Thursday, January 11, 2007
Sony BRAVIA LCD hell - the mura defect
So, if you spent £1600 on an HDTV, and got this whenever the screen had dark pictures on it, would you accept it?
As you can probably guess, it's a big "NO" from me, and it's a big "NO" from most of the AVS Forum in America, which is filled with angry punters who are also experiencing this problem. See those purpley/blue patches? It almost looks as if you're lightly applying pressure to the screen, only it's there all the time. This is known as the "mura defect" and until now, seems to have been a fairly uncommon problem. On the latest panels from the Sony/Samsung S-LCD factory however, it seems that all cloudy hell has been let loose, because I've been inundated with messages about cloudy Sony TVs from all ranges. The 40" 1080p panels, however, seem to be incredibly badly affected.
The panels have also made their way into American models - the KDL-40V2500 and KDL-46V2500, as well as the premium KDL-40XBR2, KDL-46XBR2, as well as the XBR3s. In Europe, the affected equivalent models are called the KDL-40W2000, KDL-46W2000, KDL-40X2000, and KDL-46X2000.
IGN's Craig, who's had a nightmare over the last few years with duff LCDs and Plasmas, has posted pictures on his blog, showing his Sony LCD which also has the problem. His is one of the Sony XBRs, which are known outside the US as the "X-Series" - the top of the range model!
I need to point out that although cameras overemphasise the problem, it's very much real and it does rear its ugly, cloudy head during normal viewing as well. Although it's a total pain to keep returning these TVs (the next one will be my THIRD!), I simply can't accept this sort of defect on an expensive TV from a premium brand (there are other similary-sized panels that don't have this problem, although they're let down by video processing issues).
The Sonys are worth pursuing, and the W-Series represents excellent value - IF you get a good one. Whether or not me and/or the store have the patience, though, remains to be seen.
Posted at 8:46 PM
