grey on dark screens, unless a spotlight is shined on it, then it looks reasonable. I've seen the light and have a Pioneer Plasy coming wednesday.

We look at all screens in a range of lighting conditions, including complete darkness - we designed the lighting system of our testing rooms so we can do that.

Your X2000 was several generations old- the newer LCD models are a massive improvement. Mind you, the Pioneer plasmas are still the best TVs you can buy - enjoy your new purchase!

 

[Anonymous]

unununium:

Michael - me too! Noticed bleeding from all four corners when first got it. Had set for 2 weeks now and must say it's not as noticable now. Either I'm getting used to it or it's actually starting to fade. Hopefully past reports of having to "run in" this set for so many hours is true. Keep us informed!

Rob

Had my 40W4500 for 6 weeks now , initially had slight bleed in top left bottom right corners and bad bleed in top right corner. Now only have slight bleed in top right corner and backlight set to 8 on low power setting (Very Bright Sparkling Picture

) , My old 32V2000 had moderate clouding over 3/4 of the screen and after 3 weeks it was completely gone.

It seems these Panels do need to be bedded in, perhaps someone could shed some light (no pun intended) as to what processes are at work here. If SONY actually explained this to us end users then there would be no issue.

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

So, initially did you leave the default settings as they were ie backlight = 8, or did you change anything?

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

unununium:

So, initially did you leave the default settings as they were ie backlight = 8, or did you change anything?

Rob

Initially I ran the backlight at 4 bri 50 and contrast at 100 , then as the panel improved moved to 6 then 7 then back to 8

Colour at 44, wide, with low live colour and 100 contrast all the way through. Only a week ago I tryed to get a replacement from comet as the top right corner was driving me mad (not a good experience with comet by the way grrrr) but now the set is simply stunning so I will not be pursuing an exchange any more.

Its odd how the problem persists for several weeks then just vanishes over a few days but as I say my 32V2000 was a similar experience and is still in use and giving good service