Just before Christmas I became the happy owner of a Samsung Series 6 F6300 50 inch Smart TV. The digital TV over the aerial and content via my PC looked great on this TV; no complaints. However, when I looked at the streaming video apps in the Smart Hub I noticed a problem. Some apps will not maximize to full screen. TVNZ On Demand is an example. The picture is translated to the left by about 15 cm, leaving a 15 cm vertical black band on the right hand side of the screen. This happens with all TVNZ programs, but some adds display in full screen. I rang Samsung support. They said that they had never heard of this problem before and suggested I update to the latest software version. I did this, but got the same result. Samsung support suggested I reset the Smart Hub. Did this and the problem remained. They sent a technician out and he suggested I might need a new main circuit board. He fit the replacement board, but the problem remained. Unfortunately, this new system board must not have been intended for the NZ market as it killed my Freeview guide. So now I had two problems.
I contacted Samsung and told them I was very unhappy with their repair job. They kindly offered to replace my TV. When the new TV arrived, guess what, the same problem with TVNZ On Demand app. Samsung had upgraded my replacement TV to a 50 inch F6700, which I was very pleased with. This was plainly no hardware fault, but a problem with the app that affected some TV models. I checked the TVNZ On Demand app on a smaller F6300 series TV over at the local Smith City store. It ran perfectly normal; covered the full extent of the screen (which I think it was 42 or 46 inches).
I did some research and discovered that some streaming TV apps available to Samsung TV owners in the USA and UK have the exact same problem. For example; BBC iPlayer runs perfectly, but ITV player has the vertical black band on 50 inch TVs.
It looks like some video apps available through the Samsung Smart Hub have not been tested properly on all Samsung TV models before being released. I know very little about programing, but I imagine that it is probably a very easy fix to ensure that all Samsung video apps fit all Samsung TV screen sizes, probably just a single line of code that provides all screen size dimensions.
If you own a Samsung Smart TV please post here whether or not the TVNZ On Demand app opens to cover the full screen extent ( for me it does for some adverts, but does not for all programs). Please include what model TV you have (F6300, F6400, F6700 etc.) and what size you have (42, 46, 50, 55, 65 inches etc.).
I suspect that all 50 inch Series 6000 Samsung Smart TVs will have this fault. It is clearly a problem in the USA and UK, so I think it is a global problem, not just restricted to TVNZ On Demand.
If you have this problem please ring Samsung Support on 0800 726 786 and tell them you would like to have the problem resolved.
Thanks,
Tim