topic Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1 in Android TV

Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 11:39:21 GMT

Hi,

I'm actually now on my second KD55A1 courtesy of John Lewis' exemplary customer service due to visble dimples in the screen.

The first TV that I received had a very visble dimple just smaller than a tennis ball on the screen that clearly distorted reflections when caught in the screen. When I spoke to John Lewis about it they just agreed to replace the TV with no quibbles.

I took delivery of the replacement TV yesterday and this actually has 2 dimples in it and when you look at the top of the frame around the TV you can see that it doesn't actually run true and appears to wave somewhat.

Is this just a characteristic of OLED panels or a manufacturing flaw? There is no distortion on the actual picture itself.

Nothing comes up when I google it and nor have I ever heard it mentioned during the numerous review articles and videos that I have encountered.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm going to try and speak to Sony UK about it this afternoon so will see what they say.

Cheers,

Ben.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

Risc0n — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 14:54:32 GMT

Got any pics?

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 15:03:06 GMT

Its quite difficult to capture on photo but here is one that I sent to Sony...

It's just above my head and the second one is to the right of it.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 15:21:23 GMT

Hi there

Its interesting that you say that there is no distortion in the picture. I can see where you are referring to. I would have though there would be a little 'warping'.

Its the first ive seen (or heard) of this problem anyhow

Cheers

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 15:26:01 GMT

Cheers for the reply.

I find it odd that there is no distortion or warping to the picture. Plus when you look at the panel side on it appears to be perfect so not really sure which layer of the panel the dimple resides on.

I have logged it with Sony now anyway and subitted the above picture along with a short video capturing the distortion.

I should hear back from them tomorrow morning so let's see what they say.

Cheers

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

Risc0n — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 22:15:15 GMT

Wow, that looks horrid. I would be sending it back straight away, not acceptable for a £3500 TV imo.

Found a video, is this what you are referring to?

Also thread on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Bestbuy/comments/6bhvgj/sony_oled_screen_warping/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk6YUqtVOKU

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 21:02:20 GMT

Cheers for the links, and yes, it seems like the same thing.

People seem to be attributing it to heat though but I noticed my panels warps before I'd even powered it on for the first time.

Must admit that it is kind of making me want to return it and go for the Panasonic instead.

I'll see what Sony say tomorrow and take it from there.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

janholv — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 09:45:29 GMT

Hi, I have exactly the same problem with a KD55A1 purchased in Belgium this week.

Any news from Sony on this? I just contacted Sony Belgium about this but haven't got a reply yet.

I'm definitely going for a replacement but want to make sure the new one doesn't suffer from the same flaw. Otherwise money back...

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 12:09:39 GMT

Hi,

I must admit that I couldn't believe that I'd be the only person who's had this issue, given that I've had 2 TVs now with similar issues, so it's good in a way to hear of someone else with the same issue.

Was your packaging damaged at all when your TV turned up? My first box was missing one of its white clips to hold the main box to the base and also the polystyrene packaging along the top of the box was snapped about a third of the way along. My replacement TV also had the polystyrene snap at exactly the same point.

Sony came back to me within a couple of days basically acknowledging that the warping was not a characteristic and had been caused by some kind of damage, but were unwilling to say anymore on the subject.

I have been back in contact with John Lewis, where I purchased the TV from, and they have taken delivery of a new batch of TVs therefore I'm going to contact them this afternoon to arrange delivery of another replacement so let's see how that goes.

If I were you I'd be contacting the company you bought the TV from and requesting a replacement or your money back.

If this third TV also has the issue I really don't know what to do as I'm really impressed with the picture quality and feel that chosing a replacement from another manufacturer would be a step down.....

Cheers.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

janholv — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 13:47:15 GMT

Hi,

No, the packaging didn't seem damaged (I had it delivered and installed, so it's hard to be sure).

I'm getting it replaced and will let you know how things go...

thx,

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 14:10:29 GMT

Good luck with the replacement.

I have my 2nd replacement boomed in for next Thursday so I will update this thread once it's arrived.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

OLEDisAmazing — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 12:36:26 GMT

Hi Yorkie

any verdict on this? I have exactly the same thing (2 dimples top middle of screen on brand new kd55a1 - I've sent in a video to Sony to see what they think

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 14:20:02 GMT

Hiya,

All I ever got back from Sony was that it had been caused by damage at some point but they were unwilling to comment any further.

I've got a second replacement arriving on Thursday from John Lewis, being installed by them this time, so I'll be able to provide an update then.

Your two dimples sound exactly the same as mine. On my box, on a label, it stated that it was from a June batch. Are you able to check yours? The replacement due on Thursday is from a July batch.

Cheers.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 07:48:55 GMT

I've just received my 3rd TV from John Lewis which is from a July batch and this is exactly the same as my 2nd, with the 2 dimples in the middle towards the top of the TV!

Feeling quite fed up with it now to be honest. Another call to Sony I think as this can't be an issue being caused through damage.

Anyone else received a replacement yet?

Cheers.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

OLEDisAmazing — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 08:03:58 GMT

I haven't actually asked for a replacement as the picture on the TV is faultless (not to mention stunning - I absolutely love it)

i wonder if if the undulations are on the other side of the glass and are something to do with the speakers. I can't see anything other than flat glass if I look close up from the side etc

I've also been looking at other screens (my phone and other tv) and both have non-perfect reflections but perfect picture

What is annoying is how slow and laggy the OS is - flipping about from youview to other services, hopefully will be fixed with updates

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 11:12:32 GMT

Perhaps it is just a characteristic of the screen..... I would have accepted that if that's what Sony would have told me but the fact that they said that it had been caused by damage meant that I took the matter further.

I agree that it's an amazing picture but the TV is let down a little by the Android OS. As I use SkyQ I don't have to use the OS functionality that much but I must admit that the Netflix app is less than reliable and often crashes or starts playing things without any audio.

I think I'm just going to have to accept the dimples but might raise it with Sony again and see what they say, if only to ensure that they don't continue to inform other customers that the warping/dimples are being caused by damage.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

OLEDisAmazing — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:42:26 GMT

How did you get on?

the more I think about it, the more i don't really accept it can be a characteristic of a screen to not be flat

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

YorkieCampo — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 16:59:49 GMT

Well, I've just heard back from Sony and technical support have confirmed that it IS a characteristic of the screen due to the manufacturing process of the TV.

I've registered my dissatisfaction with the fact that they didn't give me that answer 2 weeks ago when I originally raised my case and have therefore subsequently had the TV replaced.

They have escalated this for me and said that the will contact me tomorrow about whether I can claim any compensation.

Just out of interest do you have your TV wall mounted?

Cheers.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

Dpedraza — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 18:55:08 GMT

I bought the TV and I have no uneven surface, what I had was a ghost rectangle just in the middle from top to bottom , this was noticeable when the first software update was being done, first I tought the screen was damaged but the TV has a software utility to refresh all the pixeles, did that overnight and this thing dissappeared luckily.

What I am experiencing now is a freaking slow load of content on the Netflix app of the Android software built in. And this is not a speed issue of the Internet connection, I have 500 Mbps Download/Upload. I have tried this with a Roku and works flawlessly. But well I will start other thread with this issue. Just wanted to share my experience.

Cheers.

Re: Uneven surface appearance on KD55A1

Jbmclachlan — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 23:08:33 GMT

I received the 55A1 this evening and as soon as I turned it on I could see an issue with the panel.

Right hand side .. doesn’t look good!

Fortunately John Lewis already have another on the way but a little disappointed I have to say. It sounds a slightly different issue but just throwing it out there to share issues

Jon