Have your say & ask the experts

The possible issue that some owners have talked about, the clouding getting worse once the tv has been on an hour or so is a bit worrying i hope it's not true. Hopefully theres some of you out there who can have this tv on for several hours without this occurring.?

I have stayed away from Sony for years now due to their extremely poor customer service and had only just started to 'trust' them again.

I had been pondering over a 46W4500 or a 46PZ81b, but reading of all these problems on this thread I think I can safely say the decision has been made for me!  That also goes for which blu-ray player I was going to buy

 Well Done Sony for their wonderful customer service.

 (It'll probably be another 20 years before I trust them again!)

techno:

The possible issue that some owners have talked about, the clouding getting worse once the tv has been on an hour or so is a bit worrying i hope it's not true. Hopefully theres some of you out there who can have this tv on for several hours without this occurring.?

We ran both 40W4500 and 46W4500 sets all day, every day, at last weekend's Show (Friday-Sunday inclusive) with no sign of clouding.

That suggests to me that a set is either faulty or not - the degree of a faulty set's clouding may vary, but if it shows any signs, send it back!

Same here, I also plumped for the Panasonic after having been all set to go for the Sony. The thought of returning a faulty set and dealing with poor customer service teams if I got a dodgy set was one risk I didn't want to take. Hope all those affected get satisfactory outcomes.

One of the main reasons for purchasing my Panasonic plasma was the problems with big LCDs shown to me by a store manage of one of the large retailers. A 40 inch LCD we looked at had something like 5/6 failed pixels and once you notice them you can’t take your eyes of the little green lights.

All of this shows that you can only put so much score on Reviews. One thing a review of a new product will never be able to do is say how reliable the product will be. The reviewers have only 1 unit to look at. They have no idea if there are batch problems, and reliability issues. That will come out later as the public buy the product in numbers.

 

The list of cars that have been given great reviews by the experts when they first come out is endless, yet when the public has owned them for a few years the true picture emerges. Sony are no worse than any other manufacturer. They are all reluctant to acknowledge a fault when a new product hit’s the shops. Anyone who thinks Sony will be forthcoming with this issue is not living in the real world. And judging by how badly most Tv’s are set up in most shops I would not be surprised if many of these faulty sets are sold to other people who are completely ignorant about the problems.

 

 

Very Annoyed:

All of this shows that you can only put so much score on Reviews. One thing a review of a new product will never be able to do is say how reliable the product will be. The reviewers have only 1 unit to look at. They have no idea if there are batch problems, and reliability issues. That will come out later as the public buy the product in numbers.

 The list of cars that have been given great reviews by the experts when they first come out is endless, yet when the public has owned them for a few years the true picture emerges. Sony are no worse than any other manufacturer. They are all reluctant to acknowledge a fault when a new product hit’s the shops. Anyone who thinks Sony will be forthcoming with this issue is not living in the real world. And judging by how badly most Tv’s are set up in most shops I would not be surprised if many of these faulty sets are sold to other people who are completely ignorant about the problems.

Well, we've had a range of W4500 models in - not just the one of each - and haven't had faults with any of them. We've also seen perfectly functioning models in shops, too (OK, take the point about poor set-up - they certainly had that - but no clouding) - we do a lot of 'mystery shopping' as well as reviewing before we choose our Awards.

Also, Sony - after much pressure from ourselves - finally admitted there was a problem with  its AV receivers (not working with Sky HD) and issued fixes/delayed distribution of an entire product line, at great cost.

So, consumer and consumer-magazine pressure CAN make a difference. We'll keep on it - I suspect part of the delay (as was the case with the receiver issue) is them working out the logistics  of how they're going to deal with this issue. (Product recall? Audit of all models in stock? etc etc). Would be nice if they told us that, though....

Just taking some photo's of my screen every sort of 15 mins and it seems to be about 30mins in to the TV being on that the clouding appears.

 Not sure if this is my hope playing tricks on me, but not sure if its getting slightly better.

Won't hold my breath just yet. Take some more photo and see.

Do remember that any product over £100 purchased in the UK is automatically warranted for 5 or 6 years this includes over the internet. I was informed about this by trading standards and have just had my Panasonic DVD recorder repaired by Panasonic even though it was 20 months old.

 

You must keep you original invoice and if you can purchase it on a credit card because the credit card company is also liable.

 

Don’t be put off by retailers, manufacturers or credit card companies.

 

Good luck all.

Hopefully Sony will get intouch with the WHF team by the end of the week this threads been running for over a week now. I will be contacting Sony Centre about this but not just yet as i cant see the clouding on normal viewing, just on the screen if you press the digital button (i dnt even knw what thats for lol). Il give it a week or so cos im enjoying my gaming sessions on it just abit too much yet lol.

The only thing connected to it at the moment is my xbox 360 and my bluray player.

Xbox 360 looks great although a bit jaggy, probably because i sit too close (2 metres max) but if not can anyone help?

Connected my Bluray player BDP S350 and as i dnt have any bluray discs yet i decided to pop in my dvd of Rambo (the recent one) and to be honest i wasnt happy at all, looked kinda pixelated and the dark scenes when they are on the boat looked terrible. Have i set it up right? Is it even upscaling? If this is the extent of upscaling id rather watch my dvds on my CRT.

I also have the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on, watched abit of Transformers on the yesterday which i picked up for 3 quid!! Now that looked great, but some scenes looked too real and not film like, as though i was looking through a window! But still i was very very impressed.

I so wish this TV was perfect becuase when it looks good it can look tremendous for gaming and hd movies.

I dont even mind the dvds lookin abit off and pixelated! I just wish that the feint cloud wasnt there on that bloody black screen! I dont want it to get worse!

Clare Newsome:

Very Annoyed:

 

 

Well, we've had a range of W4500 models in - not just the one of each - and haven't had faults with any of them. We've also seen perfectly functioning models in shops, too (OK, take the point about poor set-up - they certainly had that - but no clouding) - we do a lot of 'mystery shopping' as well as reviewing before we choose our Awards.

Also, Sony - after much pressure from ourselves - finally admitted there was a problem with  its AV receivers (not working with Sky HD) and issued fixes/delayed distribution of an entire product line, at great cost.

So, consumer and consumer-magazine pressure CAN make a difference. We'll keep on it - I suspect part of the delay (as was the case with the receiver issue) is them working out the logistics  of how they're going to deal with this issue. (Product recall? Audit of all models in stock? etc etc). Would be nice if they told us that, though....

Even if you have 3-4 sets Clare you can’t really make a case on reliability on a new product. Yes, you can say how well it performs, and how great it is to operate, but you have no idea if the set will have faults and batch problems.

As for the set up of Tv’s in shops…… I was not saying that the sets that people on here have had are not faulty. They obviously are faulty. No, what I was trying to say is that many people who buy Tvs without an really knowledge of the products they are buying will think what they see in the shop is normal. I can imagine many of these sets being passed off to people who think it is fine. Which is why many manufacturers will have to be dragged screaming and shouting to admit there are any problems.

And speaking of complaints why does this site give my computer so many problems? If I sit here reading items on here for more than 5 minutes, it goes to sleep and freezes taking all other sites I might be on at the same time.

Digitalpete:

Do remember that any product over £100 purchased in the UK is automatically warranted for 5 or 6 years this includes over the internet. I was informed about this by trading standards and have just had my Panasonic DVD recorder repaired by Panasonic even though it was 20 months old.

You must keep you original invoice and if you can purchase it on a credit card because the credit card company is also liable.

Don’t be put off by retailers, manufacturers or credit card companies.

 

Good luck all.

Sorry Digi Pete,but this has already been discussed and simply aint true.Your warranty is your original contract,your credit cards responsibility is against misrepresentation/failure to supply and in some cases insurance for a specific period named by the card company.Forget Trading Standards on this issue,- if goods perform to their spec within the the warranty period originally agreed at purchase ,end of story.Only goodwill from the retailer/manufacturer goes beyond that.Wishful thinking is one thing,trading reality is another. 

Ravey Gravey Davy:

Digitalpete:

Do remember that any product over £100 purchased in the UK is automatically warranted for 5 or 6 years this includes over the internet. I was informed about this by trading standards and have just had my Panasonic DVD recorder repaired by Panasonic even though it was 20 months old.

You must keep you original invoice and if you can purchase it on a credit card because the credit card company is also liable.

Don’t be put off by retailers, manufacturers or credit card companies.

 

Good luck all.

Sorry Digi Pete,but this has already been discussed and simply aint true.Your warranty is your original contract,your credit cards responsibility is against misrepresentation/failure to supply and in some cases insurance for a specific period named by the card company.Forget Trading Standards on this issue,- if goods perform to their spec within the the warranty period originally agreed at purchase ,end of story.Only goodwill from the retailer/manufacturer goes beyond that.Wishful thinking is one thing,trading reality is another. 

Thats like saying the English Legal System has no legs to stand on when it comes to consumer products. The law entitles you to 5-6 years if you can prove the set was faulty. Yes it may cost legal fees and fees for an expert to test the item in dispute but the case remains that you still have you legal rights as a course of action if you choose to take that path.

Its not a matter of goodwill and if anyone tells you that then they clearly need to read current UK legislation.

I bought a 40W4500 and S350 blue ray package a week ago from John Lewis which is linked to a Virgin V+ box.  Watching Michael Clayton in widescreen the evening that the package was delivered I noticed light in the in the top left and top right corners of the screen, particular noticable as it is widescreen and a dark film in parts.  This was before I had ever heard of the clouding phenomena, I just assumed that the set was faulty.  Other than this the TV is superb especially via HD and blue ray although the sound is disappointing but I was expecting that.  I contacted John Lewis customer service and asked for the set to be replaced, there was a large sigh and I was informed that the individual I spoke to deals with a lot of Sony LCD light issues and that the problem was a trait of Sony LCD TV's and that the set would not be replaced as a consequence, however they would offer me a full refund, I was also asked if I had spoken to Sony about this issue; I hadn't but I did and after being placed on hold for a while whilst their "engineers" were consulted I was told that this was normal for all LCD TV's and that I should live with it.

So there you are I bought the TV having never heard of clouding and assuming the set to be faulty would like it to be exchanged, however, there is obviously a reluctance by John Lewis to replace the set, i can only assume that this is because their experience leads them to believe that any replacement will be similarly affected.  Don't know what to do know as I like the set a lot and it even works well with football, something that I have seen friends earlier generation TV's such as the 40W2000 really struggle with (I assume the 100Hz and motionflow set to standard are making the difference here) and i'm worried about getting an even worse example.  Will probably give them a call and try again to get an exchange otherwise its a refund and something else, ny thoughts on the best of the rest anyone?

Even if it were law ,Ginder, the word stoic (in this case expensive with no gain) springs to mind.Please cite the relevant legislation.