Have your say & ask the experts

This goes to the heart of the LCD vs Plasma debate. If brightness is your number one priority, then you will have to put up with backlight problems. It is the price you pay for a brighter picture. If more natural colour is what you like then Plasma is the way to go. Most people seem to be obsessed with the brightness aspect to the detriment of all other factors so they go LCD. (They are like rabbits caught in the bright headlights ) ;-0

Goodness knows why Pioneer want to buy into this technology when they had such brilliant plasma tv’s.

D.J.KRIME

I wondered when you would show up. Yes, I saw that someone had not taken to kindly to your advice. But, although it did not help people with existing tv’s it was a perfectly fine piece of advice for anyone reading this thread and thinking of buying a large Sony LCD.

But you know how blinded people are by the bright shiny stuff. It reminds me of Black adder when they tried to make shiny gold, and all they came up with was GREEN.

 

Matt_C:

I've been a silent watcher of the forum for the last week, prior to which I was ready to buy the 46W4500.

I've almost certainly decided against buying this set as a result of people's experiences, but I think it's only fair all those with the problems try out ALL 3 settings Sony have suggested and then post back with the results.

My gut feeling is probably the same as everyone else - the setting's won't miraculously solve the problem and probably won't even help it! There is however a chance, however slim, it may reduce the problem to a level which does not interfere with regular viewing, in which case, it may warrant the purchase. All the same - the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

think all i can do is keep looking and waiting for a decent lcd tv.

can all user experiencing the problem please let us know how they get on with the suggested fix.

Matt_C:

I've been a silent watcher of the forum for the last week, prior to which I was ready to buy the 46W4500.

I've almost certainly decided against buying this set as a result of people's experiences, but I think it's only fair all those with the problems try out ALL 3 settings Sony have suggested and then post back with the results.

My gut feeling is probably the same as everyone else - the setting's won't miraculously solve the problem and probably won't even help it! There is however a chance, however slim, it may reduce the problem to a level which does not interfere with regular viewing, in which case, it may warrant the purchase. All the same - the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

think all i can do is keep looking and waiting for a decent lcd tv.

can all users experiencing the problem please let us know how they get on with the suggested fix.

Very Annoyed:

This goes to the heart of the LCD vs Plasma debate. If brightness is your number one priority, then you will have to put up with backlight problems. It is the price you pay for a brighter picture. If more natural colour is what you like then Plasma is the way to go. Most people seem to be obsessed with the brightness aspect to the detriment of all other factors so they go LCD. (They are like rabbits caught in the bright headlights ) ;-0

Goodness knows why Pioneer want to buy into this technology when they had such brilliant plasma tv’s.

I think you've got to accept that it's very much down to personal taste. I started off with a 5 star 42" Hitachi plasma, I compared it to the Panasonic plasma of the day and preferred the sharper, more natural picture of the Hitachi if at the expense of a little more screen noise than the smooth Panny. When my Hitachi packed up far too early in it's short life, I went for the 1080p LCD of the day, Sony's KDL-40W2000. I again compared it to the Panny plasma of the day, and again the sharper picture of the Sony LCD prevailed over the Panny which, yes, have better blacks and slightly better colour. Brightness had nothing to do with it, I never had my backlight set above 3 on a scale of 0 to 10.

I've got the best of both now, but had to spend a grand more to get it with a Pioneer plasma! At lower price ranges though, I don't know that I would choose a Panny plasma over a Sony LCD.

cmf:

Matt_C:

I've been a silent watcher of the forum for the last week, prior to which I was ready to buy the 46W4500.

I've almost certainly decided against buying this set as a result of people's experiences, but I think it's only fair all those with the problems try out ALL 3 settings Sony have suggested and then post back with the results.

My gut feeling is probably the same as everyone else - the setting's won't miraculously solve the problem and probably won't even help it! There is however a chance, however slim, it may reduce the problem to a level which does not interfere with regular viewing, in which case, it may warrant the purchase. All the same - the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

think all i can do is keep looking and waiting for a decent lcd tv.

can all user experiencing the problem please let us know how they get on with the suggested fix.

As the Sony reply said, I only noticed clouding at faint levels with no video source, still shouldn't be there, but I can't say it was an issue whilst watching TV etc.  I never felt the need to have the backlight setting above 3 on my Sony.

Sony for sharpness, Panny for better black and marginally better colour, Pioneer for both!

Whoever thought Sony would come up with a proper solution must have been dreaming. I already said Sony have lost their bottle. Its not a matter of quality any more, once the electronics giant but now just interested in a quick buck.

Everyone ripped into Microsoft with the Xbox360, atleast they issued replacements and repairs for the red light problem and extended the warranty to over a year for that problem.

Sony does nto care about the ppl that buy their products, just recently they released the new PSP3000 which also has screen problems. Sony also gave a comment on that saying in a way that the screen if fine (when its not) and all the reviewers are wrong.

Recalling a product would cost too much and for SOny to admit that there is fault in these sets would be like shooting themselves in the foot, especially in the current financial climate.

They also make a loss on every PS3 they sell and considering they are so far behind in the consoles race so cnt afford to recall products. Thing is they can only make money on the PS3 if ppl buy games as then they get some kind of loyalty from each game tht is sold. Since many ppl just buy it as a bluray player and have at most 3-4 games then thats not possible.

I was gonna buy a PS3 but with Sony's attitude towards the customer i dont think il be forkin out on another Sony product again.

I just hope the little patch of cloud i had on my tv the other day doesnt get worse. I tend to switch off my tv now whenver im not in the room just so that it stays cool. Dont knw if it helps but i didnt notice any cloud at all yesterday...

Gotta say congrats to Ginder for turning a thread about LCD TVs into an XBox vs PS3 contest!!

I feel I have to stand up for Sony here (and before you say it, I'm not a massive Sony fan or anything - I have usually stayed away from Sony because I always felt you were paying a premium for the name).

From reading this thread, I've found myself getting increasingly paranoid about my 40W4500 being affected with this clouding problem, and I keep finding myself sitting looking at any blacks on the screen for evidence of clouding, rather than just enjoying the actual programme.

Then last night I sat down in a completely dark room, changed by V+ box to a radio channel (to give a completely black screen), and sat there trying to find evidence of this clouding. Even looking specifically for it, I couldn't see any. Perhaps at certain unnatural viewing angles, I might see some backlight bleeding in the corners, but nothing like the pictures being posted here. I have found my tv to be absolutely stunning in every respect, and I think WHF's review was spot on. Obviously I'm not trying to say that other people's problems aren't there (because the pictures speak for themselves) but I don't think every TV can be affected by this (or at least, not every 40" TV), because mine's definitely not. However, I do have the backlight set to 0, and I have the light sensor on, but even turning the backlight up didn't have any real effect on the blank screen. And the TV had been on non stop for about 4 hours when I tested it.

As I said though, clearly some people's screens are affected by bad clouding, but not everyone's, so people might think it a risk to buy this TV, but I would say, don't totally discount it on the basis of this - if you get a good one, it is a great TV.

 (I will test it tonight with the light sensor off etc, and see if it makes a difference).

Ginder:

Whoever thought Sony would come up with a proper solution must have been dreaming. I already said Sony have lost their bottle. Its not a matter of quality any more, once the electronics giant but now just interested in a quick buck. Everyone ripped into Microsoft with the Xbox360, atleast they issued replacements and repairs for the red light problem and extended the warranty to over a year for that problem. Sony does nto care about the ppl that buy their products, just recently they released the new PSP3000 which also has screen problems. Sony also gave a comment on that saying in a way that the screen if fine (when its not) and all the reviewers are wrong. Recalling a product would cost too much and for SOny to admit that there is fault in these sets would be like shooting themselves in the foot, especially in the current financial climate. They also make a loss on every PS3 they sell and considering they are so far behind in the consoles race so cnt afford to recall products. Thing is they can only make money on the PS3 if ppl buy games as then they get some kind of loyalty from each game tht is sold. Since many ppl just buy it as a bluray player and have at most 3-4 games then thats not possible. I was gonna buy a PS3 but with Sony's attitude towards the customer i dont think il be forkin out on another Sony product again. I just hope the little patch of cloud i had on my tv the other day doesnt get worse. I tend to switch off my tv now whenver im not in the room just so that it stays cool. Dont knw if it helps but i didnt notice any cloud at all yesterday...

 

What a complete load of tosh this post is!    How do you know any other Manufacturer offers service that is any better?

If you dont get the PS3 - you're settling for a 2nd rate machine.   Are they behind in the console race? - everyone I know has one.

I think all Manufacturers produce the odd duff model every now and again and unfortunately it appears to be the W4500 but Ive never had any problems with any of their products.

 

professorhat:

Gotta say congrats to Ginder for turning a thread about LCD TVs into an XBox vs PS3 contest!!

Well he failed on the trading standards/6 yr warranty legislation so it had to go somewhere.

I have a 40W4500, it is switched on for my disabled mother at 08:30 and turned off at 23:00 every day. It has none of the faults that others are experiencing. I have the power saving on and the back light set to 3, and the picture is fantastic. BETTER than my mates Panasonic TH42PX80B. It seem to me a few bias, Plasma loving people are trying to put others off of LCD's Sony must have sold thousands of these TV's by now and If the faults are so bad and wide spred then I would have thought the papers and other media would have gotten hold of the story. This thread is disproportionate to the world wide sales of the 4500 series.

I have this TV as explained earlier and Grinder suggested I set it to a dark screen to try and see clouding, I cant. He then suggested I turned my backlight up and looked again. I havent done this yet (I forgot) however I dont watch it with the backlight very high at all so dont see the point of trying to force something to produce a fault on a setting that in reality I am never going to use. After messing around a bit more with calibration the picture is stunning on any HD source and great with SD. I am very pleased with the sony and while watching a movie with the black bars at the top and bottom and only see blackness no bleed or anything!

I would recommend this tv without any problems.

Michael

Hi, i posted yesterday to say i have similar problems to the ones experianced on here with my 46w4500 brought from my local sony shop, they say they will replace but they haven't got any more in stock and i have to wait until the 20th when there restocked.

I am looking for some advice, mine whilst it has a problem with backlight bleeding in places its not as bad as some and wondering if a replacement will be any better or what i have is realistacally as good as i'm going to get (see pics below), any input or advice is well come.