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POS Sony TV weird problem

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km1125
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POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by km1125 » Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:27 am

I have a Sony KDL-40W650D and every now and then run into a frustrating problem.

The remote stops working. Well, it's not the remote, but the TV gets "locked up" and won't respond to the remote commands, or sometimes even the buttons right on the TV. Sometimes you have to powercycle the TV by pulling the power to get it to work normally, because it even ignores the power button right on the TV.

The weirdest though, is when I tune to 3.9 or 3.10 (WHNE). If you stay on either of those channels long enough (a few minutes or so), the TV will stop responding to the remote. Must be something in the data stream unique to those two subchannels, as it doesn't happen on any of the other 3.x channels or any other channels. Picture and sound continue to work fine, but just no response from the remote. The power light blinks as though it's receiving the signal from the remote (just like normal), but none of the functions do anything. If you remove the RF connection then within a couple seconds the TV starts responding to the remote again and you can plug the RF back in and resume normal operation (on a different channel.... if you stay on 3.9 or 3.10 it will "lock up" again.)

The TV will also stop responding to the remote when you exit just some of the setup screens. To get out of this "locked up" condition, you must pull power from the TV.

Tried sw/fw update and no dice. It's on the "latest and greatest" (apparently).



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Turkeytop
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by Turkeytop » Fri Dec 30, 2022 1:52 pm

Have you checked the batteries in your remote? At our park in Florida, I have somehow acquired the reputation as the go to guy when they're having TV problems. I don't know why. I don't even like TV.

Almost invariable, the problem turns out to be dead batteries in their remote. When I tell them, the old guy or old lady will go and root varound in a drawer and find some dead batteries they have already removed from something else.

Now I take new batteries with me and I tell them they can have them only if they give me their old ones.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

km1125
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by km1125 » Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:10 pm

Yes, I have definitely looked at the batteries as a potential issue, and ruled them out. I even have two different remotes that are setup for the TV and when this happens, neither works.

Most times when it happens you can't even use the buttons right on the TV to change channels or adjust volume.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Dec 31, 2022 7:37 am

I've encountered an issue with my 55" Samsung TV (Q80T model from 2020), where at infrequent random times, the volume buttons do not work on my remote (despite the other buttons working) and I receive zero audio. Rebooting the TV always solves the problem for me. I think the issue in my case may have something to do with either (a) audio data not transmitting properly via HDMI, or (b) the TV failing to send audio to the speakers.

I've encountered my issue regardless of whether the audio is sent to the TV speakers for output or to my home theater speakers.

I hope your Sony BRAVIA lasts a lot longer than the one I used to own, km1125.

I bought a 46" BRAVIA during Black Friday in 2006; this was back in the day when LCD panels still had considerable thickness and weighed a lot more. It was a 46" set that at the time commonly retailed for $1,799 (MSRP of $1,999) that I bought for $1,299. It was a wonderful TV during the time it functioned well. I had planned on keeping it for a decade at minimum. Very good color accuracy for an LCD, good motion rendering, and good audio. Less than five years into ownership, one horizontal row of pixels began to malfunction. A few weeks later, two more rows began to malfunction. A little while later, the panel was producing such a terrible picture that the TV was nearly unusable. I had two local repair technicians look at it, and they both said the same thing - the panel is hosed and your TV is done.

I called Sony customer support, and even though my TV was only about a year off my extended warranty, they wouldn't do a fucking thing for me. They "generously" offered to sell me a refurbished version of the current year 46" model for $649. I could get a spanking new one at the store for $50 or $100 more had I wanted! I told them to pound sand and went ahead and bought a Samsung instead for $799, I believe. That TV still works very well, but the reflection handling sucks beyond belief in bright rooms (didn't matter in my old house since the TV was positioned perpendicularly to any windows). Gave that set to my folks a couple years ago after their 50" Insignia stopped working.

By the way, for those of you considering a new big screen TV, I very highly recommend Rtings.com as an info source. Their reviews are outstanding. They've reviewed just about every medium and large screen TV manufactured over the past several years, excluding extreme bargain basement brands (Element, Westinghouse, etc.).

A YouTube channel called "Stop the FOMO" also offers some good tips when it comes to purchasing a new TV, although he probably doesn't consider brand reliability as much as he should, instead placing much more emphasis on image accuracy and the like.

I will say OLEDs such as those manufactured by LG and Sony are tough to beat if your viewing location is a room with low ambient light. The picture quality is stunningly terrific, especially dark scenes. I cannot speak to over-the-air tuner quality in these sets, though, for those of you who are (at least partially) reliant on off-air TV stations.

Those in the OLED market may want to check out Best Buy. They still have some 2021 Sony models at greatly reduced prices. Never thought I'd see a new 55" Sony OLED (in this case, the A80J) for under $1,000! Walmart was selling an OPEN BOX version of the same set for $300 more! The 55" inch version of the flagship A90J model from 2021 is selling right now for $1,799 at Best Buy, nearly double the price of the one-step-down A80J model.

If I were in the market for a 55" OLED TV, I'd probably drop everything and immediately snap up the A80J from Best Buy for $999.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-55-cl ... Id=6455217



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Honeyman
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by Honeyman » Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:36 pm

I bought the LG C2 55" for $1250 and had an issue with a couple small lines in the right corner of the set. LG claimed it was damaged, and I returned it to Costco. Reluctant to buy the same set, was able to find a Sony AJ90 for $1400 and got that. The picture looks more realistic to my eye, and the sound is dramatically better. That might be due to the placement if the set, on a mount inside a built in area above my fireplace. Glad that after the hassle of returning one set, paying my TV guy twice for the installation, I wound up with a TV I am much happier with.

Thanks for the word on the Sony A80J, MW, or I might not have gone that route.


The censorship king from out of state.

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MWmetalhead
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Mar 29, 2023 10:35 pm

$1400 is a good price for the A90J.

For those looking to spend less on an OLED, I cannot find any new A80J sets online anymore. I think everyone has sold out of those sets in new, unopened condition at this point. Best alternative may be the LG B2 55" set, which can be had for just under $1,100 at multiple retailers. That appears to be the normal selling price for that unit at the moment; I was unable to find any discounted prices. LG also makes an A2 set, but based on the reviews I've read and watched, that set is too much of a lackluster performer for my liking.

The best price I found for the 55" A80K in new condition, which is successor to the A80J, is $1,199 at Amazon (they literally have one unit left in stock as I'm writing this). Everyone else is selling that same set for about $1,299 right now. I'd rather pay the extra hundred bucks for the A90J if the choice is between paying $1,299 for the A80K versus $1,399 for the A90J.



syntheticexctasy
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by syntheticexctasy » Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:07 am

Sony stuff is terrible these days. 1000% markup and nowhere near the quality that used to be there sadly.



km1125
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Re: POS Sony TV weird problem

Post by km1125 » Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:16 am

Since the thread was popped to the top, I'll give an update.

I've played with this TV trying to figure it out. Still has a lot of quirks, however, the problem with 3.9 and 3.10 hasn't happened since WHNE made changes to their lineup. Something in their stream must have been confusing to the TV and causing it to lock up.

The TV still has problems if you go into the setup screens and try to exit back to normal viewing mode, or if you stream any content from a USB drive and then try and go back to normal viewing mode.



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