Hi all,

Recently purchased this tv and plugged it in to find a floating brown shadow - an oval about 1 foot in diameter, (the ring itself is about 1" wide) dead center on the screen.

I have searched the boards and come across numerous descriptions of so-called "crop circles," and dead pixels, but nothing sounds like what I've got here. It is not a spot but a ring with the center unaffected, most visible during light scenes (ocean, sky, etc.) and essentially invisible during dark ones.

It is not as apparent with standard analog tv, but hooked up to my HK DVD31 with M series component cables, this thing is glaringly apparent (the rest of the picture, I have to say, is very sweet, closest thing to HD DVD I've seen).

I haven't messed with the picture settings much because it actually looks pretty good right now (purchased this tv, (gasp), as open box).

I've called Hitachi service already, but would like to know in advance if anyone has had a similar experience with one of these sets.

It should be noted that the set otherwise looks fantastic - I know generally how the technology functions, and can not for the life of me figure out what the problem might be - the oval is perfectly symmetrical - possibly a defective lens?.

Sorry for the long post - trying to be clear and got carried away. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.