KDL40W4000 LCD Panel Replacement Problem

[Chris S]

Hi,

I have just received my Sony KDL40W4000 back from repair, after lines appeared acroos the screen.  It has been repaired under guarantee with a new LCD panel from Sony, with the exact same model number. 

The fault is gone, obviously, but the picture is now just not as good as it was.  I’ve followed the HDTV test settings on this site (and paid my quid!), and tried out a few variants, and played a number of different dvds and blurays. 

The blurays do look fine in the brighter parts, but there is more noise in darker areas than I remember; and dvds and tv feed definitely look noisier and more pixelated, with artifacts along the edges.  I’ve tried different setting on noise reduction but improvement isn’t great.  There also seems to be a bit more stuttering on movement, with words moving across screen becoming doubled.

I’ve spoken to the company who repaired it and an engineer is coming over on Friday to have a look.  But it was mentioned that he might not be able to do anything as it is just accepted now that parts are not as well made as they used to be! 

Any advice?  Thanks.

[David Mackenzie]

Did they do a factory reset on the TV and clear all the old picture settings? That's the most likely explanation for the differences you're seeing.

Follow the same basic guidelines as for any TV to get the most accurate (and high quality) picture: use the Movie mode, make sure the Sharpness is turned down, set the Backlight according to the brightness of your viewing environment, turn off all the Noise Reduction and Dynamic Contrast systems.

As for stuttering on movement, that's surprising. Are you sure the Blu-ray player is outputting in 24p?

[Chris S]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The TV has come back from the engineers for a second time and they say they can see nothing wrong with it, after having it for two weeks.  It took me about 5 minutes to notice the same stuttering problem on panning movements.  It wasn't like this before with the previous panel.

The settings of the picture do improve when I follow the guides on this site, but the stuttering/motion judder problem does not.  It's something that is very noticeable every few minutes or so, but not all the time.  But there are hints of the same problem regularly - doubled edges etc.  It happens with blu-rays, dvds and with TV.  Here's an example of it at its worst:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2760/img0004eo.jpg

I'm careful of giving pics as I know the camera can create this effect, but this was pretty much what it looked like on screen - except it was moving of course.  It was unreadable.

The BD player is outputting at 24p, and has an option to cancel this - it doesn't seem to be any different.  I have the feeling it must be something to do with the refresh rate.  I feel like I've been given a LCD TV from 2005 with the motion problems they used to have.

There seems to be nothing else I can do except avoid Sony in future.

 

[tele1962]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The TV has come back from the engineers for a second time and they say they can see nothing wrong with it, after having it for two weeks.  It took me about 5 minutes to notice the same stuttering problem on panning movements.  It wasn't like this before with the previous panel.

The settings of the picture do improve when I follow the guides on this site, but the stuttering/motion judder problem does not.  It's something that is very noticeable every few minutes or so, but not all the time.  But there are hints of the same problem regularly - doubled edges etc.  It happens with blu-rays, dvds and with TV.  Here's an example of it at its worst:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2760/img0004eo.jpg

I'm careful of giving pics as I know the camera can create this effect, but this was pretty much what it looked like on screen - except it was moving of course.  It was unreadable.

The BD player is outputting at 24p, and has an option to cancel this - it doesn't seem to be any different.  I have the feeling it must be something to do with the refresh rate.  I feel like I've been given a LCD TV from 2005 with the motion problems they used to have.

There seems to be nothing else I can do except avoid Sony in future.

Hello again Chris,

That realy does not look right at all, have you shown that picture to your retailer?

[Chris S]

I bought the TV from amazon nearly three years ago.  It developed a very common pixel line fault recently, so I had the LCD panel replaced under extended warranty.  This current flickering of edges/motion judder on panning shots or movement is caused by the replacement panel.

The TV has just come back from the engineers for a second time - they had it for two weeks but couldn’t see the fault.  Either they haven’t been able to reproduce it, or they think such flickering edges are normal with LCDs.

The problem is it needs them to acknowledge a fault in a report before they can send the panel back to Sony to get a replacement.  There is the further problem that there’s no guarantee another panel will be any different.

I don’t really have anywhere else to go as Sony have a poor reputation for after sales service, so it looks like I’m stuck with it.

[tele1962]

I bought the TV from amazon nearly three years ago.  It developed a very common pixel line fault recently, so I had the LCD panel replaced under extended warranty.  This current flickering of edges/motion judder on panning shots or movement is caused by the replacement panel.

The TV has just come back from the engineers for a second time - they had it for two weeks but couldn’t see the fault.  Either they haven’t been able to reproduce it, or they think such flickering edges are normal with LCDs.

The problem is it needs them to acknowledge a fault in a report before they can send the panel back to Sony to get a replacement.  There is the further problem that there’s no guarantee another panel will be any different.

I don’t really have anywhere else to go as Sony have a poor reputation for after sales service, so it looks like I’m stuck with it.

I would contact Amazon again and explain he situation, that you are unhappy and can provide photographic evidence of the fault and if need be you will take further legal advice on how to proceed.

[Chris S]

Sorry, I should have made clear that the warranty was with a separate insurance firm, as the guarantee with amazon was only two years.

[tele1962]

I would contact them with the same info and stating you are not happy with the repair.

[Chris S]

That's what I did, which is why the TV went away for the second time.  But, as I said, the engineers were not able to see the fault themselves.  I even offered to go down there and show them, but was told no-one is allowed in the workshop.  I need them to give a report of a definite fault to the insurance company before the panel can be replaced again, but they have not been able to see it themselves.  I showed them the pic I linked to, and showed one of the engineers the stuttering movement on panning shots when her was here, but they are not able to see anything wrong in the workshop.

That's why I'm sort of stuck.

[tele1962]

Chris mate i know your frustration, i went through a very similar scenario a few years back with a Panasonic G10. I really hope you get sorted but i do think sometimes we are up against it and maybe have to cut our losses.

[Chris S]

Yes, it’s a bugger.

Thing is, I could go to all the trouble to get the panel replaced again, and then it might not be any better anyway (the engineers have said this themselves - they said they have noticed that replacement panels now tend to be poorer quality than the originals they replace). 

Come to think of it, it could even be worse...

[FoxHounder]

Chris S, I used to have Sony KDL-32V4500 and right from the factory it had some problems with motion handling very similar to your W4000 set with replaced panel.
There were black smearing to some high degree (which lessened with time) and pretty noticeable juddering on every fast pan.
I'm afraid, these troubles are quite common with the S-PVA panels used in whole Sony's 4000 lineup, not just V4500 or W4000. And yes, judging by symptoms, it can depend on panel refresh mode or something like that.
In fact, one of my acquaintances also have 32V4500 and he says there is no problem with smearing or juddering on his set at all.
I think getting a good or fauly set is a matter of luck here, so you need to consider other options rather than trying to "catch" the right quality replacement panel...

[tele1962]

Any news Chris?

[Chris S]

No developments since last time.  Don't really know what more I can do.  My extended warranty is just about to run out, so I've got to decide if it's worth renewing.

I used to buy everything from Sony - TV, VHS player, HDD Recorder, Bluray player.  I don't trust them anymore, so I'll be avoiding them from now on.