Company practically urges customers to have their TV inspected for safety

Oct 12, 2011 11:23 GMT  ·  By

Fire hazards sometimes show up in faulty devices, and Sony seems to be going through such an episode after 11 incidents of smoking or melting were reported in Japan.

Owners of Sony Bravia liquid crystal displays might find the product information option in the Set-Up menu of their Bravia LCDs very useful during the next week or so.

This is because it is by accessing that section of the menu that they can find their product identification number.

Apparently, they might need it if they are to call Sony and have their TV either checked for faulty components.

Most people may not have heard yet, but Sony got reports, 11 of them, about Bravia LCDs starting to give off smoke or suffer circuit melting because of faulty components.

All of those reports came from Japan, but the TVs were from a series that sold about 1.6 million worldwide.

That figure was reached because the TVs have been on sale for years, since 2007 in fact.

KDL-40D3400, KDL-40D3500, KDL-40D3550, KDL-40D3660, KDL-40V3000, KDL-40W3000, KDL-40X3000 and KDL-40X3500 are the model numbers subject to the flaw, or flaws.

Their owners should make haste in contacting Sony for a safety inspection, even if years-old models haven't exhibited any pyromaniacal tendencies yet.

Initial reports said that Sony was recalling more than 1 million TVs, but the company said this was not the case.

"This is not a product recall and is not a case of switching over affected TV sets for new ones," stated a company spokesperson.

This isn't the first time Sony has to deal with overheating hazards, as it had to, among other things, recall 535,000 VAIO laptops (last year).

Then again, other companies sometimes run into this sort of thing as well, so in the end, it is a good thing that Sony isn't wasting time in preventing further mishaps.