Samsung LE40A656 40in - uneven backlighting is interfering with my viewing experince.. help!

[blonde007]

Samsung LE40A656 40in - uneven backlighting is interfering with my viewing experince.. help!

I have just bought the new Samsung LE40A656 40in.

I Bought the TV from a Comet superstore on Tuesday evening.

I have taken it out of the box and have attached it to my V+ box and my PlayStation 3.

Both sources are using HDMI as the connection to the TV.

The V+ is using the HDMI cable supplied by Virgin and the Playstation has a £20 screened HDMI cable.

I had some initial image problems with the V+ box displaying at 1080p wide which was resolved with a reset of the V+ box. There was also another very odd problem with backgrounds going in and out of focus when using the DTV freeview. (ie newsreader stays in focus and some how the background would flash in and out of focus). The focus issue went away overnight while the screen was on standby.

Finally my only problem I have left is three blemishes on the screen.

The main blemish, (located in the top right hand corner) seems to be letting to much of the back light through the screen so that i have a moonlight effect. Ie the backlighting is not even across the whole screen.

None of the settings I have applied have diminished this. I have tried reducing the backlight level to 1 (was set at 7) but to no affect. The lighter patch remains. It is not viewing angle related as it remains visible from what ever angle i view the screen at.

It is very frustrating watching a dark scene or a blue ray movie that is in letterbox mode becuase my eyes are constantly being drawn to the lighter area.

Can you tell me.... Is this common and the 'luck of the draw' when you get your screen.

I want to take it back to the store and would be happy for a direct replacement but as it seems to be a subjective fault I don't thing Comet are willing to do the swap.

What can I do? Where do I stand with this... Should I demand a replacement, should I expect better?

The blemished area is only visible when on dark scenes and is a constant regardless of source.

Help

 

[kitkat]

Welcome to the world of lcd, its a very common problem with lcd best stick with crt or plasma

 

[blonde007]

Are any of the What Hi-Fi team available for comment in addition to the above?

 

[blonde007]

When the what hifi team receive LCDs for review, do all of the reviewed screens have even backlighting? As the cost of the screen was £1100.00 (please don't start a debate about where i could have got it cheaper) I expect it to be darned good and this brighter area on the screen is quite disappointing. If i was to get a direct replacement of the same model what is the likelyhood the replacement also having brighter areas on the screen?

 

[professorhat]

Posts such as this one suggest it's a bit hit and miss I'm afraid...

 

[Clare Newsome]

We've had two separately sourced samples of this set, with no problems on backlight (we sure would have mentioned it if it had!) But yes, it does seem there are a small percentage of LCDs, from various companies, with backlight issues. Get a refund/exchange!

 

[John Duncan]

Do not accept no for an answer from Comet - you can get a refund if it's 'faulty', and to me that is, and to them it probably will be too since their staff are not the sharpest crayons in the box (IME). It took me a while with them to refund on a 17" LCD telly for backlight bleed years ago (including getting others out of the box), but they did eventually.

And then go and buy a Panasonic plasma from John Lewis.

 

[Anonymous]

ensure your TV is set up well. Also check that your signal feeds are kept apart from the mains wiring. If you still have the problem it could be a faulty set.

 

[blonde007]

The lighter area of the screen seems to have evened out.

Is that possible or am i just going blind?

The TV has been on stand by now for 5 days and switched on in the evenings for viewing.

[edit] whoops, just finished reading the thread you linked to professorhat maybe i am not blind.

 

[blonde007]

In the evening when my living room is not flooded with day light i can still see the brighter area on my screen.

I have organised for an engineer to come out on saturday to do have it investigated.

I will post back the results as to whether the engineer thinks its a fault or within acceptable tolerances.

I am let to believe that I can only get an exchange (or direct replacement) if it is declared by one of comets engineers that there is a fault.

 

[blonde007]

Comet Engineer came out to test the LCD.

He was very helpful.

Conclusion was something to do with 'Moire'.

Anyway good news is I have been granted a replacement Samsung or pay the difference for the new 'winning' Sony Bravia.

#Note to Andrew and Claire, will i really see much of a difference between the Samsung and the Sony?

If so then I will swap the samsung for the Sony.