Should I return my Sony KDL-32EX703?

[Liam19]

First impressions of the Samsung UE32C6530.

- The set itself is stunning. Amazingly thin and yet it feels solid, and I love the chrome pedestal stand.

- Viewing angles dramatically wider than the Sony, to the point where the TV is actually watchable from a 45 degree angle (which was never a good idea with the 703).

- Although still not 100%, backlight is far more uniform than the Sony, to the point where it really isn't even much of an issue with a completely dark screen. Backlight becomes insignificant when the set displays a picture...

- ... which is, all in all, absolutely brilliant. Fantastic clarity, detail retrieval and sense of depth. I do feel the Sony handled motion just a little better (motion artefacts, sometimes quite distracting, do creep in occasionally), but for the most part it's spot-on.

- To top it off, the sound is very respectable, and goes surprisingly loud.

Will post some backlight pictures soon, for the sake of comparison.

 

[Anonymous]

Liam19

Glad you are happy with your set mate this is great news.

Regarding the motion I agree the Sonys are a tad better a good disk to check this is the dark knight on blu ray, I remember on my old samsung the opening scene with the high up shot of the buildings I got shimmering on the windows of buildings that was due to the 100htz which did annoy me one of the reasons I moved on to sony. But now Samsung are better with motion and you can set the judder control and anti blur control up yourself to the level you want which I think is great, So maybe you shoule have a play with that and they also have a film setting too like sony!

Jamie.

 

[Liam19]

Just a quick update on the Samsung's motion handling - this is the only substantial bugbear I have with this TV so far. What gets me is that it seems to perform very differently from disc to disc. For instance, I have watched a few Blu-rays (most recently 'Iron Man 2') where the motion has been solid, with no real issues to speak of (with Motion Plus set to 'Off').

But then, other discs such as the 'Back to the Future' & 'Toy Story' Blu-rays often present an ugly smearing effect of reds (most obvious on Woody most of the time, with the contrast between his hair and face proving problematic for the TV to handle without an unsightly sort of 'red lag' effect).

Have fiddled with all of the settings endlessly to try to rectify this, but nothing seems to affect it much. Anyone else seen anything sounding vaguely similar on Samsung (or other) screens?

Otherwise I'm largely happy with the screen (I know this thread probably makes me seem very difficult to please, but I just don't think it should be too much to ask of a TV to be problem-free). I'd hate to have to return a second TV, but I will if I deem it not good enough.

 

[jcshutts]

Liam19:
Because Amazon don't offer replacements unless it's due to an error on their part. To be honest, I just want to get my money back now, while I can, because I'm concerned Amazon will want to establish the fault in order to replace the set, in which case they'll direct me to Sony, who'll probably deny there's a fault at all.

I'd rather simply get a refund, and then start from scratch. I'd consider going for another 703, except that the price has now jumped to £609. I'm more tempted by the 32EX503, which has come down even further to £472.67 (it was the same as the 703 when I bought it).

I have just been through all this with a Philips TV. Most retailers (if not all) should have a policy of 30 day return policy - no questions asked. Because you have bought this TV over the internet there are certain rules about 'distance selling', i.e you were not in a position to view the goods before purchase. You can also return the goods under the sale of goods act, but you may need to assert the fact that the tv falls below a reasonable standard and is therefore faulty. Hopefully you still have all the original packaging as it is easier for the retailer if you do. Good luck

 

[Liam19]

Liam19:
Just a quick update on the Samsung's motion handling - this is the only substantial bugbear I have with this TV so far. What gets me is that it seems to perform very differently from disc to disc. For instance, I have watched a few Blu-rays (most recently 'Iron Man 2') where the motion has been solid, with no real issues to speak of (with Motion Plus set to 'Off').

But then, other discs such as the 'Back to the Future' & 'Toy Story' Blu-rays often present an ugly smearing effect of reds (most obvious on Woody most of the time, with the contrast between his hair and face proving problematic for the TV to handle without an unsightly sort of 'red lag' effect).

Have fiddled with all of the settings endlessly to try to rectify this, but nothing seems to affect it much. Anyone else seen anything sounding vaguely similar on Samsung (or other) screens?

Otherwise I'm largely happy with the screen (I know this thread probably makes me seem very difficult to please, but I just don't think it should be too much to ask of a TV to be problem-free). I'd hate to have to return a second TV, but I will if I deem it not good enough.

Sorry, should probably have started a new thread - does anyone have any comment on the above post?

 

[Anonymous]

Im just going through the process of sending back a faulty tv and feel for others who have experienced similar problems.

In general there seems to be a lot of niggly problems with tvs be it backlights, motion/ghosting issues etc and a lot of unhappy people out there who have spent a lot of money on something that should last a long time and they should feel satisfied with their purchase. It makes me wonder if what hifi should have a general advice page on what we as a consumer should expect from a product in terms of acceptable performance and more importantly what sort of response should we be getting from retailers if we have a problem. There's a lot of people who come onto these forums for advice but perhaps whf should have a 'to do page' if you think you have a faulty product, after all they have where to buy page but no consumer advice. what do other users think?

 

[Anonymous]

Hey liam19

My sony 40w5810 suffers from smearing for example when someone with black hair is moving across a grey wall which seems to cause a trail of black of a good few pixels. I have also seen reds smear too also in games which is very annoying adjusting the motion control does not stope it in my case. However it was a lot worse when my contrast was lower mine is now around 90! I did not notice this annoying problem until I had already had the set for over 3months and for the life of me I cannot remember if the other tvs I had displayed this issue! I do remember that Oldboy also had similar issues with his sony! MMy 22" LG does not have this issue! My mum in laws 32" sony does!

Even though I post here a bit I do not have much use of the TV as the wife likes her evening tv viewing and I work a lot of late nights recently. I just know I will get to the point when I will either sell it and buy another set or push for a repair!

ps you could try to adjust your film mode! ie film mode 1,2 or off!

 

[Liam19]

Snakey:
Hey liam19

My sony 40w5810 suffers from smearing for example when someone with black hair is moving across a grey wall which seems to cause a trail of black of a good few pixels. I have also seen reds smear too also in games which is very annoying adjusting the motion control does not stope it in my case. However it was a lot worse when my contrast was lower mine is now around 90! I did not notice this annoying problem until I had already had the set for over 3months and for the life of me I cannot remember if the other tvs I had displayed this issue! I do remember that Oldboy also had similar issues with his sony! MMy 22" LG does not have this issue! My mum in laws 32" sony does!

Even though I post here a bit I do not have much use of the TV as the wife likes her evening tv viewing and I work a lot of late nights recently. I just know I will get to the point when I will either sell it and buy another set or push for a repair!

ps you could try to adjust your film mode! ie film mode 1,2 or off!

Thanks Snakey, I've been testing it with several more Blu-rays and its infuriating how inconsistent a problem it is! On some it's practically non-existent, yet on others it's very distracting! Definitely most problematic with skin tones though, for some reason it just can't cope with movement of faces without showing obvious smears of red (even when the colour red isn't actually there in the image!)

I've fiddled endlessly - tried turning colour down to bare minimum, played with contrast, adjusted the 'Flesh Tone' control (does next to nothing as far as I can see), turned Motion Plus to its various modes - but nothing seems to shift it.

I'll keep an eye on this issue, but if it continues to prove as distracting as it is now, I'll have to take steps (again) .

Such a shame, since the Sony handled motion flawlessly, and yet the Samsung's backlight is far superior!

 

[Liam19]

Just another quick update - finally plugged an aerial cable into the Samsung today, and I was surprised by how instantly impressed I was (this being before I had tweaked any settings). This is one solid tuner, which does a good job overall with Freeview channels, with BBC HD and ITV1 HD being the obvious stand-outs. So first impressions of the TV's primary function (which I've not been able to test up til now) are very good indeed.

As for the aforementioned motion issues, I'm pleased to report that more experimentation with the settings has done substantial good. Turning 'Motion Plus' off altogether and enabling 'LED Motion Plus' has definitely improved matters, and while the 'red lag' is still there on some titles, I've found that sitting back and watching from a reasonable distance, it's far less of an issue. Turning on 'LED Motion Plus' severely dims the picture for whatever reason, so after compensating with a few of the other settings, I think I've struck a good balance. Now I can finally sit back and enjoy the 6530's quite frankly amazing Blu-ray detail

The upgrade bug is also taking hold again - currently tempted by the Sony BDV-E370 all-in-one package, which should suit my desktop setup with its small speakers (especially the centre). The fact it's a WHF 5-star product, available for less than £300 online at the moment, pretty much seals the deal!

 

[Anonymous]

No,you are not too fussy.I'm also fussy & finicky because I pay big bucks for a decent home theatre system.I had 2 Sony LCD's in the last year or so,but wasn't very impressed.Returned the last one only 2 weeks ago(new model 40 EX700) and bought the Samsung 40 UA 7000 3D with edge LED.My screen also have the light spots especially in the four corners.But the difference is that the Samsung has the better picture quality with dark scenes,no doubt.The Wolfman (blu-ray) movie was the Sony's demise with dark scenes and shadows appearing red,not black! Some shadows were blue.It's gone with the new Samsung.Try the following settings on Standard on your Sony-it works well on my tv; backlight 14,contrast 85,brightness 45 and colour 45.Hpoe that helps!