Hi all. Please allow me to indulge in telling you the story of what happened to me regarding clouding. In the end I managed to not only find the CAUSE of my clouding, but the SOLUTION as well!
I bought an LG 42" LCD 1080p TV from Currys on Saturday. Got it home, screwed the stand on, set it up only to find a glowing white cloudy patch across the middle. Only visible on a black screen.
I rang the Tech No. and was told it is a know problem, although not that common. He gave me a code number which I was to give to Currys, who would then give me a new TV. Went to Currys next day, got the new TV home, did every thing as before (I thought about testing it straight away right out of the box, but concluded the chances of me getting another cloudy TV must be next to impossible) but, great big cloudy patch worse than the first one!
I was angry, but not livid. I just concluded there must be something that happened to these TVs in the Currys store room, like a big magnet going near or something. So my wife and I decided to return this one, get our money back, and just buy another one another day from somewhere else.
Took the TV back Monday night after work, and as I expected, they wanted to test it and see the patch for themselves first. After 10 minutes one of the guys asked me to come and show him where the patch was. I got there to find they had it on a bright screen, I reminded them I said it needs to be a black one to see it. They put it to black, and asked me where it was? I got on my hands and knees, and looked from every possible angle, but had to admit
it was no longer there!?
One of the guys talked me through my set up at home, and concluded it was either the fact I wasnt using a surge protector, or the magnets in my surround sound speakers and sub which sat under the TV. (I mentioned the fact the Tech guy on the phone never asked those things).
So I bought a surge protector and took the TV home again.
At home I set it up straight out of the box, with out the stand on just as they did in Currys. I plugged it into the surge protector, and stood it well away from the speakers
No patch!
"Great!" I thought, "I can now work out what was causing it". So thinking I was clever, I put the stand on, set it up JUST as before, with no surge protection and next to the speakers. Sure enough a patch had returned. I then unplugged one by one all the other devises by the TV, but still a patch? I plugged it back into the surge protector, but still a patch? I then proceeded to put it right back in the middle of the floor where I had just tested it and it had worked, still to find a patch!!?
I now realised two things, 1) something in my house was causing this patch, and 2) from taking the TV out of my house, to when they plugged it in in Currys, something had got rid of the patch!?
I scoured forums on the web, looking for possible solutions to the patch. I read someone say about maybe laying the TV down, to resettle all the liquid in the Liquid Crystal Display. I left it on its back, screen side up, for about 24 hours, but no difference. I then put it screen side down, on my sofa, for about 30 mins to see if that would have an effect. It did. The patch was twice as big as before!!
Only then did it hit me, that EVERY time I had put the stand on, I had lead it screen side down on the sofa so I could easily get to the screws on the back! I now had the CAUSE worked out!
Thats when the solution hit me! Every time the guy at Currys had wheeled the TV too and from my car, he had used an upright sack truck. Except the night I took the 2nd TV BACK! Then he used a flat, palette lifting type trolley, that was made of metal. I distinctly remembered him wheeling it over the concrete at the entrance to the shop, which had rough knobbly bits (for people to get grip in wet). The TV was lead down flat on this trolley, and I remembered thinking as it was pulled quite fast and vibrationaly over the concrete, "surely that wont do the TV any good?" But then also thought it didnt matter to me since I was here to return it.
I placed the TV on its back on a table, and tried many different ways to vibrate it with no success. Then I decided to do exactly as they had done, and got my own flatbed trolley out of my shed. Laying the TV screen side up (and with the packing cover on it) I proceeded to pull my TV up and down the path out side my house for a while. After quite a few runs, and back in doors to test it, I noticed a corner of the patch start to disappear! But I knew it had only taken seconds of vibration going into the shop, to clear it before. Thats when clarity came! I then specifically remembered the guy laying the TV screen side down on the metal trolley! I promptly turned my TV over (at which point one of my neighbours walked past, and seeing me struggling with a big 42" TV on a little trolley, at night out on the street, asked if I was OK. "Yes thanks!" I replied, with the note in my voice that really said "yep! Ive got it all under control thank you!). I made sure the frame of the TV was taking the weight, and not the screen itself, and did a few runs up and down the path. Got it back inside, plugged it in, NO PATCH! All gone, problem sorted.
I quickly put the stand on (not by laying it on its screen this time!!), plugged all the cables in, turned it on, and
NO!! A DEAD PIXEL!!!!!
.
Needless to say, after all the previous hassle, I didnt take this second TV back (again!) until the weekend. You should have seen their faces! The floor manager wanted to see this dead pixel (about 7 pixels actually) before he gave me my THIRD TV! I dont blame him though. He called me down after about 5 mins to show him where these dead pixels were (I thought here we go again). This time he had it on a black screen! I told him to turn it to a bright one, which he did, and saw the pixels, and gave me my new one.
LET THIS BE A WARNING TO YOU ALL! I looked up the cause of dead pixels on the internet, and only found one comment that linked it to vibration. But who knows whether my trolley antics caused them to go or not, who can say since its a fairly common problem with LCDs anyway. But just keep this fact in mind if you are planning on trundling your nice, big, expensive TV round the streets in front of your bewildered neighbours on a flatbed trolley!!!?
Thanks for reading.