OLED + Sunlight ??

hp501

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After lurking here for a few weeks, I replaced my reliable 9 year old Panasonic plasma with a LG 55E7. I have been very happy so far. There is no banding or tinting visible in normal content. However, on Saturday I noticed a big splodge across the screen. This was especially noticeable on light colours. E.g. People's skin was purple. I realised that the splodge was actually caused by direct sunlight that shone on it for a few mins earlier in the morning. I found a YouTube video of someone else who had experienced the same problem. After a compensation cycle the TV was back to normal. The manual does state that the TV must not be exposed to direct sunlight. However, so does every other electronics manual and my plasma was in the same spot for 8 years without any problems. Has anybody else experienced this? Is it a problem that is likely to go away once the panel settles in? Is it caused by UV or heat?

Thanks
 
Hi hp501,
I just rejoined the forum after a couple of years to make the same point!

We purchased a Sony A1 just before Christmas. We placed it in the lounge not in direct sunlight all day, but it catches a few rays in the late afternoon as it is an open and light filled lounge. Not much high intensity sunshine in the UK so far this winter, so all was well until the end of January.

I came home from work and turned the TV on to see a peculiar dark image along the right hand 8th of the screen that looked like image retention/burn-in. Moving to the settings page to get a monochrome background it was clear that something was wrong, as the dark mark was even more pronounced. Turning off and doing a reset did not clear it. As I walked around the TV I noticed that the mark followed the exact contour of some clothes waiting to be folded on the sofa - where the screen had caught the sun was dark and where the clothes had shaded it the screen was normal! Never seen anything like it before in terms of a panel being susceptible to sunlight damage. I researched a bit on the internet and found the same video you noted above and checked some guidance on curing image retention - this panel apparently does a low level refresh cycle whilst in standby. So we left it in standby and turned it on everyday to check its condition - it took 4 days for the mark to disappear with no TV watching in between.



The retailer sent an engineer to investigate and he advised not having seen this issue before but agreed from the pictures I had taken that it was clearly the sunlight that was causing damage to the panel somehow. His and our concern was if this happens with intermittent and indirect winter sunlight how bad could it be in the spring and summer. The engineer wrote a very clear and concerning report to the retailer, however Sony is refusing to take any action at the moment as it claims that the TV should never be exposed to sunlight in case it overheats. However Sony has verbally acknowledged that the OLED is susceptible to issues/damage/malfunction etc. with sunlight though it is not clear whether this is due to the light or concentrated thermal buildup! Sony is due to call me following further assessment by their engineers.

The TV is now covered by a thick blanket to protect it during daylight hours. We only with it with the curtains drawn in the day or at night without sunlight :(!!!

Anyone else had this as an issue?
 

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That's awful, hope you get it sorted
 
They should swap it out instantly, that is only 2 months old....That is crazy...

Our LG is subject to sunlight between Sunrise until about 13:00. Then again in the summer period from about 19:00 until Sunset. Not had such an experience, not on our OLED nor on any of our Plasmas.
 
Another proof that OLEDs are not ready for mass market. Hoping you get this sorted out mate
 
How common is it that screens are getting affected by direct sunlight? This is the first I've heard of it.
 
They should swap it out instantly, that is only 2 months old....That is crazy...

Our LG is subject to sunlight between Sunrise until about 13:00. Then again in the summer period from about 19:00 until Sunset. Not had such an experience, not on our OLED nor on any of our Plasmas.
LG does have a warning against direct exposure to sunlight. It's the very first item in the Safety and Refererence manual for my E6
Do not place the TV and/or remote control in the following environments:
A location exposed to direct sunlight............Otherwise, this may result in fire, electric shock, malfunction or product deformation.

How common is it that screens are getting affected by direct sunlight? This is the first I've heard of it.
Also mentioned at http://www.avsforum.com/forum/40-ol...lg-c7-b7-owners-thread-no-price-talk-608.html
 
LG does have a warning against direct exposure to sunlight. It's the very first item in the Safety and Refererence manual for my E6
Do not place the TV and/or remote control in the following environments:
A location exposed to direct sunlight............Otherwise, this may result in fire, electric shock, malfunction or product deformation.


Also mentioned at http://www.avsforum.com/forum/40-ol...lg-c7-b7-owners-thread-no-price-talk-608.html

Yes sure I get the intention of that statement and the context of what LG, or any other manufacturer is saying.
 
@4Square I think your experience is worse than mine. In my case the sun shone directly only for 10 mins or so with the TV on. It would have shone on it for a longer period with the TV off. I didn’t notice the blotches on the screen till at least an hour later. The blotches did not last for days - they disappeared in the evening. I assume the compensation cycle ran in between.

The TV was only 2 days old when this happened. I haven’t seen it since and have been hoping that it is a problem that only happens when the TV is new. The other post linked by doug56hl also describes the problem happening on a brand new TV. However, after reading your post I am not so sure.
 
Thanks for the various feedback and comments.

Its interesting that dejongj has an LG OLED that is exposed to longer periods of sunlight but does not have this issue. Could this be a problem with some defective/rogue panels being much more susceptible to the impact of sunlight? Or really just a potential susceptibility with the OLED tech itself?

For me this is quite frankly a shocker from Sony and really poor customer service. Any ideas how to take this further? All Sony staff and their Customer Service Manager repeatedly reference is the health and safety guidelines for prolonged exposure to direct sunlight and the potential for malfunction. Basically Mr Customer - you bought it, it's your problem now not ours, move the TV to a dark corner or suffer the consequences! Sony is not really engaging about the issue or a viable solution (we can't move the TV) and has sent 4 emails (plus my numerous phone conversations) along the lines of this latest patronizing effort received today. Not even a hint of this may be a fault with this particular TV, lets swap it out and try another one or any effort to try and resolve the problem!!

Thank you for your email.
Whilst we do understand how you feel, and we sincerely apologize for any unintended inconvenience, unfortunately we will not be able to offer alternatives on this case, as the symptoms are not a fault with the TV, but one of the safety precautions mentioned in the TV manual.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail.
Thank you for your enquiry.
Yours sincerely,


I cannot in all honesty recommend you buy one of these Sony TVs if this is Sony's attitude and lack of consideration for its customers. Who wants a TV panel that is this susceptible to a bit of sunlight and a manufacturer that clearly does not care!
 
I agree, the response is shocking. In the very short period that you've owned it nothing should be doing that. That is just silly.

it really surprises me that companies are so dragging their heels regarding this.
 
If the compensation cycle got rid of it, what is the issue? The cycles run after 4 hours (cumulative) of the TV being ON. So the reason it took 4 days was you weren't watching the TV.

If it happens again simply watch some hours then turn off for 10 minutes or so and it should be gone.

Clearly it is best to avoid direct sunlight where possible for these sets though, given they are ORGANIC LEDs its almost certain that either the heat or UV will cause some issues.
 
Looks like OLEDs must be maintained like our OCD collectors maintain their precious Steelbooks lol. So many issues reported mainly in LG OLEDs, unusually high return rate, and they are still adamant as if it is not their fault. This technology is NOT READY for mass market.
 
Looks like OLEDs must be maintained like our OCD collectors maintain their precious Steelbooks lol. So many issues reported mainly in LG OLEDs, unusually high return rate, and they are still adamant as if it is not their fault. This technology is NOT READY for mass market.

All OLED have LG panels. And please do share the return rates. I think we would all be interested in those :)
 
That's a poll for what most would argue is almost entirely made up of enthusiasts. It's not an accurate snapshot of OLED consumers as a whole.
Indeed and let alone the actual manufacturer returns. Some screens will be returned for whatever reason and the next user is quite happy with it.

Heck some of here return 7 screens until they’ve got one they are happy with for whatever reason. Totally their prerogative but not an indication of flawed technology nor screen burn.
 
For me this is quite frankly a shocker from Sony and really poor customer service. Any ideas how to take this further? All Sony staff and their Customer Service Manager repeatedly reference is the health and safety guidelines for prolonged exposure to direct sunlight and the potential for malfunction. Basically Mr Customer - you bought it, it's your problem now not ours, move the TV to a dark corner or suffer the consequences!

why is it such a shocker? the manual specifically tells you to avoid doing something, you do it and suffer the consequences and somehow it's Sony's fault for not replacing your set?
 
Hi all. I know this is an older thread, but just posting a similar experience. Mine was (I'm positive) caused by lightning through blinds. The sun's position moves too quickly at my location for it to be caused by sunlight, but the bands perfectly match high ceiling blinds I've got in a double height room. And it occurred after a lightning storm.

Imgur

My TV is a new Panasonic FZ950 65"
Thankfully panel maintenance gets rid of the bands, but it's just something to be aware of.
 
Had my E7 12 months now and my vertical blinds are closed day and night I never open them.Have a big 9ft bay window so still light enough with blinds closed and watching tv is loads better in a darker environment.I knew about sunlight doing this and that’s why my blinds are close all day and night.
 
Jesus,
Iv read people advising you to not watch news channels/ HDR content for to long or not at all, zoom boarded movies, keep blinds closed, turn Oled light down.. Turn off every 4 hours otherwise LG won't honour warrantys.. The list goes on.

Oled Sounds like an OCD owners dream..

Really, it's just a TV and if you have to do any of the above just to protect it or your worried, well I'm sorry you backed the wrong horse.
 
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Oh no you don’t have to do that.


You can choose to if you want. Ours is all day long in a room with open blinds. Sunshine and Lightning.
 

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