The budget segment of Sber TVs received an update that reduces screen resolution

The budget segment of Sber TVs has received an update that reduces the resolution of interface elements to a level below Full HD. The manufacturer explains the need for this by “increasing response.” SberDevices insists that the changes have not worsened image quality, but device owners say the opposite. Experts explain the update by the low power of the equipment’s hardware platform. Lawyers talk about the possibility for consumers to go to court if the new characteristics of televisions are worse than those declared at the time of sale, but they doubt their success.

“Kommersant” found in the support chat for SberDevices devices (SalyutDevices LLC, owned by Sber until 2022) complaints that with a software update, the screen resolution in the interface of a number of Sber TVs decreased from 1080p (Full HD) to 720p. The complaints relate to update 1.89.60, the earliest of which are dated February 16th. SberDevices confirmed to Kommersant that they “optimized the resolution of displayed interface elements” on budget models of Sber TVs with a diagonal of 32 and 43 inches. This, according to the company, was done to increase the response speed of the devices.

SberDevices claims that the change does not affect the playback of content, which “continues to be displayed in the highest quality available on a specific model.” However, one of the users who was affected by the update told Kommersant that the picture from other devices connected via the HDMI video input began to be displayed in 720p.

The Salyut TV operating system on which Sber TVs run uses Android source code. From the data provided to Kommersant, received by the owner of the TV via adb (Android debugging interface intended for developers), it follows that the TV screen resolution is set to 720p; The same information is also displayed when you run the AIDA64 device information program.

SberDevices assured Kommersant that the user, if desired, can manually download and install an older version of Salyut TV: “We guarantee the operation of all our services if the firmware for self-installation is downloaded from the company’s official website.” However, the owner of the TV, who provided Kommersant with technical data about the update, said that after downgrading the OS version, he was unable to complete the mandatory activation for Sber devices.

The head of Content Review, Sergei Polovnikov, clarifies that SberDevices produces televisions at the facilities of the Belarusian Gorizont plant: “You must understand that the hardware of these televisions is very weak. As a rule, these are outdated MediaTek chips from 2016–2018. Therefore, I assume that SberDevices was forced to lower the resolution in the menu in order to maintain system performance after the next update.” Yandex (which produces TVs under its own brands and YaOS) declined to comment.

Decreased performance of devices after their sale may be grounds for legal action. In 2022, a number of such lawsuits were filed after foreign companies began to shut down online services in Russia. Thus, in May 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed in the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow against Sony video game divisions due to the shutdown of the PlayStation Store. In June 2023, the court refused to satisfy the claims due to non-compliance with the conditions for class actions; in February 2024, the Moscow City Court overturned this decision and decided to return the case for a new trial.

In the case of Sber TVs, says managing partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions Yuri Fedyukin, it will not be easy for users to get court support: “The fact that changes made to the software have a negative impact on the operation of the equipment must be proven, this requires an expensive examination, and the equipment itself is budgetary.” . If it can be proven that the characteristics of the equipment do not correspond, it can be returned. However, the lawyer doubts that such cases will become widespread.

Yuri Litvinenko, Nikita Korolev