Samsung TV Issues

Edit: New readers to this topic can go to post 25 for January 2022

Samsung QLED TVs deceptive naming scheme is misleading Australian consumers into thinking inferior local models are equal to those found in all other western markets (and western reviews) such as USA, Canada & UK, the Samsung Q80T is the worst offender as it lacks key features found in other markets such as “Ultra Viewing Angle” layer and uses a cheaper downgraded FALD (Fall array local dimming backlight), it has been described by many as a significant downgrade despite maintaining its premium price and market position.

Whilst Samsung Australia does not explicitly list the “Ultra wide angle” feature they do use a similar term “Wide viewing angle” to imply the same, FALD is advertised but its ambiguous nature and lack of detail makes the inferior hardware in local models indistinguishable, they continue to use the exact same model names, external design, software and much of the same marketing material making it near impossible for consumers to identify the discrepancy despite being significantly worse performing (and overpriced).

This is a clear attempted to mislead customers who are reliant on reviews sourced from US and UK media outlets as there is no real (non-commercial) TV review media in Australia. No other TV brand uses this naming practice, there are no attempts by Samsung or there representatives to verify specific local models are different (and inferior).

Samsung spends all their money on marketing, unfortunately maintaining one of the best brand images with their front and centre displays in all major TV retailers despite there TVs getting objectivally worse each year, reducing quality, lack of software improvements, removing more features and pushing unwanted expensive ‘features’ such as 8K.

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Welcome to the forum. It seems like you have had one if not more bad experiences with Samsung TVs.

Relying on overseas reviews can lead to all sorts of confusion with naming and models designations.

Choice does do Australian TV Reviews. The most recent review was updated 10 December 2020. If you are a member, you will be able to see the results of their reviews.

I hope that after reading the Choice reviews you have more satisfying shopping experiences.

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Absolutely pathetic after sales service!

Purchased a Q80T Samsung 75" TV during th


e Black Friday offer in November last year which i had to wait over 4 months to receive delivery only after realising a few months later that no matter what setting I tried you can’t fix the continuous blurring, judder and/or digitalised ghosting not to mention like so many other posts the awful amount of DSE (Dirty Screen Effect) with verticals lines across the entire screen making any fast motion picture un bearable and un watchable. After going through the assessment process where a technician confirmed limitation both of the LED screens itself and weak chipset or computing power on all Samsung screens to still be refused of any warranty remedy deemed not a warranty fault but a “limitation of LCD panels” ultimately the TV was operating within manufactures specifications !!!

Attempts made since to further discuss and escalate the matter have gone un answered with no response. Its clear to see the after sales service is non existent with so many comments and reviews about the same problem. It seems all efforts and tactics are taken to bump steer un aware consumers.

WARNING DO NOT BUY any TV based on what is display and played in a retail environment, all of which is setup and designed to best depict maximum capabilities only with curated content (plenty of slow motion) and not the realistic expectations based on standard available content.

I have given Samsung multiple chances to reconsider but still no response, so i am officially submitting a case with VCAT.

Please see attached review which I posted on their website it was deleted less then a day. I guess they don’t like it when people post critical reviews ! So, don’t rely on reviews on Samsung.com as they are unlikely to accurately reflect the problems with their products.

Hello @PetzBuzz and welcome to the Community.

Samsung are a major maker of TVs, and as yours is very recent it would not be equiped with substandard electronics, processor, screen technology. It would be right up there with the best technology.

Your problem could be a marginal signal feed into the TV from an antenna for free to air, or a cable from some other device. Or streaming. You haven’t indicated details.

Or it could be a faulty unit, in which case you would be taking it up with the retailer you bought it from. It will be under warranty. The company you bought the TV from is responsible for your issue at this stage, not Samsung.

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Welcome to the Community @PetzBuzz

That advice is correct. Under the Australian Consumer Law the retailer, often an innocent middleman, ‘owns’ problems. While the ACL and the state organisations are not regulatory in my experience the majority of retailers (and often manufacturers) will step up to do the right thing when the consumer goes formal per the ACL. Some companies do not unless forced by a court/tribunal so VCAT required.

If you have not yet done so, you should send a formally written Letter of Complaint to the retailer citing chapter and verse of what you bought, claims made in advertising and by any salesman, the problems you claim, and the resolution you seek with a date for reply.

As a general statement the ‘fair trading’ agencies in the states will not offer assistance until that has been done and not gotten an acceptable outcome. Going direct to VCAT without having done that as evidential could dilute your experience.

Use the Community search tool for ACL, Australian Consumer Law, and Letter of Complaint to find relevant links to the ACCC, Choice advice, and helpful tools.

I’ll agree a Q80T should have a quality picture, but I’ll opine whole screen jitter is probably not caused by a weak digital signal – pixellation or no picture is the usual symptom. It is a fact that modern TV’s often display what is described as localised jitter along tight parallel lines, usually most obvious when the colours are disparate between the lines and backgrounds, and that is a reality. If the whole screen jitters that suggests a fault. Often visible artefacts (jitter, etc) can be adjusted away by reducing the contrast (or other) setting.

Not challenging your assertions, but some questions to expect include whether the jitter is whole screen or seemingly random sections where there are parallel lines or boundaries of objects? Have you done a check against a neighbour’s TV to verify the problem you claim is unique to your TV? All those sorts of things are evidence and videos will be useful to substantiate a problem.

Good luck getting it sorted and please keep the topic updated to how it goes.

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Hi Greg,

Its called Marketing Wizardry, far from the best.

Apologies if i haven’t explain myself in relation to the content source, I can confirm i have tried every mean necessary to identify and draw to the current conclusion. FOXTEL, Free To Air, You Tube, NETFLIX, Amazon Fire Stick, Playstation, Hard drive, home network streaming, HTPC multiple HDMI cables, switching HDMI ports not to mention side by side direct comparison with my 55" Samsung UA55KS9000W, 6 years older and has a far superior picture quality and overall performance with no DSE, judder or digitalisation.

Go for you life and search “Samsung Dirty Screen Effect” so many models are plagued with the same problem

e.g. Some examples below

Initially i first raised my concerns with the retailer “Billy Guyattes” who quickly hand balled my to Samsung directly and said its a manufacturer issue.

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HI Phil,

Appreciate the thorough advise you have provided above, this would be very helpful to anyone who is not versed in a product or service field.

I have already logged my case with Consumer Affairs Victoria many months ago and after many promises and excuses finally sent a formal letter of demand quoting the following sections 54 Acceptable Quality & 57 - Matching sample not performing as demonstrated model.

Please refer additional comments in my above response to Greg, I have provided all examples, comparisons and explanations it seems throughout the entire process the more time went on with overwhelming evidence that Samsung have just decided not to respond in anyway shape or form.

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If you have not yet, search the Community or internet for the Harvey Norman franchisees that have been fined significant amounts for misrepresenting their responsibility and fobbing their customers off to the manufacturer.

The gist, that might be interesting to your Billy Guyatts manager or CEO.

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That is good advice as often TVs on display are in retail mode and display content installed on the TV rather than input from DTV, DVD etc. Retail mode is designed to bring out the best of the TV rather than replicate what a average user will see in their home.

When buying, you should always ask for the TV to be viewed with DTV broadcast on a number of different channels, DVD player (possibly Blueray) and also to display some of your own photos on a memory stick or using screen mirroring function (photos such as holiday snaps or ones showing good contrasts from shadow to full sunlight). This will give a better appreciation of the performance of a TV under usual user conditions. Sales reps in stores will do this for you…if they don’t, shop elsewhere.

I see that the TV is 4K. Choice has identified that having more pixels may not necessarily deliver a better image as the TV processors have to reprocess images to upscale lower resolution content to display as 4K. This can compromise the display image. This upscaling is why it is important to look at the TV performing from a user perspective rather than a retail display perspective (as outlined above).

Check to see if you can somehow change how the TV upscales lower resolution inputs, such as from DVDs, DTV and other devices. If there are setting associated with how the TV processes or upscales the content, try different settings to see if it makes a difference. Such information will be in the user manuals for the TV in question.

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While ideal to audition with FTA DTV none of our local shops have the capability to display more than the inbuilt demos although some have Blueray feeds if asked. While shopping last year (Nov 2020 and Jan 2021) none of the models on display were configured to stream either. I would not hold it against the shop or salespeople as they are often limited by the real estate they are in.

Taking in a display device with HDMI with a not so special video is an excellent alternative to see the warts and all.

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In the case of only having store supplied displayed images ask that the TV be taken out of demo mode, this will be a more realistic version of what will be seen in your home.

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Yes, this is exactly what happen when I was trying to decided which TV to buy. Not one of the retailers would play any alternative content other then what was being displayed. Both JB and Harvey staff claimed it wasn’t there choice and every brand controls what is played in store.
I remember even speaking to a Samsung rep in a good guys store who gave me along winded excuse about how that the signal is reduced significantly when split across so many TV’s.
Since then I have notice many stores have now change their approach with almost all will now play and have alternative sources available.

Great suggestion Phil the best approach is to bring in your own mix of content via hard drive, could be downloaded or recorded free to air, classic movie or sporting event.

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Thanks @PetzBuzz for your comment about DSE and prompted me to do some looking. I have a number of LCD/LED screens and have never really noticed this effect.
My big screen is an LG 75" 4K job and it seems to do a great job of upscaling standard and HD broadcast to 4K.
I wonder if Choice looks at display issues like banding and DSE when tests are done, or if it is just put down as a rating in display performance.
Perhaps @ScottOKeefe could comment.

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The retail displays is a TV setting that can be easily turned on and off, and on again. What they say falls into the BS category.

This may be the case if all TVs on display were connected at the same time showing free to air broadcasts - if they chose to do this it can be rectified with very cheap signal boosters/amplifiers like those used for large hotels, hospitals etc. Having multiple TV close together could cause localised interference, but highly unlikely as such may pose WPHS risks to retail staff. The excuse is also BS.

Every store I have been in (remarkably) shows free to air on one or two TVs when the cricket is on, football, Melbourne Cup etc…the staff appear to put it on for their enjoyment.

While the signal may not be perfect (at 100%) all the time, this isn’t an issue with digital as the signal is either on or off. A good digital TV will work until the signal and its quality is near 0%. When a digital TV loses signal, the TVs will be blank or when there is interference (signal quality poor), a broken or pixelated image may appear at times. It is unlike analogue signals where the image deteriorates the poorer the signal becomes.

Stores have the ability to connect TVs to aerials for free to air TV comparisons. Don’t believe what they tell you. If they chose not to show free to air on one of their display stock, go elsewhere where you can get better service.

The only time where it isn’t possible is if the store is outside a broadcast area or in an area of extremely high interference (for example, next door to high voltage substation or a radio broadcast mast). Such conditions are unlikely to occur in most circumstances.

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…although those inside shopping malls do not always have the freedoms free standing or strip centre shops do. I could believe they might be able to arrange an FTA antenna but the mall owner may ask more $$ for that to happen than the stores are willing to pay for any theoretical trade advantage.

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We do look at/for both. A summary of the way that we test TVs can be read here: https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/home-entertainment/tvs-and-projectors/articles/how-we-test-tvs

It is a summary, as the test methodology runs to many pages. We do not take television testing lightly.

If the viewing panel notices anything significantly undesirable during the test, such as colour banding, their comments are noted and added to the profiles of the relevant models. This is in addition to these comments being considered when allocating scores in each of the assessment areas.

Testing is comparative, in that each TV is compared with many others. We also use a Sony Professional 55" OLED studio monitor as a reference for both picture quality and colour accuracy.

We use a wide variety of recorded content when testing, that ranges from standard definition DVDs through to UHD Blu-ray and much in between. You can see the scoring for individual content types, but the suggestion to take your own content along when you visit a store is a good one. We know that many owners these days are watching little or no free-to-air television and using streaming services instead. So both of these types of content are important as well as the media you can purchase in physical form.

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This assumes an externally mounted aerial. If one can’t there be mounted externally, there are good internal aerials that can be used. Internal aerials do not require approvals.

If a retailer does not allow a consumer to see FTA broadcast on their TVs, they could fall foul of the ACL…that being deceptive or misleading conduct.

If a consumer buys a TV and is not allowed to see FTA instore when requested, gets the TV home and the FTA quality is unsatisfactory, they would have grounds to return it to the store for a refund.

If a retailer does not allow FTA to be viewed, a consumer should say that if it isn’t satisfactory when turned on at home the home, they will return the TV for a refund. This will ensure FTA is shown by retail when making a purchase decision.

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Thanks. I note that Choice do frequent evaluations of TVs as the technology moves on rapidly.
I have not seen any Samsung devices consigned to the fail, or not recommended list. They are usually scored very well.
And I would consider that the Choice testing methodology exceeds anything a potential buyer could do in a store before purchase.

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In a mall building encased in steel and concrete they could put it anywhere and it would work the same. Pitifully or not at all.

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Very surprising to hear that Samsung can still score well considering all the issues which have been reported across so many other forums and websites, might be worth review the methodologies being used as the most important is how the test TV is being sourced ?

If the test TV is provided from the manufacturer directly it obviously can be cheery picked to ensure the best performing screen v build is chosen same when the TV is placed in a retail display environment this does not accurately depicted real life so called “panel lottery” so how many TV’s would this be a true reflection when the overall quality v rate of sales as a percentage ?