Need advice: Dark shadows developed in screens of 4 different devices within six weeks. May this be an electrical issue?

[Nancha]

Hi guys!

I'm new to the forum and seek advice on an issue that I have been experiencing in my flat in Ireland. I'm not an electrical professional and only have a superficial knowledge of most topics in this regard.

I am experiencing the following issue:

Over the last two months, I had 4 different devices (3 TVs & 1 iMac) developing black shadows inside the screens - despite being plugged into separate extension leads across the living room. The shadows would vary from device to device in size and position but would not disappear once they have appeared. Factory resetting the devices was unsuccessful too.

Assuming these were product-related errors, I consequently had the newly bought TV replaced twice. Unfortunately, the third replacement developed the same issue after only a few days. All TVs were of different make and model (Hitachi 45", Samsung 55", Philips 65", Apple iMac 27") and I have since purchased surge-protected extension leads.

Since I am still waiting for yet another replacement, I cannot say for sure whether the new extension leads would prevent further damage in the future but I could observe that the black shadows have become increasingly more noticeable.

I have never had any other issues related to electricity in this apartment. Moreover, I have always made sure not "overload" any extension leads and to plug them into separate outlets.

I consider having an electrician performing a check-up but would greatly appreciate any advice on what can cause this kind of repeated damages to new devices.

Thanks everyone in advance!

Regards,
Robert

 

[westward10]

I assume the newer devices are under warranty so have you had any feedback from the supplier/manufacturer.

 

[Wilko]

I have never had any other issues related to electricity in this apartment. Moreover, I have always made sure not "overload" any extension leads and to plug them into separate outlets.

Hi - sorry to hear about the screen troubles. I can’t imagine any circumstance where your otherwise good electrical supply has affected the screens. Those appliances won’t overload your outlets, as the doubles can handle up to 20A total and the appliances would be about 1A each (say).

 

[Darkwood]

What technology are the devices IE OLED, QLED, Plasma etc Exact models will also be better for us not just the brand.
Do you watch same content on each device for example a lot of sport or news.

Any feedback from the manufacturers?

I recall Samsung had dark patch issues with a number of their TV's although my Qled 95T seems to be fine for me.

The more info the better, I just wondered if you were on Oled and watched a lot of the same content, you could be seeing burn-in issues developing but without a picture of the shadow it is hard to call.

 

[littlespark]

I do remember that old CRT TVs could be affected by magnets on the screen, and wiring does give off a magnetic field around them.... not suggesting this is the same problem, but it is strange the same issue appears in different manufacturers screens, I presume they are different locations?

Do you have any high voltage pylons nearby, or a substation?
Neighbours having the same problems?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Definitely need pictures here. Display panels do have various pathologies but without pics it's hard to suggest which might be involved. It is very unlikely for any power issues to affect an LCD or OLED panel in a consumer product. Serious power abnormalities would be likely to damage other parts of the units, or cause other malfunctions, or manifest in different ways on different models. 'Shadows' is suggestive of dead cold-cathode backlights but again it's difficult to imagine how they could be related across multiple different products.

The psychedelic effect of a magnetic field on a colour CRT is consequence of the electron beams being deflected. TV CRTs rely on electromagnetic deflection coils to to scan the beams across the face of the tube, but unwanted extra fields e.g. a magnet held near the screen cause the beams to stray off-target and hit the wrong colour phosphors. There is no equivalent mechanism by which magnetism would disrupt an LCD or OLED. Strong electrostatic discharges can affect LCDs but only at much higher voltage gradients than you will get indoors just from being near HV lines. The fact that the effects were noticed after a few days seems to rule-out normal burn-in, otherwise I would be siding with @darkwood on this.

Having seen / supervised thousands of screens being installed at hundreds of sites, this is a new one for me...

 

[brianmoooore]

Used to get an effect known as 'hum bars' if the supply voltage fell so low that the input voltage to transformer fed voltage regulators fell below their minimum level, but modern equipment has much more sophisticated power supplies that are very unlikely to suffer from this.

 

[Darkwood]

There is one thing that may be worth a thought, your TV signal which is a common source to all devices, if there is a issue with the signal it could cause software issues which are either temp' and will work normally if you say goes to a family members house and use the items there or it could cause a software corruption issue that can leave the colour pixels out of alignment permanently which can create banding and shadowing.

Are we to assume you have tried to factory reset the TV's assuming in this day and age that is an option, this may refresh the software and clear the problem.

I definitely would be looking at your input signal or router or however you get that darn picture into the TV.

Agree with @Lucien Nunes, a few months is not enough time for burn-in really.

I must add a jovial note - we can assume the light source is not behind you and your casting the bloody shadow yourself ?

 

[Midwest]

On av forums, some members are obsessed with shadows, i.e. screen on with dark source. Me, doesn’t bother me.

As said pics would be good.

 

[Nancha]

Hi,

First and foremost, thanks to all who have responded! I'm very grateful for your help.

I have attached pictures of the 4 devices that suffered from the issue.

In this order the different devices have developed the dark stains and put in brackets when after the initial purchase date the problem occurred.

1) Hitachi 43HK25T74U J (10 months)

2) Samsung UE55TU710 OKXXU (12 days)

3) Philips 65PUS7855/12 (5 days)

4) Apple iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019 (10 months)



I did not have these issues in the two previous apartments in which I lived in the past 1.5 years.

I'm aware of the burn in some TVs suffer, but since this has appeared after just 5-12 days with two brand new devices I can safely exclude this option as I do not use the TV more than 3 hours a day.

Yes, I had factory reset with all devices. As I had returned the devices in two cases to the retailer, I was not provided with a feedback.

@darkwood: this is indeed an interesting thought as I had a technician here that has installed Sky around the time the shadows started appearing. He had installed a satellite box with an additional power plug of which I have taken a photo too. It is connected to the communal satellite dish on the roof. Moreover, the Sky Q device is connected via HDMI to the TVs.

What does confuse me is that the 13 month-old iMac has also developed similar stains without being connected to any of the same devices or plugs, in a different corner of the living room.

Could the Sky Q box and/or the satellite box be a potential source of this error?

Thanks again!

 

[pc1966]

Do you have kids (and possibly pets) knocking against the screen? I have seen that mess up panels with soft plastic fronts. Doubt it would explain the Apple as I think they are glass fronted.

However, it is more likely to be just poor manufacturing as many folk would not notice (or react to) that sort of change.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Those look like mechanical damage to the panels. There is nothing electrical or electronic that can realistically cause such random patches. Electronics faults usually manifest as sharp, square-edged blocks or lines that are completely dead or the wrong colour, backlight faults usually as darker zones of otherwise OK picture but again in a defined area that corresponds to the backlight failure. Mechanical stress on the panel or backlight diffuser films often manifests as dark or light patches around the eges or corners because that is where the panel is most tightly clamped into the casing.

So whilst there might be a common factor, I don't think it's anything electrical.

 

[Midwest]

You could skip over to this forum, where you might find owners threads on some of your newer devices. Difficult to tell from your pics, but as said it might just you've been unlucky;

Forum list

Home Entertainment resource for home cinema, movies, games and gadgets news, reviews, articles and forums

www.avforums.com

But as I said before, it might be you are just a bit more critical, say more than me; do you notice anything when watching a full displayed picture, or just when faced with a blank screen?

 

[DPG]

Agree with all the above - that's almost certainly not an electrical issue. I would say that's either pressure applied to the screens, or possibly moisture?

 

[Moley]

I would say moisture. I get similar marks on my laptop when I've been using it in the rain. It (usually) dries out after a few hours on a hotel radiator.

 

[Vortigern]

I think it is the hand cream you use

 

[Darkwood]

Looking at the white screen one, that looks like screen uniformity not been good, given these are budget models for that size screen it is to be expected the quality of screen build will be lesser than a top end one, I have a flagship model and still have a little screen uniformity issue with that.

 

[Nancha]

Thanks once again for your feedback.

Happy to hear that it does not seem an electrical issue, yet still a bit clueless.

I neither have kids, nor pets that could have caused the issue.

After having experienced the stains with the first TV, I have assumed I must have damaged it somehow during cleaning. The newly purchased TV, as well as its replacement, I handled with utmost care and made sure not to touch, clean or lift the TV (thus applying pressure on the frame).

I also can exclude any transport damage as all devices were fine in the first few days and rapidly developed the issue.


Two follow-up questions however:

1. Since this has started appearing around the time I had Sky Q installed, is it generally possible that an attached HDMI device can cause any damage at all? I have three HDMI devices attached:

a) Philips Soundbar
b) Sony Playstation 4
c) SkyQ Box


2. Since moving into the new apartment, I have developed the habit to completely turn off the electricity on the power outlet directly. Should you not be familiar with Irish (and UK) power outlets, I have attached a picture below. Every evening I would shut the TV off with the remote, and a few seconds later, switch the button to off, to avoid having any consumption in the standby mode.

Might this be a silly thing to do and could potentially cause any damages (given it is done repeatedly)?

Thank you for your help!

Robert

 

[pc1966]

Happy to hear that it does not seem an electrical issue, yet still a bit clueless.

I neither have kids, nor pets that could have caused the issue.

After having experienced the stains with the first TV, I have assumed I must have damaged it somehow during cleaning. The newly purchased TV, as well as its replacement, I handled with utmost care and made sure not to touch, clean or lift the TV (thus applying pressure on the frame).

I also can exclude any transport damage as all devices were fine in the first few days and rapidly developed the issue.

Those would be my fist suspicions, followed by simple bad luck on the manufacturing.

Two follow-up questions however:

1. Since this has started appearing around the time I had Sky Q installed, is it generally possible that an attached HDMI device can cause any damage at all? I have three HDMI devices attached:

a) Philips Soundbar
b) Sony Playstation 4
c) SkyQ Box

I seriously doubt it. Having a static image for long periods can cause burn-in, but the artefacts you showed do not appear anything like an obvious logo or common program background.

2. Since moving into the new apartment, I have developed the habit to completely turn off the electricity on the power outlet directly. Should you not be familiar with Irish (and UK) power outlets, I have attached a picture below. Every evening I would shut the TV off with the remote, and a few seconds later, switch the button to off, to avoid having any consumption in the standby mode.

Might this be a silly thing to do and could potentially cause any damages (given it is done repeatedly)?

No, it should not make any difference. I normally turn of everything except the TiVo box (so it can record overnight programs) when I am not watching anything.

 

[DPG]

I would put serious money on this not being an electrical problem.

And that is from a Yorkshireman, who as most people will know is like a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out of him.