Acer At3220b

[stockel]

Does anyone else with this tv think that it is loud in operation (i.e. humming sound)?

It is the first flat screen I have had so I have no piont of reference.

Cheers

[flea]

Does anyone else with this tv think that it is loud in operation (i.e. humming sound)?

It is the first flat screen I have had so I have no piont of reference.

Cheers

Mine sounds fine, don't hear a sound at all. But I haven't hooked it up for TV yet. I'll check it out a bit better tomorrow and get back to you.

[stockel]

Mine sounds fine, don't hear a sound at all. But I haven't hooked it up for TV yet. I'll check it out a bit better tomorrow and get back to you.

Flea that would be great, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers

[ozBillo]

So, have you tried playing any NTSC DVDs or DivXs through your new Acer?

Well, I joined the club and picked up an Acer today from OfficeWorks.

I'm happy to say that it had no trouble playing NTSC DVDS through my LG DV7711P dvd player plugged into the AV1 sockets.

Looks fantastic.

I am one happy customer.

Bill

[chet]

I'm thinking of getting one for my parents. We only have a small family room, and I think 32" would be enough. It'd be an upgrade from a 3:4 68cm CRT. So I'll need a HD Set Top box, right?

Officeworks have them for $899 with $99 cashback from Acer at the moment. Latest PDF catalogue here.

[kingguan]

Any infomation about doing as a computer monitor? Does it support 1366x768 in pc? I want to hook up to my xp mediacentre box. Thanks.

[timmmay]

Any infomation about doing as a computer monitor? Does it support 1366x768 in pc? I want to hook up to my xp mediacentre box. Thanks.

There's a review of the larger model here

http://www.cnet.com.au/tvs/lcd/0,239035307,240062344,00.htm

Not sure if this link is relevant

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread....;highlight=acer

and this

http://www.trustedreviews.com/displays/rev...creen-LCD-TV/p1

I'm especially interested to hear about how people go with input from a PC, both with a VGA and a DVI cable. Anyone able to try these out for us?

[Merkava]

Another new owner here too. Went to have a look at one at office works and the misus just up and said 'lets get one, at the price we can't really go wrong...' We too got the staff discount which brings the price to just on $750.00. I was considering numerous displays at various price points including the 42" Sony 3 lcd rptv, the Aiko 32" lcd, a TCL 32" lcd and various others that cost considerably more. I was considering 'cheaper' alternatives as like many people we have many other expenses and things we'd like / need, and that combined with the fact that digital tv seems several years away form being consistently high quality was leading us to not wanting to sink too much cash into a set now. I was probably only a week or two from just going out and getting a Sony 42" 3 lcd tv, but having seen the newer 37" 3 lcd that may come out here (and noting that the press release said a dedicated pc hdmi input I can now wait and see what this set is like. I know we can accomadate a 42" with 720p and 1080i sources (in fact I could "probably" live with a 46"-50" ), but the better half thinks that after seeing these screen sizes and some 37" sets, that a 37" is more than enough for our lounge. Aside from that, the misus prefers the appearance of the newer generation 3 lcd sets much more than the current ones - I think the current sets look good - but what would I know, I'm a bloke.

The office works we picked it up from was running a dvd movie on the set via the dsub (vga) input and I have to say, that the image was more than acceptable given the price of the set, the location in the store and keeping in mind the 'limits' of the panel in the set and it's cost.

My intial impressions (of the set at home), are fairly positive and below are some early observations (but I have only had a chance to view the set for a couple of hours tonight whilst doing other things).

First the negatives...

On composite input (the quick hook-up of a dvd player) the image is crap, which I fully expected. I don't know how to describe the effect in words but people's foreheads almost had a clay like appearance and wobble to them, I'm wondering if this is what people have refered to on here as 'clayface'.

Switching the dvd player to component imediately fixed many of these 'screen uglies' with the effect virtually eliminated completely. When turning on prog. scan on the dvd player the situation only improved more...

Hooked up our Strong 5006 via component and have to say that the image was very acceptable, especially when you consider the low bit rate of standard def. tv (a bit off topic, but I am a fan of these stb's and would recommend one to anyone with marginal reception - we have a 15 odd year old antena, with ribbon cable with only a converter and coax from the wall socket, and this stb has made huge improvements over our analog reception especially on sbs and 7. Of course, a completely new aerial and quad shield coax install is on the cards - complete with a new 15amp circuit just for our entertainment goodies.

...Back to the Acer

The blacks are also what I would expect from this 'level' of lcd product (which is to say - not great), but it is no worse than many sets costing twice as much currently available and of course in a well illuminated environment it becomes less of an issue.

I have noticed some image 'smearing' or bluring but not to an objectional level, and given a sub $900 dollar price point, a 3 year standard warranty and the fact that I can notice this on many lcd sets costing much more, I'm filing this under the 'can live with it for now draw'. I happened to be looking at a tcl website today and noticed they have some newer 32", 37".. up to .. 46" lcds listed as coming that have 4ms response times, and 6000:1 dynamic contrast ratios listed among their various specs (once again a little O.T. but retravision had a 32" tcl listed in a catalog last week with a 6.5ms response time, 3000:1 dynamic contrast, usb input and a 3 year warranty for $999.00). I only mention these tcl's because of the price point they sell at, they aren't priced in the same league as Sonys, Sharps (their new hd tuner sets look great imho), and the fact that these larger higher spec models will probably retail for significantly less than other brands when, and if, they appear on the Aussie market.

I have a Philips dtr-7200 hd stb I can try out as well (I got this for a very good sub BigW catalog price) so will give this a burl soon. Although, until I get the time to sort out the aerial this will not be a fair test.

Other features on the Acer I like...

3 component inputs

1 hdmi input

1 vga input

composite (I don't really care, only usefull for some older equipment - legacy value)

s-video (same as above, but still may be of use for certain equipment).

Remote control (feels a bit 'plasticy' but easy to use and navigate, my wife and I both found it straight forward to access menus and make changes without even refering to the manual).

The sets appearance also appealed to us, now this is a very subjective thing, and some reviews have stated it is bland looking, but I'll take unobtrusive looks over a gawdy monstrosity anyday of the week.

For the poster above, I believe from memory that the Acer 3220/3720/... series supports 1360x768 resolution, and If I remember correctly the manual actually states that acer recommends this resolution for the pc input. It always staggers me how some 16:9 sets will only support things like 1024x768 or, if they support higher resolutions they still recommend 1024x768 as the best resolution for a pc input into them. We had a magnavox 32" lcd that was a hassle to get running in widesceen pc resolutions and that combined with a couple of lit pixels and some fairly prominent backlight bleed through sent that set back to the shop after 2 days (and we thought that was a bit of a bargin 6 months ago for $950.00 with staff discount).

I will be trying the pc support on this thing soon, just to busy at work (read tired - when I get home mess around with it atm). I give it a whirl with our desktop and laptop (although it's not the best suited laptop to widescreen resolutions) and see how it fairs with web browsing, gaming and desktop type uses. The reason I was looking for simple 'plug'n'play widescreen pc support (be it 1280x720, 1280x768, 1360x768 etc...) is so my wife can easily sort out what settings she wants etc. without having to mess around with additional custom resolutions and programs like powerstrip.

Can't comment on the noise level the set makes, as we've had the air-con blasting along allnight, and the sound system running, but I will check this at a more quiet time.

[stockel]

Hi guys,

This morning I found the 'mute' button on the remote and when pressed this loud 'humming' noise that I was talking about went away completely.

Previously I had simply turned the volume down to zero and it had remained.

This tells me that maybe when muted rather than 'turned' to zero volume that the audio circiut is actually 'switched off' so to speak.

The 'humming' sound level stays the same throughout the whole volume range.

Its makes me think that maybe the audio circiut is picking up some interference (like the noise floor is too high), especially since noone else has mentioned this at all. The noise is also not there when the set detects no signal so maybe it is the video processing circiut causing the interference?

It would be great if anyone else with the set could tell me if they have a fairly loud 'humming' noise when the volume is 'turned' down to zero that dissapears completely when 'mute' is pressed on the sets remote.

Sorry about using bold but I really need to know if this is a fault.

Thanks everyone.

[Merkava]

Does anyone else with this tv think that it is loud in operation (i.e. humming sound)?

It is the first flat screen I have had so I have no piont of reference.

Cheers

Mine doesn't seem to be overly loud, it is not as quiet in operation as our old crt, or the magnavox 32" lcd we had (from memory). However, I just quickly tried this now before heading to work. Also, I don't know if this is relevant but we have not even tried the internal tuner, we hooked it straight up on our stb via component & L/R audio leads. Stockel are you using the internal tuner? If so, I will hook ours up to use it's internal tuner and check as well for you.

I did notice one additional thing last night after my initial post, and that was the volume level of peoples voices seemed to go up and down a bit on a dvd, don't know if this is the Acer or the dvd player - I will investigate this more when I have more time.

[stockel]

Mine doesn't seem to be overly loud, it is not as quiet in operation as our old crt, or the magnavox 32" lcd we had (from memory). However, I just quickly tried this now before heading to work. Also, I don't know if this is relevant but we have not even tried the internal tuner, we hooked it straight up on our stb via component & L/R audio leads. Stockel are you using the internal tuner? If so, I will hook ours up to use it's internal tuner and check as well for you.

I did notice one additional thing last night after my initial post, and that was the volume level of peoples voices seemed to go up and down a bit on a dvd, don't know if this is the Acer or the dvd player - I will investigate this more when I have more time.

Gday,

I actually thought also that maybe the tuner was doing a bad job of reconstructing the audio so I tried DVD and got the same result, I also tried DVD with the input to the tuner removed altogether and as expected also had the same result.

I have not noticed this changing volume level of peoples voices you mention yet and have watched a couple of DVDs already, possibly you are right and it is your player/connection, hopefully not your set but as I said I have not had this problem.

If you do the test I mentioned above turning the volume to zero and comparing to when it is muted and get the same result as me you will know what I mean, you can't miss it.

I don't expect perfection and at first it didn't worry me too much until last night when I had it turned right down because everyone was asleep and it was a lot more noticable. However I have never heard any TV/sound system etc with such a high noise floor.

Cheers

[ram]

Hi guys,

This morning I found the 'mute' button on the remote and when pressed this loud 'humming' noise that I was talking about went away completely.

Previously I had simply turned the volume down to zero and it had remained.

This tells me that maybe when muted rather than 'turned' to zero volume that the audio circiut is actually 'switched off' so to speak.

The 'humming' sound level stays the same throughout the whole volume range.

Its makes me think that maybe the audio circiut is picking up some interference (like the noise floor is too high), especially since noone else has mentioned this at all. The noise is also not there when the set detects no signal so maybe it is the video processing circiut causing the interference?

It would be great if anyone else with the set could tell me if they have a fairly loud 'humming' noise when the volume is 'turned' down to zero that dissapears completely when 'mute' is pressed on the sets remote.

Sorry about using bold but I really need to know if this is a fault.

Thanks everyone.

Hi Stockel,

I picked up my unit last night and I have exactly the same problem. As I have it in my bedroom I don't keep the volume that high so I can hear this hum over the audio. I turned the sound all the way down and can still hear the hum. When I hit mute the sound is gone. I don't know whether this is a problem with our particular units or a design fault in the model. I got one for my sister as well but when I set it up i didn't notice any hum because I was in a noisy environment. Over the weekend I may go back to see whether she is experiencing the same problem. I'd be interested to know whether this is a warranty claim or not. I think I also have the option of taking it back to Office Works for a full refund however it's such a bargain that I'd probably hold on to it. I'd be interested to know whether there were more people out there with the same problem. Other than this annoying sound problem I'm happy with the unit. The dark areas aren't as defined as my plasma however I think it's more a reflection on LCD technology rather than the unit. I've seen the same problem with more expensive units so I'm happy to accept this limita.

Ram

[B9force]

Another new owner here too.

Thank you Merkava for your extremely detailed post. Much appreciated.

Just curious... did you ever get a chance to look at the Aiko 32 inch LCD set in Big W? If so, do you have any thoughts to share regarding Acer vs Aiko? (Probably difficult to compare, I realise, as the BigW staff usually have their TVs set up badly, using composite cable etc.)

Cheers

[stockel]

Hi Stockel,

I picked up my unit last night and I have exactly the same problem. As I have it in my bedroom I don't keep the volume that high so I can hear this hum over the audio. I turned the sound all the way down and can still hear the hum. When I hit mute the sound is gone. I don't know whether this is a problem with our particular units or a design fault in the model. I got one for my sister as well but when I set it up i didn't notice any hum because I was in a noisy environment. Over the weekend I may go back to see whether she is experiencing the same problem. I'd be interested to know whether this is a warranty claim or not. I think I also have the option of taking it back to Office Works for a full refund however it's such a bargain that I'd probably hold on to it. I'd be interested to know whether there were more people out there with the same problem. Other than this annoying sound problem I'm happy with the unit. The dark areas aren't as defined as my plasma however I think it's more a reflection on LCD technology rather than the unit. I've seen the same problem with more expensive units so I'm happy to accept this limita.

Ram

Thanks Ram, I'm glad I'm not imagining things! (not glad you have the same problem however).

I may be able to check one out at the shop today assuming they have one on display and that I can hear in the shop...

Cheers

[flea]

I notice no sound, and there is no change when I press the mute button. Hope that helps.

[stockel]

I notice no sound, and there is no change when I press the mute button. Hope that helps.

Thanks Flea that definately helps!

Thanks for that.

[stockel]

Just got off the phone with ACER support and the response was "it's normal cannot help you" - literally that was it.....

hmmmmmmmm

Maybe I will go to the shop and see if I can change it? I don't know what to do now to be honest considering Flea says his is not doing it.....

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that all I said was "there is a humming sound coming from the speakers" and his immediate response was "does it stop when you press mute?" I answered "yes" then he put me straight on hold for a few minutes before coming back with the above response "it's normal cannot help you".

If indeed some of the sets do not suffer the problem then it sounds like a manufacture issue which they are obviously aware of.

He also mentioned that it was due to the power supply, which definately makes sense as a source of noise assuming that when 'muted' the audio circiut is switched off completely (no power supply), as compared to when you simply turn the volume to zero in which case power is still supplied to the audio circiut and therefore introducing the noise.

[stockel]

Also has anyone used the PIP (Picture in Picture) ?

I cannot get it to work just wondering ifs its me and not the set?

Cheers

[ram]

Just got off the phone with ACER support and the response was "it's normal cannot help you" - literally that was it.....

hmmmmmmmm

Maybe I will go to the shop and see if I can change it? I don't know what to do now to be honest considering Flea says his is not doing it.....

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that all I said was "there is a humming sound coming from the speakers" and his immediate response was "does it stop when you press mute?" I answered "yes" then he put me straight on hold for a few minutes before coming back with the above response "it's normal cannot help you".

If indeed some of the sets do not suffer the problem then it sounds like a manufacture issue which they are obviously aware of.

He also mentioned that it was due to the power supply, which definately makes sense as a source of noise assuming that when 'muted' the audio circiut is switched off completely (no power supply), as compared to when you simply turn the volume to zero in which case power is still supplied to the audio circiut and therefore introducing the noise.

As I have access to 2 units I will compare the 2. I may even go past Office Works tonight and see whether they have the same issue. If they don't I'll be trying to swap mine over. I think Office Works has a seven day return policy if you're not happy with the product. However I'm pressed for time now as the cashback expires on the 31st of March.

Sounds like Acer is aware of a problem with the speakers but is trying to ignore it to see if it goes away. It seems to be a process that companies use to get rid of most complaints. I had the same problem with my crappy Kleenmaid oven and some phone charges on my Optus phone. What's the point in having a 3 year warranty that is extendable to 5 years if they simply dismiss your claim. Maybe you should have asked to speak to his supervisor. I find speaking to the first level grunt is generally a waste of time.

ram

[Chemware]

This morning I found the 'mute' button on the remote and when pressed this loud 'humming' noise that I was talking about went away completely.

You may have a case of the dreaded "ground loops".

These are not the TV's fault.

They occur when the earth from an electronic device is connected through two or more very different pathways: usually via power and via signal, thence through different power circuits. See:

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/

for more details.

As an initial test, disconnect everything (including aerial) from the TV and from the DVD player. Plug both of those into the same power board, but don't connect the DVD to the TV yet. Turn the TV on and see if it hums.

Next, connect just one video signal (composite or component) from the DVD to the TV. Turn the TV on and see if it hums. Turn it off add a sound connection, then turn it on again. Continue adding connections, and other devices (amps, STBs, etc) until the hum returns.

good luck,

Mat

[ram]

You may have a case of the dreaded "ground loops".

These are not the TV's fault.

They occur when the earth from an electronic device is connected through two or more very different pathways: usually via power and via signal, thence through different power circuits. See:

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/

for more details.

As an initial test, disconnect everything (including aerial) from the TV and from the DVD player. Plug both of those into the same power board, but don't connect the DVD to the TV yet. Turn the TV on and see if it hums.

Next, connect just one video signal (composite or component) from the DVD to the TV. Turn the TV on and see if it hums. Turn it off add a sound connection, then turn it on again. Continue adding connections, and other devices (amps, STBs, etc) until the hum returns.

good luck,

Mat

Thanks very much Mat. That's definitely valuable information. I'll give that a go tonight.

ram

[B9force]

Sounds like Acer is aware of a problem with the speakers but is trying to ignore it to see if it goes away. It seems to be a process that companies use to get rid of most complaints. I had the same problem with my crappy Kleenmaid oven and some phone charges on my Optus phone. What's the point in having a 3 year warranty that is extendable to 5 years if they simply dismiss your claim. Maybe you should have asked to speak to his supervisor. I find speaking to the first level grunt is generally a waste of time.

That certainly doesn't bode well for service over the next 5 years.

Been researching Acer LCDs a bit today (with a view to buying this set from Officeworks tonight) and one thing I came across was this:

http://avoidacer.com/

[stockel]

You may have a case of the dreaded "ground loops".

These are not the TV's fault.

They occur when the earth from an electronic device is connected through two or more very different pathways: usually via power and via signal, thence through different power circuits. See:

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/

for more details.

As an initial test, disconnect everything (including aerial) from the TV and from the DVD player. Plug both of those into the same power board, but don't connect the DVD to the TV yet. Turn the TV on and see if it hums.

Next, connect just one video signal (composite or component) from the DVD to the TV. Turn the TV on and see if it hums. Turn it off add a sound connection, then turn it on again. Continue adding connections, and other devices (amps, STBs, etc) until the hum returns.

good luck,

Mat

Hi Mat,

Thanks for that.

Basically the only time the set doesn't hum is when it has no signal, i.e. you select AV for example but it has no input so it goes to the blue screen and displays "no signal", or you set it to TV but unplug the antenna and you get snow, or if it has any signal and you press 'mute' on the remote.

I tried what you said starting from scratch with input and putting all the mains from one power board etc but unfortuantely it didn't help me.

I'm fairly convinced that it actually is the power supply causing interference to the audio circuit for the reasons I wrote above. I think I will go to office works now and see if I can see if their display has the same issue.

Cheers

Craig

[stockel]

Couldn't tell really in Officeworks if it 'hummed' as it was too loud, anyway I swapped my unit for a new one and the new one seems about the same possibly a bit quieter.

Basically I think it is one of those little design gremlins that made it to manufacturing - electronics is bad for this i.e. they have a very short time to market which means that units are shipped with known issues of varying severity.

Anyway I am still very happy with the purchase.

Cheers

[bluezarf]

Hi all,

Well I was just about to settle with my AIKO (after owning it for 5 days) when I saw this thread late last night, and basically couldn't resist checking out one of these units.

I returned the AIKO and bought the ACER this arvo.

I also own a Panasonic HD plasma, so I'll refer to this as we go......

Here's my take on things.

AIKO vs ACER using my XBOX 360 on both thru Component

Black levels

About the same. Obviously not as good as my plasma, but hey not to bad. Couldn't really pick a winner here, however I was satisfied with both that my gaming needs were met.

Clarity/Colour/Sharpness etc

If anything the ACER seems a little "washed out", but I'm really splitting hairs. Both are very similar.

Sound

They're both very average, but the ACER was probably a little better. That said my unit is suffering the "hum" as others have noticed. I'm not too concerned by it though, as my 360 sounds like a freaking 747 taking off and completely drowns it out.

Refresh rate

Again my plasma wins here, but I was pleasantly surprised with both units - they handle the 360 reasonably well

Style

Both pretty good - I think they both look good (so did my wife)

Cost

AIKO $898 at BIG W, the ACER $799 at Office works (after cash back). I guess the ACER wins

Warranty

AIKO 1 year, ACER 3 years - ACER wins

On the face of it, the ACER is the winner, but I'm a bit pissed about bleeding back light on the ACER panel. At the very bottom of my screen is a small amonut of bleeding backlight, that I may well have missed if not for the fact that watching a DVD in widescreen with the horizontal black bars, it's quite noticeable. As well as that when I display a "black" screen I notice that the black is not even. There appears to be shadows and bleeding from the corners. It's not too bad, and really only noticeable when you're looking for it on a black screen. Because of this issue I'm returning the unit and will see if another is available.

Has anyone else noticed this bleeding?

Regards to all

bluey