Official Vizio M3D470KDE Owner's Thread - Page 2

How did you receive/apply the firmware update that fixed Netflix?

JGGT,

Did you get the update yet? Just wondering how long before I'll get mine. Just got the set on 1/8.

Bad news. Looks like if we didn't get the update yet (it is supposed to be automatically checked on any power off/on), there will be a longer wait. I'm still at 2.37.7, I have not seen the 3.12.0 update. I contacted Costco today, they got Vizio on the line. If it's OK, I'll just repost what I added to another forum:

***SUGGESTION** - Contact your seller - they have more influence with Vizio than individuals.

I contacted Costco Concierge Service - 1-866-861-0450

**UPDATE**BAD NEWS** I explained the Netflix issue to Costco rep, telling her that other apps work, I could access the Netflix account, see my queue, etc, but upon choosing a video I get “We're having trouble playing this title right now. Please try back later or pick a different title.”

I explained about these firmware updates from these forums, so she got Vizio in on the call. The Vizio rep said “we have new firmware being released in 1-2 weeks”. I explained that I was told that by Aadan from SD in a chat on Dec 28th. I asked - “what FW version is this now?” She couldn't tell me, it sounded like it is a WIP.

The Costco rep said that the more people that call Costco with the problem, the more attention it will get. I also pointed out this reflects poorly on Costco - they are selling a set that is supposed to work with Netflix, and it doesn't.

So again - the more people who call their seller (not Vizio), the better. I'm also going into Costco tomorrow, and discuss this with the manager there. AFAIC, they should pull these units from the shelf until there is a fix, or at least post a notice, and cover up all the NETFLIX logos that are all over the box and display.

Maybe I'll try to push Costco for a refund of the cost of a ROKU box, and be done with it. At this point, I don't trust Vizio for support. The $60 for a box might sound better to them than taking a TV back, and less work for me too.

One more thing - I asked the Vizio rep why they don't list the problem and status of a fix on their site, so customers could be informed, and she gave me the Netflix twitter link - how bogus is that? Just a bunch of junk tweets there.

This stinks. I'll also try posting to other forums with this info, avs, amazon, etc.

-KenC

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound great.

Here's the deal - From Vizio after spending about 10 combined hours with multiple reps.

The update that some people speak of is only being sent to 1,000 televisions. Yes, 1,000. The televisions are being selected by serial number - the rep would not give further detail as to what numbers were being sent the firmware.

The rep stated that the firmware is technically still in the final stages of it's "testing" phase. Once the firmware is sent to all 1,000 televisions and does not come back with any problems, they will release it to the remainder of the televisions.

As stated previously, the television must be OFF and connected to the network to receive the update. There is no way to force the update, or even download it manually as offered by other manufacturers.

This is very frustrating, as I was one of the first to buy the television (it wasn't even in Sam's Clubs system when I asked if they had any in back) and will be one of the last - as everyone else here - to receive the update.

I posted some general settings for calibration on the samsclub page -->

---Picture settings menu---
Picture Mode: Movie
Backlight: 43
Brightness: 43
Contrast: 50
Color: 55
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 6

---Size & Position submenu---
[no change]

---Color Temperature submenu---
Colour temperature: Custom
Red Gain: 45
Green Gain: 48
Blue gain: 50
Red offset: 49
Green offset: 48
Blue offset: 50

--Advanced Picture submenu---
Noise Reduction: Off
MPEG NR: Off
Color Enhancement: Off
Adaptive Luma: Off
Film Mode: Auto
Ambient Light sensor: Off

If anyone has other adjustments or has different settings, please post. I really like this TV and cannot wait for the update!
Edited by Jonathan3300 - 1/21/13 at 1:20pm

1/17/2013 - After some further digging - There was an error found in the update during the 1000 television "test release". Engineers are back to the drawing boards.

They would not give me an ETA on when it may be re-released

Vizio Chat Support:

Brett: Thank you for contacting VIZIO Live Chat, the home of Entertainment Freedom for All. This is Brett in South Dakota. Have you ever contacted us before?
Tobias Huntley: No
Brett: How can I help you?
Brett: Why do you feel your TV needs a firmware update?
Tobias Huntley: Because the netflix application is broken. There are also hardware/software stability issues.
Tobias Huntley: I would like to make note that a copy of this conversation will be posted to the forum. If a satisfactory answer is not received here, many of those 450 customer will begin returning their sets this weekend.
Brett: I do not have any new information for you on this.
Brett: WHen an update is ready, it will be pushed out to all TV's connected to the internet.
Brett: As I said, when an update is ready, it will be sent to your TV and updated automatically.
Brett: Are you receiving a certain message when trying to access Netflix?
Tobias Huntley: Yes.
Tobias Huntley: Here is the issue: 2 reps from vizio have confirmed an update is available. A handful of the members have confirmed to have recieved the update, but about 98% have not.
Tobias Huntley: The update was available over 2 weeks ago.
Tobias Huntley: Yet was only sent to a small fraction of the television owners
Brett: What is the message you are receiving when trying to access Netflix?
Tobias Huntley: We are having trouble playing this title right now, please try again later.
Tobias Huntley: Those who have recieved the firmware update no longer have this error
Tobias Huntley: Vizio reps have also stated that the firmware update corrects the error.
Brett: I did find out that something had to be corrected in the update and we stopped sending it out to correct this problem.
Brett: Once that has benn completed we will start pushing out that update again.
Brett: been*
Brett: Unfortunately, we are not given an estimated timeframe with the development of any firmware updates.
Brett: Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?
Tobias Huntley: Can you please look, as I know that information is available to you. As reps have given me the information in the past.
Tobias Huntley: Look up a model of a previous internet connected tv, and see when the firmware was released for it
Tobias Huntley: that information is available to you
Brett: Again I do not have that information. The engineering team is working on the update and will send it out when it is ready.
Brett: Thank you for contacting VIZIO Chat Support! If you need our assistance again in the future you can contact us by Chat, Email, and Phone service. That information is found on http://www.vizio.com. Have a great day!

@ Jonathan3300 Thanks for the update, wish it was better news -

Wow, that's (not surprisingly), a different story than I got on Monday, Jan 14 2013 ( a 1-2 week promise for the update). And of course, the previous broken promise of 1-2 weeks on Dec 28, 2012.

I might not have time till Monday now, but I will contact Costco again, and work through them. If I can get to the store on Sat (I was told the TV dept manager will be there), I may print some of these for him/her.

As I mentioned earlier, I think I will push them for a $60 refund to buy a ROKU box, and leave this silly saga behind me.


I'll re-post this from earlier:

***SUGGESTION** - Contact your seller - they have more influence with Vizio than individuals.

I contacted Costco Concierge Service - 1-866-861-0450


Good luck all, I'm dumbfounded as to how poorly Vizio is handling Customer Relations on this. Again, a website link to keep us ALL updated would be a good first step.

Oh, and consider this:

www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started

They specifically include false advertising.


I'm going to try to post this to a few other forums, topix, and the Amazon review site. Costco has not yet published my negative review.

Good luck all.

sorry-duplicate post - deleting
Edited by kenc123 - 1/17/13 at 5:01pm

Seems that different people keep getting different 'answers'.

From Jonathan3300 above -

But look at this post:

http://www.topix.com/forum/com/netflix/TEG4M01J4CJ8KI6UJ/post177

So some people are getting a 3.12.1 update. Not me

and this one:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R24V1BBA9JNIEB/ref=cm_cr_rev_detmd_pl?ie=UTF8&asin=B0096YOQDS&cdForum=Fx26VRMAUKQFCWF&cdMsgID=Mx2GAVO8M1UIRYP&cdMsgNo=18&cdPage=2&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1XE74NUTWPDNT&store=electronics#Mx2GAVO8M1UIRYP

C'mon Vizio - get your act together, how 'bout ONE story for your customers? The truth would be nice.

Got my update today as well.

After being told by two different Vizio reps that it should update within 48 hours of the power cycle, I was told earlier this week in my third call to Vizio that it could be a "long time" because they have a lot of TVs waiting.

I called my vendor, who suggested I call Netflix.

I spoke with Netflix and she was familiar with the firmware issue and took down serial my serial number to pass on to Vizio, stating that Vizio was manually pushing the updates. She gave me the Vizio phone number for follow-up (which interestingly was the same number I'd been calling except with a different prefix).

This morning I received an email follow-up to my initial inquiry, stating they were going to close the ticket as they had not heard further from me and assumed it was resolved. I responded and gave them a full play-by-play of the phone calls and the various forum postings, but didn't get even an auto response to that.

Tonight after work I find that I have the update. Not sure if one particular step generated this or if it was just luck of the draw, but I can confirm that it resolved my Netflix issue.

Hope the rest of you get it soon.

syvmom - Just for reference, could you tell us what FW version you got?

Earlier, some reported getting 3.12.0. Now I'm seeing reports of 3.12.1.

Thanks, kenc

Yeah, I got the 3.12.1

Lynn

Does anyone have some real settings for this TV? I don't think jonathan3300 even has this model as there's no smooth motion control option in my menus and there is no way (that I've found) to user control backlight. Regardless of the backlight control option I choose I am unable to manually adjust it. Just for s's and g's I tried his settings and they suck. Dark and color is horrible.
I have found that Xbox 360 auto detects perfect display settings by talking to your tv but I have recently hooked a receiver up and it no longer works that way. I have to disable that feature on my Xbox leaving a lot to be desired from the automatic settings. I'm trying hard but unsuccessfully to manually recreate those settings. I need help haha!

I don't have any settings to recommend, but to get access to the backlight control, you have to turn off the ambient light sensor.

Although I appreciate you saying that I don't have the television, I do. As stated previously, I was one of the first people to purchase this television.

My error in the settings results from me taking a template that is available online for providing calibrated settings for televisions. So I forgot to remove a setting that the television doesn't have, sue me. The settings listed above will still provide excellent picture. As mentioned by other users, the game mode being enabled may help remove some artifacts from the picture.

Anyways. I still have not received the update as of last night. (01/20/2013).

Just got the 3.12.1 update...so have hope if you haven't got it yet.
Netflix is working and UI is much better.

I am glad to hear you guys are getting it. I will check again tonight and post the status.

When they say the TV has to be connected to a network... does that mean it has to be wired, or is it also able to update over WiFi? Though i may end up having to exchange my TV anyway, since it doesn't seem like the HDMI ports on my TV are working anymore. Used to work... could swap between my PC and PS3 without issues.... now, whatever is connected, it says "Retrieving Data...", and after a few seconds says No Signal. Take the same HDMI cable, connected to the same device, connect it to my computer monitor, and it works.

Should update over wifi. None of the four hdmi ports are working with any device?

If nothing is working, try a power cycle.

Unplug television.

While unplugged, hold power button on the tv for 30 seconds.

Plug tv back in.

Test.

If that doesn't work, try a factory reset.

If that doesn't work, definitely exchange it!
Edited by Jonathan3300 - 1/24/13 at 7:26pm

tried power cycle (talked to support on chat and they suggested that)... didn't work. Tried factory reset... didn't work. I didn't try EVERY HDMI port.... only 1 and 4... but neither seem to get any signal from both my computer or my PS3. At first i noticed that something wasn't working with my cheapy $10 15' HDMI cable i got on Newegg when no matter what i tried, the TV wouldn't get a signal. Tried connecting my PS3 to the TV with the same cable... still no dice. I should have done the smart thing and tried connecting the PS3 to my monitor with that 15' cable right away, but instead i ordered a 15' Rosewill HDMI cable ($20), just received that today, and still nothing worked. Decided to say hell with it and start troubleshooting at that point (doy), and used the little 5' HDMI cable from Monster that my parents were suckered into buying when they got a 50" plasma TV from Best Buy several years ago.... TV didn't get signal, so i unplugged the end of the cable from the TV, and plugged it into my computer monitor, without turning the PS3 off, and it got a signal instantly.

Guh, where do you live? Every Sam's within 200 miles of me only has the 47 KD and really want a 55 without spending 1300.

Got the update today!! Netflix runs quick but try seem to have changed the appearance of some things like the volume bar and menu fonts. They aren't as bold as before. Either way it's nice to have a fourth option for Netflix that doesn't involve turning something else on. I have just found out (after unhooking my external sound system) that I have a blown speaker or something. When the volume on the TV gets loud a speaker on the right side rattles severely. It sucks. Especially since its been about 90 days since we bought the tv. Does anyone know the warranty on something like that?
Oh and Jonathan3300. I'm sorry you took my comment as an insult. You post more in the forum than anyone so it was more of a joke that you didn't own the tv. I was the one, after all, that was asking for help. No harm intended.

Haha its all good. Glad you got the update. Checked this morning, still no dice for me.

Re: Warranty: It should definitely be covered.

http://store.vizio.com/support

TV Warranty Details
ONE-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY ON PARTS AND LABOR
Covers units purchased as new in United States and Puerto Rico Only.

VIZIO provides a warranty to the original purchaser of a new Product against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year of non-commercial usage and ninety (90) days of commercial use. If a Product covered by this warranty is determined to be defective within the warranty period, VIZIO will either repair or replace the unit at its sole option and discretion.

Back to a few questions that I have for you guys:

Sound: I noticed when I turn the television on when hooked up to an external sound system, the sound system makes 2 loud pops.The same thing occurs about 3 minutes after the television is turned off.

Is anyone else having this issue? Was it fixed with the update?

Video: Very often when watching television, I notice the video lags similar to how a video game lags. (No i am not talking about the soap-opera effect, the video actually slows down, then catches back up).This doesn't happen on any other television in the house. It seems as though the video processor on the main board is just too slow to process the content, which is very odd. Turning game mode on does help a bit, but I would prefer not to have to do that.

Is anyone else having this issue? Was it fixed with the update?

Thanks guys!

Anybody having issues with the picture severly dimming for a short period of time?

I have mine hooked to a Yamaha receiver and I don't get the pops. What I do get that I don't without the receiver is a loss of video signal. It seems to happen most often with my Xbox when on a mostly idle screen. It's like it loses the video signal completely. At first I thought I had to turn it off and back on but realized a couple days ago I could change the channel and go back to Hdmi 1 and it was fine, but during video loss the volume and inputs wouldn't show up on the screen when I hit the corresponding buttons.

Eborgp do you have your ambient light sensor turned on and did you put something in front of it? I put a speaker in front of mine for a small period and it did weird things with the dimming and whatnot. The reflection of the TV itself off the back of the speaker was the problem I think.

Hello people,

I am new to this forum but have been following the thread about Vizio M3D470KDE. Netflix was not working on my TV as well till today.
I bought the TV from Sams on Thanksgiving day. Tried calling Vizio and Netflix a few times. They kept pointing fingers at each other initially.
Then Vizio finally accepted that they are releasing the new firmware based on the Seriel numbers of the sets and asked me to wait till my TV gets updated.
I waited patiently, did not call Vizio again for more than a month and when I checked my TV today, I realized mine got the new firmware 3.12.1
Now Netflix works perfectly without any issues.

One change I noticed was Netflix asked for my username and password instead of asking for an activation code (which has to be generated from the computer/laptop)

Overall, it is a very good TV and we love the picture quality and everything.

Another issue that I have noticed on 2.37.7 is if I switch inputs from HDMI 1 (game mode off) to HDMI 2 (Game mode on), the television doesn't actually switch the game mode. I have to manually go in and turn the game mode on. When I switch, the television says that game mode is on, but I have to cycle it off, then on again to actually turn it on.

Still on 2.37.7 as of today.
Edited by Jonathan3300 - 1/26/13 at 2:09pm

Me too. At this point, I'm actually hoping I don't get it the next two days. That will be twice that Vizio promised me I would get the update in "one to two weeks", the second time the Costco rep was on the line with me.

So if no update Tues AM, I will call Costco and politely and FIRMLY suggest that they owe me the cost of a ROKU box for my time and trouble. If I have to ask a second time, it won't be a request.

I'll say it again - all Vizio had to do was acknowledge the problem and post the status of the update on their website to diffuse a lot of these hard feelings.

-KenC

Hello everyone. My name is Ali I, new here.
I ordered the 47KDE TV from amazon 2 days ago and its on the way.I'm sorry that a lot of you had to deal with the Netflix issue for do long and happy some of you are getting the fix firmware recently. However I'm really concerned that this TV seems to have a few problems according to owners.

The thing is, I feel that for the price this TV is unbeatable. I mean I own a Vizio 42 LCD and I'm happy with it but for 650-800 I really think this TV is a bargain but I'm afraid I made a wrong decision buying it if Streaming among other issues are problematic.

I hope all of you would get the fix soon but otherwise are you really satisfied with the purchase? Are there any other deal breaker flaws that I should be looking for?

And one more question for you guys, what is "soap opera effect" ? I heard a lot of complaints about this but I have no idea what it is. I tried searching youtube for videos but couldn't find any. I believe its some sort of smoothing for picture but isn't this supposed to be a good thing? Why don't people like it? I know my friend has a Plasma Samsung TV 800 series and when I watch it I feel like the picture is so smooth it feels like you are watching real people in real life! Is this the same as soap opera effect? Because I feel its good if this is the case.

Thanks for the answers in advance and please let me know if anyone regrets their purchase at this point. Like I said it feels like the best bargain especially if you want amazon instant on it which all you seem to have no issues with. Other TVS from LG that are similar run at least 300 more.

Hope all of you get good news and updates soon.

Well.... exchanged my M3D470KDE at Sam's Club where i ordered it, and am currently setting it up now. Was looking at the LG 47" 3D TV with the soundbar that they also had for $21 more... but for one, the last LG brand TV that i tried was an LED backlit LCD, and it wound up blowing a capacitor or something after not even a full day's use.... and two, i don't think i could pass up on owning a TV from a manufacturer who not only apparently also works on a sunday, but doesn't seem to outsource their tech support. Couldn't believe i got a call today. Was shocked, really.