Bravia X Series Patchy Backlight Bleed

[metal beat]

Do The Sony V series LCD's have these issues or only the X series??

[Mr Ploppy]

God Speed Mr Ploppy! Don't forget us now! We'll miss you.

I read a number of posts saying go the Pioneer 50 Plasma so it sounds like you have a good choice. Now, just enjoy the damned thing!

Thanks Crayon's. I have been mucking around with the settings and watching all sorts of different things on it tonight and I can't find anything at all wrong with it, so yeah, I think I will enjoy the damned thing!

[Black Dawg Down]

As long as it works, that's the main thing.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Pio as it is one of the best plasmas around. I would do the same if I were in your situation.

On the plus side, even if there is something wrong with the set (touchwood!), Pioneer's service is a cut above the rest. You don't have to worry about Sony's famous piss-poor customer service anymore!

[Templer!oftheDog]

Well, went back to JB today and organised a swapover. Will be delivered coz I just dont have a car big enough to fit the TV in.

The salesman had never heard of the backlight bleeding, never had anyone return a TV with cloudyness. Only had 2 46X's returned for pixels. But, he was more than happy to organise the swapout. Quite impressed with JB's effort to satisfy the customer, quite glad I purchased the TV from there.

Now I have the thought, maybe its not too bad after all, as I feel guilty. But, just looking at the screen now, it is more apparent than ever. I just cant watch TV without looking at the darker scenes and seeing cloudy patches.

[byt]

I don't quite understand why everyone is complaining about light bleed/light leakages.

My impression is with the current Technology of LCD there will alwasy be some light bleed when the screen in dark, especially at the corners/bottom/top of the LCD screen.

LCD is perfect for watching in bright rooms, therefore it usually look great in the shops.

If you intend to turn you rooms to almost darkness, of course the LCD will show all forms of light bleed during dark scenes.

That's why people buy plasma. Then again Plasma doesn't work well in bright rooms and especially day time viewing (due to reflections).

You get whichever technology that meets closely to your watching habits.

You can swap and swap until hopefully you get one with the least light bleed.

But the issue will always be there until LCD tech. improves in future.

[Mr Ploppy]

Now I have the thought, maybe its not too bad after all, as I feel guilty. But, just looking at the screen now, it is more apparent than ever. I just cant watch TV without looking at the darker scenes and seeing cloudy patches.

good luck with your new one. I had the same thoughts about the last set I had. But everytime a dark scene came on I got the sh!ts. If you pay good money for a quality set, you should expect quality.

I don't quite understand why everyone is complaining about light bleed/light leakages.

My impression is with the current Technology of LCD there will alwasy be some light bleed when the screen in dark, especially at the corners/bottom/top of the LCD screen.

LCD is perfect for watching in bright rooms, therefore it usually look great in the shops.

If you intend to turn you rooms to almost darkness, of course the LCD will show all forms of light bleed during dark scenes.

That's why people buy plasma. Then again Plasma doesn't work well in bright rooms and especially day time viewing (due to reflections).

You get whichever technology that meets closely to your watching habits.

You can swap and swap until hopefully you get one with the least light bleed.

But the issue will always be there until LCD tech. improves in future.

If the problem was a bit of light bleed it would be acceptable. This issue is totally different.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words;

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/cusp...80002Medium.jpg

[Templer!oftheDog]

Those are some pretty bad clouds. Mine is nowhere near as bad. It started in the bottom left corner with a large round blob of cloud, and now I can see it on and off over the screen. Its not consistant. If it was, I would think that the brightness is too high. After spending hours going thru every possible setting to lower the brightness, gamma, backlight, power saving etc, its still evident. Albeit not as bad, but I am missing half the image with a dark screen.

[Chesty]

That's a good good find Chesty!

Well I am happy (and sad) to report that the Bravia saga is finally over. I took the set back to HN today with the intention of going straight to the GG's to get another one. I was talking to the salesman about how f$%ked off I was with Sony and their attitude and he agreed with me. The more I spoke and thought about it the more I was concerned with getting another one only to find it too had the clouds. I would basically be stuck with it, the way the local Sony rep is. so I thought, stuff you Sony.

I had a look around the shop and decided on a Pioneer PDP-507XDA display and so far I am very happy. Was a straight swap over. We carted it back in the ute, set it up and tried a few different sources. Digital TV looks great, Gears of War for the XBox 360 is breathtakingly good. It's fricken huge and looks good on my cabinet.

I do regret not having a Bravia. It was definetly a sharper picture but with the Pio, I think I will be very satisfied. Being able to run native 1080p was cool but will I miss it, I'm not sure, time will tell. In the end I think it boiled down to not wanting to be at the whim of Sony to whether I would have a satisfactory TV or not.

So now I guess you LCD boys won't want to talk to me anymore! I hope you guys still going through the "clouds" get a satisfactory outcome. Thanks all for your advice and support.

At least you got it sorted out and best of luck with the Pioneer.Its still a great panel though.I dont know i could live without 1080p though..

We wont ignore you, just get onto the Pioneer thread!

[byt]

good luck with your new one. I had the same thoughts about the last set I had. But everytime a dark scene came on I got the sh!ts. If you pay good money for a quality set, you should expect quality.

If the problem was a bit of light bleed it would be acceptable. This issue is totally different.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words;

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/cusp...80002Medium.jpg

1.5 years ago. I had the same problem with my multimedia laptop. Had 2 laptop swap. Got the 3rd one, and I learn to accept its part of LCD screen "feature".

Lucky for me my 3rd one I got the least light bleed.

Initially I wasn't aware of light bleed until I start to read in the laptop forums. LOL!!! THen I started to intentionally turn my black screen saver on. And then I know how bad the screen is!! Then I start to ask for swaps.

I agree the pic. you posted looks very bad. But what I'm trying to say in the LCD industry this is more or less the Standard.

[Chesty]

1.5 years ago. I had the same problem with my multimedia laptop. Had 2 laptop swap. Got the 3rd one, and I learn to accept its part of LCD screen "feature".

Lucky for me my 3rd one I got the least light bleed.

Initially I wasn't aware of light bleed until I start to read in the laptop forums. LOL!!! THen I started to intentionally turn my black screen saver on. And then I know how bad the screen is!! Then I start to ask for swaps.

I agree the pic. you posted looks very bad. But what I'm trying to say in the LCD industry this is more or less the Standard.

Byt you are a little off the mark. Not withstanding the limitations of LCD technology, these cloud issues are not the norm.

I own another LCD screen (Samsung 26") and do not have the same issues as have been reported on tbis thread. In fact noone i know who has an LCD has had these issues.

[magictorch]

Magictorch and Chesty, what production months are your TVs?

Mine is October 2006.

I called Sony about the problem today. The guy I spoke to didn't mention ever hearing of the problem before, though he did suggest turning down the backlight. I explained that I had turned down the backlight to the minimum setting, which didn't help. I added that I'd tried leaving the set on for more than 40 continuous hours (as others have suggested), a solution that he'd never heard of before, and that that hadn't helped either. He suggested asking David Jones nicely if they would replace the TV, or sending the TV to a Sony repair centre.

I'll speak to David Jones about it tomorrow.

byt,if you haven't already, I suggest you take a look at the pictures of my TV I linked to in my last post in this thread, and then tell me that that kind of picture should be expected for a TV that costs more than five grand. Although this is my first LCD TV, I have had many LCD monitors before. The 26" Acer LCD I use with my computer is so bright that I need to turn the brightness down to 60% (to prevent permanent damage to my eyes!). Even at 100% brightness, there is no evidence of the clouding that I see on my Bravia. The screen is a clear, consistent black both when there is no feed showing on the screen and when the feed is supposed to be dark or black. I don't expect perfect blacks with an LCD, and a little light bleed I could handle, especially if it was just in between changing channels, but this is a major issue that is not acceptable for the price I paid, especially as many Bravia X users have not experienced the problem.

Edited January 13, 2007 by magictorch

[byt]

My fanstactic laptop lcd screen with light bleed.

This was the 1st one I got, then I swapped it twice.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p17/byt2007/IMG_0863.jpg

Probably I was inaccurate to say is LCD industry standard. But it looks like this issue is across a few brands of LCD. Even the Samsung R Series LCD, people complaining about light bleed.

[Mr Matey]

I don't quite understand why everyone is complaining about light bleed/light leakages.

My impression is with the current Technology of LCD there will alwasy be some light bleed when the screen in dark, especially at the corners/bottom/top of the LCD screen.

LCD is perfect for watching in bright rooms, therefore it usually look great in the shops.

If you intend to turn you rooms to almost darkness, of course the LCD will show all forms of light bleed during dark scenes.

That's why people buy plasma. Then again Plasma doesn't work well in bright rooms and especially day time viewing (due to reflections).

You get whichever technology that meets closely to your watching habits.

You can swap and swap until hopefully you get one with the least light bleed.

But the issue will always be there until LCD tech. improves in future.

Sorry mate, but you are wrong.

This is not some ordinary light bleed that we are talking about. It is a patchy cloud that variably hangs over a certain part of the picture. You can expect some higher brightness from an lcd, from a cheaper lcd you can expect some higher brightness around the edges, but on no tv would you expect cloudy patches on your tv. My good mate has just bought the 40" v series and it has a far superior display of blacks to my 46" x series and we have compared them closely. Unless you have one of these bravia x tv's then your opinion is noted, but uneducated and incorrect.

You wouldn't except it on an LG screen you paid $50 for.

[Mr Ploppy]

At least you got it sorted out and best of luck with the Pioneer.Its still a great panel though.I dont know i could live without 1080p though..

We wont ignore you, just get onto the Pioneer thread!

I guess I have sacrificed the 1080p for piece of mind. But with the set in isolation I will be able to come to grips with it! I must say though, this has put me off Sony gear all together. I have always liked their gear and designs but not always their methods (cd root kit, lik sang shafting) The local rep needs to be more customer focused and work with their issues, not dismiss them off hand.

I will get into the Pio thread, they are whinging about shiny bezels, they should have a gander over here to see something to really whinge about!!

[Chesty]

I guess I have sacrificed the 1080p for piece of mind. But with the set in isolation I will be able to come to grips with it! I must say though, this has put me off Sony gear all together. I have always liked their gear and designs but not always their methods (cd root kit, lik sang shafting) The local rep needs to be more customer focused and work with their issues, not dismiss them off hand.

I will get into the Pio thread, they are whinging about shiny bezels, they should have a gander over here to see something to really whinge about!!

Lol Mr Ploppy. You are always welcome on our x series thrad.Afterall you of all people should understand the frustrations that Sony imparts on its consumers!!

Shiny bezels?? I wish...

[Templer!oftheDog]

Well, I have packed up the TV waiting to be picked up and swapped out tomorrow morning. Will be a straight swapout, hopefully no hassles... coz it took me 15mins to get into the box

I wont even have a chance to set up the new TV til monday night at least. I would be keen to get home from work and try straight away. Just watched Superman Returns on the TV today, and the patchiness was shocking. Got so bad in the end, that the longer I left the set on, the more patches I saw. The corners were shockingly bright, and clouds throughout the middle of the screen got very distracting during dark scenes.

I hope I can come back in the next couple of days and say that I have received a top quality, late model 40" Bravia X. If I get a dead pixel, I will not worry, because it cannot be seen. The clouds are the biggest worry now, and I fear the new TV.

[Chesty]

Well, I have packed up the TV waiting to be picked up and swapped out tomorrow morning. Will be a straight swapout, hopefully no hassles... coz it took me 15mins to get into the box

I wont even have a chance to set up the new TV til monday night at least. I would be keen to get home from work and try straight away. Just watched Superman Returns on the TV today, and the patchiness was shocking. Got so bad in the end, that the longer I left the set on, the more patches I saw. The corners were shockingly bright, and clouds throughout the middle of the screen got very distracting during dark scenes.

I hope I can come back in the next couple of days and say that I have received a top quality, late model 40" Bravia X. If I get a dead pixel, I will not worry, because it cannot be seen. The clouds are the biggest worry now, and I fear the new TV.

Let us know how you go Templer. It muts be a right pain having to pack the panel up...

[Templer!oftheDog]

TV swapped out this morning. No hassles, delivery guy drop one in, take one out.

December build, and so far looks very sweet (im not jumping for joy yet, because the cloudyness occured after a week on the other TV). Ran a dead pixel locator on the PC, nothing coming up at all. I wouldve accepted a dead pixel this time around, because it cannot be seen (knowing it is there would still be annoying). Just have to hope that this one doesnt have any clouds, but from reading previous posts, that the problem may have been rectified in later builds.

[Crayons]

TV swapped out this morning. No hassles, delivery guy drop one in, take one out.

December build, and so far looks very sweet (im not jumping for joy yet, because the cloudyness occured after a week on the other TV). Ran a dead pixel locator on the PC, nothing coming up at all. I wouldve accepted a dead pixel this time around, because it cannot be seen (knowing it is there would still be annoying). Just have to hope that this one doesnt have any clouds, but from reading previous posts, that the problem may have been rectified in later builds.

December build? Already? Coooool. Let us know how you go there in the dark this evening Dog-Man. If the news is good I will see if my guy has December builds in yet.

[Chesty]

TV swapped out this morning. No hassles, delivery guy drop one in, take one out.

December build, and so far looks very sweet (im not jumping for joy yet, because the cloudyness occured after a week on the other TV). Ran a dead pixel locator on the PC, nothing coming up at all. I wouldve accepted a dead pixel this time around, because it cannot be seen (knowing it is there would still be annoying). Just have to hope that this one doesnt have any clouds, but from reading previous posts, that the problem may have been rectified in later builds.

You should be ok with a december build. Mine is November and is ok.

[Templer!oftheDog]

Well, it looks to be pretty good this new December model. However, maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but it does look a little bright when changing channels, and not totally consistant. Perhaps this is a byproduct of being an LCD, and its not really noticeable except for channel changing. This is all before I have even gone and configured the overbright presets.

If something occurs on this screen, it will be ok if its not too much. My screen, watching it yesterday, was as bad as some of those pics that have been posted. It was so shocking. I thought to wait to buy the TV originally, as it was the last in stock for JB. But it was the only time I couldve bought it for $3950, otherwise the quote from Good Guys would have expired.

JB are the way to go. They swapped it out without questioning (too much), without even seeing the set! I put it right back into the box, delivery guy swapped it over, and now it is GONE!

Will seem like a real idiot if I have to swap a 2nd time around. If I did, I would not get another X.

But I love the X!

[Crayons]

Well, it looks to be pretty good this new December model. However, maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but it does look a little bright when changing channels, and not totally consistant. Perhaps this is a byproduct of being an LCD, and its not really noticeable except for channel changing. This is all before I have even gone and configured the overbright presets.

Sounds good Dog-person! Thanks for the update. I think a bit of un-uniform lighting is to be expected on a panel with this much inherent brightness... a bit... but not the sort of thing we've been seeing with the dodgy X's. Glad you got a goody!

[Templer!oftheDog]

I must say that with the first one I got (August or September, cant remember) that the screen was perfectly fine for the first week, then the cloudyness got worse on the second week. Really bad. This one is starting off with a bit of cloud, but looks like its unavoidable, and nowhere near as bad. Just hope it doesnt get worse over time.

[magictorch]

Well, I went to David Jones to tell them about the cloudiness on my set. The junior staff seemed pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to help me as I'd had the TV for more than 4 weeks (they have some 4 week return-to-shop guarantee). A senior staff member intervened however, and said she could help me. She said she wanted a local, independent engineer to come and take a look at it. I spoke to them on the phone and gave them my details. They said they'd call back to arrange an appointment.

When they did, I asked what times outside of normal business hours they could come. They said that they only did house calls between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday which, coincidentally enough, is when I'm at work. I can't afford to take time off work to have an engineer tell me that there's something wrong with my set or, worse still, tell me I should just accept cloudiness because it's an LCD.

I'll have to go back to David Jones today and tell them that that's unacceptable to me and ask nicely if they can help me out any other way. I'm getting really concerned that I'm going to have to send the set back to the Sony Repair Centre, which will be difficult because I don't have a car, be without a TV for some unknown length of time, and I don't really feel that there's any guarantee I'll get a cloud-free set at the end of it...

UPDATE: It has occured to me that above-mentioned 'independent' engineer isn't actually indepedent at all, and is the local authorised Sony Repair Centre. I was under the impression they were both located in the same suburb so I really should have worked this out sooner.

I told DJs that I couldn't be there for the engineer between 9 and 5, and they said that they didn't really know how else they could help me. I asked if they could replace the faulty set that they sold me with a new one, and they said that they couldn't, because the warranty was Sony's and not theirs. They did suggest that I have the TV couriered to Sony, who are open on Saturday mornings (just not doing house calls). They even called up Sony and asked them how much I would need to pay for the privilege. Sony said that I would have to pay them $110 - each way.

So it looks like I'll be taking time off work then...

Edited January 16, 2007 by magictorch

[croops]

For what it's worth, I noticed something interesting yesterday.

I too have a 40" X Series (Sept build I think) and I too have had a slight 'cloudyness' problem but nothing to get bunched up about - esp coz I only see it between input switches.

However I was checking out the Foxtel radio channels the other day and decided to start listening to JJJ. To prevent burn in, the Foxtel channel goes 'black'. It almost seems as if the TV is off.

But guess what - no cloudyness issue whatsoever...

It made me wonder if the issue is in fact anything at all to do with picture/colour reproduction. I am guessing that the people who are ticked off with this issue are also seeing clouds during normal picture viewing??