Currys...oh dear!

[Axegrinder]

Just got back from Currys in my lunch hour and had a bit of an argument with a "salesman" and his manager!

They have an LG 42PX3RV marked with the HDready logo. I was stood listening while a customer nearly handed over £1500 for it. Maybe I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself, so I told the potential customer that the TV was not HD as it didn't have the correct resolution (850, 480 I think it had) and that although it was capable of receiving a HD connection the picture was just scaled down.

I wasn't saying that the TV was bad, I've no doubts its a good set but the guy was being led to believe it was something it wasn't and he was happy enough when he found out. However, the salesman and then his manager both hurled quite a bit of abuse my way, shouting loudly (as I did back). I pointed out that they were misleading people by displaying the logo on TVs that didn't meet the criteria and If I saved someone from making an expensive mistake then I was happy.

Now I'm laughing to myself about it but should I have butted in like i did or stood back while the guy made an expensive mistake (Not that he'd know, he might have been very happy with it)

Would you have done the same or be happy if someone had saved you?

 

[tigertimtim]

you did the right thing, people are being conned, end of.

 

[Hellicopter]

Well done.Yes,it is 852x480 described as 'EDTV ready' on Dixons' website whatever that means!

Alan

 

[LFCRules]

I think, someone may be able to correct me, but Enhanced Definition TV is simply a SD tv that will accept a progressive signal and it is widescreen.

Axegrinder, good job on telling them they messed up, shame they had to resort to abuse rather than admitting their mistake.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Actually I think it does satisfy the "HD ready" demands. If downscaling the HD signals to fit the native pixel count classifies a product as not being HD ready then the choice is severely limited.........to about 3 or 4 1920x1080 displays. It's an interesting point....at what resolution do you consider a display HD Ready?

I agree it is good to point out that being able to accept an HD signal and being able to show it in full resolution are not the same thing though.

Gordon
(playing devils advocate)

 

[DanVJ]

Just got back from Currys in my lunch hour and had a bit of an argument with a "salesman" and his manager!

They have an LG 42PX3RV marked with the HDready logo. I was stood listening while a customer nearly handed over £1500 for it. Maybe I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself, so I told the potential customer that the TV was not HD as it didn't have the correct resolution (850, 480 I think it had) and that although it was capable of receiving a HD connection the picture was just scaled down.

I wasn't saying that the TV was bad, I've no doubts its a good set but the guy was being led to believe it was something it wasn't and he was happy enough when he found out. However, the salesman and then his manager both hurled quite a bit of abuse my way, shouting loudly (as I did back). I pointed out that they were misleading people by displaying the logo on TVs that didn't meet the criteria and If I saved someone from making an expensive mistake then I was happy.

Now I'm laughing to myself about it but should I have butted in like i did or stood back while the guy made an expensive mistake (Not that he'd know, he might have been very happy with it)

Would you have done the same or be happy if someone had saved you?

Well the customer would have been eligible for a full refund because he was misled by the saleperson. So it was either now or later on. Unless the guy never had a clue and never intended to get SkyHD or next gen consoles, which i think he will or he wouldn't have been there trying to buy an HD-Ready TV.

 

[DanVJ]

Actually I think it does satisfy the "HD ready" demands. If downscaling the HD signals to fit the native pixel count classifies a product as not being HD ready then the choice is severely limited.........to about 3 or 4 1920x1080 displays. It's an interesting point....at what resolution do you consider a display HD Ready?

I agree it is good to point out that being able to accept an HD signal and being able to show it in full resolution are not the same thing though.

Gordon
(playing devils advocate)

Well in theory, the legend goes that HD-Ready TVs are those that support at least 720p and have HDMI inputs.
HD-Compatible ones are all the rest, more or less.
In the end, one needs at least 720p and HDMI and he'll be fine.

No wait he wont, with that whole 50Hz and 60Hz mess.

How i love to live in Europe...

 

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Well just went to check the specs and the min requirement res wise is 720lines in wide mode.....they don't specify if that's vertical or horizontal but we'll presume they mean horizontal. So "well done" that man.....all ED displays, regardless of whether they can accept and display 1280X720p and 1920x1080i are not HD READY. Use of that logo would appear to be a breach of the licence agreement...you might want to contact the relevant authorities to stir it up.

Gordon

 

[Ferry]

100% well done, I would have done the same

 

[richard plumb]

yes, its 720 lines - probably so the HD plasma guys can still squeeze in under the wire with 1024x768 resolution.

I like the 50/60 fps requirement, makes our sets have proper 50 fps updates not 60-50 conversions

 

[Axegrinder]

Funny thing is Currys have a leaflet next to their LG stand showing the TVs that truly do meet the requirements and the leaflet says to qualify for the logo it must have:

"a minimum of 720 horizontal lines"

and on the back of the leaflet:

"If elsewhere a TV is marked 'HDTV compatible' and does not have the logo, it is not truly HD Ready and you may be dissapointed"

wish I'd had that on me at the time!

Anyway, I've fired off an email to the local trading standards. I'll see what happens.

 

[nigelbb]

They are guilty of breaching the Trades Descriptions Act by sticking the HD Ready logo on a TV that does not meet the specifications. You might drop a letter to Currys head office complaining about the abuse you got while trying to prevent their local staff breaking the law. A few hundred quid damages for the abuse would seem a suitable recompense.

 

[ocdwhiteboard]

absolutely the right thing to do. they are idiots in currys (have a look at the xbox forum for my bizarre exchange I had with them in my local one yesterday) and deserve to be picked up on their lies.

well done.

 

[Nick_UK]

Well the customer would have been eligible for a full refund because he was misled by the saleperson. So it was either now or later on. Unless the guy never had a clue and never intended to get SkyHD or next gen consoles, which i think he will or he wouldn't have been there trying to buy an HD-Ready TV.

It would be your word against theirs, and they would win. When are people going to learn that Currys' motto "We are here to help" only extends as far as the checkout ? When they've got your cash, you're on your own !

Well, at least the manager of that store didn't claim that he'd been assaulted, and try to have you run out of his store, like the one I met did when I touched him on the shoulder ! I was complaining about the scratched ex-display freezer they'd delivered, that they tried to pass off as a new one ! Currys are so bad, they have their own independent customer support site - (see my sig !).

 

[SuperSaiyan4]

You did the right thing dude I would have done the same (although all this HDTV malarky is confusing lol) I see manufacturers selling t.v.s that display 1280x768 res but dont have HDMI or component so i guess this isnt hdtv?

And what on earth are Curry's doing slapping on HDTV stickers on a tele that isnt HDTV at all?? Emm would be interesting to see if this goes the same way in dixon's lol

Oh the dude who said he posted on the xbox forums whats your name on their?

 

[ocdwhiteboard]

Oh the dude who said he posted on the xbox forums whats your name on their?

I meant the xbox forum on here, not a different one: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1984407&highlight=currys#post1984407

The staff at currys are retards...

 

[SuperSaiyan4]

Oh ok thought you meant the official Xbox forums lol which i am on.

 

[spidermaxx]

I work for currys, and we don't have HD TV stickers, the only TV's that have this logo are the ones that are (in theory according to the industry) HD ready.

When these sets are delivered, they already have the "HD READY" logo stuck on, so the only way for a non HD TV to have this logo on, is some idiot peeling it off one, and sticking it on another (I've seen kids do this!!!!)

On another note, there are some TV's out there, that even though they don't have HDMI or DVI, are still compatible with HD via component (granted, not as good) as they have the resolution to match what sky will be outputting.

I just feel sorry for all the people that have bought what they thought were HD ready TV's before the standard came in, and are actually not compatible.

Oh and on a 3rd note, the training is crap, I've had to mail head office many times, correcting there mistakes in the training that they give out for HD ready TVs.

 

[DanVJ]

I work for currys, and we don't have HD TV stickers, the only TV's that have this logo are the ones that are (in theory according to the industry) HD ready.

When these sets are delivered, they already have the "HD READY" logo stuck on, so the only way for a non HD TV to have this logo on, is some idiot peeling it off one, and sticking it on another (I've seen kids do this!!!!)

On another note, there are some TV's out there, that even though they don't have HDMI or DVI, are still compatible with HD via component (granted, not as good) as they have the resolution to match what sky will be outputting.

I just feel sorry for all the people that have bought what they thought were HD ready TV's before the standard came in, and are actually not compatible.

Oh and on a 3rd note, the training is crap, I've had to mail head office many times, correcting there mistakes in the training that they give out for HD ready TVs.

Yeah and when Sky wiill output HDCP material, those sets won't work.
HD-Ready means 720p and HDCP (either through DVI or HDMI). Without one of those, the sets might have all the resolution you want, but are not to be named HD-Ready.

 

[Axegrinder]

I work for currys, and we don't have HD TV stickers, the only TV's that have this logo are the ones that are (in theory according to the industry) HD ready.

When these sets are delivered, they already have the "HD READY" logo stuck on, so the only way for a non HD TV to have this logo on, is some idiot peeling it off one, and sticking it on another (I've seen kids do this!!!!)

Whilst the TVs may have a sticker on them to indicate HD, all of them in the two nearest branches to me have a big HDready logo on a piece of pink coloured card nearly as wide as the TV they're displayed under. Its so big that you can't possibly miss it! This has all the features of the TV displayed and this particular one displayed the non-HD resolution as mentioned earlier.

 

[spidermaxx]

Yeah and when Sky wiill output HDCP material, those sets won't work.
HD-Ready means 720p and HDCP (either through DVI or HDMI). Without one of those, the sets might have all the resolution you want, but are not to be named HD-Ready.

You are aware that even HDCP material will go through component, as it is not a digital cable

You can also buy HDCP adapters, for about £99 (been mentioned in these forums before)

 

[spidermaxx]

Whilst the TVs may have a sticker on them to indicate HD, all of them in the two nearest branches to me have a big HDready logo on a piece of pink coloured card nearly as wide as the TV they're displayed under. Its so big that you can't possibly miss it! This has all the features of the TV displayed and this particular one displayed the non-HD resolution as mentioned earlier.

Well they're just just idiots at that branch then

 

[SimonO]

...HD-Ready means 720p and HDCP (either through DVI or HDMI)...

Add 50Hz to that ...

 

[richard plumb]

Add 50Hz to that ...

and 60Hz..

and component inputs


Its actually a pretty nice definition

 

[Lionheart]

absolutely the right thing to do. they are idiots in currys (have a look at the xbox forum for my bizarre exchange I had with them in my local one yesterday) and deserve to be picked up on their lies.

well done.

To be fair not all Currys are bad....my local one near Plymouth have always been very helpful. I bought a Panasonic portable dvd player that turned out to have a stuck pixel that was within limits but they still changed it for me without any hassle, and were most helpful price matching my 42pv500 when Comet didnt want to know. Its a shame not all branches are as customer friendly...Im sure they would double their business