Flat screens on display on store shelves going bad

[Findm-Keepm]

One additional fact - demo mode used by stores amps up the brightness and color to overcome the bright lights in the store. This shortens the life of the set considerably - Best Buy tailored sets are the exception - (no demo mode in most)- there may be others..

Manufacturers make sets that are specifically "tailored" to the merchant. My Samsung model (670-suffixed) was a Best Buy exclusive, and it's "Smart"/Samsung apps had Amazon instant video locked out by the firmware. An online posting showed me how to upgrade the firmware to another model (suffixed 650, same except for where it was sold), and lo and behold, I had the full Samsung Apps choices. It also came up in demo mode, something the old firmware lacked.

By running them in demo mode, it shortens the life of the set considerably. Go into any Target store, and you'll find a wall of sets in demo mode, which removes remote access, provides overlays (feature banners), and activates only one HDMI port. I did a seasonal stint with Target, and came away with some secrets, so to say. Demo modes are factory guesses, and Sanyo can't seem to get it right. We setup Sanyo's in normal mode, and adjusted the settings manually. They are also some of the lightest sets....

Those $99 clearance 46" sets you see at retailers are the former demo sets - do yourself a favor and pass. I inherited a 55" Vizio of my neighbors that was a display set at Walmart. It lasted just 16 months before it ate the main board and two of the backlight LEDs.

[centralradio]

Thanks for all the info Brian.As I was t BJs yesterday I looked at the sets closer and happen to take a couple snap shots while I was there of the bad sets.The two sets are Samsung .Thats what i figure as the stores pump up the sets or get special demo sets to sell sets.Also that explains one of the major customer complaints .How come my set looks like crap at home and it looked great in the store.". I looked in the back of the sets and it looks like they are feeding the sets through the HDMI cable.Also the dist box is hidden somewhere so I cant get a photo of it.Surprising the sets at Walmart looked great while I was there.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by centralradio

Thanks for all the info Brian.As I was t BJs yesterday I looked at the sets closer and happen to take a couple snap shots while I was there of the bad sets.The two sets are Samsung .Thats what i figure as the stores pump up the sets or get special demo sets to sell sets.Also that explains one of the major customer complaints .How come my set looks like crap at home and it looked great in the store.". I looked in the back of the sets and it looks like they are feeding the sets through the HDMI cable.Also the dist box is hidden somewhere so I cant get a photo of it.Surprising the sets at Walmart looked great while I was there.

Looks to me like they lost the Y (Luminance) connection. Probably a cable / distribution problem.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Looks to me like they lost the Y (Luminance) connection. Probably a cable / distribution problem.

It could be.The sets looked great tonight.they probably swapped out for a new one or fixed the cables.