Recently bought a TV and had gone through lots of reading and troubles. Apparently different TV has different "avoidable" problems, I wont mention much about those. As for some technological and manufacturing problems...here are some of them:

Sharp Aquos 1080p:



*not jsut vertical, but also horizontal banding*

Sony Bravia XBR2 1080p:


*cloud problem*

Samsung (dunno what model):


*common vertical band*

Westinghouse LVM 1080p series (mine):


*brighter streak*

If you cannot see the banding problems...try scrolling the pages and you will see them easily. Following attatchment is a grey background I made to detect vertical banding, you can adjust your TV's brightness to check it out at different grey level. Vertical banding is not new, but is getting serious. This also applies to LCD Monitor and Projectors as well. Another problem is backlight bleeding, easily detectable under black background. Just look around the boarders and see if it has same brightness as the other areas or do they look significantly brighter.

Pictures are all taken from various thread in AVS forum.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Jan 7 2007, 02:27 AM


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The hardware section is mainly PC oriented, Phtography section is imaging and digita video oriented, the audio section is actually Audio Video oriented. Nothing wrong with this thread being in this section.

You can ask scotty or the admins to move it if you want though along with all the LCD TV threads. I founded this section ages ago and it was initially intended for "audio" only. It should have been called Audio Video at the first place but for some reasons it was called Audiophiles. (I didn't name it, I just suggested this section and help to materialize it. Other staff and mods werent quite fond of this section at that time though.)

PS: did you take note of the main title of the "hardware" section...it say "computers". Did you check out the content of the Digital forum? cameras and DV

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Dec 30 2006, 02:57 AM

Usually it is visible at any level of brightness, after all, it is the screen that is uneven which causes the banding, not the backlight placement or the luminosity if the light. As you can see from the first sharp picture, there are 2 thick dark band that is symmetrical, that is actually the "mark" left by the rolling machine when they are flattening the panels. Green pixels? I think ur tv got some serious problems might wanna rma it before warranty habis...these problems cannot be "serviced" so they will usually just examine it and give u another TV, might be new, might be refurb.

@DSC
not too sure, but all of the have this kind of problem...it's just whether the owners noticed it or not. It is pretty much the limits of the technology. Even on a lcd monitor, you'd still notice that the grey is not particularly smooth compared to CRT.

maybe it's some green tint problem...not sure about that. When you get them over...make a huge fuss, tell them that you have checked with many owners online and many ppl have this problem this way, they will really treat it as a problem

yeah, the same problem was reported on the dell lcd. Some say it has nothing to do with the sizes, but I think that banding would seem more prominent on larger screens. This is a common problem with LCD technology, but as I said, it is getting more serious nowadays

I'm not sure about plasma, I've never really looked into plasma due to the phosphor burning issue...which is going to be inevitable since not many movies are 16:9

The new plasma are suppose to no longer have this problem. However, the plasma is still too fragile and great care is needed, if you forgot to turn off the TV or some silly power outage force the tv to turn on upon getting the power back (my CRT does that) it might cause some serious damage to the Tv. Regardless, this is just one problem with plasma there are many more like rainbow effect. None of the Tvs now are close to perfect and I can't help but keep on noticing their flaws.

Both the Bravia V2500 and XBR2/3 are 1080p ready. Both suffers from the Mura effect, and both have about 90% chance of getting dead pixels. I didn't pay too much attention to the XBR2 but I've read comments from some other owners that although the black level is better than other LCD TV, the black crush is even more kau.

I'm in a dilemma here as I am constantly being bugged by the banding issue with LCD tv...I simply cant stand those damn banding. They look very obvious when the picture is panning left and right as you can see them as haze and they make the screen looks "dirty". I got my TV at a super deal and I'm very very reluctant to return it. But I think LCD technology is just not for me

want me to ship a 42" 60lbs TV from Canada to Malaysia? I dont think so

EDIT: hmm, after ever more testing, I found out that LCD is not able to provide a perfectly smooth backlighting and brightness regardless of size. If you want to see what I mean, this is what you need to do:

1) clean your lcd monitor, make sure that is is very clean
2) make sure your white and black level is set properly so that nothign is washed out
3) take the following picture, do not put it to maximum but keep it windowed.
4) move the window around with your mouse and you will notice that the screen is 'hazy' and 'dirty' eventhough you have cleaned the screen.

The haze and dirtiness is apparently the uneven backlighting and surface of the panel. I thought it was my screen that's suffering from this phenomenon and apparently this is happening to my LCD monitor too...WTF

Have I became a videophile or did I just become more sensitive and anal?
I'm so confused I don't even know what I should do.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Jan 9 2007, 08:35 AM


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CRT size is too small. I am moving to another province in the next 6 months, which is why I am leaning towards LCD. If I were to buy the TV a few months later, I would get the 50" KDS50A2000. But for now, I really cant as I will have to pay a great deal for the shipping next time. I'm wondering if I should just return the TV and wait a few months to get the larger sony with less problems. Man, I can't stand my 24" crt with PS3...it is now worse than crap.

EDIT: Screw it, I'm returning it..I can't stand the banding on LCD. I'll get the 50" SXRD a few months later (hopefully no banding), or go for a panny 1080p plasma....

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Jan 3 2007, 05:26 PM

Actually my CRT is only 24" and it can only do 480i....I can barely look at it now but on SD content it still looks ok.

As for the TV, I just came back from Sony Store and some other electronics store. Here are my findings with regards to LCD, RP LCD, and Plasma:

-LCD: Best image of all the technology but poorest black level. Vertical banding is definitely in every single LCD tv out there. I have noticed that both the XBR and V2500 have very even vertical banding. They are all over the screen and are about 1-2 inches apart. I find the VB to be softer compared to other TVs but my GF says that it is even worse than my Westinghouse. The Bravia XBR mura effect is crazy, it is not obvious as long as there is ambient light, and if you are a few ft away. In a totally dark room, you can see the cloud easily and they have different patterns...the one I looked at had a BIG MUTHA ******* Cloud at the left and some smaller ones at the right.

LCD RP: I looked at the 50. 60, and 70" SXRD and boy I must say they suck big time compared to true LCD tv. I did not notice and green blob on any of the SXRD but the sharpness is no where near LCD. The screen is ever so rough in its texture and it looks really noisy. The picture is really soft even if you crank the sharpness to max and the screen looks a little fuzzy. The TVs have all been on for some time and is fully warmed up. Off axis viewing is nightmare... However, the best part is, I can barely see any banding at all. Regardless, I've written off RP, it simply doesnt work for me.

-Plasma: The picture is closest to CRT imho, but requires great care when using them. I noticed that manufaturers have written in the manual that they do not cover image retention, dead pixels, and etc. They did mention in the manual that image retention may occur and encourage users to keep the contrast and brightness low. Another thing to note about plasma is screen reflection. Unlike lcd, there is a coat of glass in the front and obviously you can see your own reflection on the screen as a result of that. Picture wise, I like the samsung quite abit. The color is quite natural and is slightly soft compared to LCD which some ppl find it unnatural. The only problem with Plasma is that it is hard to find 1080p screens that do not blow a hole in your pocket.

I still cannot make up my mind what to do maybe i should just keep the LCD tv?

The problem is i dont wanna spend more than rm6k for the TV I am actually contemplating returning this and get the Hitachi Plasma 720p 42HDS69 1024 X 1080 which accepts native 1080i, Alis panel should be immune to burn in. I can't decide how important is 1080p to me now as I have not seen a 1080p game on ps3 yet. I see no difference between upconverted 720p vs native 720p res. I wanna get the most experience out of GT5 (1080p omg) though.. speaking of which, I should look at a downconverted 1080p BD movie...

Sony doesn't offer zero dead pixel policy. I did not ask them specifically but as I have stated in one of the threads, the bravia line has 90% chance of getting dead pixel (according to AVSforum), just like how 90% of LCDs have obvious banding issue.

Bear in mind that some of these warranty only covers electronics and parts. Similar to Plasma TV warranty, they cover mainly the electronics and parts, but if the screen developed a bunch of dead pixels...they will need to give you a new TV since they can't repair those dead pixels.

Crutchfieldcanada.com has been very very helpful. I told them my reason for not wanting to get the Sony now and the lady told me that they would do a full refund for me and I can get the Tv from them later. But I'd told her I wont go RP since it sucks big time compared to other HDTV technology Now, really, I think 1080p is not a "must" for the next few years, 1080i should be just as good. I didn't pay too much attention to the PQ but I can't really tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i BD movie.

Hitachi 42HDS69 looks promising (1080i native input)

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Jan 4 2007, 11:53 AM

horrible...simply horrible...the hitachi has flicker issue...I need to do more research...

I think I need to do alot more research...looks like I havent done enough homework just yet. My dilemma here is that I got a PS3, I cannot tahan it on SD TV, and I nee a quick solution to use it and I have a low budget now which is why i picked the westinghouse. While the westinghouse has stellar PQ, even better than the SXRD, but the banding is apparent. So, no more LCD to me...I think I need to clear my mind and take a break from TV then make a rational purchase. Anyway, I am slowly increasing my budget...once I lifted that restriction, I should have alot more choices I'm eyeing on the Panasonic. It is only 100USD more compared to the westinghouse in the states, but 500CAD more in Canada.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Jan 5 2007, 01:24 AM

I've checked with some guys on AVSforum and seems like plasma doesnt suffer from banding problem

yeah, i'm not gonna bother with 1080p on plasma. I'm either getting a 720p or the hitachi 1080i if the flicker issue is solved. I'll be checking on the panasonic PX600 later today. However, I read that the PX60 has horizontal banding issue... damn

yeap. I'll have to see them for myself. As long as the banding is as little as the SXRD projection, I'm cool with it. As far as 1080p is concerned, I'm not too worried about it. Even on my TV, the only time I ever use it at 1080p is on some 1080p hdtv content...it has always been 720p in games. I think as long as the TV can accept 1080i or if it does 1080p processing it should be fine for the next few years. Well of course...as long as the conversion doesn't lag..I know of alot of 1080i downconversion to 720p is not real time and the lag can be felt when gaming.