Bravia X Series Patchy Backlight Bleed

[niz]

I've just had a new screen delivered. Before letting the the delivery guy leave with my 1st TV, I tried the replacement. It also was a Aug 06 build.

The problem was even worst on the new TV. The delivery guy could see what I was talking about. Needless to say, I kept my original TV.

I spoke again with the retailer and they suggested I ring the service centre and that they should be able to tell me if it's a particular problem with the X series or not.

Just spoke to the service centre and although she had never heard of the problem and could not find any mention of it on the Sony web site, she was going to ask her collegue and would call me back tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

[Craigus]

The problem was even worst on the new TV.

Scary and I'm ready to buy a 46 inch too. Maybe I should wait for the current stock to clear, so hopefully the next batch is better.

[Rizzzer]

Just sent back my first 40x for the this patchy backlight problem and got a new one today. The one i got today is worse then the first!!

Both have manufacture dates of AUGUST 2006.

Can someone post pics of a set without this problem? I think we'de all like to see them!!

Cheers

[trickstar1503560985]

I have just purchased a KDL46X2000 that was built in October 2006.

The good news, from my point of view, is that there is no annoying backlight bleed through like you have experienced.

I must add that the blacks are not "perfect" like my old CRT receiver, but coming from a technical background, I did not expect anything differently from an LCD.

I have chosen LCD over plasma due to a lot of sunlight entering our viewing area during the day.

This is my first big screen ownership experience, so I am mighty relieved to have no problems.

I certainly don't relish the idea of an expensive television receiver needing major internal surgery in the first few days of its hopefully long life!

I am slowly getting my head around the HDMI vs component debate, and appreciate some of the very helpful comments that I have found on this forum.

Hewlett Packard have a "dead on arrival" policy for some of their products that are faulty out of the box, so it may be worth pursuing your retailer, and or Sony, in a firm but fair manner, and definitely in writing, over this matter before your product is more than one month old?

Good luck from Trickstar.

[Guest webmal]

the panels are Korean

Just curious, you mentioned the panel is made in Korea but where is the actual TV made in? For such a high end TV I hope it's not made in Indonesia like most Toshiba LCDs.

[Crayons]

The sets we have here in Australia are put together in Japan.

[Jert]

Well, as mentioned earlier I have also experienced this backlight problem with my 40"X.

I contacted my retailer (JB) the other day and told them about it. They were helpful but they asked me to contact Sony first and see what they said... So, today I contacted Sony and infomed them of the problem...

As I spoke with the female rep, I could sense a slight whim of anticipation on her bahalf as I described the uneven blackness across the screen. I even heard her sigh.

As I continued to describe my experiences she suddenly interupted me and said, "Is it like patchy white clouds across the screen?" Of course I told her this was exactly how it looked and I then asked, "So is this a problem with the Bravia Series?" I was expecting to her to deny any problems HOWEVER she said, "There seems to be a slight issue with the X series only." This was most unexpected.

She then went on to to say that it could be due to the introduction of the HD tuner which is causing the problem. She also muttered something else which I cant remember but she didn't sound at all confident that she knew what was causing the problem, but she was most definately aware of it.

She then told me that SONY had released some information about the problem and had formulated a possible quick fix solution... She advised me that SONY beleived the "white clouds" may disappear if I was to turn my new television OFF for 40 hours straight. She further instructed that I should unplug it from the power supply too, as this would allow it to reset and cause the picture to magically fix itself.

I then informed her that I had actually left my Bravia OFF and UNPLUGGED for more than 3 days straight when I went away for a few days only a week after purchasing it (This is true), and there was no improvement whatsoever. She seemed to understand this however she urged me to give it another go.

After some discussion I agreed to perform the 40 hour famine however I informed her that I had very little faith that this would fix the issue. She told me that if the problem persisted then I would have to call back and "move to the next level". I asked if this ment a replacement and she mentioned something about a maintenace place in Parramatta (west Sydney). She then gave me her name and a refrence number for the call.

SO, I called JB and told them about SONY's solution. The guy was helpful and said he would speak to his SONY rep about it.

So I guess I'll switch off the beast for the next two days and see what happens. Assuming the problem is still there I will call SONY back on saturday and get the ball rolling again. I they offer to take it in for surgery the I will politely tell them where to go... I certainly don't think a consumer should have to send in a TV for repairs after only having owned it for a few weeks.

Anyway, I guess SONY have now admitted there is a problem. I'll post again when I finish the famine.

[Black Dawg Down]

She advised me that SONY beleived the "white clouds" may disappear if I was to turn my new television OFF for 40 hours straight. She further instructed that I should unplug it from the power supply too, as this would allow it to reset and cause the picture to magically fix itself.

What a pile of crap. I wouldn't take that as an answer. You should demand to speak to her superior.

JB has as much blame. I know Harvey Norman has a policy which you can return the set to them within 2 weeks if there is anything wrong.

[IndyJnr]

What a load of crap sony is in. It makes me wonder if the PS3 will also be crap in terms of the blu ray DVD picture. I was looking at the 46 inch and now Im holding off until the new year.

Handing over your hard earned cash for a faulty product is not on and Sony better get there act together. Good luck to everyone that has to go through this.

[drsmith]

Anyway, I guess SONY have now admitted there is a problem. I'll post again when I finish the famine.

In the meantime it might be worth contacting the maintenace place, quote you reference number and explain the problem. Given that this is not an isolated issue it is possible that they have had other X series owners call them with the same problem. This approach may yield more details on the nature of the problem and a time frame for a fix.

In the absence of something positive from the above, the next level may be to return the unit for a refund and wait for the problem to be fixed before purchasing the same model again or purchasing something else alltogether.

[Crayons]

She advised me that SONY beleived the "white clouds" may disappear if I was to turn my new television OFF for 40 hours straight. She further instructed that I should unplug it from the power supply too, as this would allow it to reset and cause the picture to magically fix itself.

Wow. Firstly... this is hilarious because it's so ridiculous.

Secondly, this is hilarious because I have just read the following instruction from Sony support via email:

"Use the set for a couple of weeks or leave the set on for 40hours aging, it should self rectify."

Brilliant! I think this just about sums up Sony's reponse to this issue. They have issued a standard response to dish out to us plebs, and they can't even manage to all read it properly.

[niz]

I too was told by the Sony Service Centre (not the Sony help line) that a bulletin had just been released by Sony and that the problem should disappear after using the set for 40 hours. She also mentioned something about humidity, but when pushed for more details, she couldn't give any info. I asked if the bulletin was specific for the X series & she said no, it was a general bulletin for all TVs.

I explained that I had used the TV for hundreds of hours & the problem was exactly the same as the first day. She said to try again for another 40 hours and if that didn't work then they would have to take the TV to the workshop and check it out. I explained that I only have one TV and that this would be a huge inconvenience. She said there was no other way to do it.

I think it's time to talk to the retailer again.

[Jert]

I too was told by the Sony Service Centre (not the Sony help line) that a bulletin had just been released by Sony and that the problem should disappear after using the set for 40 hours. She also mentioned something about humidity, but when pushed for more details, she couldn't give any info. I asked if the bulletin was specific for the X series & she said no, it was a general bulletin for all TVs.

I explained that I had used the TV for hundreds of hours & the problem was exactly the same as the first day. She said to try again for another 40 hours and if that didn't work then they would have to take the TV to the workshop and check it out. I explained that I only have one TV and that this would be a huge inconvenience. She said there was no other way to do it.

I think it's time to talk to the retailer again.

Yeah, I got a call back today from the lady I spoke to at SONY yesterday. She apologised and said she had missinformed me about the quick fix... She said i should leave the TV on for 40 hours straight, not off.

Not too happy about this... I mean, how damn annoying is it to have to leave a television on for 40 hours straight?!? Thats almost 2 days full days for crying out loud.

And even if it does appear to make a difference, who's to say the problem wont reappear again when the TV is turned off for a significant period of time.

And sending a TV in for repairs within the first three weeks of purchase, is surley not acceptable. Hopefully my retailer will jump onside and give me a hand.

[Mr Ploppy]

I will try to get mine swapped today. Do you guys think the general consensus is that the August build sets are dodgey? I have told the guy at HN that I don't want an August build and he is going to check the one he has in stock for me. I can wait till the December shipment as I want this next set to be perfect!

[Jert]

I am having trouble with Sony... They want me to send my brand new TV away for repairing at a local service centre. They have instructed that I should call my retailer and check whether they will swap it for me before I do this... But I refuse to send it away for repairs... It's a faulty product and I beleive I am entitled to a new TV.

I have yet to contact the retailer... I will try later this arvo.... I've had the set for one month exactly as of today. Apparantly my retailer has a return policy of 3 weeks (JB), and I could have returned it to them within that 3 weeks if Sony hadn't bummed me around with all this "turn it OFF for 40 hours... Opps sorry we mean turn it ON for 40 hours" crap.

Anyone else had dramas with Sony like this before?

[Black Dawg Down]

I am having trouble with Sony... They want me to send my brand new TV away for repairing at a local service centre. They have instructed that I should call my retailer and check whether they will swap it for me before I do this... But I refuse to send it away for repairs... It's a faulty product and I beleive I am entitled to a new TV.

I have yet to contact the retailer... I will try later this arvo.... I've had the set for one month exactly as of today. Apparantly my retailer has a return policy of 3 weeks (JB), and I could have returned it to them within that 3 weeks if Sony hadn't bummed me around with all this "turn it OFF for 40 hours... Opps sorry we mean turn it ON for 40 hours" crap.

Anyone else had dramas with Sony like this before?

You can try asking JB but from what I've heard from this forum, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

If I were you I would get the Sony's rep name and advise JB that he/she from Sony asked you to ask the retailer to return the set to them. If they refuse then you have to make a decision to either persist with JB and read them your rights according to Office of Fair Trading etc. etc., or have the set taken for repair.

[Jert]

You can try asking JB but from what I've heard from this forum, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

If I were you I would get the Sony's rep name and advise JB that he/she from Sony asked you to ask the retailer to return the set to them. If they refuse then you have to make a decision to either persist with JB and read them your rights according to Office of Fair Trading etc. etc., or have the set taken for repair.

Just spoke with JB and they said they will speak with the rep and see if something can be sorted in the way of a replacement. Hopefully this will see things right and I wont have to blow my lid about the possible repair scenario. The guy at JB is being quite helpful about it all so I hope he comes through with the goods.

[Cooksta59]

I read somewhere in 1 of the links regarding the cloudy issue with the sony x series that it is called the "Mura effect".Did a search on google and came up with this link.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/589-1/p...ead-pixels.html

Sounds just like the problem being experienced by some sony x series owners.I did not like the inference in the article that some manufacturers see this as normal and thus not covered by warranty.

Steve

[Neon Kitten]

I am having trouble with Sony... They want me to send my brand new TV away for repairing at a local service centre. They have instructed that I should call my retailer and check whether they will swap it for me before I do this... But I refuse to send it away for repairs... It's a faulty product and I beleive I am entitled to a new TV.

More to the point, it would very likely cost Sony more to repair than the TV is worth.

[PCmon]

After having a look at some of the horrendous pictures of backlight bleeding on this post I had a very close look at my new 40X in a totaly dark room with a DVD input of a Space images DVD I have and was extremely relieved to find that what little backlight clouding I had in my lower right hand corner when I first got my T.V, which seemed to always been most notable on HD/DVD2 input then any other, was gone.

When I first got my T.V home after reading the horror stories on here I checked through the input sources with no feed going through and could see some bleed. For some reason the HD/DVD2 source input seems to have a brighter backlight setting even though when you check it, it's the same as the others.

After I run the T.V for about 24hrs stright I have found whatever backlight bleed I had is fairly much all gone. Now I have a fairly uniform black on all inputs. Not 100% but say 95% and that 5% is so faint that you can't see it while playing a movie, even with full black space scenes.

If I get a chance I will post some images.

I count myself lucky to of got a set that now has a good uniform black.

For those of you with the heavy cloud effect bleeds I feel for you. I have seen the images some of you have taken and I wouldn't let anyone tell you that is normall. I have my set and have checked it vs the images on here and it's nothing like it. I know LCD's by nature can have very minimal bleed and it's to be expected on fairly much all panels to some degree but what I have seen here I would definitely not call normall or acceptable.

Best of luck with the people getting replacements, let us know what Sony has to say about it.

[Mr Ploppy]

I have decided to get a set in the December batch but as a bit of an experiment I will leave my set on the CH10 HD loop while I am out at work for 4 days. I will take a pic tonight and then compare it when I come back.

[Crayons]

I have decided to get a set in the December batch but as a bit of an experiment I will leave my set on the CH10 HD loop while I am out at work for 4 days. I will take a pic tonight and then compare it when I come back.

Cool. Let us know how you go Mr Ploppy (I'm still disturbed, BTW) :-D

My retailer is a legend and has agreed to swap mine in the new year so I will be keen to see how yours from a new batch is.

[Jert]

Cool. Let us know how you go Mr Ploppy (I'm still disturbed, BTW) :-D

My retailer is a legend and has agreed to swap mine in the new year so I will be keen to see how yours from a new batch is.

WTF, really? Your retailer will actually let you hold onto the TV till the new year and then swap it over...? Who is your retailer?

[Black Dawg Down]

My retailer is a legend and has agreed to swap mine in the new year so I will be keen to see how yours from a new batch is.

Now that's what I call service!

Sadly it a rarity these days. I'll happily pay extra for that kind of service.

[croops]

I was curious...

My X Series has a 'slight' cloudyness problem however I only notice it very rarely and it's usually when I have all the lights off and it's a VERY dark scene or in between inputs. So I have figured that it's really not that much of a pain in the ass and frankly I am happy to live with it for now.

HOWEVER... given that I have an extended warranty, what would stop me from claiming an exchange for a new display in say...oh... 3 years time?! If it's a manufacturing problem, is there a clause that says it must be identified and repaired immediately?