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General discussion

White Spots Samsung 850 Series

Nov 26, 2008 10:52PM PST

I am a proud owner of the Samsung LN46A850S1F the TV image is amazing, but after two days I noticed that when the TV screen goes all white/grey after commercials I can see white blurred spots on the corners and middle of the screen; sometimes I can even see the external black square of the DTV channels (HD channel that they do not cover the entire screen). Should I be concerned about this issue?

Also the BB sales person told me that I could be the HDMI cable. I spent $99 on a Rocket Fish HDMI certified 120Hz cable, he told me that it could be that my old HDMI cable can not handle the frequency.. The answer so far is NO I still can see these white spots.

My cable provider is Comcast with a DVR Motorola DCT-6416 III.

Discussion is locked

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The test.
Nov 26, 2008 11:01PM PST

Try DVD or other video sources. As to the cable, I'm using the sub ten buck HDMI cables. HDMI cables are a fantastic up sale. (hint: lots of money to be made on cables.)

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spots and cables.
Nov 27, 2008 3:09AM PST

First things first regarding the picture: Do the blurry spots appear on any other inputs or is it just on the cable input?

--HDTech

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White Spots Samsung 850 Series
Nov 27, 2008 11:01PM PST

After spending a lot of time using different cables or sources it seems to me that is only happening with the cable source. I played several DVDs and I can not see the clouds on the corners. Is possible that the old HDMI cable can not handle the signal properly? or is just a gimmick to make me spent more money on certified cables?

Current Settings:

Mode: Standard
Backlight: 4
Contrast: 90
Brightness: 43
Sharpness: 20
Color: 43
Tint: G50/R50

Black adjust: Off
Dynamic Contrast: Medium
Gamma: -2
Color Space: Auto
Flesh Tone: 0
Edge Enhancement: On
xvYCC: Off

White Balance:
Offset
R: 28
G: 25
B: 21
Gain
R: 25
G: 25
B: 29

Color Tone: Warm1

Besides these sort of clouds I am very satisfied with the accuracy of the colors.

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gimmick
Nov 27, 2008 11:24PM PST

Here's the cable I am using today at 1080p from the PS3 no less:
http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=874

I picked the 6 footer since I had less than that to go. Makes me wince when I see people pick up the 99 buck cables.
Bob

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Gimmick
Nov 28, 2008 2:37AM PST

The only reason i picked up $99 cable was to determine if the white clouds that I've been experienced on my HDTV are produced by a bad cable. The cable it will be returned that was the original plan. Also I will take a look at the link that you sent to me.

Thanks.

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White Spots Samsung 850 Series
Nov 28, 2008 3:05AM PST

I have been doing a lot of research and everything indicates that why I have been experienced is something called Halo Effect. Reading on CNET web site this should not happen on the samsung 850 series. Is this a reason to return the LCD TV? In the long run could this affect the overall quality of this LCD TV? I have 7 days left for an exchange or return policy.

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Halo
Nov 29, 2008 2:58PM PST

No, the clouding is not considered the "Halo" effect. That's describes a different issue altogether.

If you have the cloudyness on just one input, it could be that that's how the signal is being transmitted. The cables aren't inferior quality because it's all digital - it will either send the signal consistently, or it won't.

--HDTech

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Clouds on 850 Samsung 8 series
Nov 30, 2008 12:59PM PST

I have an 850 too and i see clouds in the corners as well as in the body of the screen when black, it does not go away with different sources, i am positve it is the screen, any known reason for this clouding or how to get rid of it, like demagnetize it or similar, i love this screen and that is the only bug worrying me if the quality will remain in the future. Please advise

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Solution to the cloudiness
Nov 30, 2008 11:26PM PST

Based upon the BB gurus the panel have issues. They will replaced my tv for a brand new one. I can not guarantee that this will not happen on the new one, but at least is a step in the right direction to protect my investment.

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Halo/Clouds
Nov 30, 2008 11:32PM PST

Have samsung experienced similar or equal issues with other TV sets series 8? If so what kind of solution they will implement to keep customers satisfied with their products. Should I return this and get a different TV set? I would like to know how serious is this issue.


Thank you.

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SAMSUNG 850
Dec 10, 2008 5:08AM PST

I am really unhappy with this unit. It seems to me that a lot of users decide to exchange this tv for the XBR6 series. My questions to Mr. Samsung are:

What Samsung is going to do resolve the cloudiness and IR interference issues?
Is this a matter of faulty firmware, when we will see a possible update?
As of today 12-10-08 still no new update?

I do not want to return the unit, but everything seem to indicate that I am not the only one with this issue and the number of unhappy customers are rising.

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Don't be unhappy.
Dec 10, 2008 8:21AM PST

Mcvills,

1. Those are two seperate issues, with varying degree of affected customers.
2. The firmware isn't causing the units to go bad, so the firmware isn't at fault. If the unit is fixable via firmware, that has yet to be determined.
3. No update as of yet. (12-10-08, same day)

I'd rather you be a happy customer. At this time, I don't have any solutions to those issues.

Someone posted that if you turn the Energy Saving setting to Off, that seems to fix the issue for the IR. If that's not an acceptable solution, then you have to do what is best for you.

--HDTech

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Cloudiness Samsung 850 Series Part II
Dec 20, 2008 6:51AM PST

After hours and hours of emails, videos, forums I decided to exchange my Samsung 850 series for a brand new of the same model at my local BB. I was extremely optimistic that perhaps my replacement lcd tv will not have any issues. Bad news, it took me less than 5 minutes to realize that the replacement tv has the same issue. The first TV was running firmware 1004 and the new tv it has 1005. However all the the samsung 8 series at BB and CC has 1003 and the Samsung web site has firmware 1004 only (which is weird that they are not offering 1005, unless is hosted somewhere else)

Could it be this the cause of the cloudiness?
Perhaps all these LCD TVs have the same issues?

One thing seems to be for sure, everybody agreed that this cloudiness is not going to be good for a long lasting experience and I would like to protect my investment.

Any suggestions Mr. Samsung? or anyone. Can anyone suggest calibration settings for this LCD TV?

Thank you.

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The firmwar could be the issue
Nov 30, 2008 2:33PM PST

Which farmeware are you using? I saw on other forums that the 1.004 is causing the issue and folks who downgraded to 1.002 are OK.
check the AVS Forum

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Firmware
Nov 30, 2008 11:24PM PST

How can I know which version of firmware my samsung 8 is currently running?

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firmware
Dec 1, 2008 12:48AM PST

check the manual - it will tell you how.
the folks on this group: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15079006 are saying that the 1.004 has issues and you can downgrade to 1.002 and they have links on where to get it
its a long thread, but worth reading and examining first..

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Samsung's Stance?
Feb 10, 2009 3:36AM PST

Samsung HD Tech:

So what is the deal with clouding on the panels? Seems rampant (relative to the internet). What is Samsung's official stance? They shouldn't have mura regardless of backlight settings.

Thanks

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PR question
Feb 10, 2009 12:35PM PST

Tandrin,

I don't make official statements on behalf of Samsung regarding questions like that. We deal with these problems on a case by case basis, just like any other service issue.

Hope that helps.

--HDTech

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White spots Samsung LN52a850
Feb 11, 2009 9:43PM PST

I just got the LN52a850 about a week ago, had the white spots and high concentration areas when a dark scene came on. Adjusted the backlight to 0 helped a lot and now that I have all the settings where I want them....tried turning up the backlight and it basically does nothing now. 0 to 10...can't tell any difference. I have no idea why when a week ago it was like haveing a flashlight in your eyes or not. Has anyone else had this experience? The picture right now is about where I want it...but I'm worried about that backlight adjustment going away. Is this just a break in for this tv or is something wrong??