This problem seems to make all Sony freeview TVs 'not fit for purpose'. You cant watch HD TV without audio dropout.

I bought mine in the local Sony store three months ago - I'll phone them tomorrow and tell them its coming back.

It reminds me of the problem I had with my old Grundig freeview box when the NAT table was increased a year or so ago. Eventually they admitted there was a problem and sent an firmware upgrade.

Why have Sony not sorted it out as a priority?

I am not sure what the benefit is meant to be  - I just wish the problem would get sorted!

And boy are we waiting......

I noticed this to be a really bad problem for the first time last night....

Only had the TV for a few weeks KDL40NX713 bought for the HD switchover (mainly for the F1 coverage)  a few weeks ago in  our area... found loads of forums today with people buying new boxes, aerials etc to try and fix this issue, should the BBC not put up an on screen note regarding this.... people are needlessly spending money etc to fix a problem they dont have..... or rather Sony/Samsung/Toshiba and the BBC have!

Now i find out the F1 coverage this weekend (Saturday) is on guess what........ BBC HD

I think we should complain to the more public side of the BBC rather than the technical R&D side and go to Watchdog programme????

...

Thanks for showing some interest but this thread has been running for a month with no sign of any concrete action - that is disappointing.

BBC have already noted that it's an issue for manufacturers so don't hold your breath at that meeting.

http://faq.external.bbc.co.uk/questions/help_receiving/bbchd_black_flashes

Steve,

You shouldn't really be that surprised. That's how corporations work.

This problem requires an unplanned firmware re-write to resolve which will require a budget, and hence approval.

As part of this approval commercial will have asked some searching questions and determined in their own minds that this is something that the broadcasters have caused by their actions. Therefore they will have a good try at getting the BBC to reverse this change before being forced into the unplanned expenditure.

I am sure that standards and responsibility to ensure product compatibility during design will not have crossed their minds. This is part of the weakness of non-contractual requirements from standards - there is no commercial lever to resolve emerging problems like this unless there is a direct financial impact on the company (e.g. from reputational damage).

So whilst the initial response from the Engineers may well have been that they were on to it, we can probably forgive them that things are now stalled pending the meeting with the BBC.

The message should be directed to those at Sony who control the budgets and priorities - your brand and its reputation is at stake here. You surely don't want any more grief loaded onto the company than you currently have on your plates at present. Put the effort in to resolving this issue now, and conforming to standards.

The BBC have been quite clear about their position on this issue - please don't waste time trying to move the blame around. This situation could well become more widespread than just the BBC now that encoding technology is improving - you may as well put the effort in now to resolve this problem.