Weird transparent frame (burn-in?) + Flashlighting on LED TV

[Brother_Hood]

Just got a used LCD from an auction on eBay. The seller didn't find any issues with it. I must admit that I'm relatively new to the flat panel game, so I didn't notice anything wrong with it until several hours of viewing had passed. What struck me first was a transparent frame around the edges of the screen. I've never seen anything like it, and unfortunately I'm at a loss to explain how it could have gotten there technically. My first guess would be a burn-in, but it just doesn't seem reasonable to me. Who would watch something with a frame around the screen for so many hours that it would cause a burn-in? I'm curious about your ideas. It's not really distracting from the viewing experience since you only notice it on darker shades, but of course it's kind of disappointing because I didn't expect it to be there.

Upon some research I quickly found out about the concept of screen uniformity, which brought my attention to the second issue with this set, a classic example of flashlighting coming from all four corners of the screen. I read in this very forum that many manufacturers claim this problem to be inherent with edge-lit LED screens and that the consumer just has to accept it or buy a different model, so I was wondering if the degree of light leakage in this particular case still passes as tolerable. Again, you don't really notice it except for dark scenes in a dark room, and from what I've seen in the pictures online I feel lucky it's not worse.

However, the biggest issue to me as a movie buff is the fact there seems to be no way to turn off motion interpolation, but that's another topic entirely. Only workaround is connecting my HTPC via VGA instead of HDMI/DVI. It's a shame manufacturers force one to such measures.

 

[jtibbs]

My experience with light leaking from LED screens is faint white light on the edges of screens. Some screens are better than others about this, some screens bleed more over time. I have never seen or heard of flashing coming from the edges of the screen. I'll admit my experience comes from computer monitors and not TVs, but I can't imagine there is to much difference. What brand and how old is the model you have?

 

[Brother_Hood]

Thanks for taking the time to give me insight into your experience. The brand is MEDION and the model is about 5 years old.

 

[jtibbs]

Hmm I'm not familiar with that brand. You may have luck searching for TVs with similar issues with that model. But its likely you can't do to much for it.

 

[Brother_Hood]

That's what I thought. I don't know much about MEDION either, only that they are not very revered among home theater enthusiasts. It's obviously a low budget brand, so you get what you pay for. I'm gradually replacing all CRTs in our house with used LCDs, so I wasn't going for state of the art technology. Coincidentally, I had already bought two used 32" 720p MEDION LCDs built in 2005 and 2007, respectively, for a combined price of 100 Euros, and surprisingly enough I've been very happy with both of them in terms of overall picture quality. Naturally it was a tremendous improvement over our previous TVs.

Now I got this 42" 1080p model with LED backlight technology, which is another giant leap compared to our two older MEDION LCDs. Although I'm disappointed about the light leakage (if that's what the frame is), because I thought I had paid for a mint condition product. But at least it's not really noticeable if you're looking at the action on the screen, and I think it was still a decent bargain at 86.50.

 

[jtibbs]

Yea, can't say you didn't get it for a bargain.