Vizio agrees to pay $3 million for alleged ‘false’ refresh charge claims

In case you purchased a Vizio TV in California after April thirtieth, 2014, Vizio could owe you some cash. The corporate has agreed to pay out $3 million after a 2018 class motion lawsuit alleged that its advertising of 120Hz and 240Hz “efficient” refresh charges was “false and misleading.” Vizio denies that it did something improper, in accordance with the settlement. The deadline for submitting claims is March thirtieth subsequent yr, and requires some type of proof of possession, together with proof of buy or the serial quantity, to qualify.

Along with paying out for verified claims, Vizio would “cease the promoting practices” and “present enhanced providers and a restricted one-year guarantee to all Settlement Class Members,” in accordance with particulars from the web site arrange for submitting claims. The lengthy kind notification says claims will cowl any TV from April thirtieth, 2014 by the settlement’s ultimate approval, which is ready for a June twentieth, 2024 listening to.

TV makers typically use advertising phrases like “efficient refresh charge” to seek advice from movement smoothing options, typically referred to as the “cleaning soap opera impact,” which might be meant to cut back movement blur on trendy TVs. Movement smoothing is already controversial sufficient by itself, however corporations like Vizio may be frustratingly informal with refresh charge terminology of their advertising. Their phrasing can, to the informal shopper, typically suggest a TV gives greater than its native refresh charge, which is usually simply 60Hz surely. To make issues worse, every TV producer makes use of its personal advertising identify for movement smoothing, and it’s typically so laborious to show it off that we wrote an entire information about how to take action for lots of standard manufacturers.