Unfortunately that same thinking amongst the public has also allowed image quality to drop to appalling levels. The variability in picture quality today is far worse than it was with analog TV. It's shameful. When HDTV first started bit rates were very high and little by little these networks and TV service providers have been allowed to reduced them to unwatchable states in many cases. That's why I find the whole concept of these same abusive sources providing 4K UHDTV services to be a sick joke.

I still use and love my 10 year old plasma. Everything looks great on it. LCD looks awful in comparison. The price of OLED is cheaper now than what I paid for my smaller plasma 10 years ago. The problem is the current 1080 models from LG have a terrible screen door effect with big gaps between pixels/sub pixels that causes the image to look grainy, blurry, and less detailed, so I actually get a much nicer picture from my 10 year old Hitachi plasma that isn't even full 1080p resolution. Frustrating because I was all ready to buy one. Those stupid curved screens also have to go.

I just bought a mid-range 4K LCD TV, replacing a 7 year old plasma, and it's acually very good. It's wouldn't say either is 'better' just different.

I too was waiting for OLED, but they just aren't worth the additional money over LCD for me at the moment.

Except that LCD still has the problem of poor viewing angles and blacks in comparison.

It doesn't make sense to buy a 4K TV since there is very little 4K content and there will likely not be a significant amount for many years. In fact, I see ten years going buy and that still being the case. Plus anything SD looks awful on a 4K TV and 1080 looks soft.

Unless my plasma fails in the near future I also won't replace it with an LCD, it won't be long before OLED is more affordable,

You need to look at some better 4K sets then!

1080 looks slightly BETTER on a good 4K set, SD probably the same or slightly better?.

However, I agree it's not worth buying a 4K set yet (if at all?), I certainly didn't

I've have access to and have seen the best 4K displays. How can a lower resolution picture look slightly better on a much higher resolution display. That's physically impossible. You can't create information that wasn't there in the first place. That's why DVDs look awful on HDTVs.

Sorry, but you have come to a false conclusion there.

If you compare a 50 inch 1080 display with a 50 inch 4K display when they are showing a 1080 image then the worst they can look is the same! With some decent upscaling the picture can look better.

The picture on my set looks a bit better, and I dont notice the shadow as much now, looks like its gone a bit . I've rubbed the area where the shadow was gently with a cloth (some people say this is a "fix")

DVD's don't look awful at all, they look absolutely great on HDTV's (and 4K sets).

If you think otherwise you must be looking at some crappy sets, with low quality scalers.

Scalers don't make a low resolution image higher resolution, as you say it can't really create detail that isn't there - but a good scaler does an outstanding job, and is usually just as good as a lower resolution set, and may be slightly better. Essentially a scale makes the picture fit the screen, and good ones do it well - poor ones do it badly, and give poor results because of it.

Sorry to keep you all waiting, I know you've been desperate for an update.

Took it back to the store again (third time) last Monday and explained the on-going shadowing issue and as I'd given them two chances to fix the issue I was really looking for a refund. The guy wrote on the job sheet that given the history (they'd already replaced the panel and mainboard and cables) that they recommended a write-off but it was the repair centre that made that decision.

So was expecting a call maybe Thursday last week to confirm they were going to write-off the set and process a refund, but by Friday I'd heard nothing so went back to the store. Was told "it's in transit". Thinking it was coming back to the store already repaired but it turns out it hadn't been collected until Thursday so hadn't even reached the repair centre yet.

Anyway, got a call today to say the set was back at the store with another new mainboard. From the tests I've done so far I think there may be an improvement so long as I have the backlight setting near maximum.

It is now out of the one year manufacturer's warranty so any further issues I'll need to take up with the retailer. They have given me a 90 day warranty on the panel so I'll be watching it carefully over the next three months for signs of shadowing.

It's gone back for a fourth time. Guy at the shop spoke with the repair centre to try and get them to write it off once and for all, but there's some complications over the manufacturer warranty period and how many days the TV has been in transit (TV was new last May) so I suspect they are going to try another "repair" and I'll get it back again in a week with the same issue still present.

Speak to Trading Standards, they are great at giving you advice on how to approach the problem. I am no expert in sales law but fundamentally they have been given 3 opportunities to repair 'the same' fault. The current fault is the same one you reported within the warranty period so it is not a new fault.
I believe you have given them ample opportunity to fix the tv so you should now seek a full refund from the retailer as that is who you paid and that is who your sales contract is with.

Good luck but you should either get a refund or a new tv to the same value as the one you bought. Also if you bought on credit card they may help.

Had a call from the repair centre today. Guy says the shadowing is "within tolerances" and that I'm always going to get shadowing on edge-lit screens. Perhaps, but not to the extent I was seeing. He also said that if I was that unhappy with it, I should have asked them to write it off. I replied that I did that two repairs ago but they insisted on a new mainboard. "Well, that's not going to fix it, why did they do that?"

So I think it's being sent back to me either as it was or with another LCD and if I can still see the shadowing, then it's back to the store again and to speak to a manager.

I agree, I have given them three chances to repair but the shop keep insisting it's not their decision whether the TV gets written off or not, it's down tot the repair centre. However, I'm not going to buy that any more, as you say it's the shop I have the contract with and it's of no relevance to me whether they use a repairer on the other side of the country or other side of the street.

Just need to wait til it comes back now.

Give trading standards a call. They are very helpful in telling you what your rights are. They also can tell you how to go about getting the resolution you want if it's legal.

Text received at 7:05am to say TV had been returned to store. Went mid morning to pick it up, was shown on the job sheet that "no fault found" and set had been returned unchanged. Refused to sign for it and argued that if all their display sets were showing the same kind of shadowing I was encountering, which they deemed as "within acceptable levels", then they wouldn't sell many.

Asked to speak with a manager but none were available but spoke with maybe a team leader of some kind who was perhaps sympathetic but unable to take my case any further without authorisation from above. Suggested I return after midday when a manager would be available.

On return my set was operating and tuned in to BBC News. They said that as the repair centre states there was "no fault found" and that they couldn't see any issue with the picture then they couldn't process a refund. I did ask them to change channels to something which shows the shadowing at its worst but he kinda flicked through that quickly without giving it time - I could see some shadows but I know where to look and which kind of picture makes it stand out.

They are adamant they cannot process a refund if their repair centre says there is no fault so I'm going to have to contact their "Customer Services".

I appreciate it is my word (or my vision) against theirs so I'm going to gather some video evidence (point the webcam at the TV and try and pick out some shadowing effects - not sure how well that is going to turn out) and file that in with the history in order to try and get the TV replaced but if they continue to argue it is "within acceptable tolerances" then I'm probably not going to get anywhere. The saga continues.

Tune in again soon for the next exciting (?) episode.

When you first saw the fault, which is not as bad as you claim as it took you some months to see it, you should have demanded a refund. If they refused you should have gone to trading standards or the Citizens Advice Bureau. Digital Spy has no legal powers, putting web cam pictures on it will get you nowhere. There are comments on a number of sites, including Amazon, about uneven backlighting. This was a cheap set and you get what you pay for, most people on Amazon were happy with it. I suspect that the "fault" is within spec as Curry's say. The model is now discontinued.

I wasn't allowed to demand a refund. I think the law permits the retailer to either repair it or offer an appropriate replacement. Certain images show the fault more clearly than others which is probably why I didn't notice it at first and why they are saying it is "within acceptable limits".


I feel it's worth a try. They might get a feeling for actually how bad it can get, or just get sick of my complaints and agree to a refund. If I can't get suitable images of the fault then I'll probably have to call it a day, sadly.


Unfortunately I hadn't read any of the user reviews regarding the image quality, other websites I read at the time did give it quite a good write-up. Sadly it was a cheap set with an expensive badge on it and it looks like I've been made to pay the price. The model was discontinued before I bought it, although the panels were perhaps still being made for some time after that for other models and manufacturers.