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Calif lawsuit claims Sony widescreen TVs defective (1 Viewer)

Frederick

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Taken from Reuters:

LOS ANGELES, June 22 (Reuters) - A California man has sued Sony Corp. of America in a proposed class action, claiming the electronics maker failed to warn consumers that the center of the screens of its widescreen televisions darken if watched frequently in "normal" mode.

Sinclair Cohen of San Jose spent "thousands of dollars" repairing his widescreen TV after Sony refused to fix it under warranty when the center of the screen darkened, the lawsuit, filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, said.

A Sony spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

Broadcast, satellite and cable images are displayed in a 4-to-3 aspect ratio -- the proportion of TV screen width to height -- while a widescreen television boasts a 16-to-9 ratio to display movies on DVD and high definition television.

In the "normal" mode, the widescreen television displays the 4-to-3 screen image by drawing vertical gray bars on either side of the image to narrow the screen.

"If you watch a lot of normal TV, you'd watch it in this (normal) mode with these bars," Cohen's lawyer, Daniel Warshaw of Tarzana, California, said. "When you put it back to the widescreen image you see lines down the sides."

Warshaw said Cohen's TV set was "fairly new."

The suit said Sony should have warned Cohen and other customers that using the "normal" mode would ruin the picture.
His lawsuit accuses the New York-based subsidiary of Sony Corp. of false advertising, deceptive acts and unfair business practices, and asks a judge to certify a class of people who bought Sony widescreen TVs since 2000.

The lawsuit against Sony was filed the same day that a Florida man accused the U.S. electronics arm of Pioneer Corp. of selling defective high-definition televisions.
In that proposed class action, also filed in Los Angeles, the plaintiff said HD televisions built by Pioneer Electronics had an "over voltage condition" that caused permanent streaking lines across the screen.


Freddy C.
 

Frederick

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 9, 1999
Messages
400
Taken from Reuters:

LOS ANGELES, June 22 (Reuters) - A California man has sued Sony Corp. of America in a proposed class action, claiming the electronics maker failed to warn consumers that the center of the screens of its widescreen televisions darken if watched frequently in "normal" mode.

Sinclair Cohen of San Jose spent "thousands of dollars" repairing his widescreen TV after Sony refused to fix it under warranty when the center of the screen darkened, the lawsuit, filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, said.

A Sony spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

Broadcast, satellite and cable images are displayed in a 4-to-3 aspect ratio -- the proportion of TV screen width to height -- while a widescreen television boasts a 16-to-9 ratio to display movies on DVD and high definition television.

In the "normal" mode, the widescreen television displays the 4-to-3 screen image by drawing vertical gray bars on either side of the image to narrow the screen.

"If you watch a lot of normal TV, you'd watch it in this (normal) mode with these bars," Cohen's lawyer, Daniel Warshaw of Tarzana, California, said. "When you put it back to the widescreen image you see lines down the sides."

Warshaw said Cohen's TV set was "fairly new."

The suit said Sony should have warned Cohen and other customers that using the "normal" mode would ruin the picture.
His lawsuit accuses the New York-based subsidiary of Sony Corp. of false advertising, deceptive acts and unfair business practices, and asks a judge to certify a class of people who bought Sony widescreen TVs since 2000.

The lawsuit against Sony was filed the same day that a Florida man accused the U.S. electronics arm of Pioneer Corp. of selling defective high-definition televisions.
In that proposed class action, also filed in Los Angeles, the plaintiff said HD televisions built by Pioneer Electronics had an "over voltage condition" that caused permanent streaking lines across the screen.


Freddy C.
 

StephenHa

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364
my tv repair man said the same thing they should have something in the paperwork to keep people from doing that (you'd think they'd learn after millions of dollars in law suits)
 

StephenHa

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Messages
364
my tv repair man said the same thing they should have something in the paperwork to keep people from doing that (you'd think they'd learn after millions of dollars in law suits)
 

Gary Seven

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I love the XBR when it works but Sony shipped so many xbr400 with bad digital boards that caused the TV to malfunction after two years. This happened to me. As a result, Sound Advice (Tweeter co) had to replace it with a XBR800 since I had the extended coverage.

Interesting to note that after so many reported problems with these sets, Sony still refused to acknowledge the problem.

This guy has a valid gripe against them. I wish him well.
 

Gary Seven

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I love the XBR when it works but Sony shipped so many xbr400 with bad digital boards that caused the TV to malfunction after two years. This happened to me. As a result, Sound Advice (Tweeter co) had to replace it with a XBR800 since I had the extended coverage.

Interesting to note that after so many reported problems with these sets, Sony still refused to acknowledge the problem.

This guy has a valid gripe against them. I wish him well.
 

Steve Schaffer

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The owner's manual that came with mine warned about burn-in and clearly stated it was not covered under warranty.

My KP57-HW40 will be 3 years old in September and has seen a lot of use in Normal as well as a good mix of all other modes. I have contrast turned down to just under 50%. The set is on for an average of 40 hours a week and has no sign of burn-in whatsoever.
 

Steve Schaffer

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Steve Schaffer
The owner's manual that came with mine warned about burn-in and clearly stated it was not covered under warranty.

My KP57-HW40 will be 3 years old in September and has seen a lot of use in Normal as well as a good mix of all other modes. I have contrast turned down to just under 50%. The set is on for an average of 40 hours a week and has no sign of burn-in whatsoever.
 

Scott L

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The grey bars won't fully stop burn-in, it just helps to round things out, supposedly burning in the sides along with the middle at the same intensity. This lawsuit is proof that it's not 100% effective.

Guy shoulda came on HTF first and done some research on the DLP sets to avoid this whole mess :wink:
 

Scott L

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Joined
Feb 29, 2000
Messages
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The grey bars won't fully stop burn-in, it just helps to round things out, supposedly burning in the sides along with the middle at the same intensity. This lawsuit is proof that it's not 100% effective.

Guy shoulda came on HTF first and done some research on the DLP sets to avoid this whole mess :wink:
 

Rob Kramer

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Mar 30, 2004
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435


Why? So he could sue Samsung for making him dizzy? I think he will get a bigger settlement from Sony.

;)
 

Rob Kramer

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Messages
435


Why? So he could sue Samsung for making him dizzy? I think he will get a bigger settlement from Sony.

;)
 

CalvinCarr

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What is considered too much 4:3 viewing? Should you watch in that mode less than 50% of the time?
 

CalvinCarr

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What is considered too much 4:3 viewing? Should you watch in that mode less than 50% of the time?
 

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