LG, Best Buy Class Action Says TVs Advertised with False Refresh Rates

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LG Electronics and Best Buy were hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the companies falsely market LG LED televisions as having refresh rates of 120Hz and 240Hz, when the actual rates are much lower.

Plaintiff Ivan Villa Lara alleges in his class action lawsuit that LG and Best Buy falsely market the televisions with higher refresh rates to dupe consumers into thinking they’re getting higher quality items. However, the televisions do not contain the advanced technology required for the refresh rates the companies advertise, alleges the plaintiff.

“A television’s refresh rate is directly linked to picture quality, and is one of the most material specifications touted by television manufacturers to consumers,” states the Best Buy lawsuit. “Due to the advanced technology required to achieve refresh rates higher than 60, higher refresh rates are directly, demonstrably and mathematically linked to higher prices.”

According to the Best Buy class action lawsuit, the plaintiff says he paid more for an LG television he bought at Best Buy than he would have based on the advertised refresh rate. He says the quality of picture provided by the television was much lower than he expected.

“The number of times a television is able to display a unique image per second is referred to as the television’s refresh rate and is measured in Hertz, abbreviated as ‘Hz,'” explains the plaintiff. “Refresh rate, and the corresponding Hz measurement, are industry standard specifications that directly correspond to each other—a television with a refresh rate of 60Hz displays 60 unique images per second; a television with a refresh rate of 120Hz displays 120 unique images per second; and a television with a refresh rate of 240Hz displays 240 unique images per second.”

Refresh rates are a “vital” specification for consumers shopping for a television, alleges the Best Buy class action lawsuit. Televisions with a higher refresh rate will have higher quality images; however, a “significant hurdle” exists, says the plaintiff, because the electric current available in the United States is only 60Hz.

“[T]he natural, or native, refresh rate of a television can be at most 60Hz because only 60 unique images per second are able to be carried by the electrical frequency,” alleges the LG lawsuit.

According to the Best Buy class action lawsuit, television manufacturers must use “advanced interpolation technology” to increase refresh rates above 60 Hz.

“Given the technological challenges (and cost) in surpassing the inherent 60Hz threshold, television manufacturers, rather than investing in the technology to increase the actual Hz and refresh rates of their televisions, have developed alternate methods to artificially enhance the perceived performance of their products without actually increasing the refresh rate to the specified number of unique images per second,” alleges the plaintiff.

The Best Buy lawsuit states that LG televisions do not incorporate this technology, so there is no way they could refresh at the rates the company advertises. Compounding this deception, LG does not provide consumers with access to the true refresh rates of its televisions.

Deceptively advertising higher refresh rates is equivalent to marketing a 48-inch television as 55-inches, alleges the LG class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased an LG LED television labeled as having a Hz rating higher than the actual refresh rate, along with a subclass of those who purchased their televisions at a Best Buy location.

Lara is seeking restitution, along as compensatory and actual damages.

The plaintiff is represented by David M. Cialkowski and Alyssa J. Leary of Zimmerman Reed LLP, Daniel C. Hedlund and Joseph C. Bourne of Gustafson Gluek PLLC, and Like P. Hudock of Hudock Law Group SC.

The Best Buy, LG LED Television False Refresh Rate Class Action Lawsuit is Lara v. LG Electronics USA Inc., et al., Case No. 0:17-cv-05222-DWF-FLN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.