Hitachi 57S500 "Halos"

[simplton]

I have a 57S500 and I'm experiencing this "halo" thing. I've had the TV for about a year now and I've calibrated it (to the best of my amateur ability) using AVIA. My contrast is set at 33 and brightness is at 41. My room is fairly dark being lit by very dim recessed lights just in front of and behind the listening area.

The halos are worst with 2.35:1 aspect ratio when there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. If there are bright objects near the top or bottom screen it's like the light bleeds into the upper or lower black bars.

I realize it would be hard to provide input on this without actually seeing it, but ANY advice is appreciated.

As Always, Thanks very much in advance,

Simp

[djoxygen]

I can't be positive, but I think you're describing something that happens on my Hitachi 43" as well. I suspect it's internal reflections in the lens housing - like a lens flare in reverse. I see it mostly (or really only) in high contrast scenes like the opening of Fifth Element when the bright blue arc of earth swings into view against the black starfield background. As soon as the bright part of the picture comes into view, the dark areas of the screen picks up a touch of the blue-ish cast with a stronger arc that moves opposite the apparent source.

Every once in a great while it bugs me, but not really enough to cause me to lose sleep. (BTW: Brightness:51, Contrast:36, but I *have* pulled the front panel and tweaked the RGB knobs, so my numbers may not bear any relation to yours.)