John Lewis: Pixelated TV

henrygregory

Good evening fellow Money Savers.
Just over two years ago, I purchased a Samsung Smart TV from John Lewis in Cambridge. The TV was reduced at the time by several hundred pounds. I was reassured by the sales representative that the set would still come with their 5 year warranty which covered "anything" other than accidental damage.

After a year of owning this rather expensive set, I noticed some pixelated spots. Gradually, over time, it has developed to five very noticeable spots. I headed to the John Lewis website in December, and was flabbergasted to see that according to their warranty terms and conditions, dead pixels are not covered under warranty.

Has anyone had any prior experience of this? I am not terribly impressed that a television costing over £1000 should develop such a fault. I am equally very disappointed that the retailer I purchased it from appears to have a get out clause. Is it me, or should a TV be fit for purpose for more than one year, given its large price tag? Is there no way I can get these pixels sorted? (I paid with a Charge Card).

Your useful experiences and suggestions are most welcome.

vyle

What do you mean by "pixelated"?

Dead pixels are pixels that are just that, dead. they show nothing, and stay black. Pixels don't tend to die during the life of the tv. Manufacturers do indeed have a tolerance, as one or two on a 1080p resolution screen certainly wouldn't be noticable to most people.

The tolerance for a warranty tends to be a "cluster" of dead pixels. it's a bit wooly, but it's usually seen as a group of pixels close enough together to be noticeable. Here's some information to understand it:

http://www.tested.com/tech/1337-we-uncover-the-dead-pixel-policies-for-every-major-lcd-maker/

But then, as you said, it's "pixelated" which means something totally different to dead pixels.

Now, the JL site says "pixel spots" aren't covered. I've never heard of pixel spots, and a google search doesnt seem to have them down as the same thing as dead or stuck pixels.

Certainly, a TV should be fit for purpose. My only concern is that, seeing as it has developed this fault, it might be something else. It might be worth requesting they send an engineer out to have a look at it. Or better yet, post a picture of the fault before you go in there demanding things .

henrygregory

Hello, and thank you for your post.
I really should know better than 'pixelated', but I was posting late at night, so that is my excuse. I did mean dead pixels, and there are a small collection of them in one area which is not wonderful.

I have tried displaying colours to the screen to identity them (as per some dead pixel help sites), I have replaced HDMI cables and fully updated the software on the set.

At the time, I also established that it has something called screen burn around the edges of the screen. This is where, when the screen is black, the edges are very white.

The model in question is a Samsung ue46es7000u. The reviews online all seem very complimentary and I can't find all that many complaints on the model.
Maybe I got a duff one in the sales?
As far as I can tell, all of my dead pixels are black.

Now you mention about it developing the fault, it may well be that it was there all along. I used to have my seat, much further back. I now have it at a closer position to the TV and it is very noticeable. it could have been there the whole time, but I never noticed. Also, you need a clear white screen to see it best - not something you get on tv all that often. It is very obvious when playing a computer game.

I will drop them a line and see what they say. Though I know that most of the time they just write them off and replace them, and I would be quite upset if they did decide to replace it as I really like the style of this model, and it is not made anymore.

Thanks again for your help.

vyle wrote: »

What do you mean by "pixelated"?

Dead pixels are pixels that are just that, dead. they show nothing, and stay black. Pixels don't tend to die during the life of the tv. Manufacturers do indeed have a tolerance, as one or two on a 1080p resolution screen certainly wouldn't be noticable to most people.

The tolerance for a warranty tends to be a "cluster" of dead pixels. it's a bit wooly, but it's usually seen as a group of pixels close enough together to be noticeable. Here's some information to understand it:

http://www.tested.com/tech/1337-we-uncover-the-dead-pixel-policies-for-every-major-lcd-maker/

But then, as you said, it's "pixelated" which means something totally different to dead pixels.

Now, the JL site says "pixel spots" aren't covered. I've never heard of pixel spots, and a google search doesnt seem to have them down as the same thing as dead or stuck pixels.

Certainly, a TV should be fit for purpose. My only concern is that, seeing as it has developed this fault, it might be something else. It might be worth requesting they send an engineer out to have a look at it. Or better yet, post a picture of the fault before you go in there demanding things .