Sony: More CCD service advisories By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource (Friday, November 24, 2006 - 09:39 EST)Sony Japan has today published an update to an existing service advisory (first distributed in October 2005) which reports potential problems with CCD image sensors used in a variety of Sony products.
According to the update, which currently seems to be available only in the Japanese language, the defect may potentially be found in an additional eight digital camera models which went on sale from 2003 - 2005. The Japanese advisory states that these newly added models will be eligible for free service regardless of warranty status should any malfunction be caused by the CCD sensor, in the same way as detailed in the original service advisory.
A full description of the problem can be found in our Fall 2005 report, "CCD Sensor Problems in Consumer Imaging Products". In brief however, it is caused because internal wiring in the CCD sensor comes loose at high temperatures and humidities, and causes the camera to stop recording images, or to record distorted images. During the last round of service advisories we heard that the problem may have related to moisture penetrating into epoxy chip packaging. Interestingly, the Japanese PC Watch website states in its coverage of the news that this time around, the affected sensors use ceramic packaging, which generally offers better environmental sealing. According to PC Watch, moisture can potentially penetrate the ceramic packaging nonetheless, entering via the gluing surface.
The new cameras added to the service advisory by Sony include the following models:
Cyber-shot DSC-F88
Cyber-shot DSC-M1
Cyber-shot DSC-T1
Cyber-shot DSC-T11
Cyber-shot DSC-T3
Cyber-shot DSC-T33
Cyber-shot DSC-U40
Cyber-shot DSC-U50
Sony USA has yet to publish any details of the expanded advisory, and it isn't currently clear if cameras sold outside Japan are affected. Should this prove to be the case, we will of course report both on our news page, and with an update to our report.
For reference, the original Sony products which were covered by the advisory when published last year are as follows:
