Vizio pays $3m settlement over false claims
January 5, 2024
By Chris Forrester
Consumer electronics company Vizio has settled allegations over “false and deceptive” claims over its advertising for its LCD TV technology. The Class Action has resulted in a $3 million (€2.75m) settlement from Vizio.
The Action has been running since 2018, and centred on Vizio’s misleading statements over its LCD sets and their refresh rates. Vizio used terms such as “effective refresh rates” but did not state the actual native panel refresh rates.
According to reports, Vizio’s marketing materials stated:
· Vizio marketed 60Hz TVs as having a “120Hz Effective Refresh Rate” using backlight manipulation technology. However, this cannot actually increase a 60Hz panel’s effective refresh rate which is still 60Hz.
· Vizio marketed 120Hz TVs as having a “240Hz Effective Refresh Rate”. Again, backlight manipulation cannot increase a true 120Hz panel’s refresh rate which is still 120Hz.
· Refresh rate is tied to the native vertical frequency of the LCD panel itself. Backlight manipulation techniques cannot increase this. So Vizio providing “effective” refresh rates higher than the actual TV panel was misleading.
The Class Action stated that Vizio charged higher prices than competing displays.
Vizio denies any wrongdoing and says that it properly labelled each television with the correct “Hz” specification, according to its defence.
As part of the settlement, Vizio has agreed to “stop the advertising practises” and “provide enhanced services and limited one-year warranty to all settlement class members.”
The case, in the Superior Court of California at Los Angeles, will be formally finalised in June 2024. Claimants will be paid at up to $50 per valid Claim and subject to pro rata decrease, depending on the number of all approved Claims submitted.