vizio lcd panel failure made in china

A few weeks ago my housemates and I decided to pitch in for a new TV. We did our share of research and decided on a 37” LCD Vizio HDTV. The fact that Vizio is an American-based company was the “icing on the cake” if you will.

A day or two after purchasing the T.V. online I noticed that Woot.com was doing a mass-sale of the refurbished version of the Vizio we had just ordered. I was a little disheartened since they were going for $200 less than what we paid but I stomached the loss believing that ours would be a brand-new, long-lasting product with no need for a warranty (it does have one).

After some additional research on Vizio, I found that even though Vizio is based in Irvine, CA, as of 2007 they only employed 85 people in the States (that includes tech support to the Board members)!!! That’s a staggeringly low figure considering they were, and still are, the largest seller of HDTVs in the U.S. All of Vizio’s manufacturing and assembly is done by the cheapest of the cheap in China and they always, always contract their work out to the lowest bidder.

After calling one of Vizio’s 85 employees and hearing how “strange” it was that my TV broke the first week (he probably expected it make it to Week 3), this guy told me that they would send a technician out to fix it……..in about 3 weeks. I guess they have to manufacture and import their technicians from China too.

Vizio, America’s second best selling LCD TV brand, is now telling some broken set owners that their televisions cannot be repaired. If the set is past the 12 month factory warranty, Vizio advises owners to buy from them a replacement set !

HD Guru came across Jeff  Bartran’s letter to Vizio CEO and founder William Wang complaining that the company’s service department had deemed “un-repairable” his 13.5 month old, high end $1868 Vizio 55-inch

HD Guru investigated to determine if Bertran’s experience was unique. It didn’t take long to find eight additional cases of “un-repairable” out-of-warranty Vizios posted in the last thirteen months alone on the consumer complaint website consumeraffairs.com.

The un-repairable defects included black screens, dark spots and red and green lines. Vizio replaced defective in-warranty sets with refurbished units, which a number of owners complained also failed soon after the warranty period.

Vizio’s Florida customer service center confirmed in a phone call that defective set owners are indeed told that their TVs are un-repairable when the failure turns out to be the backlight unit (BLU), which is the light source within all LED and LCD flat panels.  Mr. Bertran told HD Guru that according to Vizio, his set’s problem was, indeed, backlight failure. He also stated Vizio offered him a replacement at a discount , however at a price  higher than he could get from Vizio’s etailers offering the same model.

Should an under one year old set be deemed un-repairable, Vizio’s warranty policy is to replace it (at their option) with a used, refurbished set they call “Recertified.” An out-of-warranty set becomes an expensive doorstop.

HD Guru contacted Vizio’s media relations company for a comment along with a request for a list of “un-repairable” models and the problems that would cause them to be so labeled but no response was forthcoming.

“First of all, we do not currently have any OW (out of warranty) PDP (plasma) or LCD TV models where our standard response is to tell the customer that the unit is unrepairable and can’t be fixed.  Our policy and practice is to fix customer units to keep them in the home and in the brand.

Check out our other “Disposable TV” article. Before purchasing a Vizio or a non-name brand TV, consider a set from company that actually builds them. Vizio and off-brands purchase their sets from assemblers, while name brand companies like Samsung, Panasonic, and LG have invested billions of dollars in panel and component manufacturing plants. They want to keep your business and so maintain extensive nationwide parts and service networks.

As mentioned above, we asked Vizio media relations (early Wed.) to explain why its HDTVs are un-repairable when a backlight fails and for an explanation as to what Vizio defines as a defect that is un-repairable. In addition, as an aid to our readers we asked for a list of Vizio models and the associated defects that make the sets un-repairable.

Late Thursday night, after this article was published, Vizio responded . The spokesperson did not honor our request for an explanation as to why Vizio calls a bad backlight(s) un-repairable (other companies repair sets with the same defect) nor did they provide us with the list of un-repairable Vizio TV models and their associated defects we requested. Instead they made a response regarding defective panels, although we never inquired about panel defects.  Below is Vizio’s response verbatim.

“Panel defects are extremely rare with VIZIO televisions.  In cases where a panel defect does arise, VIZIO’s policy is to replace the unit as opposed to sourcing, shipping and installing a replacement panel because it is considered  “beyond economical repair” (BER). Panels can be replaced, but it is economically impractical because the cost of a new unit is comparable and comes with a full manufactures warranty. VIZIO is addressing it’s customer service response to ensure there are no further misunderstandings.”

“At VIZIO, customer satisfaction is paramount.  Our customer service personnel are instructed to provide consumers with all of their options. VIZIO honors all in-warranty repairs either by replacing parts, or by replacing the unit. Consumers with out-of-warranty units always have the option to replace parts and repair – their decision comes down to cost.  When the cost to repair a unit nearly meets, or exceeds the cost of a new unit, Vizio counsels the consumer that it is deemed Beyond Economical Repair. The final decision to repair or replace is at the consumer’s discretion.  This extends to panels, backlights or any other component of any VIZIO unit.

Vizio says LeEco has breached the settlement the two companies agreed to last year in the $60 million lawsuit over their failed merger, and claims the Chinese tech conglomerate still owes a “substantial amount of money,” according to a new motion filed in California’s central district court on Monday.

LeEco, which was once considered to be the “Netflix of China,” tried to buy Vizio in 2016 for $2 billion as part of its effort to expand its business beyond streaming. Founder Jia Yueting wanted his company to move into hardware like televisions and smartphones so he could create an entire ecosystem of hardware and software products that worked together, hence the “eco” in LeEco. But Jia’s ambition consumed LeEco, as he burdened the company with billions of dollars of debt, leading to his eventual self-exile to the US.

The Vizio deal fell apart just one year later, and the American television maker sued LeEco for $60 million in damages. Vizio said LeEco had already “begun to collapse due to their severe cash flow and financial problems” when the conglomerate proposed the merger, and accused the Chinese company of hiding these problems in order to make the deal go through. Vizio also claimed LeEco’s acquisition was part of a “secret plan” to walk away with information about the television company’s corporate clients. The two sides ultimately reached a settlement in November 2018, though terms of the agreement were never disclosed.

Those terms remain secret despite Vizio’s new allegations that LeEco has breached the settlement. The motion that Vizio filed — which asks the judge to enforce the settlement and enter a judgement against LeEco — has been heavily redacted. In the unpredicted portions, Vizio’s lawyers simply say that “the LeEco Entity Partners are in breach,” and that they “owe a substantial amount of money to Vizio.” LeEco and its related holding companies “can and should be compelled to live by the terms of the settlement that they made,” Vizio’s lawyers write.

Vizio’s lawyers also acknowledge that Jia recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in a bid to settle the billions of dollars he owes in China. Since that action takes precedence over any other personal claims against Jia, Vizio has asked the court to enforce judgement only against LeEco and its holding companies.

Whether LeEco will be able to pay what it owes to Vizio is unclear. The company has been in danger of being delisted from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange for months, as Jia essentially left the business in tatters when he moved to the US in 2017. He’s mostly spent the intervening time unsuccessfully trying to save his other company, the struggling electric vehicle startup Faraday Future.

Here’s a nice little instructional video showing the repair process for one of the most common issues people are having with some Vizio LCD TV models. That is, the unit turns on and the LED power indicator lights up but no video ever shows up (although the backlight does light up) and then it seems to lock up in such a way that you will not be able to turn the TV back off using the remote. The unit is a Vizio LCD flat screen television with model # VX37L HDTV10A with a manufacturing date of Aug, 2007. A not so surprising reveal is that these units, while seemingly an American brand, are actually made in China. Does that explain why people are complaining about Vizio TVs? Well, it’s really up to you to judge but you should also consider that other brands get an equal share of complaints as well.

A little warning emphasized in the video is that before you disassemble the unit, be sure to lay it down flat on a work table because if you unscrew the base off while it’s standing up, the panel will unhinge straight off the base and fall over because it does not have safety retainers to keep it attached to the base when unscrewed. So there.

There can be a number of reasons for a black screen, but the most common is a failure of the back light. This can be a power problem where the LEDs don"t get power or even an LED or two being open and thus not lighting. The fact that no picture was seen with a flashlight concerns me a bit. This may indicate that the TV is being told to produce a black screen. If so, than this may be a problem with the logic board (the one under the shield in the pictures.)

Vizio has five distinct product categories in its 2021 TV lineup. Listed below are each of these categories, what to expect from each level, and the top offerings from that series.

This category focuses on dependability and value while providing the base Vizio experience with 21”- 40” displays. One of the most popular TVs in the D-Series category [1] is the Vizio D40F-G9. It has a 40-inch LCD display with a Full HD 1080p resolution. It comes equipped with its SmartCast OS for streaming and casting and is compatible with Google Assistant, Apple Siri, or Amazon Alexa.

V for value, this category offers an entry-level HDR experience, larger 40”-75” displays, and up to 4K resolution. One of the best examples is the Vizio V505-H19. It sports a 50” 4K resolution display with HDR compatibility, SmartCast, and full-array backlight dimming. It’s easily one of the most value-packed products in their lineup.

M for mid-range, Vizio brings in their more premium options such as Quantum LED, higher contrast for HDR10 and Dolby Vision certification, and HDMI 2.1 with variable refresh rate for gaming, more screen size options, with all the features mentioned above. The Vizio M65Q7-H1 is a crowd favorite, sporting a 65” 4K HDR QLED display with support for 4K 60Hz.

P for premium, this is where Vizio brings out their best with up to 85” in display size, a panel with higher brightness and contrast, and a refined full-array dimming experience. Vizio’s P65Q9-H1 can offer all that and is among the top favorites.

This is an odd category that doesn’t fall under Vizio’s letter-based naming. Despite that, Vizio shows its mastery over the OLED display. Although having smaller screen size options of 55”-65”, the use of OLED gives models in this series a visual experience unmatched by non-OLED displays. The OLED55-H1 is their most popular option, as it offers the glory of a 55” 4K HDR10+ OLED display with a variable refresh rate for gaming.

Here’s what you should know if you’ve decided to buy a TV and noticed the Vizio brand. Vizio is registered in the United States and owns the Vizio brand. It is one of the largest TV companies in the North American market. But while Vizio claims to be an American TV sales company, it operates as a sales and service company. Third-party manufacturers, OEMs, and ODMs manufacture all televisions on behalf of Vizio. Vizio itself does not have its factories. However, according to statistics provided by statista.com, Vizio was the third-largest TV supplier in the U.S. in 2020, with a 13 percent share of the TV market. Since 2017, however, Vizio has lost more than half of the TV market to other manufacturers. Vizio’s main competitor is China’s TCL, actively capturing North American market share.

According to the Chinese website https://baike.baidu.com/item/Vizio, the primary owners of Vizio, in addition to its founders, are China AmTRAN Technology Co Ltd, a manufacturer of ODM and OEM TVs, also has display factories, owns 23% of the shares. Another Vizio shareholder, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Ltd (Foxconn brand name), holds about 8% of the shares through its companies, source www.ledinside.com. The investment in the companies has made it possible to guarantee the supply of components and production of Vizio TVs at the technological sites of these companies.

Where is Vizio made: Vizio TVs are mainly assembled in China and Mexico. The leading supplier of TVs is AmTRAN; about half of Vizio’s TVs are manufactured in the company’s factories in China. TVs for Vizio are also assembled and supplied by Foxconn, which has assembly plants in Mexico. Other companies may also manufacture some TV models. You should know that all Vizio products are completely developed and manufactured in China, or components are manufactured in China and assembled in Mexico. At first glance, there’s nothing unusual about that; OEMs make the same iPhone. But there are some nuances for Vizio, which I will explain further below.

AmTran Technology Ltd manufactures Vizio TVs in China. It is a Taiwanese company with component manufacturing and assembly plants located in Raken, Suzhou, China.

AmTran offers its customers the development of TV sets (ODM), which means that the company develops new models of TV sets by itself, taking into account the wishes of the customer. Produced TV sets are delivered to the customer under the Vizio brand. It should be noted that AmTram is the leading supplier of TV sets for Vizio.

TV assembly plants in Tijuana, Mexico, assemble TVs from off-the-shelf components. Some Vizio televisions are made in Mexico and are manufactured by Foxconn in their plant.

You have to understand the following, Vizio is mostly budget TVs, the company has a very aggressive pricing policy, and you go into a store and see a Vizio TV for $398 and a Samsung next to it for $577. You might think, oh, I’ll save almost $200. But there’s no such thing as the same TV class being priced so differently. It’s all about the components. The Vizio has a cheaper display, look at the thickness of the TV, and you’ll understand.

Ever had your TV showing nothing but a black screen even if the audio was working? Unfortunately, that’s a common issue with low/middle-end LCD/LED TVs these days… Even more frustrating, this issue often comes from a rather tiny and cheap component that can be easily replaced. Most common issues are:

The first step into repair is to find the root cause of the issue. As backlight failure is a very common issue, this is the first thing to test. To do so, the easiest way is to power on your screen, put a flashlight very close to it and check if you can see the image through. The image would be very dark, like turning the brightness of the screen very very low.

That implies disassembling the TV to access the backlight which is between the LCD screen in the front and the boards in the rear. In my case, with a Samsung F5000, I had to process as follows:

First we have to remove the back housing to reveal the boards (from left to right: main board, T-CON, power supply) and disconnect the LCD panel from the T-CON board.

Note: Older TVs have neon tubes for backlight, which is thicker and less exposed to this kind of failure. LED backlight is the most common thing these days, but do not mistake an LED TV with an OLED TV. The first one is a classic LCD panel with a LED backlight, whereas the second is an OLED panel that doesn’t need any backlight as it is integrated in each pixels (making the spare parts much more expensive by the way).

Vizio Inc. (stylized as VIZIO) is an American publicly traded company that designs and sells televisions, sound bars, viewer data, and advertising. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Irvine, California.

On October 19, 2010, Vizio signed a 4-year contract to sponsor U.S. college football"s annual Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, beginning with the 2011 Rose Bowl and ending with the 2014 Vizio BCS National Championship Game.Fiesta Bowl making the official name the Vizio Fiesta Bowl.

In November 2015, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Office of the New Jersey Attorney General brought charges against Vizio, alleging it collected non-personal information on its customers and sold it to advertisers.

Vizio produces television sets and soundbars and has previously produced tablets, mobile phones and computers. Vizio manufactures its products in Mexico, China, and Vietnam under agreements with ODM assemblers in those countries.

Television sets are Vizio"s primary product category, and in 2007 the company became the largest LCD TV seller (by volume) in North America.plasma televisions and would focus on the LED-backlit LCD displays .

In March 2016, Vizio announced the release of SmartCast TVs that allowed users to control the screen from a tablet or mobile app.Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.Google Assistant and Alexa-enabled devices, Apple Airplay2, Apple HomeKit

SmartCast is the operating system/platform that Vizio uses in all their smart TVs.Chromecast and Apple AirPlay.Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video.

Vizio has previously produced other products in addition to televisions and soundbars. In 2011, Vizio introduced the Via Tablet and Via Phone, its first tablet and mobile phone products.Android smartphones in Asian markets, including China,Google TV digital media player.

On October 19, 2021, Software Freedom Conservancy filed a lawsuit against Vizio Inc. because the company failed to fulfill the requirements of the GNU General Public License by failing to provide the source code. Software Freedom Conservancy states in the lawsuit that Vizio is "not providing and technical information that copyleft licenses require, Vizio was not even informing its customers about copylefted software and the rights it gives them as consumers."Federal District Judge Josephine Staton sided with Software Freedom Conservancy and granted a motion to send the lawsuit back to Superior Court, to answer breach-of-contract claims.

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On most VIZIO TVs, if the CC settings is on, applications will also begin displaying Closed Capsions. Press the button on your remote labeled CC, this should enable Closed Captions.

LCD: LCD stands for liquid crystal display, and it’s the most common kind of television besides OLED (defined below). LCD TVs shine an LED backlight through a panel of liquid crystal, a malleable substance that reacts to electricity, opening or closing when jolted. In LCD TVs, the liquid crystal opens to allow the backlight through or closes to block it. The specific details of the opening/closing are dependent upon the arrangement of the pixels: The most common LCD arrangements are Vertical Alignment (VA) and In-Plane Switching (IPS), with the former tending to produce higher contrast and the latter tending to produce wider viewing angles. All so-called “LED” TVs are really LCD TVs, as are all current QLED and ULED TVs.

OLED: An organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, TV creates light inside each individual pixel without using a backlight and can dim each pixel individually all the way down to black, which LCD TVs can’t do. This tech gives an OLED TV an infinite contrast ratio and other benefits to help create an overall better-looking image, although at considerable additional cost. You can read more about OLED technology in this article.

Mini-LEDs: Every LCD TV made today currently uses LEDs to produce the light that shines through the LCD panel. Most TVs use LED lights that pass through a diffuser to light up the entire LCD screen. Mini-LEDs, which some TVs use, are much smaller than traditional LEDs, so TV makers can install more of them and thus create more zones of local dimming, which means less blooming or halos around bright objects. Mini-LEDs are completely different from micro-LEDs, an available (though very expensive) technology that employs individual red, green, and blue LEDs to produce an image without needing an LCD panel at all.

Quantum dots: Quantum dots are a color-enhancing technology primarily found in LCD TVs (though some 2022 OLED TVs now have them as well). Chiefly employed as a filter that’s painted onto a substrate, quantum dots are microscopic nano-crystals that, when struck with blue light, produce very vivid red or green light (depending upon the size of the crystal). Quantum dots are the primary technology that allows LCD TVs to produce the wide color gamut required to display HDR content properly, as they greatly increase the color saturation of red and green.

Judder: This term refers to a slightly jerky motion that can occur when 24p film content appears on a TV with a 60 Hz refresh rate. In such situations, to make 24 frames match up to the 60 Hz display, half of the frames appear two times and the other half appear three times. This display technique causes judder, which is most noticeable on panning shots. Some 120 Hz displays avoid this effect by repeating each film frame five times, while some 60 Hz panels run at 48 Hz to show each frame twice.