Lately, I have been very concerned about reports of the last generation of Sony RP SXRD displays exhibiting problems with the LCoS panels. In a nutshell, similar to the XBR1 debacle going back a few years ago.

I own a KDS-R60XBR2 with about 3600 hours on it. It has not had a single problem...yet. My set is 16 months old and I did not buy an extended warranty. I now wish I did. The set is perfect, IMO and I would like it to stay that way.

I would just like to get a handle on how many of us SXRD owners had or have a problem. XBR1 owners, please do not vote in this poll. It's not that we don't care, it's just that I don't want the numbers skewed.

Also, please no Sony bashing. Every manufacturer has issues and I don't want this poll polluted with trolling.

Thanks for your help...Will

I developed a yellow stain on a KDS-R70XBR2 that was fixed after an optical block replacement.

You can read the details of my story and see photos here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14422469&highlight=#post14422469)

Edit: Sorry, didn't read the poll carefully and voted "blob" instead of "stain". I never considered them different...

NO problems so far though I only have 1400hrs on my 60XBR2.

70" XBR2 with 8000 hours and no issues - yet.

I'm happy to see members jumping on this poll. As everyone else already has, if you could post the amount of hours used along with the model number, that would help immensely. Thanks again, everybody...Will

60" A2000 bought in 7/06; I'd have to check hours, but I'm still on the original bulb. slight green normal Newton's rings visible on a mid-gray field on start-up, but looks perfect once warmed up and the cell gap stabilizes.

The only things I can complain about with the set are the screen speckle (SSE) and the fact that it can be too bright. I have the IRIS settings recalibrated, and use power saving lamp mode with an ambient light for movie viewing and I'm happy with it.

BTW, I spent two years in the LCoS R&D group at Three-Five/Brillian and work with a former Sony TV manufacturing manager, so I may be able to provide some insight on some specific issues.

BTW, what the heck is "scibbling"?

BTW, what the heck is "scibbling"?

There was an issue I read about where the pattern from the defective panel looked like someone took a magic marker and 'scribbled' on your screen. I can't find any pictures of it, off hand.

BTW, I spent two years in the LCoS R&D group at Three-Five/Brillian and work with a former Sony TV manufacturing manager, so I may be able to provide some insight on some specific issues.

WLH,

I wouldn't even know where to start! I guess the million dollar question is if the optical blocks for the SXRDs made after the XBR1 series are different (better) than their predecessors.

Also, is dust and/or over-heating the culprit?

Is there a way to hasten/prevent this from happening?

I guess the fact that you bought an A2000 should speak volumes and that the issues were, for the most part, corrected?

I would certainly be interested in everything you had to say about the subject, to be quite honest with you...Will

60a2000
no issues
19 months
3800 hours

a2000
bought 3/2007
built date 2/2007
No Issues
original bulb with about 5000 hours

There was an issue I read about where the pattern from the defective panel looked like someone took a magic marker and 'scribbled' on your screen. I can't find any pictures of it, off hand.

Scribbling seems to have effected only 2003 and 2004 models. I guess it would be interesting if someone with an 06 or 07 model had it.

Here's a link that has pictures of what scribbling looks like. There is also alot of information regarding the blob and staining. Additionally, this person has a step by step section on replacing the optical block, by yourself. Pretty interesting stuff...Will

http://splinke.googlepages.com/

60A2000
have normal doughnut in middle of screen that's noticeable on black background (barely) but goes away after set warms up. bought in april of 07 still on original bulb, not very heavy use but am about 160 miles away and wont be able to check hours till friday.

EDIT: normal GREEN oblong doughnut

i have 60xbr2 mnfr. 10/06 with about 6000 hours on it. still flawless and beautiful to behold. did get 5 year warranty from sony just because of xbr1 problems.

i remember the light engine on the xbr2s was different than the light engine on the a 2000/2020. they had different part numbers. reading the a2000/2020 threads, there were several early posts from owners about staining and discoloration issues that required ob replacements. often times the ob replacements didn't fix the problems and many owners abandoned all sony sxrd technology. i have monitored the xbr2 thread since inception and believe there have been no more that 10 staining, blobbing, discoloration reports so i have to believe that the xbr2 light engine is superior to that used in the xbr1 and a2000/2020.

word of caution for your poll, watch out for trolls who will vote under a variety of aliases to skew the results to show a much higher percentage of failures

i do not know what the light engine is in the a3000s, whether it is the same as the xbr2s or the a2000/2020s so any info on this would be helpful. still wondering what sony did to improve the color so much on the a3000s. did they use newer, improved sxrd chips?
anyone have any ideas?

i have 60xbr2 mnfr. 10/06 with about 6000 hours on it. still flawless and beautiful to behold. did get 5 year warranty from sony just because of xbr1 problems.

i remember the light engine on the xbr2s was different than the light engine on the a 2000/2020. they had different part numbers. reading the a2000/2020 threads, there were several early posts from owners about staining and discoloration issues that required ob replacements. often times the ob replacements didn't fix the problems and many owners abandoned all sony sxrd technology. i have monitored the xbr2 thread since inception and believe there have been no more that 10 staining, blobbing, discoloration reports so i have to believe that the xbr2 light engine is superior to that used in the xbr1 and a2000/2020.

word of caution for your poll, watch out for trolls who will vote under a variety of aliases to skew the results to show a much higher percentage of failures

i do not know what the light engine is in the a3000s, whether it is the same as the xbr2s or the a2000/2020s so any info on this would be helpful. still wondering what sony did to improve the color so much on the a3000s. did they use newer, improved sxrd chips?
anyone have any ideas?

That's good news about the different OBs for the XBR2. As far as trolls, I setup the poll to log the username of each voter. Hopefully, it will be pretty easy to weed out the trolls, should we have any.

It's such a double edged sword with LCoS technology. It looks absolutely stunning but the chances for failure seem to be higher than the industry standard, IMO. This is of course, after taking the XBR1 disaster out of consideration.

I hope to have at least 3 or 4 more years with my XBR2. 'She Who Must be Obeyed' will certainly not let me buy another display after spending the cash we did on the SXRD last year!

60" A3000 purchased in September 2008

OB replaced in Jan 2008 for overall green hue

Video processor board replaced a month or two later for problems w/ tans, whites, blues.

Stunning since then.

Purchased 3 year plan after January.

No Problems with my XBR2 & A3000. Both have extra Warranties

XBR2 4000+ Hours
A3000 : 1050 Hours

No Problems with my XBR2 & A3000. Both have extra Warranties

XBR2 4000+ Hours
A3000 : 1050 Hours

can you compare the pq between the xbr2 and the a3000. i remain very impressed with the pq on my nearly 2 year old xbr2. in fact i was away for a week and watched it for the first time last night for football and it brought me back to the old "wow" factor i had after i first got it.

i have heard from several reliable sources that the colors on the a3000 are superior to the xbr2s. do you agree? if so do you know what sony did to improve it so much as the colors on my umr calibrated xbr2 are pretty darn good?

KDS-R70XBR2
Born in September 2006 on the first manufacturing run
8800 hours on set (mine may be the most elderly XBR2 extant)

Blob: a yellow-green blob about the size of watermelon began maybe 8 months ago around 1 o'clock on the set and slowly expanded to become a...

Stain: most of the screen developed a stain, darkest around the upper right quadrant and other outer edges, only unstained in a hand-sized patch around 8 o'clock on the screen, and eventually brought with it a like-colored...

4:3 burn-in: note that this is actual burn-in and not LCD afterimage that goes away after a while.

See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14578387#post14578387 for pictures.

I got my OB replaced today. It looks awesome now.

ii remember the light engine on the xbr2s was different than the light engine on the a 2000/2020. they had different part numbers. reading the a2000/2020 threads, there were several early posts from owners about staining and discoloration issues that required ob replacements. often times the ob replacements didn't fix the problems and many owners abandoned all sony sxrd technology. i have monitored the xbr2 thread since inception and believe there have been no more that 10 staining, blobbing, discoloration reports so i have to believe that the xbr2 light engine is superior to that used in the xbr1 and a2000/2020.

You are joking right?

1 number different at the end and you think the technology is totally different :rolleyes:

55SS955 50 OB A-1084-666-A KDF-55XS955
60SX955 60 OB A-1084-668-A KDF-60X9955
60XBR1 60 OB A-1127-714-A SERIAL NUMBERS 20xxxxx 90xxxxx 98xxxxx
50XBR1 50 OB A-1148-155-A SERIAL NUMBERS 90xxxxx 98xxxxx
60XBR1 60 0B A-1168-494-A SERIAL NUMBERS 91xxxxx 99xxxxx
50XBR1 50 0B A-1168-495-A SERIAL NUMBERS 91xxxxx 99xxxxx
60A2xxx 60 OB A-1203-194-A
55A2xxx 55 OB A-1203-195-A
50A2xxx 50 OB A-1203-196-A
70XBR2 70 OB A-1203-197-A
60XBR2 60 OB A-1203-198-A

Had the optical board(light engine replaced a few weeks ago in my 60 xbr2
It was a couple years old and was a replacementfor the xbr1. Same issue with that set also. My green blob was entirely the top part of the screen and a b&w program was always green toned

Had the optical board(light engine replaced a few weeks ago in my 60 xbr2
It was a couple years old and was a replacementfor the xbr1. Same issue with that set also. My green blob was entirely the top part of the screen and a b&w program was always green toned

That means you should get 2 votes :cool:

The light engine may not be much different, but the technician today did comment on the presence of an additional fan deep inside my XBR2 that was not in the XBR1. It was smaller than the big exhaust fan, and appeared to be helping move air past the lamp. That additional lamp cooling may be part of the reason for the longer delay in the appearance of green blobs.

In fact, for average people, who have far fewer hours on their sets, that little tweak was probably just enough to get them past the two-year warranty on the OB. ;) Yes, I'm a cynic.

A couple of months ago, mine had a yellow-green stain covering about 80% of the screen, worst on the right side. The problem was corrected when the OB was replaced.

Now, with the second OB, there is a sort of pinkish-purple discoloration along the top of the screen on the right half. It's less than an inch deep, vertically, but it's very noticeable on a light colored background. Also, I just had Jeff/UMR calibrate it during his Honolulu tour. He said the gamma curve was significantly off and in his professional opinion, my new OB is defective. Jeff did a great job and the PQ is very good despite the flaws, but it's not perfect. If it doesn't get any worse, I could live with it, but I'll probably be calling Sony Warranty service again as soon as I have a morning free.

70XBR2
Born: 9/2006
Adopted: 10/2006
Hours: 5000-6000 (original bulb)

Has normal (well, i guess now I think it's normal since some others seem to have it as well) greenish doughnut in middle of screen that's noticeable on startup but goes away after set warms up (approx 30-45 min - definitely not there after 1 hour).

Love this set!! Calibrated by umr 7/2007 -- haven't changed a thing since.

I guess I should have put in a choice for 'have blob/stain but it goes away after warm-up'. Oh well, live and learn...Will

The light engine may not be much different, but the technician today did comment on the presence of an additional fan deep inside my XBR2 that was not in the XBR1. It was smaller than the big exhaust fan, and appeared to be helping move air past the lamp. That additional lamp cooling may be part of the reason for the longer delay in the appearance of green blobs.


Agree, XBR1 to XBR2 are clearly different, as noted by the part numbers, as the XBR1 are in the 1100s and the XBR2 are in the 1200s.

The numbering difference I am speaking of is that the XBR2 and the A2000/A2020 are the same guts/technology with slightly different screws/size for the individual units, where Mr. Wally stated "i remember the light engine on the xbr2s was different than the light engine on the a 2000/2020."

60A2xxx 60 OB A-1203-194-A
55A2xxx 55 OB A-1203-195-A
50A2xxx 50 OB A-1203-196-A
70XBR2 70 OB A-1203-197-A
60XBR2 60 OB A-1203-198-A

WLH,

I wouldn't even know where to start! I guess the million dollar question is if the optical blocks for the SXRDs made after the XBR1 series are different (better) than their predecessors.

I don't have any direct info. My co-worker held many management positions in Sony, but was primarily involved with CRT design and production in the US. SXRD was developed in Japan, so hard info is tough to come by. My guess is that the OB's are essentially the same design, but Sony probabaly improved their manufacturing processes, and perhaps changed some materials.

Also, is dust and/or over-heating the culprit?

Indirectly, heat is a contributor to many of the issues.

Cell gap non-uniformity is the primary contributor to the 'green blob' (at least from my experience). The coverglass will bow in and out as the LC cell expands with temperature; the difference in cell gap thickness causes different polarization conversion efficiency, particularly noticable for green in the mid-gray. This is why it's normal and expected to see rings and or a blob at cold start-up. The trick is to get the perimeter seal and LC fill right so that at steady-state operating temperature, the coverglass is parallel to the backplane creating a uniform cell gap.

Staining (which is visible at all gray-shades) is likely deterioration of the polarizing componants in the OB, most likely the Colorlink pieces. The stains are typically yellow, which is due to damaged componants in the blue portion of the light path where the highest energy photon are. Certainly restricted airflow and higher temps will contribute to this.

Image retention is also worse/more prevalent at higher temperatures.

Is there a way to hasten/prevent this from happening?

Keeping the lamp on power-saving and providing plenty of ventilation are good practices, but won't guarantee anything.

I guess the fact that you bought an A2000 should speak volumes and that the issues were, for the most part, corrected?

Well, I wasn't privy to in-depth info from Sony at the time of my purchase. Given my history at Three-Five (Brillian) I knew LCoS is susceptable to issues. However, SXRD was at the time by far the best bang the buck in terms of image quality. I had a 32" SD CRT and had been looking to upgrade and when I was layed up after a motorcycle accident and was going to be spending a lot of time at home, and the A2000 came out dropping the price to a palatable range for me, I jumped in.

I I would certainly be interested in everything you had to say about the subject, to be quite honest with you...Will

I hope this helps. Like I said, I don't have much detailed insight into Sony's specific inner workings, but I am familiar with LCoS technology.

i'm no expert on lcos technology or a tech geek, but i have followed this thread religiously since its inception. the issue as to whether the xbr2s had a different light engine than the a2000/2020 was discussed at length on the xbr2 owners thread, and based on the posts made by people far more knowledgeable than myself, the consensus has always been that the two light engines were different and had different part numbers as beachcomber has identified.

how much difference between the 2 ob parts exists i do not know. but from reading the a2000 and a2020 threads, there were far more reports of staining and discoloration on those models much earlier than the more recent reports of these issues appearing on the xbr2. one only need to reread those threads to see that blob type issues affected the a2000/2020 earlier and in more numbers than with the xbr2.

so based on the reports by owners on these threads, i have to believe the xbr2 light engines are somewhat superior to those other models. unfortunately whatever improvements were included on the xbr2 models seem to eventually succumb to staining and discoloration around the 2 year mark for some owners. all we can do is keep talking and learn together

My dedicated HT kds60a3000 is 11months old and getting purple haze on both sldes, luckily the Sony service center is 5mins fromy my home.
My upstairs kds50a2000 is two years old and fine.

KDS-R60XBR2
Born in November 2006
about 7500 hours on set

the stain started at the very top edge of the screen only visible on grey scenes. as it grew to about half the screen i began seeing burn in from 4.3 sidebars and the guitar hero fret board.
as the tint became larger it was visible on almost all scenes. eventually enveloping the whole screen.
scenes with certain colors such as shades of red or bright white looked fine. blond hair looked bright gold and most other colors were tinted green.
by the time the repair man came out it looked as if i was watching tv while looking through a mountain dew bottle.

here's some pictures that i also posted in the owners thread

I hear what you are saying about heat - but I put my 70 XBR2 in the last week of January 2008. I had it ISF calibrated within the first 500 or so hours - and assure you that it was not on "torch" prior to that.

Essentially the TV almost never been turned off - with over 5,000 hours on it now.

The TV is in a tempature control room is locked at 74 degrees.

I had the problems occuring beginning somewhere around 3k hours and it was pretty far gone by 4k hours.

As the TV has literally only been off for a total of less than 100-150 hours probably over 5 times since January, it clearly does not have the heat build-up expansion, contraction that is spoken of.

In fact, as most know, constant use instead of constant off/on is MUCH BETTER for electronics.

With that in mind, I have to believe that it goes further than heat/cycle issue spoken of.

I DO find the UV explanation interesting - though I have no idea if it really holds any water.

As for the A2000 v XBR, the CORE OB is the same, the assorted other devices ON THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLY BOARD are where the differences are. I would also say that most likely, the lens etc would probably be different depending on the size/throw, but again, the CORE OB is the same.

I guess I should have put in a choice for 'have blob/stain but it goes away after warm-up'. Oh well, live and learn...Will

I would have voted for that one. As it stands, I didn't vote cause I wasn't sure which to pick.

Based on what I have read in the main thread over the past 2 years (wow! has it rally been two years!!) no one that has had to have their OB replaced had a blob/stain that would go away after warm up - it would always be visable -- is that correct?

Of course that doesn't mean that I or others with this type of issue won't eventually need a new OB someday.

Based on what I have read in the main thread over the past 2 years (wow! has it rally been two years!!) no one that has had to have their OB replaced had a blob/stain that would go away after warm up - it would always be visable -- is that correct?



cant speek for the other owners threads but i dont recall seeing any post in the xbr2 thread saying that the tinting/blob/stain went away after warm up. mine sure didnt.

50A2000. Purchased in September of 2006

Had the original OB replaced this past July due to the green hue. Then had THAT one replaced a couple weeks later. Am now on OB #3 and the only issue was a couple weeks we turned the set on and there was widespread yellow staining. Turned the set off after about an hour, then waited a couple hours to turn it back on...perfect. Haven't had any problems since then.

KDS-R70XBR2 purchased in November 2006. still on the original bulb, calibrated by UMR sometime after 100 hours, still working flawlessly.

i've never checked the hours on the bulb, and i'm at work and can't do it now.

Now, with the second OB, there is a sort of pinkish-purple discoloration along the top of the screen on the right half. It's less than an inch deep, vertically, but it's very noticeable on a light colored background.
I'm pretty sure there's a very faint, but also very diffuse, tint in my new OB's upper-right corner, of about the same hue you describe. I'm not concerned about it, since unlike you, mine's not really visible, even on a grayscale background. I was scrutinizing my new picture very closely and carefully when I noticed it. I think I might even be pleased about it, as I suspect it's deliberate:

The RGB complement of yellow-green is purple (a.k.a. blue-magenta). I think the goal here is to forestall the *appearance* of a future green blob. It may develop, but it will actually improve the color balance before making it worse. Basically, they're offering you two small errors over the same period that would have given you one large one.

However, I can't see that your more-noticeable stain, or the gamma problem, is deliberate. Did umr say what exactly was wrong with the curve?

I'm giving mine a month and then I'm going to calibrate it again with my i1pro. It's not perfect at the low end, but the curves are pretty obvious even so. Should be interesting to compare them to my old curves.

UMR said the gamma curve should have a mild dip in it. In other words, it should actually be a curve. Mine is much closer to a straight line with about a 45 degree slope. The result is that the image is slightly washed out. Dark areas are a little too bright. He said he might could've corrected it in the service menu, but since I was probably going to try to get the OB replaced again, he didn't want to touch the SM to prevent any claims by the Sony techs that he screwed things up by mucking around in there.

I haven't had a chance to call Sony back yet, but probably will on Monday or Tuesday. I could live with it like it is. The image looks great except with predominantly dark scenes. Even Jeff thought it looked very good - just not perfect. And since he's calibrated over 300 XBR2s by his estimation, he knows what the're supposed to look like when everything is perfect. And since I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I guess I'll be calling Sony. I'll keep y'all posted.

Got my 2 as a replacement for a defective 1 in April of 07. UMR calibrated @ about 500 hrs. After 4000 hrs. it has developed a 2-3" "border" around the outside edge of the entire screen. This is noticeable when turning off in a completely dark room before the lamp shuts off. The area affected is a lighter shade of "blue/black" than the interior of the screen. With B&W program material the top and right side area of this "border" has a bluish tint, most noticeable on the right side. It is not noticeable (except to me) with color program material (and that's only with certain tans, grays, blacks and flesh tone). Have no idea what would cause this rectangle all around the screen. I'm always zooming on 4:3 material to avoid that burn in and sometimes even with letterboxed movies, but I have to wonder if the times I have not have caused this lightening of that area of the screen and the resulting bluish tinted "border".
Oh, by the way, Guitar Hero Fret Board burn in may be prevented/eliminated by putting on vacant NTSC channel with "snow" and using zoom to fill screen. Leave on all night. I was able to eliminate mine that way. I do this after each time I play for several hours and it works.
I, too, leave my set on for long periods. A min. of 6 hrs a night during the week and from Fri. evening until Sunday night bedtime.

Oh, by the way, Guitar Hero Fret Board burn in may be prevented/eliminated by putting on vacant NTSC channel with "snow" and using zoom to fill screen. Leave on all night. I was able to eliminate mine that way. I do this after each time I play for several hours and it works.


thats a good tip. but i never had any burn in until the blob began to worsen and i don't have any burn in now with the new OB. also my burn in would usually disappear after a few hours of just watching normal programming.

it has developed a 2-3" "border" around the outside edge of the entire screen.

i think i recall seeing a picture someone posted in one of the XBR2 threads that i think is exactly as you describe. on my monitor it appeared as a total blue screen and the outside was framed by a lighter blue......heck it might have even been you.

KDS-R60XBR2
Born in November 2006
about 7500 hours on set

the stain started at the very top edge of the screen only visible on grey scenes. as it grew to about half the screen i began seeing burn in from 4.3 sidebars and the guitar hero fret board.
as the tint became larger it was visible on almost all scenes. eventually enveloping the whole screen.
scenes with certain colors such as shades of red or bright white looked fine. blond hair looked bright gold and most other colors were tinted green.
by the time the repair man came out it looked as if i was watching tv while looking through a mountain dew bottle.

here's some pictures that i also posted in the owners thread

This sounds almost Identical to my KDSR50XBR1 situation. I purchased it in Nov. 05, to coincide with the Xbox 360 launch. It lasted until March of this year, although I didn't call until June it still enveloped my screen as well. The Guitar Hero fret board and 4:3 image retention was readily apparent after only a few short minutes. This would fade as another channel was viewed.

I called Best Buy's service department and they sent the Geek Squad agent out. He took one look at it and said "Oh Yeah, we'll order you a new optical block". The second trip had him bringing the parts and unlike my DLP that I had before-hand, it appears that Sony decided to bury this part as he had a lot of components to remove to get to it. He said that the image retention was exaggerated on the failing panel, and that he sees that all the time. I love this set, I just wish I could feel confident in continuing to own it. My extended plan expires Nov. 2009, and I really have a hard time paying to extend that further. I will probably chance it, since Flat Panels have come down and my 1080P set doesn't actually accept 1080P, it only upconverts or de-interlaces to it.

Well, after nearly a week into this poll, taking into consideration the folks that had to check multiple boxes, it looks like we have about %85 'no issues' rate. Not taking away anything from the poor folks who had/have problems but would you say the panic is averted?

For the record, I'm still spooked. I didn't buy an extended warranty...Will

The problem I'm having looks abit like scribbling but I don't think it is.

There is a link to a picture of my issue in post #8055
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=730418&page=403

I do know now that it is tied to the DRC mode turning the DRC mode on brings on the issue turn it off and the issue goes away. The service tech said my "digital processor is bad" but he didn't seem too knowledgeable. The part is on order.

55A2020
15 months old.
2000+ hours.
No problems.
I've always kept it in power savings and high altitude modes for extra cooling in the hope it won't degrade like my previous XBR1s (2) did.

The problem I'm having looks abit like scribbling but I don't think it is.

There is a link to a picture of my issue in post #8055
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=730418&page=403

I do know now that it is tied to the DRC mode turning the DRC mode on brings on the issue turn it off and the issue goes away. The service tech said my "digital processor is bad" but he didn't seem too knowledgeable. The part is on order.

No, that's not scribbling, as I have seen it. Definitely an issue, I would say, IMO. Funny that DRC causes the issue. Maybe one of the ISF folks would know what this is.

60A2020 purchased April 2007
Original bulb (don't know how many hours but its not our main TV - used for movie watching mainly)
No issues so far. PQ remains excellent.

I have a kds50a2000 with about 3000 hrs and a light brownish stain on the right side of the display really shows on grey backgrounds.

60" XBR2, 22 months old, on my second bulb. Within the last 2 weeks started developing green stain on the right side.

55A3000 bought April of this year.
No problems so far.

yellow stain it is! My 60 xbr2 was built in Jan 2007, it was a replacement, by sony,(man, wasn't that some fun phone time!), for my xbr1 50 inch. Since these OB's in the xbr2's are a 2 year warranty, at least I'm only out labor. Tech confirmed today what I suspected, and the new OB is ordered. Stay tuned!

60" XBR2. Bought Nov '06, no issues what so ever. I'm still glad I have a 6 year extended warranty though.

I have a 60A2000 that I purchased in July of 2006. Starting this week, I now see green staining on the right side and top of my screen. It is not as noticeable when viewing color material but it is more evident gray backgrounds. I have loved this tv until now. No way will I pay for an optical block replacement at $800-$1600. I would rather put the money toward a new tv. Are rptvs on their way out? Would LCD or plasma be a better choice? Thanks.

As the OBs had 2 year warranties to begin with and you purchased your unit in July of 2006, I would suggest you try and get with Sony ASAP and see if they will replace it.

As the OB issues with the XBR1 are well known now - as well as the Lawsuit with the XBR1, I would take it up the ladder reminding them of that fact if you get no where and that you would happily be the lead plantiff in a Lawsuit for the XBR2 OBs as they are now failing at the same alarming rate as the XBR1s.

If they do not give you a replacement, you might try contacting the attorneys who were involved with the XBR1 class action suit.

I am sure there are a number of XBR2 generation owners that would be happy to get on board that train.

As the OBs had 2 year warranties to begin with and you purchased your unit in July of 2006, I would suggest you try and get with Sony ASAP and see if they will replace it.

As the OB issues with the XBR1 are well known now - as well as the Lawsuit with the XBR1, I would take it up the ladder reminding them of that fact if you get no where and that you would happily be the lead plantiff in a Lawsuit for the XBR2 OBs as they are now failing at the same alarming rate as the XBR1s.

If they do not give you a replacement, you might try contacting the attorneys who were involved with the XBR1 class action suit.

I am sure there are a number of XBR2 generation owners that would be happy to get on board that train.

Thanks for the advice. I don't have an XBR model but I will call Sony and see what they can do about the OB. Thanks again.

Thanks for the advice. I don't have an XBR model but I will call Sony and see what they can do about the OB. Thanks again.

I realize you do not technically have a XBR1 or an XBR2, but the XBR1 issue is widely known - the XBR2s are now failing at an alarming rate - and yours is the same family of OBs as the XBR2, which was my point.

I realize you do not technically have a XBR1 or an XBR2, but the XBR1 issue is widely known - the XBR2s are now failing at an alarming rate - and yours is the same family of OBs as the XBR2, which was my point.

Thanks for the clarification. I really wonder if my next tv should be a LCD rather than a rptv.

My XBR2 looks exactly like Strutters. Every time i watch it, it looks like i'm watching a picture through night vision goggles.
I expect to hear back from Sony this week.

Thanks for the clarification. I really wonder if my next tv should be a LCD rather than a rptv.

given most rptvs will not be made soon, your choices really come down to lcd or plasma. i would choose a very good plasma as they have much better pq than lcd currently.

given most rptvs will not be made soon, your choices really come down to lcd or plasma. i would choose a very good plasma as they have much better pq than lcd currently.

Thanks mr. wally for the advice. I would like to see the new LED based DLP tvs like the Samsung HL61A750.

KDS 50A2000
Born Date: 10/2006
Second Bulb Replaced: December 2008 ( it's on alot!)

My issue in the last few months has been an overall green haze. I've been able to correct some of this haze by adjusting the white balance setting, but it is still very noticeable on black n white images.

It is becoming more apparent this issue will only get worse and would be due mostly to the OB ( I hope......)

KDS 50A2000
Born Date: 10/2006
Second Bulb Replaced: December 2008 ( it's on alot!)

My issue in the last few months has been an overall green haze. I've been able to correct some of this haze by adjusting the white balance setting, but it is still very noticeable on black n white images.

It is becoming more apparent this issue will only get worse and would be due mostly to the OB ( I hope......)

If I were you, I would call to get your OB replaced as soon as possible. That way, if you run into another issue, the day will be that much further away from the final deadline of June 30, 2010.

I just noticed that my 60" XBR2 had an issue after the first week of December. I immediately called the service center and currently have an OB on order. I hope to have it replaced this week. I am so discouraged by this, I'm kind of hoping that they will be unable to fix it and all of this turns into a class action suit and us poor suckers get a new television out of the deal.

This all seems too much like the XBR1 debacle, albeit on a longer time frame.

It's at the point now that I dread watching shows in 4:3 or pausing the DVR for any more than a few seconds. The issues we are experiencing are problems that Sony said would never happen. Even home theater mags stated that issues like burn in were impossible with SXRD technology. If it wasn't for this website and the smart people that post here, I would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Good luck...Will

I purchased a 60a2020 about 1 1/2 years ago. I started to notice a green tint/blob on black background's. Decided to go to the store where I purchased the tv. I am halfway through my extended warranty. I described the problem and mentioned the optical board. They set up a appointment for a repair guy to look at it. 5 minutes later I got a call from headquarters saying that they cancelled the appointment and just ordered the part for me. They obviously are aware of this problem. The warranty has a no lemon, 3-time same problem, get a new tv set. Are new optical board's lasting or are they having the same problem? Am I probably going to be calling the store again and eventually going through with the no lemon policy?