"Robot Audio" Anyone having this problem? - Page 2

I've had my ln32a450 in the bedroom since June. I don't watch it a great deal (about 3-4 hours per week), and hadn't really noticed any problems that I regarded as robot audio (only a glitch that lasted only a second or two that I chalked up to interference i knew I was getting from my nearby wireless router). I've never upgraded the firmware (I believe it was shipped with 1013) and have lost power at least three times since I set it up (including Saturday of this week.)

Well, last night I had my second serious robot audio encounter in two days. This time I unplugged my wireless router, and it continued unabated. I'm on Cox cable direct from the wall and outputting audio via optical from the TV to my 6-year-old Panasonic AVR. I guess my next step will be to upgrade to 1015, resetting everything in the process. Getting a board replaced would be a last resort, especially since it hasn't fixed the problem for everyone. Thank you all for your helpful posts in this thread. I'll post any updates as well.

Edit: I just checked and I'm actually running firmware version 1011.3. From the release notes for 1013.3, it doesn't sound like the newer version fixes the problem beyond the potential advantage gained from resetting to factory specs.

It's been almost two weeks since I did a factory reset and things are still going great.

well, been monitoring this thread and the cnet one for a month, with people trying various things and the reset helping most people at least until they unplug their tv or lose power. the cnet forum has a lot of posts on this.

I have not had any problems for just over a month. but had to uplug the tv over the weekend to move some stuff around.

ROBOT AUDIO RETURNED IMMEDIATELY AFTER PLUGGING BACK IN.

again, i had zero problems for over a month, but after plugging back in, there it was in full fury within the first 5 minutes.

DID A RESET, PROBLEM NOW GONE, AS EXPECTED.

has been fine for 3 days, and expect it to be completely fine until it is unplugged again.

WHY? I HAVE NO IDEA, SAMSUNG, WE ARE WAITING.

Ditto: How did you do your reset? I held the exit key down for 10 secs until the message appeared and pressed yes. Then I did an auto re-scan of channels. That didn't help. Did I do it wrong?

You did it right. Seems a reset doesn't always work, unfortunately.

Mine is still fine though.

Thanks, but I actually did it wrong! I had a short between the headphones (head up my a...). What makes it worse is, I know better. After pressing exit for 10 secs or more the dialog box comes up and you have two choices, "Yes" or "No". Well "NO" was highlighted and I pressed enter After doing it correctly, It seems to have worked.

+1. Reset = no RA; Unplug = RA returns. Guess I need to invest in a UPC power block with battery back up for this TV.

I just bought this TV a week ago and the problem just started happening now (after I unplugged the set to move stuff around). It was working perfectly until I unplugged it. At first, I thought my set must be defective, so I was wondering if I should get it exchanged, but after seeing this thread, I know it's not just me. I bought it from PC Richards and they only exchange LCDs, they don't refund. So, I will have to reset the TV and see if it works. But I won't do it now because I will have to unplug it again in a week when I move the TV to its proper spot in my house.

The only sure-fire way of permanently fixing this problem is to subscribe to HD service, but that's not something I'm willing to do at the moment (due to the expense and the excessive amount of crap on TV).

BTW, I haven't tested the ATSC tuner. Does this problem also occur on OTA as well?

I haven't run into it at all OTA. I've only had my LN32A450 for a few weeks though. It seems like a majority of the complaints come from QAM users without a cable box.

It's funny. When I watch cable on the QAM tuner in the middle of the day, it rarely happens. Yesterday and today, I watched for an hour in the middle of the day and the robot audio only occurred once. Yet, when I watch at night, it happens several times. It seems to me that the problem may be the fault of both the QAM tuner and on the signal as well.

OK, I did some further testing and the problem is only occurring in HD channels. SD channels are perfectly fine. So, it's got to be some way the HD channels are encoded that's making the QAM tuner struggle. What I can't figure out is why this problem starts when you unplug the set. It's so odd. This sounds like it could be easily fixed with a firmware upgrade. I wish Samsung would get to work on this. From what I read, the later Series seem to be fine, so obviously Samsung fixed the problem on the later models. So, I don't know what's going on in their end but it's clear that they don't care. Anybody here have this issue and is also a lawyer?

Mine was assembled on Oct.08, so I'll eventually find out whether the later ones are cured. It's not really conclusive though, since a majority of the older models are OK also.

No, this model still has that problem. I was talking about the later "Series" such as LNxxA550 and up. From what I read, those don't have problems.

It could be something to do with converting 5.1 down to plain stereo for the speakers? Few SD channels are in 5.1.

Well, technically the 550's and 650's etc. aren't later models....just higher end models. They all came out in '08. Anyhow, there have been similar robots attacking those models as well. They have been reported over on the CNET forum.

Yeah, I was watching an SD channel in 5.1 and it was fine. It's strange.

Interesting. So I guess Samsung really can't figure out the problem then.

I've had the problem OTA. My cable company scrambled NBC (or just took the QAM channel down) during the Olympics, so I had to watch OTA. I still got the robot audio watching that way.

It seems that the "Robot Noise" happens via the QAM tuner (some have said they get it over the air also). At first I thought the fix was a new board with a firmware upgrade. This worked for me. Then I had a power outage and the Robot Noise is back. The fix seems to be the Factory Reset option. It worked on mine and others as well. I'm guessing that out of the box, the TV will work fine until a power outage or you unplug the set. Then the robot noise begins. The Factory Reset makes the Tv just like it came out of the box. You just have to set up tv again. Here's how you do a factory reset: hold the exit key on your remote until a dialog box is displayed on screen. Then select yes and the tv will be reset. Now you have to rescan for channels and the rest of the junk. Before you do a reset, write down all your settings. We shouldn't have to go through this but it is what it is. I'm thinking of putting a small UPS on mine.

Did it occur on just that one channel or on all HD channels? Because some robot audio (accompanied by video pixelation) is normal if the OTA signal is weak.

That was a while back and I don't really remember about other channels (it's the bedroom TV and I wasn't watching much else - just the late night Olympics). I plugged the cable back in as soon as the Olympics were over. I know what you're saying about a weak signal and I would expect garbled audio if you were getting pixelation but as I recall, the pattern was the same as watching with the QAM turner. That is, the picture is fine and you will occasionally get "robot audio" and then it would stop when it goes to commercial or something (sometimes on a camera change).

I've noticed the same thing. Little if any robot audio when surfing the daytime talkies on the local HD channels over the QAM. Wonder if it's the 5.1 thing, as many daytime syndicated shows might not offer 5.1 audio whereas the majority of primetime network shows would.

From my experience, it's the same for daytime as well as night time. I believe I've even heard it on a commercial. Are you guys still experiencing the robot noise? If so, have you tried the "factory reset" method to resolve the problem? It worked for me.

I will reset the TV tomorrow when I move the TV to its proper spot in my room. From what I read here and on CNET, a reset seems to work for everybody, so it should work when I do it tomorrow.

It's not. I watched some HD channels that are not in 5.1 and the robot still occurs. Sometimes I watch an SD channel in 5.1 and it doesn't occur. So, my conclusion is that it occurs on HD channels no matter how the sound is encoded.

I'm not an owner yet, but in watching prices and checking out user opinions for the Samsung LCDs, I came across the Robot Audio issue here and at CNET forums. There's a post over there by 'SLR42' (11/29), a long-experienced electrical engineer and circuit designer, that may well pinpoint the problem. The Samsung person monitoring the site said he sent it well up the ladder, but there's no posted fix yet. I'm not allowed to post a URL here yet, so google 'CNET forums,' then up top put in the search term "Samsung sound distortion". It's the one with about 114 posts. Go to the middle of page 8 (forum title is "Samsung: sound distortion on new LN22A451," but a lot of models are being discussed).

I did the reset today and it worked. No more robot audio. Of course, if/when I get a power outage or spike or when I unplug the set again, the robot audio will occur again and thus, the reset fun will begin anew.

BTW- the fact that a reset fixes the issues just proves that a simple firmware upgrade is all these tuners need. I wish Mr. Samsung or one of the other techs at CNET would come up with some sort of fix for this issue. I really don't think it's that complicated.

Finally!, I found a topic on this issue. I thought I was the only one experiencing the "Robotic Audio". I own the LN32A450 and have this annoying problem. Really pisses me off when I'm watching college/NFL football.

I will try the firmware method/factory reset method when I get off of work today.

I've gotta get this fixed before the College BCS games.

(Hook'Em Horns)

Do the reset and also be sure to contact Samsung about the problem, directly and/or on the Cnet Forum discussion mentioned above: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_10...rum-w;forums06
They only way we can get Samsung to prioritize a fix is if enough of us complain about the issue and post negative reviews for the product on various retailer sites. Currently on Amazon, the 32A450 has a cumulative rating of 4.8 stars with little to no mention of Robot Audio (except for my revised review). What incentive does Samsung have to fix a TV that 150 out of 155 people give 4-5 stars on Amazon?

I know. The wonderful reviews is what led me to buy this TV. To be honest, it's an excellent TV. If it weren't for the robot audio, it would be the best TV in the world. It's a shame Samsung couldn't get the QAM right.