Vertical Banding on new (cheap) LED TV - should it be accepted?

[Jonny Chee]

Hello all.

I bought this TV from Argos a few days ago: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4447470.htm

I know it's a cheap TV, but I'm on a tight budget and had some vouchers to use.

I noticed some Vertical Banding when watching the football last night. It wasn't horrendous, but definitely caught my eye.

My question is, should I accept this being as though the TV is relatively cheap? Or should I return it to Argos? I am a bit out of touch with modern TV technology so am not sure if it is the norm ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[the wopster]

If your still in your return period then return it, these things are cheap for a reason( more likely to have banding, DSE, dead pixels ) think of the screen like an Intel processor the better it works the higher it is binned up to the top zeon. If you want one that's less likely to have noticeable DSE, banding your going to have to pay more

 

[lucid]

The bigger the set then the more difficult it is to get the light to spread evenly on these thin TVs with edge lighting. Things like this could be inherent in a TV at this price level.

Before you decide whether to return it or not have a quick look at the settings. The first settings to check are Aspect Ratio and Overscan. If the TV has it as a separate menu item for Overscan then make sure it is set to zero or Off. It is a feature that makes the TV expand the incoming picture larger than the screen. This is done so that errors in the framing of the picture from the broadcasters are hidden or at least minimised. If the TV doesn't have Overscan then go straight to the Aspect Ratio menu. I wouldn't expect Overscan alone to be responsible for causing banding, but it can exacerbate a situation where the TV is already struggling with pixel mapping and light spread.

Next, check the Aspect Ratio. Any settings that stretch or expand the image to fill the screen means that the TV is remapping the pixels again. Try simple 16:9 mode. This will avoid some unnecessary rescaling. As before, I wouldn't expect this alone to cure an issue like banding, but it may help it look not as bad.

Finally, what Picture Menu preset do you have the TV set on? The default has often been Dynamic, and whilst this does make for a very bright and colourful image it also throws in a lot of additional video noise as many of the settings are ramped up to 11. Try Natural or Cinema. At first these will look less colourful, but they often reveal better colour shading, so the grass in Prem' matches isn't fluorescent green but looks more natural.

If you're still having banding problems after this then send the TV back. woppy101 is correct, "cheap for a reason"; 48" for £320 or even £440 before the price cut is still a big TV for not much money. Consider a smaller screen from a better brand such as Sony, Panasonic or Samsung.