"Dark" Vertical line on LCD TV

[z24lucifer]

Hello all,

I have purchased a Samsung LNT4661F in January of this year, with an extended service plan. I will try to explain the issue as best as possible.

I notice a bit left of the center point of the tv (about 1/3 of the way over from the left side edge), there is a darker vertical line, that is maybe an inch and a half wide, that runs the whole height of the tv.

It is not noticable when the picture is still, but it is very noticable (to me anyways) when the camera is moving side to side quickly, like in sports. I notice this mostly when watching hockey in HD. I have also noticed it quite a bit watching the Euro Cup in HD.

Is this normal? I was thinking of calling up customer service and complaining about it, but I'm not even sure what to say. Is there a term for this? Since its not that noticable, will they do anything for me with the tv?

Any thoughts?

THANKS! This forum rocks!

[Spankey]

Sounds like the light engine broke on you. This happened to my parent's set. You'll have to call Samsung for a service call. Hopefully you are still under warranty.

[z24lucifer]

This seemed to have happened to me right out of the box. It is not noticable during still pictures, just on moving images.

I'll call samsung or bestbuy. I do have an extended warranty with bestbuy, so hopefully they'll exchange it for me.

[z24lucifer]

So, since I had the extended warranty through Best Buy (Canada), I decided to give them a call. They sent a repair guy out, who saw the problem, and told me they'd get back to me.

After a few days, I was notified that they contacted samsung, and they were going to replace the whole lcd panel. I was like, wtf?

So, this past saturday, the same repair guy came over, and said he didnt' know why samsung didn't send me a new tv, given that it is more expensive for them to replace the actual panel.

It took him about 1 hr to do the job (at my house). He quickly tested to make sure it was working, then took off. After watching it for about 5 min, I noticed 3 much more major problems:

1- there is a big oval circle, starting from the top left, which covers about 65 -75% of the tv, which is significantly light than the rest.
2 - There are approximately 10 - 15 lines on the top right corner going to the middle of the tv
3 - There is a small triangle near the top right corner that is much brighter than the rest of the lcd.

So, I am obviously going to call the repair centre again. I am really frustrated, and very disappointed with the Quality Control of Samsung so far.

It would be nice if they would upgrade me to a new TV (like the A650 ).

Has any body had any similar experiences? Can any body give me any advice of who to complain to so I can actually get a tv that works correctly, and hopefully an upgrade?

[z24lucifer]

The repair company just phoned me and told me that Samsung is sending them an internal wire to fix this problem. The guy on the phone didn't sound very convinced.

I think I'm getting the run around here from Samsung

[Scooby Blu]

I feel for you man ! I had that dark line right through the center of my TV. I called the company and they called it a rafter. They sent their crew out and replaced the TV no questions asked! It was not the brand you have, but stick to your guns and demand better service.

[z24lucifer]

I got yet another panel replaced, and another internal wire replaced, and I still have a gigantic white circle in the middle of my screen, and now a 2 inch vertical line on the bottom right of my panel.

Samsung customer service refused to give me a new TV. It has been close to 60 days now, and I have another panel on order.

Has anybody else had issues with Samsung's customer support?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I refuse to watch any of my Blu-Rays on a screen that is not 100% working! SO frustrating, as I have about 10 blus that I have been wating to watch

[DBlackGT]

ya man i had the same tv but the 40 inch version. I had white "clouds" all over the screen. I had samsung replace the panel and the clouds were still there on the new panel so I think its something with the actual motherboard its self. Im sorry to say that the 61f series has a lot of problems. I ended up just selling it for $800 and moved on with my life.

As far as bars go trying a different HDMI cable. I know it sounds weird but it worked for me when I had "bars" going up and down my screen. If that doesnt work try a Power Conditioner from Panamax or Monster. And trying keeping the power cord away from any video cables. Hope this helps