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.

I know banding is a common problem for Sharp screens but they still look good and are on top of my shortlist...

Anyway does anyone know if it's a problem for Phillips because I was targetting either an Sharp or Phillips LCD TV for my home... I'm looking for a good 32inch screen 

OIC backlight leakage is it really bad?

I'm doing my best to avoid plasmas because of the high power consumption and problems with image getting burned on the screen...

Is there such a thing as a perfect LCD TV without a heavy price tag coz I only got like RM5k. 

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 'hazz' 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.

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.

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?

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)

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

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

I just got back from extensive testing (3-4 hours ) of the Hitachi 42HDT79 (1080i with motorized swivel stand) and Panasonic PX600 (720p). Both are plasma obviously. There is 1 known problem with both of these TV:

Panasonic - horizontal banding *not really a banding, will explain why later
Hitachi - Screen flicker when there is a sharp change in contrast

Apparently the Hitachi flicker can be fix with a firmware, and also can be curb with some settings in the service menu...so it is really not a big problem. I find the hitachi to be more vivid than the panasonic, but also a little noisier...but my GF says that the Hitachi is better and much more natural, very close to a CRT.

The panasonic seems smoother to me, but my GF says the screen sorta looks like it had added photoshop smart blur on the picture and a little unnatural. Having said that, the panasonic is less noisier than the Hitachi.

Anyway, in general, I've found that LCD gives the smoothest picture with virtually 0 noise of it own. Plasma is much noisier and it can be seen easily if you compare an lcd and plasma side by side. As for color reproduction, plasma seems to be better off, and of course...black level as well. I can't decide which TV is better...the Hitachi or the Panasonic. I am actually leaning towards the hitachi as it can take 1080i (not as clean and clear as LCD @ 1080p though). Another thing is the Hitachi looks alot nicer (aesthetic), the panny looks really gross...especially the base. Anyway, at about 8 ft apart, Plasma noise is acceptable and not very significant. I think the panasonic has slightly better black level but the Hitachi black level is not bad at all...much better than my LCD imho. The panasonic is 400 (RM1300) bucks more than the Hitachi.

Anyway, regarding the flicker issue on the Hitachi..I didnt see a thing, but the content I was playing back didnt have a sharp change in contrast. As for the panasonic horizontal banding..It is fairly obvious when you display a pale background. The banding looks like poor gradient to me which causes a bunch of lines on the horizontal axis. I dont think this has anything to do with uneven surface/backlighting...it looks more like color banding to me. It is not visible in shows at all, and these poor gradient is often seen in LCD as well but less severe in projection (due to softer image)

As for the power consumption...yes...plasma suck up almost 150-200% like piscesguy said. If you live in Malaysia...power shouldn't be an issue *cough*. Plasma has poorer resolution and the noisier image makes it not so well to use it as a pc monitor. I've read alot about the newer plasma and image retention issue. It seems that if you burn in the plasma for 200hours or so with alternating color and image, the image retention issue will not appear, even less with Alis panel. However, I can tell you for sure that I saw some image retention on a set of Pioneer earlier. When the scene changes, I still see some text on the screen. But after a min or so the retained image went away.

EDIT: I think I will get the hitachi if they can do RM7.3k for me after 14% tax.

The price is definitely still a concern to me. I found out something very interesting. I went to this shop earlier called www.audiotronic.ca, not the online store, but the local store. The guy quoted me 2248.88CAD for the hitachi. When I went to the online store earlier, it is 60CAD cheaper. Im guessing he is putting that in as a commission. I'm gonna try calling another store and tell them about the online price and ask them to do 2000CAD for me. even if it is 2100 CAD, it is still a good price but I am paying 100cad more than the lowest price in the market.

As far as the warranty is concerned, I think there is little thing to warrant about for a plasma. The Hitachi carry 1 year on-site warranty, credit card will carry extra 1 year (whoa damn..almost forgotten about this..I wanted to pay cash) The only thing they really warrant you is the functionality of the electronics anyway.

The after sales service of this store is no where gonna near crutchfield (the place I got my westinghouse) but I can still return it within 15 days full money back guarantee. They have local store near my place so exchanging is not gonna be a problem. The best thing with this TV is that there is alot of user (forum) support for it and the firmware can be user upgradable (same for panasonic)

I'll be returning my LCD and will be picking up the Hitachi 42HDT79:


Btw, here's what my eyes tell me how each different technology look like:
LCDTV

Plasma

SXRD

Yes, pretty close to film, but wthout the sparkling artifacts (forgot what was the correct term) seen in films. Some ppl would find LCD to have a flatter image and less lively compared to plasma and CRT...I'm not so concerned about that myself though.

EDIT: forgot to mention this in my previous posts....Plasma off axis viewing is by far the best...I was looking at the panasonic at 175 degree angle and the color, brightness, and contrast is still the same as if I was viewing it from the front. RP off axis viewing is NIGHTMARE! I was looking at the 60" Bravia XBR SXRD RP at
Sony Store that day..you really need to sit at the front sit and at a proper height to get the best PQ, if you move around, you will see color banding right away. LCD is Second best imho, but still depends on the model itself. My Westinghouse is quite horrible..the screen would look very pale and bright at about >45 degree.

The SXRD is very horrible imho. I've spent lots of time with the game Motorstorm on my LCD and I am very used to LCD's high resolution and definition. Moving to the SXRD is just plain nightmare. As I have mentioned, the image is significantly softer, and the jagginess is alot more obvious on the SXRD. The worst thing about RP besides the poor viewing angle is the texture of the screen. Depending on how sensitive you are, you can see the screen's grain at almost anytime. It is most obvious when you are looking at a single spot and particularly when the screen is on a white background. The gain will look like noise on the plasma, but seems rougher and you can see color reflection within the grains. Unfortunately, they need the grain for the screen to work...I would have prefered a crystal clear glass like the plasma...or better still, anti glare screen with virtually no visible gain like the lcd. The only pros that I can see in RP is screen size vs price. RP will look alright if you are sitting very far away (10ft or so) but at the same size and resolution, plasma will beat it in PQ easily...at a higher price of course. LCD lagi no doubt

I dont consider my ps3 a bad source I've tested both the 50 and 55"  model, projection are all the same. It's easy to tell how poor the PQ is, just look at other plasma/lcd with the same source (even without tweaking), the PQ will trounce RP btw, which part is not that bad? you can't see the projection screen grain? picture not soft? btw, the jagginess can easily be seen in console games, not that obvious in movies.

oh really? didnt plasma have picture shift? So far I've read alot about IR, which is quite normal and I have seen it myself on a Pioneer. But it doesnt last long and the next min I look at it, the IR is already gone. I do plan to use my TV for all sorts of things and really, I dont believe watching movie with black boarders for a few hours doesn't have any problems but playing games for the same amount of hours would have problems hope I'm right

EDIT: btw, how obvious is the picture shift?

I read the hitachi manual...it only shift 1 pixel per row/column. I've tried reproducing this with a 1920 X 1080 wall paper. I made the picture move up by 1 pixel, then down by 1 pixel, then down by 1 pixel, and finally up by 1 pixel back to center. The image "picture shift" was done in every 5 seconds (Hitachi has setting from 5 mins and onwards i think)...as far as the slideshow is concerned, it is noticeable...but if the picture moves every 5 mins, I'd probably not notice it. Pioneer is not the leading brand AFAIK, Fujitsu is - Hitachi is a partner of Fujitsu

When I get the TV, i'm gonna do a pre-calibration and leave it facing the wall and break it in for 6-7 days staright (200hours), with some time breaks of course. I'll start using it after that. I noticed that only "some" games are a concern for serious IR. Especially those that display a particular pattern of image for long period of time (CS, and some other FPS games). While I was playing Untold Legends yesterday, as well as motorstorm demo, I noticed that the game will take a break itself (go into save menu, loading screen, and etc) in every 10-20 mins. So I'd think those "HUDs" images will not have seriously ill effect on the TV. Btw, I game no more than a few hours in a day (maybe 6 MAX)...I can't stand lying on the bed playing games and wasting time whole day, and I'll automatically take a break once in awhile. Good to have some self control

@tong
That's true, I think the picture shift is useless if u are displaying a solid block of color at a particular location