I have a Toshiba 42HL196 LCD. I've recently noticed an issue with vertical "banding" on the left and right sides of the panel; more noticeable on the left. It's an area about 3" wide and is a different shade of the background color. It's most noticeable on brightly colored backgrounds and when the image is being panned. Therefore it's very annoying when watching sporting events like hockey and football.
So you can see what I mean, these are 2 photos of the problem. The first is what the screen looks like when I'm changing channels, before the image appears on the screen. The second is of an actual image. You can clearly see the vertical band on the left side of the panel. I've marked everything with arrows, but you really can't miss it.
If these images aren't clear, here are the direct link url's:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s2...
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s2...
It doesn't matter what the input is (DVD, cable, TIVO), the vertical bands are always noticeable.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Toshiba customer service is of no use and all of their "authorized" service centers want to take the set back to their shops for an unspecified length of time, which I think is unacceptable.
Anybody? Any experts that can help me with this?
I'm at my wits end.
Could be a bad LCD panel, or one of the drive boards. I would lean towards a bad panel though. Best thing to do, if it is still under the warranty have it looked at asap. If it is under the warrant, let them take the set, as the panel will most likely cost more then the entire TV set did. If it is out of warranty, You are going to have to live with this or replace the TV set, unless you can get it repaired at a resonable cost. Good luck and let us know how this repair turns out.
thank you very much for the reply. it's still under warranty; i'm trying to get Toshiba to send a tech to my house to look at it, as it's wall-mounted and a real pain in the a&& to move. plus, i don't think i should have to be without a set for a month or more while they diagnose and try (most likely unsuccessfully) to fix this.
i'm trying to get them to just replace the thing at their expense. i've sent these photos to the Toshiba techs as well and i'm waiting to hear back from them as to what they're going to do for me.
$2000 is alot of money to spend on something like this and have problems 6 months after purchase.
thanks again.
Yes it is alot of mony my friend. I have heard in the past of owners of these sets get put off fpr months by the manufacturers and then the warranty ran out and now the company has basicly told them they were screwed. So keep on bothering the techs and if it takes a long period of time for them to repair or replace the set, make them extend your warrany. about the extended warranty. Did you purchace an extended warranty when you bought the Set? If you did not, it is in my opinion not a bad investment. Alot of places will let the customer purchace an extended warranty all the way up to when the manufacturers warranty runs out. I would check into this. Let us know how this repair oe exchange turns out.
i did purchase the extended warranty (4 years). i bought it aftermarket from amazon.com for 140.00. it's with warrantech; i've had their warranties before and have never had a problem getting service.
i actually spoke to toshiba earlier this evening. since they couldn't get one of their authorized centers to do an in-home call for diagnosis, they're in the process of authorizing another center that's about a mile from my home. once that's done (within a few days according to the cust. service rep i spoke with) we'll be able to have a technician come to the house to take a look.
i'm hoping the tech says "bad panel, can't fix it" and i get a replacement set. this is a 2006 model...maybe the 2007's are better.
i'll post back and let you know how i'm making out.
i agree though, the key is to keep torturing the manufacturer until you get what you want out of them. NEVER LET THEM OFF THE HOOK!!
this unit never should have made it past the quality control folks.
LOL Yeppers I agree and I have to say your a smart person for paying for the extended warranty. I was not aware of the aftermarket warranty, for as long as I have been in the business, I thought you had to get the extended warranty from the store! Now I know. Your never too old to learn something new.
larry,
thanks for the compliment...although my wife doesn't think i'm too smart when i spend this kind of $$ on a toy (her words, not mine)!
anyway, i spoke with toshiba (again) and they've agreed to simply replace the unit. better still, they're going to upgrade it to the 42LX196 cinema series.
i'm just hoping that the new one doesn't have the same problems.
i should have it in about 2 or 3 weeks.