Plasma Sparklies

[Tyralak]

I just went to a friend's house who had a Samsung Plasma TV, (sorry, don't know the model) he asked me if the sparklies he was seeing were normal. When I saw what he was talking about, I told him it was definitely NOT normal. He asked if it could be repaired, and what kind of costs would be involved. These lessen slightly the longer the TV has been on, but are always there, mostly along the outer portions of the screen. He's only had it a couple of years, and he said it's been like that for about a year and gotten worse. Here's a few pictures I took.

 

[TNGTony]

I get them sometimes on my Hitachi. It has to do with the automatic contrast/brightness control. If the picture is bright the ALC is happy. If the room is dark and the picture is dark the ALC boosts the black level to hell and creates sparklies. When you disable that feature the sparklies go away, but then you have some other issues with the contrast in variable light conditions. If the room is bright it won't happen either.

See ya
Tony

 

[mike123abc]

I have not see that on my plasmas. One of my plasmas is 5 years old now, no sign of sparklies....

 

[Digital Dude]

Poor quality cables perhaps? If it is degrading slowly perhaps the connecter is slowly corroding. Remove the video cable(s) and clean the connectors. Let us know if it helps.

 

[Kevinw]

I agree about cables. Also is he using a A/V receiver and running the signal through it? Some receivers add noise to the picture because of poor video conversion.

 

[Tyralak]

I agree about cables. Also is he using a A/V receiver and running the signal through it? Some receivers add noise to the picture because of poor video conversion.

No, it's straight to the TV with HDMI. And actually, this happens on all inputs, regardless if there's even a source hooked up.

 

[TNGTony]

On mine it happens on the RF feed too (OTA HD Picture). It is not uncommon. It is video "garbage" when the picture's black level is too low.

See ya
Tony

 

[Tyralak]

On mine it happens on the RF feed too (OTA HD Picture). It is not uncommon. It is video "garbage" when the picture's black level is too low.

See ya
Tony

I'll pass that on to him. This is another reason I don't think I'll ever buy a plasma.

 

[Kevinw]

This is another reason I don't think I'll ever buy a plasma.

At the rate manufacturers ar discontinuing the plasma lines you won't even have the choice.

 

[Tyralak]

At the rate manufacturers ar discontinuing the plasma lines you won't even have the choice.

How many have discontinued them? Who's left?

 

[Kevinw]

Supposedly Pioneer is dropping them, Vizio has and neither Sony or Toshiba make them. Leaving only LG, Panasonic and Samsung.

 

[mw1597]

The sparkling on the Plasma TV screen may be a problem called Error Diffusion. It is a common problem with Samsung Plasma TVs, evidently heat and voltage related. A technician may be able to adjust the sparkles out by adjusting the voltage on the power supply board. You could also try using a fan to help cool it down.

 

[Tyralak]

The sparkling on the Plasma TV screen may be a problem called Error Diffusion. It is a common problem with Samsung Plasma TVs, evidently heat and voltage related. A technician may be able to adjust the sparkles out by adjusting the voltage on the power supply board. You could also try using a fan to help cool it down.

I'll pass that on to him too. Thanks.

 

[navychop]

Supposedly Pioneer is dropping them, Vizio has and neither Sony or Toshiba make them. Leaving only LG, Panasonic and Samsung.

I didn't expect PDPs to be a long term solution, but I'm really surprised at how fast they're fading.

 

[cummingsje]

I didn't expect PDPs to be a long term solution, but I'm really surprised at how fast they're fading.

Me too. I love my Panny Plasma! I originally bought a Samsung plasma last year and read about the sparkles on avs forum. Many owners ended up calling Samsung and got their board replaced under warranty. I took mine back and went with the panasonic and never looked back. Just my $.02.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

this looks like poor quality cables....not all HDMI cables are created equal, or even close.

 

[Tyralak]

this looks like poor quality cables....not all HDMI cables are created equal, or even close.

I thought that too, but it was doing it on every input whether or not anything was plugged in to it.