topic KD-48A9 Sparkles in Android TV

KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 08:10:44 GMT

Hi.

I recently got a KD-48A9 Oled TV. Native apps all render HDR content perfectly. However, on HDR content from a Panasonic UB820 player, all HDMI ports except #2 has a vertical line of sparkles on the left side of the screen.

Playing a Dolby Vision disk or HDR10 title yields the vertical sparkling. It only stops if you turn off HDR on the player. Again, if I connect to HDMI port 2 this doesn't happen.

I've gone through the usual support procedures of clearing memory, rebooting, resetting etc but it still happens.

I did think that this might be a cable issue, but after buying a premium one the issue is still there.

All HDMI ports are set to enhanced mode.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Joe_Dohn — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 15:00:49 GMT

Does this happen with other sources/external devices as well or just the player? (I did notice that HDMI port 2 works fine, but worth testing if possible)

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 15:25:05 GMT

It doesn't happen with other sources (non 4K/HDR). I've tested it now with each port and it seems to be sparkly on port #1,#3 and #4. Port #2 is ok.

Strangely though, only some discs exhibit it. Total recall is the worst (Dolby Vision), Jaws has some but not as bad as Total recall. Blade runner is bad (HDR10). Playing the Blu ray version on each HDMI port doesn't render any sparkles.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Joe_Dohn — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 15:35:46 GMT

Have you tried using another external device that supports 4K HDR instead of the player? (PC/laptop for example)

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 15:48:06 GMT

I don't have any other devices which can output that. I've tested the native apps on the player, netflix etc. And played a HDR 4k stream to the tv over the suspect ports and there are no sparkles. I only get them when playing a UHD disk.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Mchaggis69 — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 22:03:07 GMT

I have a long standing support ticket open for my AF8 TV.

'Sparkles' across the whole screen when playing DolbyVision content from an external source (NVidia Shield) but only on HDMI3.

HDMI2 does not show the sparkles.

Whats worse is its not consistent - it only occurs infrequently.

Last sony support message was yesterday asking me to keep holding for a solution.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

williamfsmith — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 00:44:38 GMT

I have the same player which works flawlessly with my KD65XG9505.

I purchased it because it has a second HDMI out for sound which I needed for my non 4k Yamaha DSPZ7 AV Receiver

Unfortunately I think you will get Sony blaming Panasonic and vice versa.

Incidentally, I purchased a 4k Panasonic Bluray player because my previous two Sony non 4k Bluray players died literally just out of warranty due to laser issues.

No more Sony Bluray players for me and TBH after 45 years of buying Sony TV's I will look elsewhere for the next one.

"Android" TV seems very loosely applied by Sony when a Logitech USB wireless mouse causes issues and doesn't work properly with inbuilt apps.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Joe_Dohn — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:32:55 GMT

@QuinnDexter

That's really strange, so it's not all 4K HDR content, it's only when playing discs, and it doesn't happen on all of the discs, just some, and on top of all that, it manages to somehow work properly on HDMI 2.

Have you tried resetting both the player and the TV to factory settings? If you already have, I honestly can't think of a cause for the issue, too many variables.

- JD

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 09:38:21 GMT

After speaking with Sony, I did the usual text book repair procedures of doing a factory reset..etc. However the sparkles are still there. But the sparkles are now present when playing standard BluRays. The link below is a video of it happening whilst on pause when playing the BluRay "The FOG".

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cLK8x2CwisBpm5UgjBrXBBMDt3JFnlIN/view?usp=sharing

It doesn't happen though with DVDs.

So....to further test, I dug out my old Panasonic bluray player and connected it using the same HDMI cable to the same problem port (#3). No sparkles. Swap the player back to the UB820, same disc, and there are sparkles. So could this be a player issue and actually not a TV issue? The TV is only a week old, so within the range for a replacement from John Lewis. But I don't want to replace the TV if it's not the issue. I'm thinking the best option here is to get a replacement player.

Arrrgggg.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:13:39 GMT

I've tested with a bog standard bluray player on all ports and no sparkles. It's only this player that has the issue so I've decided to return the player as the potential culprit. Otherwise there is no way of figuring this out.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Joe_Dohn — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:47:31 GMT

I agree with you to be honest, since the older player worked and the newer one didn't, you can assume it's he player, but we'll know for sure once you get the replacement.

Keep us up to date so we can help ^^

- JD

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 14:00:49 GMT

Decided to get the UB9000 as a replacement. Connected it to port 4 (one of the original worst offending connections) and played Total recall......... No sparkles. Played a few other blue rays and no sparkles. Going to keep an eye on this but so far it's looking like the player was at fault.

Cheers

Adam

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Tue, 18 May 2021 16:06:42 GMT

Ok. Another update.

The Sparkles returned using the UBP9000. So sent the TV back to John Lewis for a replacement. The new TV arrived, was setup and calibrated then installed the latest firmware and no sparkles. So far I've not seen them again. So looks like the TV was at fault.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Mchaggis69 — Tue, 18 May 2021 16:21:45 GMT

...Give it time...

I thought my sparkles had gone at the start of all my troubles but no...

I've had to disable dolbyvision in the meantime. I get regular emails from Sony saying they are investigating, but no resolution yet.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Joe_Dohn — Wed, 19 May 2021 15:58:22 GMT

@QuinnDexter @Mchaggis69

Thank you both for the updates, I haven't really seen this issue anywhere else, so I'm guessing it's either a bad batch sort of thing or there's some reason for it being rare (and hence taking time to investigate).

Hopefully we'll get some good news once they get back to you with a response @Mchaggis69.

Again, much appreciated for the updates guys!

- JD

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Mon, 24 May 2021 12:06:57 GMT

Well it's been a while. So far I've been watching non Dolby vision 4K blurays and apart from the rattling from the chassis at certain frequencies, everything has been good.

So decided to watch one of my Dolby vision Blurays and the sparkling is back. This has only just started and I couldn't repro it when I got first got this new replacement.

You can pause the bluray and the sparkles still move around. Press stop and the sparkles are still there. Eject the disk and the sparkles go. This is using HDMI 4. Surely to god this can't be a hardware issue, otherwise QA would have seen this? I have no idea what is up with this TV. But so far it's

1. Rattling from Chassis at certain audio frequencies.

2. Sparkling during Dolby Vision on external source.

Support haven't got a clue.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Mchaggis69 — Mon, 24 May 2021 12:15:36 GMT

My DolbyVision from my external source (Nvidia Shield) on HDMI3 has been working ok for a week or two, but last night sparkles came back. There is no rhyme or reason. It started half way through watching some DV content on netflix.

Disabled it again.

I purchased a new Nvidia Shield in December 2020 specifically because the latest version could output DV. Its a shame the TV on HDMI3 seems incapable of processing it properly.

Been months now waiting on Sony providing a solution. Because its so random I havent really been able to test it with another Dolbyvision source. I need to borrow my sons AppleTV box and try that over a few days. See if it also sparkles.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

QuinnDexter — Mon, 24 May 2021 12:41:18 GMT

Where are your sparkles rendered? Mine are always on the left side of the screen in a vertical orientation.

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Mchaggis69 — Mon, 24 May 2021 15:11:31 GMT

Whole Screen.

I sent this video to Sony - watch it in 1080p to see the sparkles.

https://youtu.be/iM-btPADgHU

Re: KD-48A9 Sparkles

Mchaggis69 — Fri, 28 May 2021 08:29:35 GMT

Update.

Got a hold of my son’s 4k AppleTV box tonight.

Switched directly from my NVidia Shield which was producing all sparkles on Dolbyvision and I get exactly the same with the Apple box. As soon as I booted the AppleTV it offered to switch on Dolbyvision and *boom* the screen was covered in sparkles.

The AppleTV has the facility to check HDMI cables and sure enough it reports them as fine.

This is definitely an issue for my TV on HDMI3 and I’m beginning to think its actually faulty.

I’m going to send a note to Sony support now.