Teletext (Red Button) Problem on 2007 Vintage Bravia

[Brian32P]

I have a Bravia KDL-32P3020 manufactured in October 2007.  When using Teletext on the BBC 1 Red Button we can drill down through the menus (e.g. up to date news items) but no pages will actually load - instead of loading the page it will switch back to full screen picture.  We have auto software download set to "on" and the software version is 2.12.105 which I have to assume is the latest.  Anyone have any ideas please?

TV works perfectly apart from this.

[tonyoldham]

Thanks very much hwolny, I've just tried your advice and everything works fine, thanks again \\tony \oldham

[neilandjane]

I have the same problem as that outlined above in that the BBC red button service stopped working about a month ago.

I contacted customer services to enquire why their company response was as described earlier and which to summarise is "tough".

They followed the company line of stating you television is over 5 years old and is unsupported.

I asked for the escalation team and was transferred through to exactly the same operator.

In short the service experience is appalling. It appears that it is a software issue within Sonys capability of fixing but that they refuse to.

It is also apparent that if you buy a product from Sony they disassociate themselves from their customer once it is five years old.

There therefore seems little point in buying their products anymore because of their build quality because even if the unit still works after five years a software upgrade could make it inoperable and they are callous in their customer care.

A real eye opener.

I can't see myself buying from Sony again or recommending them.

Perhaps if everyone else does the same they may learn the hard way but it will be in that case a matter of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted as by then they will have already alienated what had been prior to then a loyal customer base

[Anonymous]

Hi

You may have noted in the media in the last day or so ago, that the BBC Red Button service is set to close anyhow.  So ensuring it works on legacy devices, is kind of a mute point now.  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34851369

http://www.a516digital.com/2015/11/phased-exit-planned-for-bbc-red-button.html

Cheers

[Brian32P]

I fully agree with neilandjane.  I have bought many Sony products over the years primarily because of their reliability.  But there is no point if they just refuse support during the product's lifetime.  So next time I may just as well but another brand if cheaper.

As regards this specific problem, as stated earlier in the thread, it has (largely) been fixed.  As for the Red Button service going I don't think the BBC really know what they are doing yet?  They have recently made changes to it (which appeared to have caused the problem in the first place) and rolled out Red Button+.  Is Red Button+ going as well? It's all very vague.

[neilandjane]

An interesting view  but it misses the point

That is that Sony can not be trusted to act in their customers best interests

The red button service may be removed at some point in the future if it isn't a BBC stance to negotiate future budgetary considerations however unless Sony are psychic this may be their way of avoiding the real issue

That is that they disregard all customers who have sets more than 5 years old. A strange position from a company that promotes it products, at least in part, on their reliability. Sony in short are confirming that because of their approach the maximum useful life of all of their products is now only 5 years.

As I said earlier a real eye opener

[puzzled70]

Think I have a similar problem with the Bravia, but only recently I've got the menu pages to come up but when you select a page it just says 'loading' at the top of the screen but never actually loads any pages..........Does this sound familiar to anyone and is there a solution?!

[neilandjane]

Dear puzzled 70 We had the same problem and contacted Sony customers services ( see earlier posting) ( a misnomer as there was absolutely no service ) In short they refuse to assist any products that are five years or older instead calling them "vintage". A strange response from a company that used to prize itself on reliability and quality. Now all their products are obsolete by their actions after 5 years I was a loyal sony customer until a month ago Now I will be going elsewhere and recommending everyone else to do the same. If you manage to illicit a different response I would be interested

[mikejo01]

Similar story to hwolny but mine was not so repeatable until I used the following

How to get Teletext to work on Sony 2006/7 Bravia TV's (KDL32V2000 and KDL20S4000).

I had given up on teletext until I managed to make it work reliably on my two sets.

If it helps any one else, this is my method.

Note: I use the CH+ and CH- buttons because the normal numeric buttons are used to input teletext page numbers.

Example

BBC Ch1

Press Red Button.

Select News Index

Select Main Headlines (displays loading 102]

Quickly change channel to BBC2 then back to BBC1 by using the CH+ then CH- buttons.

After 5 to 10 seconds a 'Please Wait' message is displayed followed by the Text page itself.

The yellow button returns you to News Index and UK News, World and Business etc will work normally.

To get Sports News

If the yellow button won't take you back to the top Menu – change channel as before and start from Red Button.

If it does take you back but then will not load a sports story – change channel as before.

I have found on my sets that if you delay too long during any stage it may fail and you have to do it again.

If I cannot get leave teletext I change from BBC1 to a non teletext channel. (I use the CH- button)

[ALANONSERENADE]

Thank you Sally for your explanation re Teletext. I bought my 42" Bravia tv along with a YOU VIEW box and a Sony webcam. I spent over £1100 at the Sony shop. Now I am to believe that my 4 year old set is a SENIOR model.

  I was considering buying another, larger TV with surround sound and other Sony products but thanks to your current attitude towards your loyal customers I will avoid SONY like a plague.

[BeamishBoy]

I've had the same problem for a long time, and have noticed the changes in the software.  Although this helps to some extent, it is particularly difficult to navigate through multi-pages.  For example, yestrerday's football results for the previous day occupied about 43 pages, but I could navigate through only 7 or so (forwards or backwards), and when trying to read a page, the teletext closed altogether.

It appears to me that the problem may be that the television's hardware does not have sufficient menory.

A workaround is to use the text service on an attached video recorder (which I bought on the same day as the original TV, and operates teletext without a hitch.