Have received a few emails from interested readers (including 2 from existing owners) asking if our KDL40W2000 suffered from clouding.
Short answer… yes.
For those who don’t know what “clouding” is, it is a type of mura (Japanese term for blemish) defect which plagues the current generation of Sony Bravia LCD TVs. It manifests as blotches/ patches of uneven backlight (usually lighter in colouration) occurring at random on the LCD panel, and is most obvious during black scenes (most people notice it when they’re switching AV input).
Currently there are a few potential solutions to this problem, but none has been definitive. Sony themselves advise Bravia LCD TV owners who are experiencing “clouding” to lower their backlight as this makes the problem less noticeable. The firmware fix that was released in the USA to XBR3 owners served only to achieve exactly this therefore masking the problem rather than solving it.
As it’s estimated that at least 50% of the W series Bravia LCD TV suffer from clouding, we’ll still perform our tests on our current set to see if the mura defect actually affects its picture quality. Stay tuned.
any idea if the x range suffer the same clouding problem
Regards
There have been reports of clouding or mura blemish in the UK and the US for X series.
Yeah, this is a real pain. Have a look at one of the screens I got:
http://www.lyris-lite.net/fu_archives/000581.html
Fortunately, on my 3rd try, I got a totally clear one.
@Lyris
Thanks for that photo. I believe that the general public is genuinely unaware of the mura defect that is affecting some of the LCD TVs. It’s something you have to point out, otherwise they live happily in ignorance. Do we have the right to shatter this dream? Is this an acceptable defect due to a manufacturing process? Sony UK’s decision to remain quiet about this may be a strategic mistake in the long run when the critical mass becomes aware of this `problem’.
And the most important question, how did you get a totally clear one? :)
I have been down that Glasgow road, I think.
>> Is this an acceptable defect due to a manufacturing process?
When all the other panel making facilities are avoiding it, and the Sony/Samsung panels avoided in the past, then I’d find it hard to say it’s acceptable. Something has happened that needs to be corrected.
As for getting a clear one, I just made sure to buy it at John Lewis and repeatedly made them aware of the problem and asked if I could get a replacement should mine be affected.
I Have an X-Series with slight clouding All over the screen, as this was slight i was worried if i replaced the set with one that was even worse!! It was a big dilemma!! I have asked for a replacement and awaitng stock to be replenished at the store. Fingers x i will receive a perfect set!!
Hi, i got my kdl40w2000 from john lewis about year and half ago discovered mine had the clouding defect after seeing my mothers same tv which she got from john lewis . John lewis took my tv away and have addimitted it has the defect and are going to replace the screen not the whole tv . I am willing to go down this road as i have no problem with john lewis customer service department at the moment. I like this telly ,the way it looks and sounds ,it is just the picture . So i hope it will be fine when fixed i will let you know .
Hi , got my sony kdl40w2000 back from john lewis on the 20/8/08. They seem to have fixed the clouding issue. But i now have marks on the black matt surround. Now my partner is not happy . John Lewis assured us the tv would come back in the same condition as sent .As we noticed the marks after the engineer left John Lewis said why did we sign that it was ok , ,but my partner said this is still not acceptable . John Lewis reply was can we live with it ? , my girlfriend said no. John Lewis then said they would send the same engineers back round to look at the tv. Do you think they will admit to the damage,we will find out. I will let you know what the John lewis reaction is.
KDL-52XBR9 (USA-TX) (2009) I’ve gone through 2 exchanges at the store. I am getting my mony back if I have to swapt it again. End of story.
Clouds, pixels…no acceptable at all, specially if I pad $2,000.00 dollars for it.
We bought a Sony Bravia KDL-40P3020 40″ TV.
At 24 months it developed grey/black vertical streaks down the screen and, on the right side, quite large longish sploges. So picture quality is poor and no image is unaffected by the ‘shadowing’ effect this causes.
Is this the same problem as being discussed above?
Is there a solution?
We tried to obtain a replacement, repair or refund from Tescos but to no avail.
Much persistance produce a cheque for £195. The battle is still on-going with
our insistance that either the set is replaced or the refund meets the legal level of recompence i.e. 2/3rds should be refunded.
Chris, Louth.