The Pany Plasma Buzz

[911uk]

After reading the threads about the 42" plasma buzzing sounds, I'm still slightly confussed..

When I bought mine back in June, it was totally silent, only in the past couple of weeks has it started buzzing. Anyone know why this might be? Surely therefore the "fault" has developed and could be fixed?

Does anyone know which components actually make the noise?

 

[danny-p]

anyone know???

 

[nickt]

Mine buzzes all the time but I don't really notice it any more. I have heard that the design is such that you get buzz from capacitors in the circuitry and that it just the way it is. My TV used to buzz too.

If a buzz has just started, then maybe you have a fault elsewhere. The buzz I have varies a lot with the scene content - an all-white image being worse than all-black - is this your symptom? The "all the time" buzz (in my opinion) comes from the right hand side and is very dependent on location - if you have a "lively" room you will get reflections from the walls - wall mounting seems to be the worst.

I'm not sure I'm helping here...

 

[911uk]

Yes Nick, it does vary depending on the picture displayed. Weird though that it used be totally silent - I made a point of listening for the buzzing sound that had been mentioned on this board as soon as it arrived.

 

[Nick23]

I think I read probably the most useful statement I have ever read on these forums yesterday... I can't seem to find the actual thread this quote came from, so I will do my best to remember what it said.

"When your new toy arrives, DON'T go looking for faults".

If you never notice the problem then surely this is better than knowing about a problem and just trying to ignore it?

When my panasonic plasma arrives soon, I will not be putting my ear up to the back searching for a buzzing sound, or scouring the screen looking for dead pixels.... what you don't know (or notice), can't harm (annoy/frustrate) you.

 

[RedRose]

But if you DID find a buzzing noise or a dead pixel, would you then ignore it or would you talk to your dealer about the fitness for purpose of the very expensive equipment you had just bought. If somebody buys a new car and discovers a squeaky seat or suspension component they think nothing of going straight back to the dealer to get it seen to. A plasma screen is a relatively much more expensive item and still considered a luxury purchase. I know the arguments about bleeding edge technology and the price of early adoption, but nevertheless you would owe it to yourself and the dealer to ask them to fix it. Why do you owe it to the dealer? Because if you just put up with it and grumble to your friends then the delaer never got the chance to fix the problem when he might have been quite willing to. Just my opinion

 

[KBDVD]

Hi RedRose,

Now that you've had your screen for a week, any issues such as buzz / fan noise / polarisation that have become a scource of aggrivation? Or are you still happy with your purchase?

Sorry to be so probing, but as you know I'm going to lay down some money in the very near future and as the choice for me is a straight one between the Panny 30 & 5 50" models, I'm really keen to gather as many views as possible from people who are actually using the screens.

Any 5 series 50" owners out there yet?

Best Regards,
KBDVD.

 

[Brianjhussey]

Does anyone know if the Toshiba clone suffers from the same buzzing noise?

Brian.

 

[RedRose]

Hail, son of Marcus Aurelius! Yeah, I've had my 50 incher (oo err) a week now and I am MOSTLY happy with it. The picture is excellent, but I am experiencing power supply buzzing. This is not the same as the low and very quiet hum from the four fans. I have mentioned this before, but the PSU does seem to be protesting at having to supply all that current!! To be honest the fans are not an issue and when I do focus on them they are quite "soothing" and not intrusive. The PSU noise, however, is bugging me. I have asked the dealer to help and to their credit they have already visited me, listened to it and agreed that it is unusually noisy. Next step is for them to listen to their demo model and if it's quieter they'll swap mine. If still no joy then I might change it for a Pioneer (advice / war stories welcome as to whether this would be a good idea). I'll keep you posted.
Polarisation (I think you mean solaristaion); does occur, but I THINK this is a property of all plasmas, even the ones with 10bit greyscale processing. It is most obvious on skin tones when the subject is moving across the screen or during a pan (effectively the same thing). Again, if anybody has seen a lack of this on 10bit displays (e.g. version 5 50" owners) then I'd be interested.
So I'm happy with my combination of purchase and post-sales support. I'm glad I bought it from a specialist dealer as I've been treated very well so far. I'd hate to think what state I'd be in if I'd bought it from a box shifter (no names, no packdrill).

 

[Glenn Keen]

ahh, the old buzzing Panny Plasma's!

This is a 'feature' of panasoinic plasma's, some people can hear it, others can't. My 42" buzzes, I can hear it realy clear, but no one else can, so it's down to your own hearing.

If you put your ear to the back of all plasma's you will hear a slight buzz, but when you move to where you will watch it from you usualy can't hear it.

After having mine for a few months I hardly notice it at all.
I actually had my first one swapped with one I tested in the shop first. In the shop is didn't seem to buzz, but when set up at home you could hear it! It turns out the ambiant noise in the shop was masking the sound, that and the fact the room was lined with curtains (this buzzing sound reflects off normal walls! see my thead about this).

Still if you can live with the buzz then these are GREAT sets. i love mine.

Oh, and it is just possible there is a fault on your set, in a few rare cases where the buzzing is VERY loud it is a faulty component.

Any, best of luck, and I hope you enjoy your plasma.

 

[CarlB]

Polarisation (I think you mean solaristaion); does occur, but I THINK this is a property of all plasmas, even the ones with 10bit greyscale processing. It is most obvious on skin tones when the subject is moving across the screen or during a pan (effectively the same thing). Again, if anybody has seen a lack of this on 10bit displays (e.g. version 5 50" owners) then I'd be interested.

I do occasionally see some solarisation, as I am sure all plasma owners do, as you say. However, the effect you mention with skintones and pan shots is an effect I have only ever seen when using a PAL source with my 42" Panasonic model 4. When driving the screen at native 480p progressive (R1) from my Denon 3800 I have never seen this effect on panning shots. This leads me to believe it is somehow related to a combination of the scaling (PAL source at non-native rate) and colour properties of the panel.