Light Leaking on TV - Samsung Claiming Not Faulty?

Hi All,

In January I purchased a TV from JBHIFI. Working fine until one night, I noticed a significant amount of light leaking - Photos Here.

Went back to JBHIFI, they were great and agreed that the TV should not be like this, and booked a service rep from Samsung to come and take a look.

The technician arrived with a new TV panel. He asked what was happening with the TV, I told him that the light was leaking and that it is especially bad at night. He immediately knew what the problem was (before even looking at the unit) and told me that replacing the panel will not fix the problem, but would probably make it worse. I told him not to as it would be wasting my time. He filled out a report stating "No obvious fault found". He also wrote on the report that I disagreed with this. He told me to argue my case with Samsung and he was on his way. Strangely enough on the report, there were explicit instruction "DO not take photos of netflix login page" which is bizarre because it is the easiest and clearest way to show that the problem is occurring. It kind of feels like they know its an issue.

Anyway, a few days past, I get a text to give Samsung a call. They tell me that because the technician wrote on the report "No obvious fault found", they refuse to provide a remedy. They encouraged me to get JBHIFI to provide a remedy. I asked them to look at the photos and they acknowledge that there is light leaking, but say "they can only go off the report". I also tell them that the technician told me to argue my case, and he said "he should've said that.

Any advice of where to go from here?

Comments

  • Let me get this straight… the technician offered to replace the panel which you refused, and now you're complaining they didn't do anything?

    • ahh typo, sorry. He said it would probably make it worse.

      • +1

        Oh well then I wouldn't have done it either!

      • You should still have told him to replace it. By telling him no, you've basically said "No, I don't want this fixed."

        Practically - take it back to JB Hi-fi. They sold you the TV, they're responsible for support and aren't legally allowed to just foist you off to the manufacturer. Ask for a replacement, and see if that one's any better.

  • Have you tried to turn down the backlight level? That may reduce the light bleed slightly but won't eliminate it.
    Changing the picture mode to standard or movie might help, especially if its in a darkened room. Have a bit of a play first.

    If you still aren't happy talk to JB and see if you can swap it for another?

    • Thanks for your advice. I have tried all of this. I think its a case of because I know its there, I can always see it.

      Will go to JB after work and see what they can do.

  • Make a complaint to the accc. That amount of backlight bleeding is definitely not normal, and should be considered a fault. It may be a common fault with that particular model though, so their techs would have instructions to make it less likely of a serious issue.

    Why would replacing the panel make it worse, that makes absolutely no sense, it just sounds like he couldnt be bothered doing anything. You should of at least got him to replace the panel if that was on offer, if it made it worse then you had a better case for a full refund, especially if its after a repair.

    • I disagree, mainly because OP says the technician told them before the repair that replacing the panel would only make it worse; if OP had demanded the panel be replaced and there was no improvement then Samsung and/or the technician has the come back to say that they told the OP it wasn't advised. But, I disagree with you only on that score, as I do think that another panel would at least have been worth a try.

      The panel should contain the backlight modules, it would only be the bezel or the surrounding enclosure that might press in certain areas and cause deformities in the backlight, so maybe the tech was concerned about that?

  • Maybe try getting JBHifi to replace it - or at least test the same thing on one of their floor stock models (in case it's a design flaw).

  • +1

    Part of it is simply how LCD's are made. LCD will always have some backlight bleed. Manufacturers will try to compensate for cheap panels through digital control of the LCD backlight depending on what is onscreen - this is known as "dynamic contrast". In bright scenes, the LCD will turn the backlight up higher, and in dark scenes, will dim the backlight.

    Since the netflix login page is high contrast (large sections of bright colours, large sections of black) it will show off this defect the most. A dark scene in a movie is less likely to have such extreme contrast, and in a dark scene the backlight will dim, which helps to reduce the visibility of this bleeding. This is usually fairly effective, which is supported by the fact that you did not notice this till now.

    Not really much you can do… it's pretty bad, but it sounds like this is normal for this model. Unfortunately, I would just let it go if I were you.

    • +1

      I agree with what you said, but in particular its the IPS (In Plane Switching) type LCDs that are more notorious for backlight bleed than others.
      Most TVs are of this type as it provides better viewing angles and a faster response time than other types with less ghosting.

      • +1

        Totally agree. I would still take a bleedy IPS panel over a TN panel though. As screens get larger, the difference in viewing angle by the eyes looking from the top region of the screen to the bottom region of the screen, becomes very significant. It is a shame that LCD tv's with local-dimming backlights never became cheaper, they were really good. I guess OLED has taken over the premium market now to a large degree…

  • +4

    Finally a topic I have first hand experience in! Yay!

    I bought a television from LG 2 years ago, and it had backlight bleed exactly like that. In the dark it was terrible.

    I contacted LG and they also sent a technician out blah blah blah. They said no fault was found and wouldn't do anything about.

    I then went through the VCAT process, and waited patiently. Within 2 weeks and a little back and forth, I had a court date (tribunal?) set to attend in Melbourne. Two days before the tribunal LG contacted me directly and offered me a full store credit to purchase any other tv and take mine away.

    • That's great that you followed through as many would give up.
      I like hearing stories like this!
      It's funny how they come to the rescue when the tough gets going.
      Cheers

    • Ran out of + votes

      +1

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