HDTV Rip-Off - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

hugh · 2003-01-25, 03:10 PM

from toledo. Very interesting that burn in occurred within two months from television logos.

Quote:

A Toledo couple says they've been ripped off. They paid lots of money for a high definition television, now it has a glaring flaw. Claude Montgomery doesn't like what he sees as he surfs the channels on his new HDTV. Claude and his wife Laurel spent nearly 3-thousand dollars for this Mitsubishi model back in September of 2001, two months later logos from different news channels burned on their screen. They called the store where they bought it: ABC Warehouse and the maker Mitsubishi; both told the Montgomery’s it was their own fault.

james99 · 2003-01-26, 11:25 AM

Another reason to buy a front projection tv :lol:

johncap · 2003-01-26, 12:46 PM

I believe the industry is in for an unbelievable torrent of criticism and lawsuits unless they can dumbify sets over the next couple years. I'm much more technical and willing to delve into this stuff than most but going to HDTV has been a real chore and learning experience for me over the last month. I can only imagine what will happen when HDTV goes mainstream to the "can't set my VCR clock" crowd!

jdh79 · 2003-01-26, 02:01 PM

I also think that once plasma/projection TVs become the standard and there are more and more reports of logo burn in that there will be a massive class action lawsuit (in the US) against the TV providers that use the logos blamed for damaging TV sets. It will be interesting who winds up taking the blame for this type of thing because the manufacturers and TV stations will both surely try to blame each other or the consumer.

I_Want_My_HDTV · 2003-02-01, 05:37 PM

Burn in became almost a non issue for CRTs years ago. It's up to the manufacturers to start making better sets.

My Hitachi has problems after only 18 months. The CRTs have never been overdriven since delivery because I calibrated the brightness and contrast immediately. Now they Hitachi is saying that you shouldn't watch 16:9 TVs in 4:3 mode more than 15% of the time due to burn in from the grey bars. Are they joking? They should fix this instead of blaming customers. :evil:

In addition, the picture is becoming increasingly distorted. The local repair shop say they can't fix it and Hitachi hasn't returned my calls. Is this one giant scam or what? I had an 8 year old cheap 28" CRT TV that had problems similar to what my 1-1/2 year old overpriced 43" Hitachi is experiencing now. :evil: :evil:

They've shortened the warranty from 2 years to 1 year since I bought my set as well. Beware of Hitachi scams! :evil: :evil: :evil:

jdh79 · 2003-02-01, 05:41 PM

Yeah you would think that there would be a class action lawsuit against Hitachi for making defective units if they are saying you can only use 4:3 mode 15% of the time and that is the way 90% of the programming is delivered. That has to be illegal.

I_Want_My_HDTV · 2003-02-03, 06:17 AM

Agreed. Now that my set is properly calibrated the grey bars seem overly bright. There is no way to adjust them. I found an article on how to adjust them on an older model by opening up the set but nothing for newer models. If I do this my warranty is void anyway.

Hitachi does not cover burn in in their warranty. I guess this is their way to protect themselves from lawsuits. It's like my IBM hard drives. They warranty them for 3 years and then put a limit on daily usage, effectively nullifying the warranty for many users.

johncap · 2003-02-03, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_Want_My_HDTV

Agreed. Now that my set is properly calibrated the grey bars seem overly bright. There is no way to adjust them. I found an article on how to adjust them on an older model by opening up the set but nothing for newer models. If I do this my warranty is void anyway.

Hitachi does not cover burn in in their warranty. I guess this is their way to protect themselves from lawsuits. It's like my IBM hard drives. They warranty them for 3 years and then put a limit on daily usage, effectively nullifying the warranty for many users.

That limit on daily usage IBM posted for their hard drives, is a standard thing but it is not intended to be a limiting factor for hard drive usage nor is it. How would they ever prove how long you ran it. Fact is, the current state of hard drives is an absolute fiasco. All except Samsung have cut warranties from one to three years and WD, IBM and Seagate drives have an experience life of around 11 months these days, so I'd not fret some words on their website. AND, they've actually sold out of that business to the aforementioned, how ironic is this, Hitachi! I heard they were planning on including an IBM branded drive with each Hitachi RPTV...

2003-01-26, 12:46 PM	#3
johncap Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: West Chester, PA USA Posts: 257	Re: HDTV Rip-Off I believe the industry is in for an unbelievable torrent of criticism and lawsuits unless they can *dumbify* sets over the next couple years. I'm much more technical and willing to delve into this stuff than most but going to HDTV has been a real chore and learning experience for me over the last month. I can only imagine what will happen when HDTV goes mainstream to the "can't set my VCR clock" crowd!

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2003-01-26, 11:25 AM	#2
james99 Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Burlington Posts: 24,791	Another reason to buy a front projection tv :lol:

2003-01-26, 02:01 PM	#4
jdh79 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Halifax, NS Posts: 605	I also think that once plasma/projection TVs become the standard and there are more and more reports of logo burn in that there will be a massive class action lawsuit (in the US) against the TV providers that use the logos blamed for damaging TV sets. It will be interesting who winds up taking the blame for this type of thing because the manufacturers and TV stations will both surely try to blame each other or the consumer.

2003-02-01, 05:37 PM	#5
I_Want_My_HDTV . Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London, ON Posts: 6,297	Burn in became almost a non issue for CRTs years ago. It's up to the manufacturers to start making better sets. My Hitachi has problems after only 18 months. The CRTs have never been overdriven since delivery because I calibrated the brightness and contrast immediately. Now they Hitachi is saying that you shouldn't watch 16:9 TVs in 4:3 mode more than 15% of the time due to burn in from the grey bars. Are they joking? They should fix this instead of blaming customers. :evil: In addition, the picture is becoming increasingly distorted. The local repair shop say they can't fix it and Hitachi hasn't returned my calls. Is this one giant scam or what? I had an 8 year old cheap 28" CRT TV that had problems similar to what my 1-1/2 year old overpriced 43" Hitachi is experiencing now. :evil: :evil: They've shortened the warranty from 2 years to 1 year since I bought my set as well. Beware of Hitachi scams! :evil: :evil: :evil:

2003-02-01, 05:41 PM	#6
jdh79 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Halifax, NS Posts: 605	Yeah you would think that there would be a class action lawsuit against Hitachi for making defective units if they are saying you can only use 4:3 mode 15% of the time and that is the way 90% of the programming is delivered. That has to be illegal.

2003-02-03, 06:17 AM	#7
I_Want_My_HDTV . Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London, ON Posts: 6,297	Agreed. Now that my set is properly calibrated the grey bars seem overly bright. There is no way to adjust them. I found an article on how to adjust them on an older model by opening up the set but nothing for newer models. If I do this my warranty is void anyway. Hitachi does not cover burn in in their warranty. I guess this is their way to protect themselves from lawsuits. It's like my IBM hard drives. They warranty them for 3 years and then put a limit on daily usage, effectively nullifying the warranty for many users.