Official Sony Bravia LCD Uneven Backlight/Cloudy Thread

[miniz]

Please vote if you own or did own (i.e. returned) a Sony 40/46/52" XBR2 or XBR3 OR V2500 LCD 1080p HDTV. Please post your TV's build date. Vote yes if you have experienced the uneven backlight or cloudly screen problem with your set. Do NOT vote if you did not or have not owned one these TV's.

Both Sony and Samsung are affected by this issue.

Thank you!

UPDATE:
The number of cloudy sets reported has gone up considerbly since more owners have been made aware of this thread.

UPDATE 2:
PLEASE REPORT YOUR DEFECTIVE TV TO SONY BY CALLING 1-800-222-7669 AND ASKING TO SPEAK WITH A PRODUCT SPECIALIST.

UPDATE 3:
**HELP SPREAD THE WORD!** PLEASE POST YOUR REVIEWS OF THIS TV ONLINE AT AMAZON.com, CIRCUIT CITY.com, CRUTCHFIELD.com AND CNET.com.

UPDATE 4:
Sony XBR (top) vs. Sharp Aquos (bottom)

Photo courtesy of ransome

UPDATE 5:
Sony admits that there is a problem:

Important Information About Your Sony® BRAVIA™ Television!

Posted: 01/12/2007

The Sony BRAVIA line of flat-panel LCD televisions reflects our commitment to the highest picture quality standards. The KDL-40XBR2/3 and KDL-46XBR2/3 series televisions have received exceptionally high ratings for picture performance from many well respected home theater sources, including the Editor’s Choice Award from CNET™ and critics at Sound & Vision Magazine.

To achieve this high level of performance and picture clarity, Sony utilizes a very bright backlight setting. This helps deliver the brightest picture possible, as well as exceptional picture clarity even in the darkest image sources.

However, the setting, under certain dark viewing conditions, especially blank screens with no video source, may cause the screens on some of these televisions to exhibit slightly uneven uniformity. This condition is not usually visible under typical viewing conditions, such as watching movies or television programming, and generally should not affect your viewing experience.

Should you find that this condition does affect your viewing enjoyment; there are a few settings that you can make to minimize this condition:

Setup Menu --> Light Sensor: ON
Setup Menu --> Power Saving: Low or High
Picture Menu --> Reduce the Backlight Level (Factory Setting: 10)
A combination of the above changes may be applied as necessary.

If your television still does not meet with your approval after these setting adjustments, Sony Electronics will provide a Self Service Software Update that will further minimize the condition. Upon request, Sony will ship this update with directions directly to you when it becomes available in mid-February.

All terms of your Sony limited warranty continue to apply. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause, and we continue to stand behind our product and our loyal customers.

You may read this directly at: http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-i...&mdl=KDL46XBR2

[satiger]

You might want to add build date. Mine is Aug 2006.

Edit : No cloud or backlight issue with my panel.

[miniz]

I have asked for the build date of defective sets (see above). Please post your build date if defective.
Thank you!

[OceanSpray]

Hey iam brand new in this forum, and a new owner of the Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR3

First thing is this. i have not tweaked my TV yet, i used standard cables that i had with my old TV and connected those to my DVD/VCR player and my Direct TV satelite receiver.


I'm not pleased with the picture iam getting at the moment.

Well i have a couple of questions. Please bare with me since i just got this TV yesterday and need a little bit of help.

Where would I find the date my TV was made?
I bought a set of Monster cables video and audio. Should i replace the old cables with these news ones? ( before i tweak it , or first tweak it than replace the cables)
Where can i find the tweaks for my TV, all the settings and other good stuff. Basically i need all the help to get that perfect picture that everyone is talkinga bout.

Thank you very much, i apologize if this is out of place.

[miniz]

"Where would I find the date my TV was made?"

Back of TV. There is a sticker that says the build month and year.

Please do not buy Monster cables. They are total rip off and a half. Return and buy online at sites like monoprice.com.

You are going to need to upgrade your DirecTV receiver to an HD model. You will need to subscribe to their HD package. You may have to upgrade your dish also.

[swizzir]

My build date is 0ct '06

[OhioLefty]

My panel seems to be perfect, no clouds, no dead or stuck pixels.

Sony KDL-46XBR3 - August 2006 build date

[kraiggers]

Two bad panels; both Oct. '06

[miniz]

keep voting everyone! Thanks for your posts on build dates.

[miniz]

keep voting.

[miniz]

Post your build date if defective.

[budd99]

Two bad panels, one sept 06, the other oct 06. I love this tv too much to give up on it just yet. Has anyone had problems with the XBR3s. I might just return the XBR2 and get the XBR3. I will gladly pay the extra money if it means a clean panel.

[OceanSpray]

Originally Posted by miniz

"Where would I find the date my TV was made?"

Back of TV. There is a sticker that says the build month and year.

Please do not buy Monster cables. They are total rip off and a half. Return and buy online at sites like
You are going to need to upgrade your DirecTV receiver to an HD model. You will need to subscribe to their HD package. You may have to upgrade your dish also.

First of all thanks.

I can't tell you the date, because its already hangin on the wall and i can't reach back to see it.

Second you right about the monster cables. Can i still return them if i don't have the boxes ? but i do have the receipt

As for upgrading for DIRECT TV HD receiver than i understand, but in the meantime.. how can i see what my TV is capable off

I'm thinking of buying a OPPO OPDV971H but the thing is BEST BUY doesnt have it so i can't just go and pick one up..

I would like to get one from best buy because i have a gift card for $250 which i can use.. Unless they have some other playes that you guys would recommend for me. I am thinking of the OPPO DVD player, because i read couple of threads and many people mentioned using this particular TV with that DVD player.. So i got a little excited and thinking of getting that one.. Unless BEST BUY carries something better for about the same price or maybe even $250? if its really better

Please let me know

2nd thing is this for the meantime i want to see what my TV is capable off with my current DVD player .. its a Panasonic DVD/VCR i paid not more than $50 for it.. iam using monster cables to connect to it..
but now my question is how would i set my DVD player's settings to send the best picture to the TV.. here are my settings for my DVD player please let me know what i should change to get that quality iam looking for from a DVD player.


Thank you.

here they are:

_Main Menu_ my current settings are in BOLD
Still Mode: Auto, Field, Frame
TV Mode: 4:3 Pan and Scan, 4:3 Letterbox, 16:9
Progressive: Off, ON

_Audio Output_
LPCM (DVD) : Off, PCM
Dolby Digital: Bitstream, PCM
DTS: Bitstream, PCM
DRC: OFF, ON

What should i have these set on? and if you can explain why i would really appreciate it. so later on i won't ask why and what..


I'm a newbie at this but I'm willing to learn so please bare with me.
Thank you very much everyone.

[miniz]

"As for upgrading for DIRECT TV HD receiver than i understand, but in the meantime.. how can i see what my TV is capable off"

Get your order submitted to DirecTV or your installer ASAP for an upgrade. In the meantime, buy a Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna and plug it into your TV. If any of your local channels broadcast over-the-air in HD you will be able to view them directly on your TV.

I don't know if that DVD player is worth $200. It looks great and has the same chip that my Zenith DVB-318 (a true HD classic!) uses. I would go for an HD-upconversion DVD player. Most others cost about half that. Once Blu-ray/HD DVD battle it out and we have a winner then go for either one of those. In the meantime, don't spend too much money on regular DVD players.

On your current DVD player set TV mode to 16:9 and turn Progressive ON. Say goodbye to your VCR as soon as possible. This isn't the 80's anymore.

No regular DVD is going to show you what your TV is made of. DVD's are 480p and your TV is 1080p. Upconversion will take place, but nothing is going to look as good as a true 1080i HD broadcast or an HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc playing at native 1080p.

[TorinoCobra]

KDL-46XBR2 - August 2006 My screen exhibits no "clouds", "uneven/leaking backlights", stuck or dead pixels. I've set mine up using Petmic10's calibration settings. I suggest OceanSpray read the XBR2/3 Owners thread as well as the calibration thread (but skip over all the posts about uneven backlighting and clouds.)

[miniz]

We need more votes! The statistics are amazing. Nearly 50% (on average) of panels are defective.

[raymondj]

My 46XBR2 has cloudy backlight. It's very obvious. Made in Oct. 06. Also with a green stuck pixel.

[G-Rex]

First 46" xbr3 had very bad clouding and a stuck green pixel in the right center of screen:build date September. Exchanged it for second xbr3 that had clouding (though it occurrs more randomly is still unacceptable!) The second set also has a stuck green pixel in almost the same location. Not keeping this set either but will wait for Sony to fix the problem or release a new model. Second panel's build date is august. What is Sony thinking?

[swizzir]

I continue to encourage anyone having backlight problems with their XBR2/3 to call Sony customer support (1-800-222-7669) and open a trouble ticket if you haven't done so already. It's a good method of official documentation that I think, in the end, will help us get this issue fixed. If you can get a higher level tech than the script reader that initially answers the call that would be even better.

[miniz]

Good advice! Call Sony! I filed both of my XBR2's with them as being defective.

Keep voting!!!

[likev]

I have the same problem, but only when the set has been turned on for a while (I guess it has to warm up) for the problem to show up.

Sony KDL-46XBR2
Manufactured September 2006
Made in Mexico

Below is an image. Note, the first image below appears worse in the pic then it actually is in person. The picture was taken this way to illustrate what the clouds looks like during a dark scene.



Updated: Below pics were taken in the dark on 12/09/06 during the Space shuttle launch on HDNet.



Updated: Below are some comparisons with different exposure settings. The middle picture is closest to what it looks like when you are actually sitting in front of the screen.

Click for Larger Image

[budd99]

Originally Posted by likev

I have the same problem, but only when the set has been turned on for a while (I guess it has to warm up) for the problem to show up.

Sony KDL-46XBR2
Manufactured September 2006
Made in Mexico

Below is an image. Note, it appears worse in the pic then it actually is in person. With the camera set at a low ISO, it picks up the flaws better than the human eye can. This was taken with the lights on, so you can image how it looks without the lights.

Mine looks pretty much identical. I'm tired of talking to Sony reps and salespeople that tell me they've never heard of the problem. One even had the guts to tell me it was completely normal, they really think we're clueless. Is Sony ever going to admit to this problem?

[miniz]

Sony needs to realize that this is a problem and fix it! Both of my XBR's look almost exactly like the picture.

[desertdude]

Originally Posted by TorinoCobra

KDL-46XBR2 - August 2006 My screen exhibits no "clouds", "uneven/leaking backlights", stuck or dead pixels. I've set mine up using Petmic10's calibration settings. I suggest OceanSpray read the XBR2/3 Owners thread as well as the calibration thread (but skip over all the posts about uneven backlighting and clouds.)

Me too--perfect set.
aug 46 XBR3

[swizzir]

Originally Posted by budd99

Mine looks pretty much identical. I'm tired of talking to Sony reps and salespeople that tell me they've never heard of the problem. One even had the guts to tell me it was completely normal, they really think we're clueless. Is Sony ever going to admit to this problem?

If you haven't seen the pics of my XBR2 I posted (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post8827575) I'll tell you mine's worse. We have to keep on Sony about the issue. Has anyone tried to get a higher-up on the phone when calling customer support? Even though we're a small sample I think the number of people reporting the issue is quite telling. Good job taking the pictures and posting them here. If anyone else can do so I'd encourage them to. I'd really like to get an official word from Sony. It'll be interesting if they officially said it was "normal."

Call your local Sony repair center and ask if you can e-mail them photos of your problem set or send them links to these threads. My local Sony repair center said they had never seen anything like it and that the panel was defective.

These sets haven't been out for that long and I would imagine that a lot of users wouldn't notice the defect or would assume it's normal because they don't know any better. In my opinion it's not how many people know but if the right people know. Keep calling Sony. Get the pictures out there. We've got a good start.

[budd99]

I'm getting the impression that earlier production models (august) are not affected as much.

[miniz]

Something may have changed in who they make and/or ship these sets.

[TV Casualty]

Yep, I had one and returned it and got the Samsung instead. More impressed with the Samsung on a dollar-for-dollar basis, although I may be returning it as well.

[Rare1]

I just got mine, yesterday and the uneven backlight is pretty noticeable. I can check the build date tonight.

I would love to see some shots of a TV without this issue as a comparison.

[trendscape]

Originally Posted by miniz

We need more votes! The statistics are amazing. Nearly 50% (on average) of panels are defective.

I don't believe you can draw that conclusion from this poll, sorry! By flushing out the defective panels, you're skewing results significantly. There are probably tons of people with good LCDs who are not inclined to post or who just like to lurk.