Hello all,

I just recently bought the Hitachi 51f59 from Sears yesterday and noticed something strange. The TV looks great so far, but I noticed that when I select an input that doesn't have anything connected to it, and when its completely dark in the room, that there is a white circle on the top left of the screen (6 inches in diameter) and over about 9 inches to the right there is a 6 inch thick white streak about a foot long.

The white spots looks almost like phosphorus because they glow more then actually display white. I have no idea what this could be and more importently I would like to know if this set is damaged or if this could cause picture loss.

Thanks!

Might just be an internal reflection involving the lenses/mirror. If so, many earlier threads in the archives outline how to cover surfaces to minimize reflections. I'd put a crosshatch pattern on from a test DVD or HD test disc, or HDNet's Sunday 6:50 am ET test patterns, and ensure there's no distortion of the crosshatch in that area. If not, there's no significant problem, assuming dark-scene motion video (live/recorded TV) also doesn't reveal a spot. I've noticed various internal reflections sometimes with my year-2000 CRT RPTV during some dark scenes (certain rolling movie credits, etc.) and just ignore them. And if the spot only appears with no signal inputs, just avoid that condition. -- John