– Updated February 16, 2010

I acquired the Sony KDL-52V5100 for $400 last year as an offer for resolve my issue with the KDS-50A2000. It is most definitely an improvement, but it does have one flaw known as “red flashing”.

What is the “red flashing” problem?

It’s called “red flashing” by many owners of the AVSForum’s V5100 thread who are experiencing this issue. What happens is the color intensity/balance of an image will sometimes automatically adjust as seen in the video below:

The YouTube description is apt:

While difficult to capture with a video camera, in this clip the background noticeably shifts colors when the interview subject brings his hands into the frame. In person the color shift is visible across the entire picture.

Sony denies the problem exists.

Called local authorized repair shop and they were told that this problem was already addressed in the most recent firmware update which I already have. That’s bullshit. The most recent firmware available on the support site addressed the auto-dimming issue, not this new color fluctuation issue.

As for what they could do? They offered to pick up the unit for in-house testing, but that’s it; they could not do anything else for me. As we all know, this is not a simple part replacement fix. Many AVSForum members already tried part replacements without success. I told them I wanted to contact Sony Canada themselves. They said that was fine and to repeat what they told me.

Contacting Sony Canada produced no results. They were shocked to discover that the local authorized repair shop couldn’t do anything. They reconfirmed that I installed the latest firmware and that was all. They told me that they had to contact the local authorized repair shop to sync up info and will get back to me in a “few days”. I voiced my displeasure and said that I would be waiting.

Now I wait. If there’s no acknowledgement of this problem, I’m going to demand a replacement. I don’t want to risk another defective replacement.

Clip from the “Colbert Report” on November 16, 2009, with guest Paul Goldberger.

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Update #2:

Today, December 15, 2009, I checked my VISA statement online and noticed that FutureShop issued a $22.60 credit. It only took 30+ days for them to finally honor their price protection policy.  Ridiculous. I’ll make sure to think twice before relying on that again.

Those of you who are paying attention to the math will notice that my final cost for Modern Warfare 2 is $45.19; $2.60 less than what my printable receipt stated.

Needless to say, I’m not fighting this error.

Update #1:

I called FuturShop support on December 14, 2009. I tried to give the woman on the line my “confirmation number”, but she did not know what to do with my confirmation number. I had to give my order number instead. She explained that my issue had to be escalated and I will be receiving an e-mail notification within 24 hours. If I don’t hear from them, I should call back.

I tried to explain to her that I have been told the same drivel for the past month, but she said she couldn’t do anything about that since there were no notes on the order.

I guess I will be calling back at 10:15 AM tomorrow if I don’t receive anything.

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Back on October 19, 2009, FutureShop held a great deal for Modern Warfare 2. It was $49.99 ($20 off) which is quite the deal for a new release. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, but I wasn’t going to wait up until 12:00 AM PST for the deal to go live. So I did the next best thing and placed an order at full price; I had planned on using FutureShop’s own “Lowest Price Guarantee“.

The next day, I sent an e-mail to FutureShop’s customer service and was assured that I will be receiving the game for $49.99 through the following e-mail.

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