Calif lawsuit claims Sony widescreen TVs defective (1 Viewer)

[Jason Charlton]

Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!! This is just the kind of crap that drives me insane!


This is yet another example of some idiot consumer who obviously didn't read his manual (I have a Sony and it clearly explains the issues of burn-in and describes why there are stretch modes and how they prevent that type of permanent damage), doesn't understand a lick of the technology he has sitting in his living room, and is desparate to find SOMEONE ELSE to take the blame for his stupidity.

If he's experiencing problems this quickly, he most definitely has his picture set to the factory settings (which, admittedly are set dangerously high) and has likely NEVER even experimented with stretch modes.

Now I certainly don't expect everyone who buys a TV to have a copy of AVIA or DVE laying around, however I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect anyone who is going to spend thousands of dollars on a piece of electronics to at least have the common sense to learn SOMETHING about it, try to understand it and how it functions.

As a matter of fact, if this guy watches so much 4:3 material, what in the hell was he doing buying a widescreen set to begin with? Didn't he think it was odd that he has this widescreen set, and the "wide" part is nothing but gray all the time!?!?!?!?!

The more I think about it, with all the insane and often overblown panic floating around regarding burn-in, I find it amazing that this guy bought a widescreen RPTV and had no idea this was a possibility.

And as far as adding this to the reason Sony's suck, if anyone were to treat their Panny, Tosh, Mits, or what have you with the same idiocy as this guy, you'd experience the same problems.

This is in no way a Sony problem, and if you understand the technology and take a few simple steps, it's not even a problem at all. It's known as preventative care. Would you drive your brand new car for 5 years without changing the oil and then sue Toyota when your engine blows up? "But no one TOLD me I had to change the oil..." Of course not!

It's uninformed and uneducated consumers who do STUPID things and then find someone else to blame that drive me nuts. As far as I'm concerned, this guy has only himself to blame for wasting his thousands of dollars. If this lawsuit actually happens, it won't quite rank up there with McDonald's being sued for actually serving "hot" hot coffee, but it'll be close.



Thank you - now I have to find some way to get my blood pressure back to within a normal human range.

-Jason

 

[Jason Charlton]

Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!! This is just the kind of crap that drives me insane!


This is yet another example of some idiot consumer who obviously didn't read his manual (I have a Sony and it clearly explains the issues of burn-in and describes why there are stretch modes and how they prevent that type of permanent damage), doesn't understand a lick of the technology he has sitting in his living room, and is desparate to find SOMEONE ELSE to take the blame for his stupidity.

If he's experiencing problems this quickly, he most definitely has his picture set to the factory settings (which, admittedly are set dangerously high) and has likely NEVER even experimented with stretch modes.

Now I certainly don't expect everyone who buys a TV to have a copy of AVIA or DVE laying around, however I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect anyone who is going to spend thousands of dollars on a piece of electronics to at least have the common sense to learn SOMETHING about it, try to understand it and how it functions.

As a matter of fact, if this guy watches so much 4:3 material, what in the hell was he doing buying a widescreen set to begin with? Didn't he think it was odd that he has this widescreen set, and the "wide" part is nothing but gray all the time!?!?!?!?!

The more I think about it, with all the insane and often overblown panic floating around regarding burn-in, I find it amazing that this guy bought a widescreen RPTV and had no idea this was a possibility.

And as far as adding this to the reason Sony's suck, if anyone were to treat their Panny, Tosh, Mits, or what have you with the same idiocy as this guy, you'd experience the same problems.

This is in no way a Sony problem, and if you understand the technology and take a few simple steps, it's not even a problem at all. It's known as preventative care. Would you drive your brand new car for 5 years without changing the oil and then sue Toyota when your engine blows up? "But no one TOLD me I had to change the oil..." Of course not!

It's uninformed and uneducated consumers who do STUPID things and then find someone else to blame that drive me nuts. As far as I'm concerned, this guy has only himself to blame for wasting his thousands of dollars. If this lawsuit actually happens, it won't quite rank up there with McDonald's being sued for actually serving "hot" hot coffee, but it'll be close.



Thank you - now I have to find some way to get my blood pressure back to within a normal human range.

-Jason

 

[Tom#B]

Jason,

You make an interesting point about idiotic people who purchase high technology equipment and don't bother to inform themselves about the specs. Be careful to avoid being an idiot who offers opinions about things you have not bothered to inform yourself about - e.g. the McDonald's coffee situation.
Did you know that the woman was a 79-year-old passenger in a non-moving vehicle? She suffered third degree burns to her pubic area, spent 8 days in the hospital, and later returned for painful skin grafts. McDonald's served their coffee at 170-190 degrees, which can cause third degree burns in 2-7 seconds. Had the coffee been served at 155 degrees, the burns would have been superficial. Prior to this incident, McDonald's had received 700 complaints by people who had been burned by their coffee, yet they made no changes. The woman offered to settle her claim for the cost of her medical bills - approximately $20,000 - but McDonald's refused. Later, a mediator recommended that McDonald's settle for $225,000, but they again refused. Following trial, a jury awarded the woman $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equates to one day of coffee sales at McDonald's. That award was reduced by the judge to $480,000 (which is probably one hour of their coffee sales).

Sorry, I'll get off my soap-box now.

Tom

 

[Tom#B]

Jason,

You make an interesting point about idiotic people who purchase high technology equipment and don't bother to inform themselves about the specs. Be careful to avoid being an idiot who offers opinions about things you have not bothered to inform yourself about - e.g. the McDonald's coffee situation.
Did you know that the woman was a 79-year-old passenger in a non-moving vehicle? She suffered third degree burns to her pubic area, spent 8 days in the hospital, and later returned for painful skin grafts. McDonald's served their coffee at 170-190 degrees, which can cause third degree burns in 2-7 seconds. Had the coffee been served at 155 degrees, the burns would have been superficial. Prior to this incident, McDonald's had received 700 complaints by people who had been burned by their coffee, yet they made no changes. The woman offered to settle her claim for the cost of her medical bills - approximately $20,000 - but McDonald's refused. Later, a mediator recommended that McDonald's settle for $225,000, but they again refused. Following trial, a jury awarded the woman $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equates to one day of coffee sales at McDonald's. That award was reduced by the judge to $480,000 (which is probably one hour of their coffee sales).

Sorry, I'll get off my soap-box now.

Tom

 

[CalvinCarr]

So how much 4:3 is too much...

 

[CalvinCarr]

So how much 4:3 is too much...

 

[JamesCB]

My Hitachi 51F500 manual says to limit viewing with the grey side bars to no more than 15% of viewing time. I also have the option of making the side bars black (which is worse than using grey), but they automatically go back to grey after you shut off the tv.

I think all manuals say to limit the "normal mode" viewing time. Plus, he probably had that set in "torch" mode.

This is another case of blaming someone else for your own ignorance.

 

[JamesCB]

My Hitachi 51F500 manual says to limit viewing with the grey side bars to no more than 15% of viewing time. I also have the option of making the side bars black (which is worse than using grey), but they automatically go back to grey after you shut off the tv.

I think all manuals say to limit the "normal mode" viewing time. Plus, he probably had that set in "torch" mode.

This is another case of blaming someone else for your own ignorance.

 

[Jason Charlton]

CalvinCarr, your set is an LCD based set - you don't have to worry about burn-in. Burn-in is only a factor on CRT-based and Plasma-based displays.

Tom, thanks for the clarification on the hot coffee topic. Yes, I was uniformed on the particulars of that lawsuit - the point I was trying to make was that this "Class Action" lawsuit against Sony is frivolous and silly, in the same vein as many other frivolous lawsuits (perhaps the McDonald's example I should have cited was the recent attempt to sue McDonald's for causing obesity).

Thanks for the advice though, I had no idea I was being such an idiot. Hey, why didn't anyone TELL me I've been such an idiot? All this time, I thought I was a nice guy offering an opinion in an open forum. Get me Jackie Chiles on the phone - I've been wronged by every single person I've ever known. Ka-CHING!!!!

-Jason

 

[Jason Charlton]

CalvinCarr, your set is an LCD based set - you don't have to worry about burn-in. Burn-in is only a factor on CRT-based and Plasma-based displays.

Tom, thanks for the clarification on the hot coffee topic. Yes, I was uniformed on the particulars of that lawsuit - the point I was trying to make was that this "Class Action" lawsuit against Sony is frivolous and silly, in the same vein as many other frivolous lawsuits (perhaps the McDonald's example I should have cited was the recent attempt to sue McDonald's for causing obesity).

Thanks for the advice though, I had no idea I was being such an idiot. Hey, why didn't anyone TELL me I've been such an idiot? All this time, I thought I was a nice guy offering an opinion in an open forum. Get me Jackie Chiles on the phone - I've been wronged by every single person I've ever known. Ka-CHING!!!!

-Jason

 

[Dennis*G]

have not seen a manual or anything, but unless it is the first chapter, big bold leters saying DANGER failure to follow these guidlines.......this is what will happen.

to 90% of the population a widescreen TV is just that, a tv. they have bought many tv's in the past, took them out of the box, plugged it in and got many years out of it without doing a thing.

along comes widscreen, cool, something new and big.

They get it home, out of the box, plug it in and think they will get many years out of it.

No one tells them the dangers of burn-in (probably would not buy it then) and it's a tv, who reads the manuals for a tv?? (excluding our lot here)

 

[Dennis*G]

have not seen a manual or anything, but unless it is the first chapter, big bold leters saying DANGER failure to follow these guidlines.......this is what will happen.

to 90% of the population a widescreen TV is just that, a tv. they have bought many tv's in the past, took them out of the box, plugged it in and got many years out of it without doing a thing.

along comes widscreen, cool, something new and big.

They get it home, out of the box, plug it in and think they will get many years out of it.

No one tells them the dangers of burn-in (probably would not buy it then) and it's a tv, who reads the manuals for a tv?? (excluding our lot here)

 

[CalvinCarr]

And they set it to SUNBURN mode...

Just 15 minutes on each side.

 

[CalvinCarr]

And they set it to SUNBURN mode...

Just 15 minutes on each side.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sony clearly warns customers about phosphor burn-in in the owners' manuals included with its CRT-based direct-view sets and RPTVs. Though we don't know how the plaintiff operated his set, I'd be willing to bet it wasn't calibrated and that he was using it in torch mode. Sony simply is not liable in a case like this.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sony clearly warns customers about phosphor burn-in in the owners' manuals included with its CRT-based direct-view sets and RPTVs. Though we don't know how the plaintiff operated his set, I'd be willing to bet it wasn't calibrated and that he was using it in torch mode. Sony simply is not liable in a case like this.

 

[Mike_Frame]

I don't think the lawsuit is silly at all!

It's not the customers responsibility to make sure Sony puts a good product on the shelf. Most people who have a big screen TV have no idea about Burn-In or correct contrast settings. As around your office and see.

If high contrast causes burn in, then why is it there? If the grey bars don't prevent the burn in, then why does Sony advertise that the TV supports it, when it clearly doesn't?

Would any of you buy a Sony Receiver that kills the sound from the front speakers if you listen to too much 5.1?

No doubt Sony knows there is a burn in problem... think about it. If your TV has burn in after the warranty expires, what are you going to do? Buy a new one? Hmmmm.... interesting.

Don't think Sony is a bunch of innocents out there looking out for the greater good of TV watchers. Just because they put it in the manual, that doesn't mean it washes their hands of responsibility.

The question we need to answer is this. Could Sony easily make their TV's less likely to burn in, but don't for financial gain reasons? If the answer is yes, then there is a problem.

The keys are "Easily" and "Financial Gains". Using the McDonalds example... if the water HAD to be that hot to kill bacteria, then you can't fault them. If they kept it that hot to retain freshness, which would mean making less coffee per hour, then we have a problem.

Hopefully the truth will come out... I suspect Sony will give the dude a new TV and some money and it will settle.

 

[Mike_Frame]

I don't think the lawsuit is silly at all!

It's not the customers responsibility to make sure Sony puts a good product on the shelf. Most people who have a big screen TV have no idea about Burn-In or correct contrast settings. As around your office and see.

If high contrast causes burn in, then why is it there? If the grey bars don't prevent the burn in, then why does Sony advertise that the TV supports it, when it clearly doesn't?

Would any of you buy a Sony Receiver that kills the sound from the front speakers if you listen to too much 5.1?

No doubt Sony knows there is a burn in problem... think about it. If your TV has burn in after the warranty expires, what are you going to do? Buy a new one? Hmmmm.... interesting.

Don't think Sony is a bunch of innocents out there looking out for the greater good of TV watchers. Just because they put it in the manual, that doesn't mean it washes their hands of responsibility.

The question we need to answer is this. Could Sony easily make their TV's less likely to burn in, but don't for financial gain reasons? If the answer is yes, then there is a problem.

The keys are "Easily" and "Financial Gains". Using the McDonalds example... if the water HAD to be that hot to kill bacteria, then you can't fault them. If they kept it that hot to retain freshness, which would mean making less coffee per hour, then we have a problem.

Hopefully the truth will come out... I suspect Sony will give the dude a new TV and some money and it will settle.

 

[CalvinCarr]

You have got to be kidding.....If a kid runs me over is it the car makers fault for not explaining to the kid how the brakes work? He has a license to drive but not for ignorance. It goes back to the whole "It's the gun makers fault I was shot"...:frowning:

 

[CalvinCarr]

You have got to be kidding.....If a kid runs me over is it the car makers fault for not explaining to the kid how the brakes work? He has a license to drive but not for ignorance. It goes back to the whole "It's the gun makers fault I was shot"...:frowning: