As you may have read in newspapers or technical magazines lately, there is a worldwide problem with defective CCDs of more than 100 different models like camcorders, still picture cameras and (unfortunately) also document cameras and Visualizers.

The reason why so many manufacturers are affected by this problem is, that most of them buy their CCDs from the same CCD manufacturer. This company is known as the leading manufacturer of CCDs and their CCDs are without a doubt the best ones on the market. Normally the quality of the CCDs from this manufacturer is excellent and they are very reliable. However between October 2002 and March 2004 a small number of production runs from this manufacturer have a "CCD aging problem". The units worked perfect in the beginning and nobody could forsee an upcoming problem. But after 1-3 years of usage some CCDs start "dying".

Most manufacturers of document cameras / Visualizers are also affected by this problem, because most of them - including WolfVision - buy their CCDs from this manufacturer.

WolfVision regrets these problems and appologizes to the customers concerned. However the good news is that WolfVision has an excellent service department and we can assure our customers that we will do everything to repair defective units very fast and of course - free of charge. WolfVision will also cover the costs of sending the unit back to the customer .

At the beginning of this year, WolfVision has already extended the standard warranty for all units sold after 2004 to 3 years.

In addition to our standard warranty, WolfVision has extended the manufacturers warranty on the CCD until 2010 (only for defects caused by the “CCD AGING PROBLEM).

Here is how you can find out, that a defective Visualizer has the "CCD aging problem": 1. The screen looks like this: 2. The on-screen menue is still working 3. The unit was bought as a NEW unit in 2003 or 2004 or as a USED unit after 2004 (WolfVision only used the CCDs who COULD have this problem for production runs in 2003 and 2004. We can find out with the serial number when it was produced). 4. The Visualizer is one of the following models: VZ-8light, VZ-8plus, VZ-9, VZ-C10, VZ-27, VZ-57plus (Different CCD types were used for all other models)

In the past weeks and month since this problem came up, WolfVision has been praised very often for the very fast and uncomplicated repairs of defective units. Units are normally repaired on the same day they arrived. Some type of repairs require 2 or 3 additional days for endurance testing, but most of them are sent back to the customer within 48 hours. This is A LOT faster than the industry standard.

Even though the number of defective units is larger than usual, WolfVision wants to point out that this problem is still only affecting a small percentage of the Visualizers manufactured in 2003 and 2004. So there is no need to send a unit for repair just because it "might fail at some time in the future". Of course WolfVision can NOT offer to exchange CCDs on units which are NOT defective, just as a safety precaution.

In case you need service of a defective unit, please contact the WolfVision office responsible for your area:

WolfVision Office:	Sales area:	Phone:	E-Mail:
WolfVision Austria (main office)	worldwide	++43-(0)5523-52250-0
WolfVision USA, Atlanta	USA and Mexico	(770) 931-6802 and 1-877-873WOLF
WolfVision Japan, Tokyo	Japan and Australia	++81 (0)3 3360 3231
WolfVision Singapore	Asia (except Japan, GUS and Arab countries)	++65-6366-9288
WolfVision Canada, Montreal	Canada	613-741-9898 and 877-513-2002

If you are interested in technical details about this "CCD aging problem", here are a couple of links to online newspaper stories about it (These are external links, WolfVision has no influence on the content of these sites):

Link to "Tech-On Asia" (English)

Link to "Imaging Source Online" (English)

Link to "Imaging Source Online" (English)

Link to "Heisse Online" (German)

WolfVision
October 21, 2005