Pink camera??

[bart122]

Originally Posted by Cmass

Thanks Bart!
I'll try your Photoshop suggestion - although I have tried many others and found that by the time I had finished the photo had degraded due to extensive manipulation.
Verizon does not believe there is an issue here.....I wonder if Samsung does either. Perhaps it is time to rattle the cages a bit??

You can try the photoshop manupilation on teh original ("blank") photo and adjust some of teh settings to get a real uniform grey area. If needed get to 16 bits mode. Most essetntial is the color blend with the negative colors of your sensor. It works great for me. (but I prefer a correct sensor).

BTW I don't have verzions. I live in the Netherlands and have a i900 form Vodafone.

[bart122]

Originally Posted by Cmass

Hey Bart, could you do me a HUGE favor and go here:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/faqs/supportFaqList.do?group=&type=mobilephones&subtype =verizonwireless&model_nm=SCH-I910&dType=D&mType=UM&vType=R&prd_ia_cd=01010400&a cc_ia_fl=&disp_nm=Omnia%20(SCH-i910)&menu=faqs
to log a complaint with Samsung on this issue? Just so I know I'm not the only one who did if they come back to me saying I'm the only one who has mentioned it.
Chris

Chris,

I live in teh netherlands and don't have a omnia form versions. So I can't complain based on teh US format. FYI my friend has similar isues with his camara, so you are certainly not alone.

Bart

[Cmass]

Originally Posted by syrguy1969

Call Customer Service and let them have it!! I would use every trick in the book...you ARE the customer after all!!! Threaten to leave VZW, return the Omnia for another device (if your still under the 30 day trial), or even to do an insurance exchange (you lose $50 in the deak that way though).

Another alternative is to threaten to call Samsung directly....there is supposed to be a year warrenty from them...isn't there? I don't think VZW would want people calling them (Samsung CS) over their own CS dept. (doesn't look good)!!!!

The store techs - although nice compared to the store manager (they are independent contractors) did not know what the issue was. They saw it, but simply had no suggestions.
The Verizon "help" line was even worse. They know very little about the phone or its camera and are woefully inadequate dealing with in-depth technical issues.
Thus far the only option presented to me was to swap the phone for another Omnia - by paying $35. But based upon what I am seeing of the phones in the store, that would not be improve the situation. There a problem with those phones as well.
I was going to call Samsung but could find no support phone number listed on the website - only an Email submission form which I did fill out including picture attachments of the problem.
I also wrote a lengthy review of the phone on the Samsung website and included pictures there as well.

It would be very helpful if others tried to duplicate what I am seeing. If it is a problem with ALL Omnias, I have one hell of a lot more say in what they ultimately do for me (replace the CCD) than if I am a lone wolf they write off as a whiney customer.

--------------------

Try this:
1) Find something that is bright white - preferably a bit shiny - a sink, refrigerator, a wall etc..
2) Shine a light on it. Try an incandescent light or a florescent or natural light. The color varied a bit with those different sources but never disappeared when I tried them.
3) When you bring up your camera it should go to default settings. Nonetheless, the vast majority won't matter much - except perhaps for Saturation which can make the pic go from black and white to super duper pink. Just leave all at the "0" settings.
4) Go into "White Balance" settings in the tools menu and select various settings including tungsten, florescent etc.. and then
5) Point the camera directly at the white surface from 1-3 feet away and see what you get.

- Chris

[syrguy1969]

OK...tell you what...I will try out your steps later tonight and see what I get...I haven't noticed it yet, but to be fair I don't take many pictures of white things LOL!! I think you do have a definite complaint though (I wonder why they offered to charge you for swapping out?) and I would continue fighting it!!!

The good news is that if it is a software issue the promised ROM upgrade coming from Samsung may fix it (I have heard there are some camera tweaks included)!!!

[pdub73]

Cmass,
I have my white balance set to "auto" I rarely try any other settings...I agree with syrguy, call CS and throw everything at them until they take care of u, they should just swap ur phone...I don't understand the problem...

Gettin the first CDMA Omnia, was a good and bad thing for Verizon, I love the phone and I am patient so I don't mind waiting for the support and software to get up to speed...

but not everyone can deal with things not working "perfectly" and don't want to wait for fixes and updates when there are other "lesser" phones that dont have many issues...

that's why I was telling you 30days won't be enough time to really get acquainted with the phone...and know how to get around the things it cannot do yet...anyway the on-site techs don't really need to know much about the phones to see that the camera isnt taking clear pics...I'd go one step further...if u have a regular digital camera, take a picture of the white sink or whatever, and show them a comparison...if you haven't already tried that...

[tmc_adio07]

Cmass, after reading this thread I'm starting to agree on your side. I'm a Verizon Wireless Supervisor Tech, Specifically for FRU's (Field Replacement Unit) Are you within your 30 day worry free guarantee? Or are you past that? Make your reply here and we'll talk a bit before I PM you info on how to get it swapped out.

[Cmass]

Originally Posted by tmc_adio07

Cmass, after reading this thread I'm starting to agree on your side. I'm a Verizon Wireless Supervisor Tech, Specifically for FRU's (Field Replacement Unit) Are you within your 30 day worry free guarantee? Or are you past that? Make your reply here and we'll talk a bit before I PM you info on how to get it swapped out.

I am barely within my 30 days which is part of my panic in getting everything related to this phone all worked out. If you have access to FR Omnias, have you by chanced checked them for this issue?

The store manager said he would swap it out for $35. (This guy was unbelievably poor with people - very hostile) This manager and the sales rep I was assigned refused to acknowledge the issue while everyone around me I asked all saw it immediately. (Look at the examples on this thread!) They made up all sorts of bizarre reasons including that the red signs in the store were creating the effect! We then took mine and another Omnia outside to compare: It too had the same problem. The manager never actually said "Oh, I see what you are talking about now". Instead, he simply changed his line to: " ALL Samsungs are like that."

A GOOD business manager would have taken me seriously and tried to see what I was seeing rather than taking a defensive posture trying to prove me wrong at all costs. Once he saw it he should have immediately called over his best tech. Then he should have given me a game plan which included pulling product form the shelf until he was able to contact Samsung and get an explanation - and then he should have promised to get hold of me once he had it figured out. Instead, he walked away and went back to his office without another word.

In my note to Samsung I reminded them this was a new phone and new phones do not need bad reputations right out of the gate. I told them I expected them to contact me immediately and get this resolved.
Of course, I never even received acknowledgement of my submission to them.

At this point I am most interested in what others see in their cameras. I really would like to know if this is an Omnia problem or a problem with just a batch of Omnias.

Having worked as a quality and manufacturing engineer in numerous electronics assembly facilities I know there can be - sometimes large - batches of defective components sent out. Often problems arise when quality testing is inadequate or inappropriate. In this case, I highly doubt they are doing anything more than a quick functionality test. It may even be a plug in test whereby a computer runs diagnostics of the phone system. In that case, no human is checking anything and even if they were, I highly doubt they check the CCDs for aberrations.

If we were to travel upstream to the CCD manufacturer they may be doing something similar and perhaps only checking the most commonly problematic parameters such as dead pixels or sensitivity. They may not even notice color aberrations that occur in certain conditions.
Of course, the more sinister possibility is that they are dumping junk CCDs at phone cameras knowing people aren't expecting much anyway and won't complain.

[jmhirshorn]

I took pictures of various white objects (both shiny and not so shiny) around my house with your settings and with various other settings. I was not able to duplicate your "pink" spots. I would say that since you are still in the 30 day window just return the phone to the place you got it from. I know it is a hassle, but you shouldn't have to pay $35 for a replacement phone, especially when it is within the 30 days. Since the store's phones seem to have the same problem, just go to another store to get a new Omnia.

Hope this helps!

[syrguy1969]

I didn't get the pink last night either, I will post images tonight if I can....it just got too late last night and I got tired.....maybe downloading to my PC will give a different look to them.

[tmc_adio07]

Okay Cmass, only thing is I'm off of work yesterday and today, so I won't be able to grab an Omnia till Tuesday and check it out. I've never heard of this issue though, we have lists of trouble tickets out for each device that states will be fixed in future updates, but never seen that pink issue. The only reason that store manager wanted to charge you $35 is for our new policy that states is your changing out your phone for no reason (diff model, diff color, etc) it's a restocking fee. So in other words, this guy simply doesn't believe you and is marking it as no reason. By the way, Samsung won't help you. I know people say it looks horrible on us that customers are contacting the direct manufacture, when It's LG or Motorola I'm sure those "upstairs" guys will rush to you, but unfortuantely when it comes to Samsungs, you have a better chance of waiting till your next upgrade...no one even flinches when the almighty Samsung is called to help. They'll look at it, make you send it in, then 95% of the time send the SAME phone back, just reflashed back to master reset. Then when you complain they say to contact Verizon. Same thing everytime man, save your breath. Theres a forum of complaints out for the Samsung Instinct, they still aren't helping fix problems...they won't even bother with 1 single complaint. I'll assure you though bro, I'll take care of the situation personally if you still can't get help. I'll PM you some questions in a bit, along with extending your 30 day worry free guarantee for technical trial period. By the way , save those pictures you had of the pink dot, I'll need them for my techs. I'm sure just one will do, but just incase. My techs are good guys . They replace phones if a text message sends in 6 seconds instead of 3, they're all good guys (and girls). check your PM box man.