This also reveals a disturbing, but perhaps not surprising, reality related to the class-action lawsuit Sony settled for the 2005 SXRD models. The “Opinion and Order” in that settlement stated on page 4 that Sony had fully resolved the yellow stain issue by September 2006, and that no TVs or replacement optical blocks manufactured after that date should have problems with green or yellow discolorations. Yet, I have emails from owners with SXRD models manufactured in 2007 that got the yellow stains, and this latest warranty extension suggests that it is another widespread problem.

The newly covered TVs are:
KDS-50A2020 (KDS-50AL120)
KDS-55A2020 (KDS-55AL120)
KDS-60A2020 (KDS-60AL120)
KDS-50A3000
KDS-55A3000
KDS-60A3000
KDF-37H1000
KDF-46E3000
KDF-50E3000

I would also like to weigh in on including this TV in the class action.

I’ll be calling Sony this morning to see what they’ll do.

This didn’t go well, firstly they said they didn’t do parts for this set anymore then went on to say the problem i have with the green picture couldn’t be linked to the sets in the US as different parts were used in the UK to the US.

What a joke as this is same set same year same problem KDS55A2000, they said i should pay for an engineer to come out and have a look but made no promises to fix the problem even if it ended up being the optical problem as in the blog.

I may be the only person in the UK to have bought this set as it dissaperead out of the shops within a month of me buying it.

Talk about David and Golieth what chance to i have?

I just started experiencing this problem about 2.5 month ago and I had no idea about the the problem or the class action suit until I found this website. I am going to call the numbers tomorrow and see what help I can get… My tv is an KDS-R60XBR1… so I know I am past the date… I was never contacted by anyone concerning this matter.

If anyone has any additional info that may help me please post… especially if you have had assistance while being past the “drop dead” date..

Thanks

I expect them to offer a discount on another TV (and probably not much of one) in which case I will decline – no more Sony TV’s! I will probably go with a Samsung LCD/LED backlight. If, however, they offer to repair again, I will do that and get a new, different brand TV and keep this one in the bedroom until failure, again. From what I read, though, it seems as if they finally solved the OB part defect after my last repair in 2007. I just can’t get over the fact that they had the recall, for 4 years worth of TV’s, put the same defective parts in some of them, and then try to act as if they have no responsibility. I am frustrated and very jaded at this point. Sorry for the rant.

On a side note, my local authorized repair center declined to work on the TV, citing that Sony doesn’t pay them much at all for warranty work. They refused to even come out and look, which is why Sears repair was brought into the mix.

OK, so, firstly I would like to explain what I believe happens that kills these sets. I think that the light cast on these chips chemically alters them after a while do to the chips small size and the optical density. And either the liquid crystal on the chips surface, or the electronics of the chip gets “burned” by this light, rendering it useless. But it’s only the one chip that seams to get fried, the blue one I believe (it ends up looking green in the end). I think this “choice-of-target” is due to a combination of inadequate UV filtering and by the way the colors are separated that causes this problem. That would explain why the blue chip is attacked, and not the others. Again, having no blue can make it look greener or even yellow (the next most common color that pops up)

In any case, after examining the LCoS “engine chips” them selves. I have concluded that a chip for one color, *should* be able to be used as the chip for an other color. In other words, two dead engines *may* be able to make one good one. All that need be done is the bad chip from one dead optical block be replaced by one of the good chips from the other. To any one who has repaired their share of junk, this would seam like a no-brainier. But of course, you knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Firstly, those chips have to be PEARFECTLY aligned. Other wise there will appear to be a second slightly tilted picture over the main one that has a different color form it. Also, *if* the chips are comparable and *if* they can be easily aligned. There will still be the problem of too much light, which will kill the new chip just as fast as the last one (more than likely faster actually). PLUS there is no telling if the other chips are even any good to reuse.

Any way, I would like to try it just to see if it is doable. But I only have access to the one TV set. If there is any one who has two identical sets. I would be happy to write up the the exact steps to make it work If you want to try it out. Or if there is any one out there with a dead set that they were planing to trash that they would like to donate to the cause. I would be happy to take the optical block before you junk it. I live in WA state so consider that before you reply as the shipping costs from say, Australia would be cost prohibitive for such a “maybe project”.

Also, does any one know how to get the OB for these units without using a warranty? What I mean is, Does any one know where (if it’s even possible) to buy one and how much it costs? Or where to get just the chips? Because, even if I can’t get my hands on a used/dead OB unit. I would still like to fix this set for the neighbors if I can. Again just for clarity, It is the original “KDS-R60XBR1” unit.

Well, that’s all I have to say for now, I will be watching this blog to look for new developments so just post a reply and let me know what you think and I should see it. (except I’m supposed to go some where soon that may or may not have internet access, but that’s a whole other story that I won’t get in to here) oh, and sorry for the insanely long chat.

-Charlie

Good Luck.