I hate my new oled tv. but my plasma is dying. what to do?

[Donny]

I'm an audiophile but never was too picky about video. I could usually adjust the screen to good enough for me and forget it. My 10year old plasma is literally coming unglued. So I bought a lg 55b8 oled 4k set. The tv got great reviews but the color is terrible and movement is either vampire like or jerky. Hours of adjusting helped slightly. I even gave up and just copied settings from youtube! The picture is unacceptable. How can a new tv be this bad?

 

[chip18sw]

Hmm to ask the obvious, is it too late to return it???

 

[judsonw]

I am assuming you have seen articles like this that have the litany of default settings that are bad: https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/05/best-tv-settings/

I know that there are settings that are default that are pretty terrible. I was at a friend's parents' place, and they had my friend fix some of the settings to improve the image a lot.

I second the return option, if it is still an option, but maybe try again? Perhaps it was a bad one?

 

[invaderzim]

I feel your pain. Our plasma is dieing and we have yet to find an OLED we like.

We've spent hours looking and comparing TVs. The one you got is the 'best' one we found short of the Sony OLED. The Sony seems to have a slightly better picture but at a lot higher price.

Back when I read that nobody was going to make Plasmas anymore I asked my wife if we should pick up a spare and store it. She laughed. She isn't laughing now.

 

[Donny]

I do have the option to return. I also suspected the "it's a bad one thing" but I think it's performing as intended.

 

[invaderzim]

I really hope it is just a single bad unit since we will likely end up with the same TV soon. The horizontal lines at the top and bottom are annoying her more and more.

 

[Bob]

go find a home theatre installer/expert/technician/etc and ask him if he can
tune your system to match your plasma.

pay him or return the unit.

 

[petes'picks]

Have you tried the settings used by these guys? https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/b8-oled/settings#hdr main page https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/b8-oled
I have 2 functioning plamas and a spare that only has a few hundred hours on it for when one of my others need replacing. LCD and Oled may have sharper stagnant pictures but the problem is I like moving images when I watch TV. What is wrong with your current plasma, may just need a few capacitors replaced or cleaning and reseating of ribbon cables.

 

[the skipper]

I really hope it is just a single bad unit since we will likely end up with the same TV soon. The horizontal lines at the top and bottom are annoying her more and more.

What horizontal lines? If they are from letterboxed pictures, they are normal and I can't see how you never noticed them on your previous sets.

If that's not what you're describing, then they are most likely a faulty TV.

 

[Ross6860]

We have an X850E or X900E Sony and have been very happy with it. Not OLED, but right below it in their line.

FWIW, our old 42" 720p Technics plasma probably has the best picture in the house. Unfortunately, it weighs 80 pounds and generates heat like a quartz lamp...We have other LEDs by Mitsubishi, Panasonic, LG, and some other cheap brand I use as a monitor for my Oppo.

 

[kray]

If you can't calibrate it yourself, get a tech to come in and do with a legit hardware calibration. If you think it looks terrible calibrated, there is most likely something wrong with it.

 

[chip18sw]

What horizontal lines? If they are from letterboxed pictures, they are normal and I can't see how you never noticed them on your previous sets.

If that's not what you're describing, then they are most likely a faulty TV.

That's what it sounds like to me also??

Grab the remote and look for picture size or something like that and try different options. I thought 4:3 was the answer but I guess not?? I just tried and it but shrunk the picture and put black bars on the side??

Also try a different channel is that "letter boxed??" It might just be the particular channel the Op is watching???

 

[Harvestor]

I'm an audiophile but never was too picky about video. I could usually adjust the screen to good enough for me and forget it. My 10year old plasma is literally coming unglued. So I bought a lg 55b8 oled 4k set. The tv got great reviews but the color is terrible and movement is either vampire like or jerky. Hours of adjusting helped slightly. I even gave up and just copied settings from youtube! The picture is unacceptable. How can a new tv be this bad?

Regarding your new set......

Definitely in the settings like others have said....
My in-laws have their television set up wrong and doesn't matter what movie is in it almost looks like amateurs filmed it because of the way the television is replaying any movement.. it's very annoying and makes it seem cheap and nothing like cinematic..
I was going to go and change their settings has something to do with the 240 hertz motion specification I'll have to re-read it but it's definitely fixable you just have multi layers of menus to become familiar with so you can adjust it

 

[invaderzim]

What horizontal lines? If they are from letterboxed pictures, they are normal and I can't see how you never noticed them on your previous sets.

If that's not what you're describing, then they are most likely a faulty TV.

They are single dead lines that go from left to right. Fortunately, they started showing up near the top and bottom of the screen but they are increasing in number. It is definitely a faulty TV and a not uncommon issue with the Samsung Plasmas but I'd still buy another if I could right now.

On wide movies with the letter box areas they currently disappear because they are in the same area but with full screen video it cuts right through it and in some areas there are multiple lines next to each other so they are thicker.

 

[the skipper]

I thought you were talking about the new set. It sounds like your old set is shot.

 

[chip18sw]

They are single dead lines that go from left to right. Fortunately, they started showing up near the top and bottom of the screen but they are increasing in number. It is definitely a faulty TV and a not uncommon issue with the Samsung Plasmas but I'd still buy another if I could right now.

On wide movies with the letter box areas they currently disappear because they are in the same area but with full screen video it cuts right through it and in some areas there are multiple lines next to each other so they are thicker.

Oh that sounds different!

Still if you want you might find info on fixing on Youtube and online in general. Most likely a "chip of some type??" It might be repairable?? I kept a lot of DLP projectors running for years. Mostly just bulbs and color wheels. But you know when the price to repair got to be pretty close to buy new ... it was time to let them go.

At the time I had to settle for a 43 (LED) Toshiba, in the living room and had the option to upgrade to a larger set?? But ... whatever, I was not dis-satisfied enough to bother reboxing it and taking it back.

I'm tempted to pick up a Plasma on CL, as they are getting dumped these days. But my you know ... my wife would kill me if I drag more "Crap" into the house.

 

[trinhsman]

We went with a Sony 65” 4K tv. It’s amazing. Couldn’t or did not want to spend the high dollars on OLED.

 

[chip18sw]

We went with a Sony 65” 4K tv. It’s amazing. Couldn’t or did not want to spend the high dollars on OLED.

I'm really tempted by the Samsung Curved Screen TV's, I thought the whole concept was kinda uh stupid??? Then I saw one in a clients home and it was kinda cool!

 

[invaderzim]

Oh that sounds different!

Still if you want you might find info on fixing on Youtube and online in general. Most likely a "chip of some type??" It might be repairable?? I kept a lot of DLP projectors running for years. Mostly just bulbs and color wheels. But you know when the price to repair got to be pretty close to buy new ... it was time to let them go.

I did a control board replacement on it awhile back but it didn't help. From what I read at the time the actual individual connections to the screen corrode lose their connection for that line.

 

[kryten79]

I'm not looking forward to replacing my 42" Plasma. The wife is asking when we'll get a bigger set and 4K. I'd rather have a great picture.
As far as the previous posts, yes the default settings on most sets are awful. Yes most TVs are worth replacing caps and redoing solder joints once.