Sony LCD TV "gone off"

[Lost_BMW]

Having moved from a 37" Sony and with a father with a 40" Sony TV I bought a new Sony KDL-40EX503 in May.

Suddenly - though not in one go, I'm sure it's worsening - the picture seems to have gone off. It doesn't seem sharp on many pictures, has artefacts like mottling or blotching when areas of background like sky, sea or desert are shown especially when out of focus (night/ interior scenes on Mad Men, BBC HD, are especially bad), it looks pale and lacking life and contrast and the colour is sallow and yellowish whatever I do.

I've tried the leads, swapped HDM leads, reset the picture settings and tried various manipulations. The only way to get anything bearable is to use 'vivid' rather then the 'standard' setting previously used with contrast and backlight on 100% and brightness right down,

Unfortunately I bought it from a 'stack em high sell em cheap' dealer miles away in Essex and will need to ship or drive it down there and worry that I'll having trouble convincing people it is dodgy, so before I get in touch has any one else experienced or heard of similar issues? Or a cure, short of a repair or new set!

[G20RG B]

Sony product particularlly there LCDs are just not that GOOD, most of them employ technology from other manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp and in reality you are just paying for the name. Get it back and choose something else, honestly Sony TVs are not reliable and not that great a picture. IN my opinion....

[Lost_BMW]

G20RG B said:

Sony product particularlly there LCDs are just not that GOOD, most of them employ technology from other manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp and in reality you are just paying for the name. Get it back and choose something else, honestly Sony TVs are not reliable and not that great a picture. IN my opinion....

I called Sony directly and within 2 days they had their service contractors visit, today. I detailed the issues on the phone and in a letter. I was out but my dad reckons the two who came said it looked OK on HD (bks - of course it was HD I was complaining about in the 1st place!), couldn't find anything wrong and tweaked some settings.

He didn't watch but I suspect they didn't do any internal modification and have just altered settings - as if I couldn't/ hadn't thought of that, I'd even written what settings I'd moved to FFS - as when I checked tonight contrast was up 4, backlight down 1 and brightness down 4. Wonderful. Not!

It's so annoying, colour in particular, I just can't live with it so 5 months in, unless I can convince Sony to have another look, will have to sell this for a big loss and move to a Plasma.

[headcase]

You would be suprised how many idiotic calls we deal with, i cant blame them for just adjusting the settings if you wernt there to specifically point out what you think is wrong with it, as mentioned Sony LCD's are not overly wonderfull so i can believe how yours looked in spec to them.
I went to a woman the other day who was complaining that things look dark but only on the night time scenes.....
I bet they had 5 of those before they came to you and the standard SKY R/C programming that 'worked fine until THIS tv was delivered' so it must be the TV.

[Lost_BMW]

headcase said:

You would be suprised how many idiotic calls we deal with, i cant blame them for just adjusting the settings if you wernt there to specifically point out what you think is wrong with it, as mentioned Sony LCD's are not overly wonderfull so i can believe how yours looked in spec to them.
I went to a woman the other day who was complaining that things look dark but only on the night time scenes.....
I bet they had 5 of those before they came to you and the standard SKY R/C programming that 'worked fine until THIS tv was delivered' so it must be the TV.

Fair enough but I did leave them an A4 sheet with detailed settings from before and after (after it went off) and clear examples of the image issues I perceive so you'd think they might have given some credit . . .

[headcase]

Try again with them m8, tell sony you were unsatisfied with the call and schedule another when you can be there.

[Lost_BMW]

headcase said:

Try again with them m8, tell sony you were unsatisfied with the call and schedule another when you can be there.

Will do - with any luck they'll be able to come when I'm in. If they can tell me the picture, even the lettering on things like the Sky Planner menu guides, is sharp enough to be HD or naturally coloured I'll be amazed (or horrified!)

[PJ S]

Lost_BMW said:

G20RG B said:

Sony product particularlly there LCDs are just not that GOOD, most of them employ technology from other manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp and in reality you are just paying for the name. Get it back and choose something else, honestly Sony TVs are not reliable and not that great a picture. IN my opinion....

I called Sony directly and within 2 days they had their service contractors visit, today. I detailed the issues on the phone and in a letter. I was out but my dad reckons the two who came said it looked OK on HD (bks - of course it was HD I was complaining about in the 1st place!), couldn't find anything wrong and tweaked some settings.

He didn't watch but I suspect they didn't do any internal modification and have just altered settings - as if I couldn't/ hadn't thought of that, I'd even written what settings I'd moved to FFS - as when I checked tonight contrast was up 4, backlight down 1 and brightness down 4. Wonderful. Not!

It's so annoying, colour in particular, I just can't live with it so 5 months in, unless I can convince Sony to have another look, will have to sell this for a big loss and move to a Plasma.

Your contract is with the reseller, not Sony (unless bought from them directly), and under the SOGA, your afforded the luxury that in the 1st 6 months, the reseller has to prove the product wasn't faulty from day one.
On that basis, if you're not looking a refund, you should have little problem in rejecting the TV for a replacement.

[Lost_BMW]

PJ S said:

Lost_BMW said:

G20RG B said:

Sony product particularlly there LCDs are just not that GOOD, most of them employ technology from other manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp and in reality you are just paying for the name. Get it back and choose something else, honestly Sony TVs are not reliable and not that great a picture. IN my opinion....

I called Sony directly and within 2 days they had their service contractors visit, today. I detailed the issues on the phone and in a letter. I was out but my dad reckons the two who came said it looked OK on HD (bks - of course it was HD I was complaining about in the 1st place!), couldn't find anything wrong and tweaked some settings.

He didn't watch but I suspect they didn't do any internal modification and have just altered settings - as if I couldn't/ hadn't thought of that, I'd even written what settings I'd moved to FFS - as when I checked tonight contrast was up 4, backlight down 1 and brightness down 4. Wonderful. Not!

It's so annoying, colour in particular, I just can't live with it so 5 months in, unless I can convince Sony to have another look, will have to sell this for a big loss and move to a Plasma.

Your contract is with the reseller, not Sony (unless bought from them directly), and under the SOGA, your afforded the luxury that in the 1st 6 months, the reseller has to prove the product wasn't faulty from day one.
On that basis, if you're not looking a refund, you should have little problem in rejecting the TV for a replacement.

Cheers, thanks for that. Originally I called Sony direct as there was a card with the warranty stuff that suggested it was OK to go to them under a 3 year guarantee. I'll explore the options . .