sound distortion on new LN22A451

This problem will appear to be fixed by installing new firmware, but it is not a permanent fix. The next time that you lose power, the problem will reappear. Note that both installing new firmware and employing the system reset procedure will wipe out all of your custom settings. So, if you have many, I suggest that you take pictures of each of the setup screens for reference before you do anything else. I finally grew tired of the hassle of reprogramming my set every time that our power flickered and bought a battery backup power supply/surge arrestor. Just one day after I installed it, we had a storm that knocked out our power for a minute, and my set was uneffected. I felt that the $60 that I spent was worth it, but I am still angry with Samsung's total lack of response to this wide spread problem and will probably never buy another Samsung product of any sort.

I too have had the robot audio problem. I have a LN32A330. Like others, it only happens on HD channels with the coax cable hooked directly into the tv, no cable box. Holding "exit" on the remote to reset the tv did indeed do the job for me. Two hours of Lost last night, and not a single instance of robot audio. I will eventually be getting a HD box which would eliminate the problem, but I too would like to see this fixed. Seems like a firmware update could do it, if they isolate the problem.

Do you need a link for the firmware?

--HDTech

Are you serious?

Why does it matter? The firmware update DOES NOT FIX THE PROBLEM!!!

I did what most people recommend from the post and I used the remote to return the TV to factory settings, but the problem is still there, not as much, but it's there. I'll try to update the firmware this evening. For the firmware to install on the TV, must my scandisk flashdrive be completely empty??

No.

Many of us have proven that this firmware rev does nothing for the problem. I have an open ticket with Samsung on this issue, and have emailed a video clip to my local guy with the audio problem on it.

Please, Mr Samsung tech - is Samsung going to fix this problem, or not? Surely you know by now.

Okay, so I came home today and downloaded the Firmware update to flashdrive, to my surprise when I put the flashdrive into the Wiselink port, I keep getting the same message that there are no files on that drive. Also it's a Scandisk flashdrive and when it is plugged into the back of the port the light on my wiselink goes off, unlike when it's installed in my PC it says on. WHAT IS WRONG?????

How is your flash drive formatted, Fat32 or NTSF. Maybe it needs to be formatted fat32.

Well, I reformated my flash to FAT32 using windows, is there anyway I can check it to tell me if it is infact FAT32?

If your using Vista, choose "Computer" from menu and then right click on the flash drive and then choose properties. Under the general tab it will show what file system the flash drive is formatted. For Xp you would click on 'My Computer' and then the rest should be the same as Vista.

I bought a 450 model last month and I'm already experiencing this robot problem. I tried a reset a number of times but maybe I'm not doing it right. Can someone tell me how it's done? Does Samsung have any resolution to this yet? For such a reputable brand you'd think a fix would have been out there by now! This is driving me crazy. I run through a cable box too but still experience the robot. HELP?!

Here is how to do a "Factory Reset". On the remote, press and hold the "Exit" button for at least 10 seconds or until the, Reset dialogue box appears, then select OK. The set will shut itself off, and when you turn it back on, you will have to rerun the channel scan and restore any custom settings that you had made. If you have made a lot of changes to the settings, and you have a digital camera, take picture of all of the setup screens before you do the reset. This will make restoring them a lot easier.

Thanks - that is what I thought and I've tried it twice but it does nothing. I sure hope I can get this resolved - along with everybody else experiencing the same issue. And where is Samsung in all of this?

This is first that I have heard of someone with a cable box having this problem. How is your set connected to the cable box, HDMI or Component Video or what?

I use component cables. Basically my setup is that the house cable connects first to my DVD player then to the cable box, then to the TV. I just purchased new cables thinking that that may have been the cause. No such luck. My son is now watching the TV as I type this and I can still hear the robot - drives me nuts! Any suggestions?

I have to add this and hope that some Samsung tech will help out - but even worse is that this audio robot also affects the picture - it breaks up in small sections - just for about 3 seconds. But I'll tell ya, I'm sitting here watching TV now and I can't stand it - I'm ready to toss the proverbial brick right through it!

The distortion on the video side could be a bandwidth/cable quality problem. I to experienced this on Comcast. I replaced the cable from the wall outlet to the back of the TV with a higher quality cable and this sorted out the video blocks.

I noticed that it does re-occur if it has been raining for a long time, but I am assuming this is a Comcast problem and the time it takes them to come out the problem would be clear.

Alas the Robot Audio problem still exists, however If there is no power loss to the TV, it is sorted out by a reset.

Thanks for your "don't despair" but as you know, it is very frustrating. Anyway, I switched my wiring back so that the house cable comes directly into the cable box instead of the DVD player and that solved the robot audio issue. I still think Samsung needs to find a fix.

Hey guys customer here from Washington state, west coast.. BRAND NEW I MEAN SPANKING new manufactured LN32A330J1D 32" samsung series 3 lcd tv made manufactured stamp on back in january 2009 the same month I bought it. I bought this set a week a go! out of the box first 3 days no audio issue or robot issue or video issue with digital cable plugged via rg6 coax straight into tv, after those 3 days reseted or not, the tv does every couple of minutes robot audio drop outs and video drop outs at same time, apart from each other and robotic crap and its so random. DID NOT HAPPEN FIRST 3 days of having it now it does, checked all rg 6 connections and cables and profesionally re-cramped all new connectors on new cable, better signal didnt fix issues. WHILE THIS ISSUE happens i have a dynex cheapo best buy 19" lcd with digital qam tuner tuned to same channels that samsung is having issues on and that set works perfectly fine and the signal meter on the dynex shows 97 out of 100 for sig strength.

I noticed that when this issue started occuring the metal crimped rg-6 coax barrel connector that is threaded onto tv connector for cable is like scorching hot. maybe after first 3 days of use the tv tuner components and to heated up and when heated up the issue happens although right after tv is turned on issue happens after it had time to cool off, maybe the tv tuner is cooking before this tried a lcd tv from sharp didnt have the issue and tried a tv from vizio didnt have the issue.. I LOVE THE SAMSUNG for the speaker quality thats built in and the screen quality but how useful is a brand new tv that u cant watch tv with..

HAD THIS dynex lcd cheapo for almost a year and it works flawlessly. of course its starting to get bad backlight bleed from being used all the time still going though smoothly with the cable tv here and its digital. so there is something definitely wrong with samsungs tv tuner components inside the tv.. since everything else works great. and it aint the cable

skyhawk21 said, IN PART:

[SNIP]--

"rg-6 coax barrel connector that is threaded onto tv connector for cable is like scorching hot."

OH! I had read that Samsung was good, and intended to get a LN32A450 (what do the ending characters mean, like the 'J1D' in Skyhawk's TV?).

But I happened across this CNET thread, and am getting depressed.

At present I have an inexpensive 20" Apex CRT and rabbit ears.

Was just going to plug antenna into the LN32A450 ; but these reported problems are VERY discouraging.

Can someone suggest a good 32" HDTV?

Thanks, Sheldon

Just curious - did you at any time unplug the TV? Did you try running your cable into the cable box first, then to the TV - or maybe you do not use a cable box? That seemed to solve my problem by running the house wire first into the cable box rather than the DVD player.

Just a side note, I called Samsung last Friday and they said they contacted a local tech facility and that this facility would call me. So far I have not heard a word. I'd still like to get to the bottom of this even though I currently have a fix.

If you are experiencing video dropouts along with audio dropouts, then it's likely not the same robot audio problem discussed in this thread. Robot audio is accompanied by a clear picture and is more like an electronic stutter than a dropout.

What your problem sounds like to me is an unrelated problem I also had when I first set up my 32" 450 where I was having major pixelation and dropouts on digital channels via the QAM tuner. After much fussing with connectors and cables and calling the cable co., it turned out my router, which was placed directly behind the TV, was causing the interference. Moving it just a few inches instantly eliminated the problem. So my recommendation would be to make sure their are no electronic devices (such as computer gear, wireless transmitters/receivers etc.) in the vicinity of your TV. Good luck!

There is a reply somewhere earlier in this forum about firmware version 1015.0 that fixes the problem (at least on my model.)
*** SAMSUNG TECHS *** - This version DOES EXIST. No idea where you might get it, but it was built in July 2008. Not available to us simple customers...

Samsung was kind enough to completely exchange my TV for a new one, same model. Before I let it go through the complete startup, I managed to get a peek at the firmware version, and was pleasantly shocked to see 1015.0. Got it set up, and so far, so good.

That night (2/11) we had a terrific wind storm in Pittsburgh, knocked out power for a long time. I also turned off my surge suppressors. Tested tonight - no robot audio at all on a 1080i HD channel! I watched for almost 2 hours, no issues at all.

Other oddities:
(1) Time now gets set automatically. That didn't work under 1013.
(2) Firmware upgrade option is not accessible - grayed out.

Anyway, so far so good. I hope I'm not jinxing myself.

BTW: "green heron" - you can still have a problem with the set even with no distortion with DVD - if you are using the QAM tuner in the set, DVD's will play fine (TV is just a monitor). And unless you have really bad cable/connectors, it is unlikely you will pick up OTA HD signals via cable; they are provided to you. A digital box from Comcast will fix your problem, because then you are not using the tuner in the TV set that you paid good money for.

This summer a samsung field engineer came a replaced my board and the firmware that came with it was 1015. This seemed to have fixed my problem. When we lost power, the problem came back. The fix was to do the reset. So I don't think 1015 is the solution. I have the LN37A450.

Does this mean I was lied to by both Samsung (re DVD test) and Comcast (re OTA via cable acting as antenna)? (So much for them being nice guys!) If so, how do I go about getting it fixed (by Samsung I suppose)? Does firmware 1015.0 relate to my audio issue or someone elses? How do you even determine what firmware version you have, if its relevant to my issue? And why do I not have any audio distortion on lower (normally subscribed) cable channels 2-72 on our local Comcast system? If these upper rank channels (84-xxx 85-xxx, 86-xxx, 87-xxx, etc.) are provided channels, why are they distorted and not 2-72? Would I be best served by having Comcast go ahead and install the free digital box on my new set? I only have one digital set at this time; the others are analog with no problem.

I just checked the web site support site for my local model (Australian - LA40F81BDX) - still only 1013 available. Maybe Mr Samsung could get it updated? There seems to be some uncertainty about whether it fixes the problem, but it's worth a try.

Something I thought of this morning - though I have 1015 on my new set, and some of you already have it as well - this doesn't mean they didn't change some internal part(s) as well. I don't know the date of manufacture of this new set.

Regarding low channels vs. high - the 2-72 are analog channels, the audio problem occurs on digital channels (specifically HD in my case.) Different tuners are involved.

Title says it all. If newly manufactured versions, along with the new firmware, don't have the problem, perhaps we should all open a service ticket with Samsung. I'd be interested to know when yours was made when you get a chance to post. Thanks.