Pincusion Distortion on TOSHIBA 36ZP18Q

I have just bought a 36ZP18 and am disappointed with picture geometry in 4:3 and 12:9 modes. The vertical black bar down the left side of the screen is far from straight and moves around by an inch or so in parts depending on picture content. Comet were brilliant and swapped it for another set, but that was worse, with picture content "bleeding over" into the black bar. The picture itself is beautiful but the "wavy" black bar is very distracting. Any ideas please?

 

The edges of 4:3 transmissions when viewed on 16:9 television are wavy to varying degree.
Yours appears within tolerance....( Toshiba's not yours).

 

You say the distortion is within Toshiba's tolerance. Any idea what this is please? The left bar bends inwards like a violin-bow where "narrow" pictures appear (eg on a news-feed). The degree of bending depends on picture content and where there is blue sky near the top of the picture, the inward "bend" at the top end is quite severe. The vertical margin then appears as a very stretched letter "S"
Is there anything Toshiba could do to improve matters on-site?
We have friends with Sony and Panasonic TVs and there is very little pin-cushion distortion on their sets.

 

Yes, if you are comparing your friends televisions in the same regard, your Toshiba should not be worse.
Definitely have a free of charge service call under warranty from your supplying dealer.

 

I did call dealer service and they arranged an exchange. The trouble was, the replacement TV was more distorted than the original so i got the guys to bring the original back. I have emailed Tosh with photographs of problem and are waiting for a reply. I would really like a Tosh engineer to call but I guess that is unlikely. Comet say they will refund me or I can have another make but I am at a loss to know what to do as the picture is so good on the Tosh (exc non-linear black bars).

 

You are absolutely correct.
Toshiba rely on their dealers setting up and correcting geometry errors. You may experience several " swap-outs " all more or less the same.
Toshiba may send a " field service representative " if pushed but the onus is on Comet's service department to resolve your problem. This isn't a " Multiples " strong point. In general it's simpler to swap sets until you are happy or refunded, knowing a less critical customer will keep the set eventually.
The edge lines will never be totally linear but it does sound like yours need correcting as best they can.

 

I have now spoken to Tosh technical people. They say 5mm is tolerance on vertical linearity and that edge moves around due to EHT regulation. They say swap-outs are likely to be from same batch and therefore probably the same, but having looked at sets in local Currys, there is a big variation, one or two being perfect and some really bad. I am reluctant to swap again in case next set has a different problems. We are up 3 flights of stairs which makes swops inconvenient. Perhaps I should learn to live with it and keep set in "WIDE" mode, but even in WIDE, news-feeds on BBC digital produce a visible left margin which bows out 3 or 4 mm to the right in the centre of the vertical bar. Anyone else having this problem?

 

You could try a Sony FS76. Got mine today and it has Vertical Pic Stabiliser (VPS) and geometry is perfect in all modes under all conditions I've been able to test.

Matt.

 

Some of the larger distortions described sound like those caused by too high a contrast setting - are you running the set with excessive contrast? Almost every widescreen picture will bend with a bright picture set with high contrast. Anything above 50% contrast setting is usually more than enough on a modern set.
Some of the contrast controls are vicious!

 

Contrast is usually set to 50. Sometimes use 40 - 45 in a darkened room. Most of the widescreen sets in our local Currys have the same linearity problem, Philips, Toshiba, etc even some Sonys and Panasonics (though fewer) so it seems to be a general thing. Tosh said it was due to the design of a transformer which causes EHT stability to vary. Most people dont seem to even see the problem and it isn't an issue for them. I haven't thought of getting a Sony as I am so pleased with the picture quality on the Tosh, although I had a Sony before this one for 15 years and was very pleased with it. I am now going to try and "live" with the TV and ignore the relatively minor geometry problems. Thanks for the helpful responses.