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Vizio settles for $3M after saying 60 Hz TVs had 120 Hz “effective refresh rate” | Vizio claimed backlight scanning made refresh rates seem twice as high.::Vizio claimed backlight scanning made refresh rates seem twice as high.

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[–] draughtcyclist@programming.dev 52 points 10 months ago

Hell, I bought a 4k 60 hz TV from them and inputs are limited to 30 hz. I'll never buy a Vizio anything again, sounds like this is their business as usual.

[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Who gets the 3m? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it isn't the people who were deceived/lied to.

[–] GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org 44 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Under the settlement terms [PDF] spotted by The Verge, people who bought a Vizio TV in California after April 30, 2014, can file a claim. They'll receive $17 or up to $50 if the fund allows it. The individual payout may also be under $17 if the claims exceed the $3 million fund. Vizio will also pay attorney fees. People have until March 30 to submit their claims. The final approval hearing is scheduled for June 20.

These class-actions are always peanuts in the end.

[–] Nommer@sh.itjust.works 25 points 10 months ago

Companies should not only pay out much more for a class action but also replace the product sold. It's insane how they can just constantly steal from us and just get a tiny fine.

[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago

Yes for real, something tells me they pocketed more than $17 per victim.

[–] QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

The only one that's been amazing (that I can think of) so far was the class action settled against Toyota for a few years worth of the Prius.

They now have to cover the inverter under warranty for 20 years from the date that the car was first used. If your car fails because of the inverter they also pay for the tow, the car rental, and all of the repairs.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 10 months ago

Ever read about the Iomega Zip Drive class action? Early Zip drives had a "click of death" that killed it early. The settlement was paid in coupons for more Iomega products.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

You and I both know I can't read!

[–] currycourier@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

3M also seems like a pittance? From a quick look their revenue is like $1.7B. Granted their margins are small but still

[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I feel like if they doubled the specs of their device to make sales they should have to pay back HALF of what they made from the sales. Not just the profit margin, a plain 50% of gross.

[–] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I remember when TVs advertised bs like "600 Hz clear motion rate".

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago (2 children)

God I hated those smooth motion systems. Makes everything look like crap.

[–] Donut@leminal.space 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wow I really thought I was the only one (okay not literally).

Any show would look like reality TV and the added interpolation just made movement a blurry mess. I steered clear of 60+Hz TVs until this very day because I hate them so much

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

You know you can just turn the feature off if you don't like it, right? The refresh rate of the TV has nothing to do with it.

TVs have been operating at 50/60 Hz since they were invented. If you're in an NTSC region (like North America), every TV you've ever owned refreshes the screen at 60Hz+, no matter how old you are.

Refresh rate ≠ framerate

[–] Donut@leminal.space 1 points 10 months ago

Sorry I wrote that in a bit of a hurry so I took some shortcuts in my words. Yes, refresh rate isn't the same as framerate.

You know you can just turn the feature off if you don't like it, right?

Not if it's the TV of a random person I am visiting. First time I noticed it.

The thing is, why buy a 600Hz TV if you're going to turn it off immediately? That's why I (as a rule of thumb) didn't bother with TVs that advertised with 200/400/600Hz modes.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

As someone who loves motion smoothing; I'll never understand this opinion. It doesn't make everything look like "crap", it makes it look more realistic. Motion looks closer to real life. Hell, I like it for the fact that it removes motion blur alone. Can't stand motion blur.

Trying to go back to watching films at 24Hz is nauseating for me (especially action movies with a lot of rapid camera momements). I can't stand it. It's like trying to go back to console gaming after getting used to 4K 144Hz PC gaming with a 4090.

Try leaving motion smoothing on for a week and then go back to having it off, and you'll see what I mean. You get used to it, and then suddenly you don't want to turn it off anymore.

[–] 13617@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Why only California? I was deceived by this too.

[–] Snowpix@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

Reminds me of UserBenchmark and their "Effective frames per second" nonsense.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 2 points 10 months ago

Is money worth twice as much when viewed under a 120Hz strobe?

[–] verdantbanana@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

was this not the same with all the tvs

always had to buy 120hz to get 60hz from most any brand except for element and a few other cheap ones

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)
[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 1 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Vizio has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company misled customers about the refresh rates of its TVs.

Vizio was referring to the backlight scanning (or black frame insertion) ability, which it claimed made the TVs look like they were operating at a refresh rate that was twice as fast as they are capable of.

Under the settlement terms [PDF] spotted by The Verge, people who bought a Vizio TV in California after April 30, 2014, can file a claim.

Vizio also agreed to stop advertising their TVs with 120 and 240 Hz "effective" refresh rates but "will not be obligated to recall or modify labeling for any Vizio-branded television model that has already been sold or distributed to a third party," according to the agreement.

The settlement comes as tactics for fighting motion blur, like backlight scanning and frame interpolation (known for causing the "soap opera effect"), have been maligned for often making the viewing experience worse.

Class-action cases like Vizio's that end up having a negative cost for OEMs provide further incentive for them to at least stop using the ability as a way to superficially boost spec sheets.


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