Well, the repair company is coming out tomorrow to replace my "image unit" to see if that corrects the problem. If that does not correct it immediately, I will go to BB before Monday (end of 30 day period) and exchange.

If I need to do that, I think I will switch to another brand/set.

It is amazing how much better the service I got when I called them and send "nevermind, I want to cancel the repair and return the TV to BB" amazingly right after that, my part arrived and they wanted to come out next day to do the work.

Me again.

They guy came out yesterday and replace the image unity (color wheel, fans, etc.) and the high pitch whine is gone, so at least that part is corrected. This unit seems a bit louder than the last one, but it could break in, plus it a lot less annoying then the whine.

The repairman replaced the unit, closed the set up and left. I had to correct the rotation and alignment of the thin myself. Oh well, I would rather do that then have some guy that really didn't know what he was doing. I wish the warranty would just ship me the parts and I can do the repair!

Nobody cares anmore?

I am thinking on returning the set tomorrow. The high pitch noise is fixed, but the hum from the color wheel and/or the cooling fan is annoying me.

I like the picture, but I don't know if I can stand the constant hum.

I am thinking about the 55" SXRD (which is now down to what I paid for this set)
Does this TV have the cooling fan noise as well?

Given the other issues, I would probably be thinking about the same thing if I were you. It's very disappointing to spend good money only to find that the product isn't living up to the cost.

Yeah, that noise would be a deal breaker for me.

I'm very curious to know about the SXRDs too. I came VERY close (I mean filling out the loan application close) to purchasing a 60" SXRD on Black Friday but backed out at the last second. I'm pretty sold on them, but had never thought about noise in those types of sets.

Thanks for the responses.

I am so torn. On one hand, I could probably get used to the noise.
on the other hand, it is a new TV and I want to be completely happy.
If I take it back, I am worried I will end up with Sony "green blob" syndrome down the road. I read someplace between 2% and 30% of the sets have this problem. With my luck, I would probably be one of them.

It is like I am at 16 in blackjack, do I hit or stand? I could be better, or I could be worse off.

I have until tonight to decide.
My wife is just in the "whatever you want" mode, so I that doesn't help.

I don't know anything about the "green glob" effect but my next purchase is probably going to be the 50" SXRD. I have the 50" original SXRD and the price on the newer 50" is $1000 less then I paid for the original a year ago. So I'm probably adding a second one to my collection. I love the first one.

The 55" SXRD is currently at the price I paid for the 57" Mits, so I think it would just be an even swap.

Aargh, I am just so torn.

I have the 60" SXRD and the fan isn't too loud at all. If I'm standing behind the set I can hear it, but if I'm sitting in front of it (usually about 10 feet away or so) I really can't hear it, even during quiet scenes in movies.


The previous Sony XBR1 sets were more susceptable to the "green globs" than the newer A2000s. (and the XBR2s) It can still be an issue sometimes in the newer sets, but I don't hear about it as often. What is more likely to be a possible issue is a slight green haze, causing colour uniformity problems which can be noticable in some parts of the screen at warm up. According to the instruction book, this is normal during the first few minutes of warm up, but I've heard that some people's sets take longer to warm up (in some cases the problem doesn't go away for a couple hours or in unusual cases, not at all). The temperature of the room helps, the warmer the better. Mine has very, very minor green in a few places for the first 20 minutes or so, then the set looks great. It's a gamble, and it is a real issue to consider, but I think the percent of TVs with a real "green" problem is much smaller than 30%. The best thing to do is pay close attention to the set when you first get it (try black and white movies, grey scale test patterns, etc. where the green would be more noticable). It's too bad that the TV has this (valid) reputation, because it is a great set, I love mine.

Does Sony acknowledge this problem? Or do they pretend there's nothing wrong?

Sony being, well, Sony, they haven't exactly seemed to be aggressive in dealing with the problem. They don't think it's enough of a problem to recall sets or anything, but will work with customers who complain about it (repair or replacement, depending how bad the problem is). I'm sure they are counting on the fact that many people (the average non-videophile people) won't even notice or care if there is an issue as I've described, unless it's major, like a huge green circle in the middle of the screen that won't go away. And the very small percent that do complain is something they can deal with. This is just what I get from reading posts on places like avsforum. But to Sony's credit, I think they have been trying to improve things, as each newer generation of SXRD sets have less problems of this nature than the previous ones (the newest XBR2s have the least reported problems). But they can't seem to completely shake the problem in every single TV they make yet.

In case anybody is looking for closure,

I kept the Mits. Because of several reasons. One, I wasn't sure what I would replace it with, second, it was about 0 outside on Monday and I didn't feel like going out. Also I figured the fand noise could dissipate after some hours running. If not I am planning on either some Dynamat on the back cover of the set, or replacing the fan with something a bit quieter.

Thanks for the responses.