Sony TV Owners & Discussion Thread

[ozetek]

Problem with Sony kdl46x3100.

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and hope this posting is in the right place.

My TV has developed a fault. The problem affects the TV when it is switched on for about the first 20 to 30 minutes of operation. It usually manifests in lines, flickering and some jumping of the image largely on the left hand third of the screen. Very occasionally there will be no picture at all but if I turn off and then on again I usually get back to an image with the fault only affecting the left hand third of the screen.

I have a Tivo, PS3 and Wii connected to the TV but through a process of elimination I have ruled out any of these devices and also the aerial connection as the cause of the problem.

The TV has never been moved since it was first installed and has not suffered any impact or other abuse.

A friend (no expert) thinks the problem is likely to be "driver". He thought that these generally can not be replaced and usually you have to buy a new TV if this problem occurs.

Of course, I bought the TV in June last year and it is now out of warranty. I think I would have a pretty good basis for arguing I am entitled to a replacement under consumer law for a failure of this kind after such a short time.

I tried Google and could not find any info on this.

Is this a known problem affecting Sony HD tv's?

Do the symptoms sound like a driver problem? Can this kind of problem be fixed?

I bought the TV from Sony Central in Adelaide. Anyone had to deal with them regarding a problem TV? Is there a key person I should contact to get this sorted out?

Thanks in advance for any advice or information.

Hi there, I am also experiencing problems with my KDL40W3100. Can you please let me know what you ended doing? Thanks.

[Sabrinella]

Can anyone help me !

I have a Sony Bravia kdl40x3100......the standby light is blinking 13 times then stops for a couple of seconds then blinks 13 times again.....

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

Sabrinella

[KAYAR]

Can anyone help me !

I have a Sony Bravia kdl40x3100......the standby light is blinking 13 times then stops for a couple of seconds then blinks 13 times again.....

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

Sabrinella

Same thing happened to me, it's the blink code fault listed up above.

Extended warranty mob took it away to fix it (Townsville mind you and I live in Brisbane) and exactly as I expected after researching, the replacement part is

no longer available so they replaced the tv with an EX500.

[Sabrinella]

Same thing happened to me, it's the blink code fault listed up above.

Extended warranty mob took it away to fix it (Townsville mind you and I live in Brisbane) and exactly as I expected after researching, the replacement part is

no longer available so they replaced the tv with an EX500.

Kayar,

Thank you for your response, however I am new to this forum and still trying to find my way around it, so when you wrote "the blink code listed above" I had a look and was unsure of what I was looking for. Would you mind clarifying exactly what to look for above as I could not find it.

Thank you

Sabrinella

[KAYAR]

AUSTRALIAN KDL BLINK CODES

2 times – Main power supply voltage error (12V, etc)

3 times – Malfunction of 3.3V line

4 times – Malfunction of 5V line (Voltage Supply to FE, etc)

5 times – Malfunction of power supply for screen

6 times – Malfunction of inverter or overcurrent, etc

7 times – Abnormal temperature inside unit

8 times – Audio circuit error (amplifier, etc.)

9 times – Fan malfunction

10 times – Digital FE circuit error

11 times – Malfunction of Trident IC or around IC

12 times – BH board error

13 times – Malfunction of balancer

[sila1999]

As stated before those blink codes are for a specific model series, in the case of the model Sabrinella mentioned the blink codes are;

2 times - POW OVP - - Main Power Over Voltage Protection

3 times - POW ERR1 - - Power Error

5 times - T_CON - - T_CON Error

6 times - BACKLITE - - Back Light Error (Panel Inverter)

7 times - TEMP ERR - - Temperature Abnormal Detection

8 times - AUD PROT - - Audio Abnormal Detection

9 times - FAN_ERR - - FAN Error (Not Detected. Display Only)

10 times - DTT ERR - - DTAU Power / Communication Error (AUS only)

13 times - BALANCER - - Panel Balancer Error

[j4play]

hi folks

just wondering if people can tell me if my epg/guide behavior is normal. basically, it seems to loose all its information after some period of time (perhaps a day), but if i turn it off, then on again with a short period of time (up to a hour perhaps), it retains the full information. Its pretty annoying, as i need to go through all the channels to refresh the guide.

i don't really understand why this would be standard behavior. in a way defeats the purpose of a 7 day guide.

i've got a 32ex500 btw.

thanks for any help/info.

[diesel]

That doesn't sound like normal behaviour. The EPG data is refreshed by the Networks on an ongoing basis so the EPG should reflect this. If the TV does not cache the EPG data when you turn off the TV, then you will need to surf the channels to reload it, but once loaded (ie 30 secs on each broadcaster) it should stay in the EPG view.

[j4play]

That doesn't sound like normal behaviour. The EPG data is refreshed by the Networks on an ongoing basis so the EPG should reflect this. If the TV does not cache the EPG data when you turn off the TV, then you will need to surf the channels to reload it, but once loaded (ie 30 secs on each broadcaster) it should stay in the EPG view.

yeap, agreed. this is the problem, it stays in EPG for only a while. but if i turn the tv on again after even an hour, its all gone, and i have to scan through the channels to refresh.

can anyone here confirm this is the standard behavior... or alternatively, if you don't find this on your ex500 series, please let me know.

thanks

[IgglePiggle]

I too have to surf the channels (or at least 1 out of the network block) to have any info in the EPG......this is on initial startup....havnt noticed if the info disappears after time though.

Its annoying either way.....why doesnt it just appear when u turn on the TV.....pretty basic i would think.........WMC on my PC shows all info straight up and u can even add the colourful logos into the guide.

Does anyone know if u can do this with the Sonys EPG?

BTW way i have a EX600 series

WMC EPG

[diesel]

yeap, agreed. this is the problem, it stays in EPG for only a while. but if i turn the tv on again after even an hour, its all gone, and i have to scan through the channels to refresh.

can anyone here confirm this is the standard behavior... or alternatively, if you don't find this on your ex500 series, please let me know.

thanks

That's the point I was trying to make - sorry my post wasn't clear enough - I see that after re-reading it. Basically some TVs (STBs and PVRs as well) will cache the EPG data, so that it is available immediately upon start up. However many devices do not, so you need to channel surf each time after you have turned the TV back on to reload all the EPG data. This is normal behaviour.

If what you are saying is that you lose EPG data after each power cycle, then I would be suggesting that the TV is not caching the EPG data and is most likely 'normal' behaviour.

If on the other hand you are saying that if you leave the TV on for 24 hours or longer and then begin to lose EPG data (without turning the TV off/on again) then this would not be normal behaviour. The TV should be receiving EPG data from the broadcast stream as long as it is on.

Edited January 15, 2011 by diesel

[diesel]

.WMC on my PC shows all info straight up and u can even add the colourful logos into the guide.

That's because I presume your PC is always connected to the net so it's getting it's EPG data fed to it all the time. Also, it is most likely that WMC also caches the EPG data.

It all comes down to how the brand has developed the software to handle EPG data. At least these Sony's support an EPG. I remember when most other brands had the EPG, but Sony still did not.

[IgglePiggle]

The PC is always connected to the net but turned off nearly every night.....so wouldnt it be unable to cache if its off?.......

Also if the channels are brodcasting their signal and obviously u receive the signal instantly then why doesnt the EPG info do the same when u switch on?

And if say EPG info is cached and is there at startup , then it has to be refreshed anyway?

Not aimed at you specifically diesel BTW

(does anyone know why i cant type in the reply box when i try to "quote reply" but can when i use "fast reply" ..?? )

[j4play]

thanks for responses folks.

baboy, can you confirm for me, so after you have turned on your ex600, and cycles through all the channels (ie, the EPG data is fully loaded), if you turn your tv off, and then on again say 12 hours later, will you have to cycle through all the channels again to restore it, or will it still be there?

i assume WMC will get its info direct from the net, or will perhaps keeps it cached, so as long as you return to a particular channel within 7 days, it's guide will show current info.

diesel, i do understand your point, and this is why the behavior of my ex500 is confusing. as i mentioned in my original post, if i leave the TV off for 5 minutes, the EPG data is still there on power up (ie it is cached). however, if i leave it off for 1 hour (actually, even 15mins seems sufficient), all the EPG data will be gone, and i will have to cycle the channels to restore it.

If i simply had to cycle the channels everytime i powered up, then i would assume the tv simply does not support caching.. but clearly it does cache for at least some short period of time. hence i'm wondering if other people experience this.

[IgglePiggle]

I just turned the TV off for a few minutes then back on and the EPG was still all there.........I know definately after 1st time switch on each morning (after about av. 8/9 hours off time) theres no info on the EPG and u have to cycle to get it to show.

I wonder if the TV was connected to the net (something I havnt done as yet as the Sony dongle is $100 and I need wireless ) would this do anything for the EPG?

[j4play]

ok, sounds pretty similar to the behavior of my ex500. pretty shitty design.. why wouldn't they just have the tv hold the information? stupid.

i doubt the net connection would help.

[genkifd]

ive also had a bug in my tv. didnt believe it at the start as it was in there for a good few days. a few weeks later i decided to install a ND2 filter and discover no insects in the tv to my surprise. ever since i have had any additional bug entering the tv. thank god.

[Owen]

Better late then never mate, why didn't you put the ND2 filter in 3 or 4 years ago?

Did you black out the interior of the cabinet (especially the screen basil) and reprogram the iris?

[Sabrinella]

Can anyone help me !

I have a Sony Bravia kdl40x3100......the standby light is blinking 13 times then stops for a couple of seconds then blinks 13 times again.....

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

Sabrinella

Just to let everyone know the outcome.....13 Blinks = the balancer

Even though my TV was 3 years old and out of warranty Sony replaced the component I was told was $1000.00+ free of charge as it was a major fault. I paid for the labour $200 odd $$'s which I was fine with so I was pretty happy with that. Lets hope this part does not faulter.

Regards to all,

Sabrinella

[diesel]

Also if the channels are brodcasting their signal and obviously u receive the signal instantly then why doesnt the EPG info do the same when u switch on?

The broadcasters send the EIT EPG data every few seconds within the transport stream. They only transmit the EPG data for their station(s), hence why you need to;

1. scan each broadcaster

2. leave it on each station for ~30secs to get full 7 days data

The Freeview EPG is transmitted by all broadcasters and they broadcast the entire EPG data for all stations. To receive this, your TV needs to have MHEG5 decoder and presumably Freeview approved.

diesel, i do understand your point, and this is why the behavior of my ex500 is confusing. as i mentioned in my original post, if i leave the TV off for 5 minutes, the EPG data is still there on power up (ie it is cached). however, if i leave it off for 1 hour (actually, even 15mins seems sufficient), all the EPG data will be gone, and i will have to cycle the channels to restore it.

If i simply had to cycle the channels everytime i powered up, then i would assume the tv simply does not support caching.. but clearly it does cache for at least some short period of time. hence i'm wondering if other people experience this.

Some (most?) TVs don't fully power off straight away when you turn them off. For example, my Panasonic goes into a 'lite' standby mode when I first power it off. I believe during this period it maybe searching for OTA updates and I think it maybe some kind of system where the manufacturers keep the components powered on incase you accidentally turned it off and turn it back on straight away. This way the TV doesn't have to cycle fully off then on.

On my TV at least, a quick press of the power button on the remote restarts the TV. If However I leave it off for 15 mins or longer I'll hear a 2nd click and the TV goes into a 'deep' standby mode, where I guess all components are powered down except those needed to receive an IR signal and power up the TV again. For me to turn the TV on once in this state, I need to hold the power button down for ~2 secs before the TV turns on.

If this is the case with your Sony, then I presume for that initial period after you turn it off, the TV is still on in some low power state and the EPG data is still stored.

This would be my guess at the 'cacheing' query you raised.

I wonder if the TV was connected to the net (something I havnt done as yet as the Sony dongle is $100 and I need wireless ) would this do anything for the EPG?

Connecting to the net won't do a thing because the EPG is transmitted in the broadcast stream and not the internet - unless the TV was IceTV compatible which it isn't.

[genkifd]

Better late then never mate, why didn't you put the ND2 filter in 3 or 4 years ago?

Did you black out the interior of the cabinet (especially the screen basil) and reprogram the iris?

owen,

At the time i question you about the procedure. I did black out some of the interior but not all and played around with the iris.

Still love the picture quality except that i have this faint blue haze at the very top of my screen that comes and goes.

[j4play]

Some (most?) TVs don't fully power off straight away when you turn them off. For example, ....

i think you've got it right.

if i turn the tv off then straight on, the image comes on almost immediately, and the guide information is retained.

if i turn it off for over 5 mins, then on, the tv first flashes the 'sony' splash screen, then the tv image comes on after a few seconds, and the guide information is lost.

[Guest grechs]

Did they come out and assess the problem first or did that take your word for it?

took my word..common prob I believe

[rennmaxbeta]

I also have this problem with the EPG on a Sony Bravia — it's very annoying and bad design. I get that EPG info is provided in the broadcast stream, but how is a cheap PC tuner and software able to get at least a full day or current channel range EPG automatically without first switching to each station block but a $2000 television cannot?

[diesel]

I also have this problem with the EPG on a Sony Bravia — it's very annoying and bad design. I get that EPG info is provided in the broadcast stream, but how is a cheap PC tuner and software able to get at least a full day or current channel range EPG automatically without first switching to each station block but a $2000 television cannot?

Because a cheap PC has got more memory and associated processing power than a device which is mainly designed to only display pictures. EPGs in TVs are getting a little better but Sony were a bit slow to the party.