TV & Home Theater

[ed455]

What you described happened to me on my call.  I pushed them, they sent me to Executive Support and was told the same thing (out of warranty, our TV was not on the list).  I pushed again, telling them that the only acceptable answer would be for them to pay to fix a known problem that has been reported by hundreds if not thousands of people.  They put me on hold again, and came back to say they would fix it for free if it turned out to be the same problem that everyone else was reporting for TV's that ARE on the list.  I sweated that out a little, worrying about a $500 repair bill.  The service rep walked in the door, saw the problem on the TV and said "Yep - same problem - no charge to fix it".  Why Samsung can't own up to it is beyond me.

I read on several boards that when people have run into a dead end like you did, they called back and reported the problem again - trying to talk to someone else.  Not too many times have I seen where people are not eventualy successful in their efforts.  If nothing else, try to strike the same deal with them that they did with me.  I think that the root of the problem will always be the same - regardless of model number.  Keep pushing - you'll get what you want.  As you said, it's unfortunate that Samsung has chosen to play it this way then just inform their support staff to have it fixed for free if someone inquires about it.  Then again, why not issue a recall?

Good luck to you.  Please post updates about your continued push here.  It was a board like this that got me moving to get mine fixed for free.

[AgentM]

Judging by the explanation of your symptom, you do indeed have a bad DLP (DMD)chip. This part is present in all DLP televisions and are subject to micro-mirrors 'sticking', usually 'on' creating a white dot, often followed by progressively more sticking mirrors (increasing white dots). They can aslo produce black dots if the mirror sticks in the 'off' position. There are 3 different versions of this chip depending on your model, only one company manufactures them. Your best bet would be to try and get Samsung to cover the repair as the part cost is generally $250+. This issue is not specific to Samsung but all TV manufacurer's using this design. Average out of warranty repair cost $425-500.              -Agent M

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[ed455]

Thanks for the information.  Very interesting.  Given that, I wonder why Samsung would ever have agreed to fix the problem on specific models as they were reported by owners, and numerous ones on models not on their "fix list"?  We must be missing a piece of information here on the actual problem.  Otherwise, if it's a problem that can potentially happen to every DLP TV on the market - regardless of brand/model - why would Samsung spend a nickel to fix it?  In my personal case, I'm glad they did.  I did read one post on another board where someone said that fixing the DLP chip was likely addressing the symptom and not the root cause, and the problem would likely surface again at some point.  Time will tell.

[AgentM]

The chip itself is indeed the root problem. Samsung in this case built the TV, just like a car maker they are ultimately responsible for the operation of the product as a whole. The DLP chip is the only part that can cause this issue and is not likely to fail again, but as you mentioned, time will tell. Imagine your screen, shrunk down to about 1"x1 1/2", now chop it up into just over 900,000 little squares, each square a mirror mounted on a pedestal that reflects each individual pixel on & off when the right color is present at any given time. Over time one or more of these mirrors which tilt about 10 degrees (on or off, reflecting or not) may get stuck, usually causing others to follow. This is happening hundreds to thousands of times each second for every changing pixel. Since this is a mechanical function it is subject to mechanical wear over time. -Agent M
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[samsunglover]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I am experiencing The same white dots... 1 on Sunday.... Today, Friday 10 dots. Just called Samsung they scheduled a free one time repair to replace The DMS chip. The rep stated if The issue was not The chip I would be responsible for any other repair and The service call. The call went well spoke to rep who transferred me to The personal service dept who scheduled The repair visit. Today is The 18th The repair is scheduled for 28th. Happy holidays everyone!

[baespey]

The same thing happened to me. Mine has hundreds, if not thousands of dots. Like the last poster said, I called Samsung and described the problem, giving them my model number. I had been meaning to call them for awhile now and I should have called earlier because they said they would fix it for free as a one time service repair. They said that they will come to my house, repair some sort of chip and this should fix the problem. If it doesn't fix it, I am liable for the cost of the technician coming to my house. Then, I can decide if I want him to repair it now that he is here. She explained this in detail to me, but from the looks of everything, this should fix the problem. A service technician is supposed to call me in a couple of days to schedule a time to come by.

[samsunglover]

@baespey... Good luck with your repair.

I'm so happy Samsung is standing behind this repair; however, I wasn't so lucky for the repair of my 32" LCD Insignia TV. I purchase it in Jan 2008 (less than 2 months after purchasing the 50" Samsung) and I have a yellow tint on half the screen. Contacted Insignia and I was told its probably best you purchase a new TV. WHAT! I paid over $500 for this one and its done just after three years.... SMH.... You just lost a long time consumer.

[baespey]

@samsunglover I just registered to post on this forum, I think you did too. I want to help everyone out having that issue. Let me know when the guy comes by and what he says about it. Good luck with your repair too and sorry about the Insignia TV.

[AgentM]

Most likely cause is a ribbon cable connection to the LCD panel. Repair cost (assuming no other issues exist and this is indeed the cause) is usually under $175 out of warranty. To scheduled service: 1-800-433-5778 or www.geeksquad.com

-Agent M

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[baespey]

Good news! I called on Monday 11/21, the service technician called me on Tuesday 11/22, and he came by on Wednesday 11/23 and fixed it. He said once he gets the part in, that would be all he needed. It was a chip and he brought it over, spent about 15-20 minutes, took apart the TV, and put it in. He showed me the old chip and pointed out how all you need to do is shine a flashlight at it and you can see all the mirrors that are off and the white dots that form becuase of it. It was free of charge. So everything worked out. Just give Samsung your model number, phone number, and address and you should be good!