Sony kf-e50a10 optical block issues

[giddavr]

I had bought this TV in Aug2006. It has been performing quite well till about 2days back when it started displaying alternating Blue & Black vertical stripes.

I have since searched the web and found that this was a guaranteed to occur problem and Sony had been taken to court in the US both in class action suits & personal cases.

As a matter of fact Sony knew of this problem and still continued to sell these TVs at premium prices, I bought mine for Rs. 1,39,000/-on 14-8-06.

I am interested to know if any of our members in India has faced this problem
and if they were able to get Sony to offer a Replacement or compensation.

I fully intend to file a case in the Consumer Forum and am looking for info about other members who had this problem with these TVs. All LCD Rear Projection TVs from Sony had this issue.

gvramaiah

 

[Chaos]

If it's worked for 4 years then i don't see how you could win a case in the consumer court.

 

[giddavr]

Under the CPA, Consumer Forums at the District, State and National level have been specifically constituted to adjudicate claims of consumers for any defect in goods. A defect has been defined in Section 2(1) (f) of the Act as any fault, imperfection or shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or standard which is required to maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or under any contract, express or implied, or as is claimed by the trader (which includes the manufacturer) in any manner whatsoever in relation to any goods.

An LCD TV of standard quality is supposed to give atleast 20yrs of good service. Now Sony knew fully well by 2004 itself about the optical block problems in theses TVs. But it continued selling them, which makes them guilty of fraudulent practices.

Just because my TV worked for4yrs. Sony cant escape from the fact of what they did. When I spent 140000/- on this TV I expected it to work for atleast 20 yrs, with lamp changes when necessary. Ofcourse any minor repairs or unforeseen problems are expected and I am prepared to pay for such. But here Sony knew that this was a major problem without any solution and sold it in spite.

If u are really interested see this site or google sony lcd rearprojection tv optical block issues and u may be surprised.

Sony LCD Rear Projection TV Problems

gvramaiah

 

[bobby76]

SONY will not repair your TV. They will give excuse of "production stopped" so no spare parts available. However Sony will "try" to source required spare parts with no guarantee that it will be repaired.

It happened to my high end CRT Tv purchased in 2006. Since 3 months it is lying in service center waiting for spare parts.

Sony offered me 30% discount (on MRP) on basic version of 32" LCD Tv as upgrade which I rejected. They may offer the same thing to you.

This once again proves that Sony is not reliable any more.

 

[giddavr]

I will not be asking Sony for a Repair job, because even if they replace the optical block the problem always recurs. What they have is a nonrepairable situation.
My contention is that Sony is guilty of Fradulent Trade Practices, because it knowingly sold a TV with latent quality deficiency, giving false information. It actually advertised these TVs as working indefinitely with Bulb replacements.
Their ads actually said this may be the last TV you buy.

As you rightly said Sony will try to escape with excuses. But unless someone takes a stand against such malpractices these big companies will get away with any thing.

Sony was forced to compensate many, many customers in other countries when taken to court both individually and in class action suits. As it is customer services are lousy in India and I think it is time someone took action.

I will be asking for replacement with a same size TV and if Sony refuses I shall file a case in the Consumer Forum.

gvramaiah

 

[adder]

Under the CPA, Consumer Forums at the District, State and National level have been specifically constituted to adjudicate claims of consumers for any defect in goods. A defect has been defined in Section 2(1) (f) of the Act as any fault, imperfection or shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or standard which is required to maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or under any contract, express or implied, or as is claimed by the trader (which includes the manufacturer) in any manner whatsoever in relation to any goods.

An LCD TV of standard quality is supposed to give atleast 20yrs of good service. Now Sony knew fully well by 2004 itself about the optical block problems in theses TVs. But it continued selling them, which makes them guilty of fraudulent practices.

Just because my TV worked for4yrs. Sony cant escape from the fact of what they did. When I spent 140000/- on this TV I expected it to work for atleast 20 yrs, with lamp changes when necessary. Ofcourse any minor repairs or unforeseen problems are expected and I am prepared to pay for such. But here Sony knew that this was a major problem without any solution and sold it in spite.

If u are really interested see this site or google sony lcd rearprojection tv optical block issues and u may be surprised.

Sony LCD Rear Projection TV Problems

gvramaiah

Well your tv is a not a lcd tv but a projection tv.Which is know for their short lamp life .Projections tvs aren't the first choice when it comes to reliability .the only advantage is their size vs cost.

A lcd tv will never work for 20years i have no idea where you got that info,all they state is the backlight life which is under their own testing environment.

I can assure you no tv will last 20years without any repairs.Unless used for only a few hrs or kept in storage for most part of its 20 year life.None of my tvs lasted more then 10years without any repairs.

Gone are the days when companies used to make their products with passion,today manufactures are driven only by profits and to please their investors.

There is no point in repairing those tvs unless the parts and labor are cheap.You can get a better flat panel display which is more efficient and has a far higher contrast.

No idea about lawsuits and other,but if you are planning to sue them,then good luck.It may help in better services from companies.

 

[giddavr]

LCD Screen Life
# Screen life is measured in hours. An average lifespan of an ordinary LCD screen may be 40,000 hours, for instance. The wider the screen and the way it is lit will influence how many hours the screen will function correctly. LCD life spans range from 30,000 to 60,000 hours, enough for several decades worth of TV watching and generally plenty of time before the wear becomes noticeable. Most LCD screens are replaced because of technological advancement rather than because they reached the end of their lifespan, though a screen left on throughout the day may be need to be replaced.
TV Half-Life
# It should be noted this TV screen life span is actually a half-life measurement. In other words, instead of measuring the time it takes for the screen to go from its brightest to complete dimness, the life span hours show how long it takes the screen to reach half its original brightness. This is much more useful, since the screen has essentially reached the end of its useful life by the time it has dimmed to 50 percent its factory-level brightness, and any fading after that point only will only render the TV exponentially less usable.


Read more: The Life of LCD TV Screens | eHow.com The Life of LCD TV Screens | eHow.com

Please read my post fully- Mine is a 3LCD Projection TV. So it is still about the life of the LCD. A regular LCD TV utilizes CFLs or LEDs in the latest models for backlighting. My TV utilizes mercury vapour lamps for the same purpose - only it is of high enough intensity to project an image. The principle is the same.

And for ur info LCD TVs are expected to have a life span of 50-60,000hrs, which translates into more than 20yrs. Projection lamps will burnout and minor repairs may be necessary, but the useful life should still be more than 20yrs.

But with this TV I got 4yrs. of use. Now a new optical block will cost as much as Rs. 40,000/ and it will fail again in due course. It is precisely because of this Sony was made to compensate its customers in the USA.

gvramaiah

 

[kumararvind]

Hi!1 I had the optical block problem since about a year...soon after my lamp was replaced in aug 2009...I bought the TV in April 2007 I guess...I bought for 56K for the 42" version. My TV had the initial stages of red band on top and blue and green patches on the sides. I was in fact offered a discount the prism block replacement for 25K and that's about it. I had already paid 6K for the lamp replacement. But Now my lamp has again gone within a year and I didn't want reinvest anything on the TV. I bought a Pioneer Plasma with 3 yr warranty now. I decided not to buy anything Sony as they have been dumping their bad products here. The BD player I bought was from US so hopefully will have better life than the ones they are selling here. All the best with your case. Best thing to do is to let people know and stop buying Anything Sony in India.

 

[BHANU PRASAD RVA]

Ramaiah Garu,

I am also facing the same problem with my 50 Inch 3LCD Projection TV.

Could you please share with me any further developments in your case. I had changed the lamp spending 10K just 3 days ago.

I have researched a lot on the internet and found varying details / info.

I had bought this TV in Aug2006. It has been performing quite well till about 2days back when it started displaying alternating Blue & Black vertical stripes.

I have since searched the web and found that this was a guaranteed to occur problem and Sony had been taken to court in the US both in class action suits & personal cases.

As a matter of fact Sony knew of this problem and still continued to sell these TVs at premium prices, I bought mine for Rs. 1,39,000/-on 14-8-06.

I am interested to know if any of our members in India has faced this problem
and if they were able to get Sony to offer a Replacement or compensation.

I fully intend to file a case in the Consumer Forum and am looking for info about other members who had this problem with these TVs. All LCD Rear Projection TVs from Sony had this issue.

gvramaiah