topic Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related? in 5 Series

Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 07:28:33 GMT

Hi, I am having a couple of issues with the display on my new Xperia 5 II. I have the green tint problem on off black colours like dark greys and blues (120hz turned on) that has been mentioned on here and other forums, I also have a fault where the text on the display judders up and down slightly at low light, which is just as annoying as the green screen. I have a few other bugs but the display faults are my main concern, can/will these issues be solved with firmware updates or are they solely hardware related? It would be nice if a Sony representative replied, although I'm not hopeful. Thanks

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 12:44:44 GMT

Hi there, Sony reps don't communicate here, only certain users can flag posts to Sony care team and they take it from there. why don't you try the steps in this article for your display issue though: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/mobile-phones-tablets-mobile-phones/articles/SX680201

the steps here are for Android 9 but they work the same for Android 10.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Pavel.i — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:11:01 GMT

This is a defective phone. It needs to be changed

https://community.sony.ru/t5/5-series/wrong-color-reproduction-of-the-xperia-5-ii-display/td-p/3721269

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 20:12:55 GMT

I've just had a read of your thread, it sounds like you have been messed around a lot before they finally agreed to replace it. How many times did you have to send it to the service centre, twice, before they found a fault? I've posted a couple of times on reddit but people on there are saying the green tint is normal with 120hz displays and to be fair when i switch it to 60hz in the settings the green tint is nowhere near as noticable. If they have acknowledged that it is a fault with your device it obviously isnt normal. Did you have a flickering on all text at low light as well? I've also been told that this is normal and because it uses PWM to adjust the brightness but I have never noticed it on any other oled phones I've owned previously. Looks like I'll have to send it off to them, I just hope it isn't a long drawn out affair with Sony like you have had because I could do without all that stress. Thanks for replying

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Pavel.i — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 20:39:12 GMT

Today is 1.5 months of waiting for a replacement. This period is permitted by Russian law.
I sent the phone to the service twice.
I see color distortion at 60 Hz. I am a photographer and very picky about the quality of the display. Let me remind you that Sony announced 5.2 as a phone for photographers and as a phone with an accurate display.
I do not see PWM flickering. I bought two phones at the same time, X5.2 and Samsung S20. In the S20, the PWM is much more noticeable.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Pavel.i — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 20:45:49 GMT

The defect is expressed in a minority of copies, and the display quality is one of the advertised advantageous features of the phone. Therefore, we can count on a replacement phone.
P.S. The same problem befell the new iPhone model. The company has acknowledged the defect and will replace it.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 21:13:18 GMT

Shouldn't have to go through all that messing when theres an obvious fault, especially if Sony know about it. I had a nightmare with an Huawei phone a couple of years ago, it was another green screen fault and was on all models fitted with an LG display, it took a lot of phone calls and sending back to them a couple of times until they swapped it with a BOE screen device that didn't have the issue. They never publicly addmited the fault even though it was common knowledge, all customers want is clarity and for the manufacturer to admit there's a problem. It just backfires on them in the long run because customers will just switch to another brand with future purchases. I see OnePlus admitted to a recent green screen problem as well and rectified it, hopefully Sony will soon but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

CosmicTomato — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 10:44:44 GMT

As the display seems right at 60Hz, this could mean a software error, so my guess is that you'd still need to try to fix it with generic troubleshooting, as suggested by someone above, also because once you contact support, that'd be the first thing they'd suggest and would ask you to do it before they can take any next step, so just to avoid the waste of time we all fall for, save it yourself so that you can get to escalating your issue stat.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 10:58:14 GMT

I think your right, its one big headache sending devices to repair centres and no doubt they'll just send it back with a so called software update even though it is up to date anyway. Im half hoping it will be solved with the up and coming android 11 update and the bug fixes are bundled in with that. Have you any idea what could be causing the screen flicker, is that just because the PWM frequency rate is lower than a lot of devices? It mentions it on a couple of review sites that it is 200 and odd the frequency, which is quite low apparently. Only a select few manufacturers are upfront with customers about issues, it would be nice if Sony were one of them but it doesn't seem to be the case historically. Cheers

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

CosmicTomato — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 11:06:55 GMT

The Android updates are made by Google and released for generic enhancement and newer features, the security patch updates thrown by manufacturers those are the ones that target OS issues.

If you want to be sure it's included in any future update, you'd need to have this issue heard loud and clear, make it reach the big leads.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 22:42:36 GMT

Thanks 👍, who would you recommend that I contact? I sent a few emails earlier, one was to a press department which I didn't realise at the time but they got back to me straight away explaining I contacted the wrong department and gave me an email address for customer support. I've sent them the same email so I'll see what they say but I have a feeling it will just be a generic reply.

I've noticed a couple of other display bugs tonight, the 1st one is if I switch from an app that is using dark mode to one that isn't the screen will flash each time brightly on the non dark mode app. The other thing I have noticed but I'm not sure if its a bug or just the way ambient display (always on display) is implemented but it flashes brightly when used before dimming to an acceptable brightness level, this is noticeable more in a fully dark room so if you check the time in the middle of the night it gives off a bright light for a second and not ideal when half asleep, ha. Im far from an expert on phone displays but it seems like the power levels are wrong if that makes sense or not properly calibrated, Cheers

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

CosmicTomato — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 09:38:58 GMT

I believe it would be through support initially, but you'd need to chase on this a lot and ask for it to be escalated technically and as a complaint that it should be stated publicly, afterwards.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 09:27:14 GMT

After firing out a few emails out to different departments, the Customer Services Director (or maybe someone representing him) has replied and escalated the case. I found out SBE deal with inspecting and repairing Sony devices, that is another reason putting me off sending it back to them, they are hopeless and will either replace mine with a battered refurb, even though mine is in brand new condition or just send it back with an imaginary software update. Is there anyway to start a poll on this forum to try and find out how widespread display issues are on the Xperia 5 II? It seems to be affecting quite a few customers looking on different forums but it's a bit more difficult to gauge with Sony phones not being as popular than Samsung, Apple etc.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 17:07:05 GMT

I don't think there is a poll can be created here. However, this is normally the process that they follow when there's an issue with their phones, offering some steps and if they don't work they send you to repair with SBE. I believe this is the case even with Samsung and Apple too.

Re: Are Sony Xperia 5 II display issues hardware related?

Blue5161 — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 18:28:15 GMT

Hi, just a quick update. I exchanged my device for a new one on Monday. I received an email off Carphone Warehouse in response to a ticket I opened a couple of weeks ago, it was the last day of the 30 day faulty exchange policy on the day they replied so I was quite lucky really. Customer service agreed it was a hardware fault and had no problem exchanging it. The green tint is pretty much unnoticeable on this new device and the colours are much more uniformed. Im still getting a constant flicker at low/medium light, maybe slightly worse because it is more noticeable at a higher screen brightness than my faulty phone. Fingers crossed it is just a firmware bug and PWM related, I'm not too hopeful but it would be nice if DC dimming was added as a optional setting like a lot of phone manufacturers have done, it seems it can be implemented via firmware and nothing to do with hardware, if it is actual PWM implementation that is causing the flicker. Really happy with the display colours now though apart from the flickering it would be perfect.