New TX-L47ET61B TV glowing TV from corners

[SiUK]

I bought a new TX-L47ET61B TV from John Lewis about 3 to 4 weeks ago. But I have noticed that the TV has really noticable glowing around the corners lately, and quite far into the picture. Here are some photos taken with a phone (so apologies for bad quality)

Someone told me this was 'normal'. I cannot believe that. Am I supposed to put up with this? It really spoils films. Watching TV when it fills the screen isn't as bad when there aren't so many dark scenes but otherwise it is awful. The pictures don't actually display how bad it is. It looks worse than in the photos.

Would you consider this faulty? Or am I really supposed to accept this?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Phone up as soon as possible and try and return it.

 

[SiUK]

hello gel

Yeah, I think I'll do that tomorrow (I can see you have a Panasonic as well from your sig).

The person that told me it was normal reckoned I wouldn't get anything better unless I bought a plasma. But my smaller 32 inch Toshiba doesn't have problems like this. There's a bit of glow near one the edges but it doesn't protrude at all into the picture like above.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

hello gel

Yeah, I think I'll do that tomorrow (I can see you have a Panasonic as well from your sig).

The person that told me it was normal reckoned I wouldn't get anything better unless I bought a plasma. But my smaller 32 inch Toshiba doesn't have problems like this. There's a bit of glow near one the edges but it doesn't protrude at all into the picture like above.

Nope, that is wrong, it shouldn't do this, the TV is faulty. With John Lewis you can return in the first month so best get onto it, after then they might repair or exchange. It is not limited to LEDs either I have seen plasmas do this too.

 

[SiUK]

Just phoned. They want to send an engineer out on Wednesday :-/ Blow it. Still thinking about it. As far as I recall there is a 90 day refund policy.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Just phoned. They want to send an engineer out on Wednesday :-/ Blow it. Still thinking about it. As far as I recall there is a 90 day refund policy.

I know there definitely is a refund policy for the first month. After then it is a repair job first if it doesn't work then you can get an exchange possibly. Do you know when you bought it?

 

[Oldboy]

Definately looks faulty to me but have you had a fiddle around with the backlight settings, contrast and brightness to see if it affects the problem? The backlight setting in particular has a major effect on this sort of glowing/clouding issue. If none of that helps then it's faulty and I'm surprised John Lewis want to send an engineer out after you only having it for 3-4 weeks, did you buy online or in store? If you bought it in store I would be inclined to go in the store and explain the situation despite what you were told on the phone as you will get better service than over the phone as gel can confirm.

That ammount of bloom is unusual no matter what TV and does seem extreme to me, most modern LED TVs don't suffer with this as much as earlier ones did due to more effecient backlighting and filter technologies but it's worth trying the settings on the TV just to see if any of them have any affect on the issue.

 

[SiUK]

Hello

Thanks both. Yes, I tried changing the settings, playing with adaptive backlight control on off etc and eventually the only cure was setting the backlight to zero/off which made the picture seem somewhat subdued, like at dusk, as you might imagine.

After a call from the Panasonic engineers today (to confirm day and time etc) I decided this was too much faffing and phoned John Lewis re a replacement. Spoke to a very helpful person who spent some time sorting it out and in the end he has cancelled the engineer and arranged for a brand new TV to be delivered and the old one to be collected. Apparrently I was 2 days outside of the month and that is why an engineer was arranged. However, because I'd phoned previously (2 weeks ago) about some other issues and hadn't had a reply from Panasonic after numerous calls they accepted the replacement route. Just hoping that '...the same sh*t can't happen to the same guy twice.' to pilfer a well known movie line

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hello

Thanks both. Yes, I tried changing the settings, playing with adaptive backlight control on off etc and eventually the only cure was setting the backlight to zero/off which made the picture seem somewhat subdued, like at dusk, as you might imagine.

After a call from the Panasonic engineers today (to confirm day and time etc) I decided this was too much faffing and phoned John Lewis re a replacement. Spoke to a very helpful person who spent some time sorting it out and in the end he has cancelled the engineer and arranged for a brand new TV to be delivered and the old one to be collected. Apparrently I was 2 days outside of the month and that is why an engineer was arranged. However, because I'd phoned previously (2 weeks ago) about some other issues and hadn't had a reply from Panasonic after numerous calls they accepted the replacement route. Just hoping that '...the same sh*t can't happen to the same guy twice.' to pilfer a well known movie line

Ah nice one! If this one is no good too, then just change it for a different model soon as possible. You should be able to do that now it has been exchanged.

 

[bigdigger]

Had this problem on 2 Sony LEDs in December, made watching films in low light conditions impossible. Changed to a Panasonic ST50 plasma, best move ever the picture is amazing and no little torches shining in from the corner!

 

[SiUK]

The replacement TV arrived early this morning. Had it up on the wall within ten minutes. And then had breakfast and phoned JL to collect it. Exactly the same problem as the one they took away, and actually a bit worse than the last one in fact. Dissappointed isn't the word! And the ruddy inconvenience as well. However, I haven't quite given up on Panasonic - not quite yet - as I decided to try the next model up, a Panasonic Viera TX-L47DT65B (the DT65 instead of the ET61). I'll give this a try before totally giving up and getting a refund. The DT65B costs £400 more though, so I'm hoping that the extra cost provides better quality...well, I can but hope. It wasn't a stab in the dark however, as the reviews seem to be very good. And most report 'no backlight leakage' at all etc (from various reviewers) which seems promising.

 

[The_Lhc]

Nope, that is wrong, it shouldn't do this, the TV is faulty. With John Lewis you can return in the first month so best get onto it, after then they might repair or exchange. It is not limited to LEDs either I have seen plasmas do this too.

Seems unlikely given plasmas don't have backlights and that's clearly a bad case of backlight bleed.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Nope, that is wrong, it shouldn't do this, the TV is faulty. With John Lewis you can return in the first month so best get onto it, after then they might repair or exchange. It is not limited to LEDs either I have seen plasmas do this too.

Seems unlikely given plasmas don't have backlights and that's clearly a bad case of backlight bleed.

Yep, I think I might have got confused with something else! :doh: Plasmas can do some pretty strange things too though.

 

[Diamond Joe]

The replacement TV arrived early this morning. Had it up on the wall within ten minutes. And then had breakfast and phoned JL to collect it. Exactly the same problem as the one they took away...

Man that sucks, thanks for sharing your experience though, I was thinking of getting the exact same model, think I'll look elsewhere now.

 

[bigboss]

You can ask JL to price match your new TV, so the difference is less than £400. Get gel on the case to find the best deals! 😉

 

[bigboss]

Get JL to price match this:

http://www.electricalexperience.co.uk/panasonic-tx-l47dt65b-47dt65b-47-inch-full-hd-3d-smart-television-wi-fi-built-in-touch-pad-remote.html?awc=2276_1381752424_f2949d9e448e2722cb693c5461e9eb41

 

[strapped for cash]

Nope, that is wrong, it shouldn't do this, the TV is faulty. With John Lewis you can return in the first month so best get onto it, after then they might repair or exchange. It is not limited to LEDs either I have seen plasmas do this too.

Seems unlikely given plasmas don't have backlights and that's clearly a bad case of backlight bleed.

Well, my VT65 displays a lighter image toward the edges of the screen. This is commonly reported of this particular television.

I'm not sure what the cause is. As you say, it can't be a backlight problem, though this uniformity issue may have something to do with internal temperature and the position of the fans.

 

[SiUK]

Thanks very much, bigboss. I'll definitely give that a go. Less money is always good

-edit

Although the price doesn't include a warranty, whereas JL includes 5 year warranty. (and so does the above. doh)

-edit

Just submitted a price match request :cheers:

 

[SiUK]

Thanks again, bigboss. Got an email to say the price match would be valid if I decide to keep the next TV (if I keep it I phone and they'll credit the difference). So that helps a bit.

Cheers for the link :cheers:

 

[SiUK]

Not long been in and now waiting for collection of second TV and delivery of the new Panasonic TV. I really hope this one doesn't suffer with the same problems. I think I'll give up on them if it does <- now that there is anxiety ;-) .

--edit

JL folk will arrive in half an hour to collect and deliver...just got a call. Don't think I'll have time to test it until later though.

 

[bigboss]

Although the price doesn't include a warranty, whereas JL includes 5 year warranty. (and so does the above. doh)

Actually, if you look carefully, the price included a 5-year manufacturer's warranty if bought in-store. Anyways, glad you saved some money there! 🙂

Remember that you have 28 days from the date of purchase to price match further if you find a cheaper price. 😉

 

[SiUK]

First off, apologies for low quality photos (and they were also taken in low lighting with flash off to stop reflections from screen...that's also why the white walls are very odd colours ;-) )

Anyway, the problem with the first two TVs is present on this latest one but is far less dramatic, but 'tis there nevertheless. However, unlike the previous two TVs altering the settings on this one actually make the TV watchable! As much as I don't like to use these particular settings, because I can see the TV updating the lighting and colours etc, they are the only way to make this TV watchable under low lit conditions. The only way that I have found anyway. I'm talking about using Adaptive Backlight Control set to max and Ambient Sensor set to on.

you have to right-click on the image and choose 'view image' to see it actual size...well view the actual image size and not the size that these forums displays by default.

Off

On

And some others with the settings on:

I think, given the agro so far trying to find a 'perfect TV', we'll be sticking with this as at least it can be adjusted. It isn't perfect, but the pitcture quality is astonishingly good. It has quad tuners, lots of other features, supports FLAC and FLAC art and can play them through the Marantz MCR610 as well. Most of the apps are rubbish frankly, but I can live with it. I am considering testing out the PVR features to see how comprehensive they are. Want to know whether it can do series record. Haven't investigated enough yet. It does time shifting, so you can pause live TV and I discovered that I can watch TV on my Samsung phone (or other device) whilst the TV is on another channel (TV users tuner 1, phone uses tuner 2). You use the TV remote app to do that. Quick and easy. Although it took me a while initially, as for some reason I had to switch the phone from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz to get it to work...even though the TV is actually wired to the network not using wifi.

 

[SiUK]

Yeah, I noticed that bigboss, but only after I posted and so I edited the post but didn't make it very clear that I had, hence the (and so does the above. doh) at the end of the sentence, which is what that was about! Anyhow, the Price Match has now been credited to my account, so all done there I think (fingers crossed).

I have discovered that I hate buying TVs 😡 :doh: 😛ray: