Sony W905A Pillars Problem

[mickersw]

My Sony W905a dark horizontal pillars on each side of the screen. Does anyone know if there is a planned firmware upgrade to fix this problem or is it best to report it to the shop where I purchased it?

[CasterAnd]

Have you tried changing the aspect ratio? It sounds like you got yours set to 4:3 instead of 16:9.

[mickersw]

Thanks for replying, no it's not the aspect ration, what I'm referring to is horizontal shadows that appear on the edge of screen, within the picture. They're noticeable on all white backgrounds, it's been mentioned in the HDTVtest.co.uk review and also AV forums.

[gofrost]

So what you have is dark horizontal banding on the screen ?,I have the 55w9 and there is'nt anything like that on my panel.Does this occur when a device is connected to the tv or just when the tv is on by itself ?,If not  i would return it to where you bought it from as this seems to be an issue with the display.

[mickersw]

Thanks for the reply, it's more noticeable on solid colour backgrounds especially white and occurs on all content, I think I will go back to the Sony Store and see what they say. Thanks again for the advice.

[gofrost]

Maybe reset all picture settings to default and or factory reset the tv see if this helps.

[miboard77]

This thread should be titled as Sony W905A Dark Pillars at Sides of Screen Problem

KDL-46W905A (and KDL-55W905A)

Sorry but I believe that the original description of this problem is wrong.

By saying that this shadow or area of noticeably less illumination than the rest of the panel is horizontal means that the problem is along the top and along the bottom of the screen.

Do you mean darker areas that are about 15mm to 25mm wide running vertically along the left and the right sides of the screen?

If so I have also noticed this fault be it by design or manufacturing.

As stated in the HDTVtest.co.uk review: - 

“Screen uniformity: - Mild “pillars” along left & right edges of screen; some DSE.

Engaging [LED Dynamic Control] is especially useful if your W905A is beset by screen uniformity issues like clouding or backlight bleed. Our review sample wasn’t, although there remained mild “vignetting” along the edges of the screen, not to mention a slight “dirty screen” effect noticeable during panning shots against evenly toned backdrops. These are not uncommon on edge-lit LED LCDs, considering how a limited number of side-mounted LEDs have to illuminate the entire LCD panel.”

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/sony-kdl55w905a-201305172987.htm

What is DSE?

This is starting to appear as a design flaw/compromise for the benefit of creating a “thin” TV and would have expected better than this from Sony for their W9 flagship Television costing £1800.00 (KDL-46W905A)

For me this is most noticeable when watching motor sport when the picture displayed pans from left to right or vice versa and also when the picture zooms in or zooms out.

On a static picture it is not that noticeable until the whole screen is to display a bright light colour.

I would say to anyone who claims that they don’t have this flaw with their KDL-46W905A and KDL-55W905A, that you have but you haven’t noticed it yet.

I certainly wish I had seen this when I was auditioning the TV in the shop 😞

Probably blinded like others by the offer of a free Xperia Z smartphone - but mostly looking for effects of the reported narrow viewing angle.

[mickersw]

Yes this is what I have, you've described it much better than I did. It's been 7 years since my last TV purchase, which was an X2000 and it had no flaws that I could see. In fact my last 3 TVs have all been Sonys and I've not had any problems until the W905. I think the free Sony Xperia probably clouded my judgement as well, shame as i'll probably think twice before buying a Sony again.

[OriginalGrumps]

Thread probably dead but as a new owner I'll add my thoughts.

Yes, I read the review in hdtvtest which mentioned mild pillars on the sides, and yes I bought it anyway. Still have some days left where I can just send it back.

Otherwise this set is superb, but the edge illumination problem is a detraction. On mine the mild pillars are not even constant - it's quite clearly a design issue.

Not sure why we, as consumers, put up with basic defects. When choosing my TV I went through all the brands and read reviews and audioned several models.

You discount those that "suffer" from judder (most Samsungs), then some have severe DSE, then some have mediocre contrast and poor black, which leaves you with the Sony which has these pillars! It seems to be a no win situation.