Recognize this LCD problem ? (How likely defective ?)

[Seeker47]

For the most part, I've been quite pleased with the Toshiba 32HL67 (built 10/07, it says on the back), that I purchased approx. 5 months ago. However, there have been some infrequent, intermittent problems, and I'd like to know if they are likely to indicate a serious defect, or are just glitches endemic to many of today's LCD panel TVs. If the former, I'd like to take some action on this before it gets too much deeper into the warranty period.

1) The set gets "lost", changing between 480p and 1080i sources: no picture, and probably a reported 'No Video Signal.' Turning the set off for 15 minutes, then back on again has always cured this -- at least so far. (There is nothing surrounding the panel. Ventilation is excellent, central A/C is available when needed, and I prefer to keep it cool here in any case.)

2) I turn the set on -- or change sources -- and the sound is just gone. (Normal picture, though.) The cure is the same as in #1 above.

3) When turned on this morning, the set had no sound, and 1080i sources were heavily overcast with a pink tinge, plus some exaggerated underlying areas of blue. I quickly confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the cable service itself, by checking in another room. A 480 source feeding the Toshiba -- the Pioneer 640 DVDR -- was unaffected, even for pass-through of the same channels. Again, the cure was turning the set off for about 15 minutes.

If the past is any indication, I may not see any of these problems again for another 3 weeks. These are different from the typical problem reports I saw, back when I was sifting through lots and lots of LCD panel reviews and user reports ! It would seem to be more cause for concern if it happened more often. (Or maybe this panel is trying to tell me something ?)

What do you think may be going on here ? Rather than rank speculation, I'd really like to hear from some of you who are quite familiar with this technology, and the causes of its failings. I'm on the verge of replacing a trusty CRT in the living room -- perhaps with one of the better plasma panels, before they go extinct -- and, you know, the long-term reliability of CRTs is starting to look better and better to me.

[edDV]

Probably a processing module needs to be swapped. Call a factory certified service shop and explain the problem. You probably have a 12 month parts warranty but will need to pay labor and shipping (if far away).

Better act before the 12mo. parts warranty expires. Most failures happen in the first few months and after 5+ years.

[jagabo]

I agree. The problems described are not "normal" for an LCD HDTV. They indicate a problem with the processing.

[Seeker47]

Probably a processing module needs to be swapped. Call a factory certified service shop and explain the problem. You probably have a 12 month parts warranty but will need to pay labor and shipping (if far away).

Better act before the 12mo. parts warranty expires. Most failures happen in the first few months and after 5+ years.

Thanks very much. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

[Seeker47]

Probably a processing module needs to be swapped. Call a factory certified service shop and explain the problem. You probably have a 12 month parts warranty but will need to pay labor and shipping (if far away).

Better act before the 12mo. parts warranty expires. Most failures happen in the first few months and after 5+ years.

When you have a problem like this that is random and infrequent -- that is to say, not repeatable on demand -- how does that affect the chances of getting warranty service and parts replacement on it ? I would not want to get some refurb parts that could be trouble in themselves.

[redwudz]

Two thoughts on that. Maybe the same problem has happened with other similar sets and the company is aware of it and knows the cure. If you haven't done it, you may want to do a internet search for that model or those symptoms and see what comes up. Or they may just exchange the set for a similar or newer model so they don't have to try to find a fix. Intermittents are tough to run down at times.

If they keep the set, and try to get it to fail, it could take quite a while. Or worst case, they send it back as is and tell you they couldn't find a problem. About all you can do is give them a very thorough description of the problem with enough information that they will believe you know what you are talking about. You would include how often it happens, (Pad this a little if you like. ), everything you have tried and exactly how it's hooked up and used.

[Seeker47]

Probably a processing module needs to be swapped. Call a factory certified service shop and explain the problem. You probably have a 12 month parts warranty but will need to pay labor and shipping (if far away).

Before contacting them, I'd be curious to know if these other problems -- recently seen -- could well be related to aforesaid processing module:

1. Picture size is sometimes not as expected, either for HD or SD channels, causing me to choose a specific one from the list of options. (I'm aware that the image size can change during an HD broadcast, as when they go from a shot of anchors in-studio to a reporter's live report from the field.) Sometimes the SD image area is smaller than expected, or not the same from SD source (or channel) to SD source.

2. Lip-synch problems, but inconsistent. This is new, and at first glance seems like it would be unrelated to the other issues. I was seeing it on one morning news program, and for a while thought the problem might be specific to that HD channel, or that channel from this TW provider. The sound-synch was off, varying from barely perceptible to perhaps a second. (The thing with synch is that if you notice anything, even subconsciously, there's a problem.) I thought it was maybe just that HD channel, but 45 minutes later the problem would be gone for awhile -- on the same channel, never changed -- then a bit later on it would return. Curiously, when the problem was manifesting, I could find no trace of it on the SD version of the same channel / broadcast -- and I looked for it often.

Most recently, I'm starting to see the problem on 2 or 3 other HD channels, but so far not more widespread than that. This is out of perhaps 300 channels, and I'm guessing 50 or more of them would be HD. But there are many HD channels where I've not yet seen this problem, even once.

[EDIT: This would seem to be a live-broadcast issue only, removing from consideration all the HD channels that run only episodic shows or movies. However, on the affected channels, when the problem was there, some commercials would also be out of synch.]

TW tech support says the problem does not originate with them, but must involve my TV or digital cable box. They said to check for an SAP type of problem. Very doubtful, I'd say. For one thing, the SAP here would most likely be in Spanish. For another, I've never touched any such setting, and don't find it on the remotes. Can't even find where its buried in the settings menus, for either the TV or the Motorola box. I do find a "Lip-Synch Latency" setting in the menus for the Toshiba LCD: either On or Off. The default is On. Neither setting makes any apparent difference, in regard to this problem.

It's all rather strange. And not a particularly inviting introduction to flat-panel TVs.