San Francisco (CA) – Texas Instruments (TI) has discontinued “certain advertising claims” related to its DLP Front Projector Optical Systems. The decision was made following the submission of a complaint to the Council of Better Business Bureau by Epson America.
“The challenger objected to the advertiser’s claims that its projectors have a ‘completely enclosed’ or ‘completely sealed’ optical system, which is sealed in a protective tube from lamp to lens,” the Better Business Bureau explained in a statement. “It also objected to the message that because DLP-based projectors features such a system, they are impenetrable to dust, which results in certain performance and cost of ownership advantages over 3LCD-based projectors. The challenger noted that these claims not only appear in advertising published by the advertiser, but they have also been adopted and widely disseminated by the projector manufacturers that use the technology.”
Although Texas Instruments agreed to revise its DLP sales brochures and online advertising, the company contended that Epson’s challenge was “virtually” identical to a similar TI complaint submitted in 2008. In addition, TI noted that the Better Business Bureau had previously determined that the claims were “substantiated.”
However, the Better Business Bureau insisted that the “scope [of] its 2008 and 2009 inquiries was different” as it “did not opine on the truth and accuracy of the ‘completely enclosed’ or ‘completely sealed’ claims in its 2008 proceeding.”
The Better Business Bureau also stated that the TI’s voluntary decision to discontinue the above-mentioned claims was “necessary and appropriate.”
