I’ve no problem watching a film on the Macbook Pro with earphones, but every so often I’ll “mirror” a film so I can see it on the Sony SONY XBR-65X930C, which I bought in April 2016. I use a “Mirror for Samsung TV” app, which has worked pretty well. Because I use a Samsung 4K Bluray player as the principal mirroring device.

Except last night, just as I was firing up the app for another mirroring, the sound quit on me. The problem didn’t originate with any of the hooked-up devices (Roku player, Samsung 4K Bluray, Oppo Bluray, cable TV) — something just shut off within the TV itself. Bing! Thank you, Sony, and thanks also to God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and all living things.

So I spent an hour or so trying the usual remedies…nothing. I tried reading the basic manual, I went into chat rooms, this and that.

Then I called three or four Sony tech support numbers, only one of which offered a human being — a carefully mannered fellow who spoke with what sounded to me like a kind of speech impediment. (He had trouble with certain vowels.) The first thing out of his mouth was “we don’t assist people with TVs manufactured in 2015,” which translates as “if you want our help your TV has to be newer.” I said I fully realize that I’m an unworthy, low-rent customer for owning a TV made three years ago and therefore out of warranty, but that I’d be glad to pay for his technical assistance. He tried to fob me off with an offer of emailed instructions, but I asked him to please show a little basic humanity and help over the phone.

What I didn’t want to hear from this guy was “go to settings and do a basic factory reset.” Because with the slow-as-molasses software downloads and installations and my having to input all the device passwords this effort would consume at least a couple of hours of my time. But that’s what he said.

Me: “Are you really sure that a basic factory reset is the only way to fix this audio problem?” Sony tech guy: “Yes.” Me: “How long have you been doing this job?” Sony tech guy: “Six years.” Me: “So I presume you’ve spoken to a few Sony TV owners who’ve experienced the same problem?” Sony tech guy: “Yes.” Me: “And each and every time you’ve told them to do a basic factory reset??” Sony tech guy: “Yes.” In other words, this guy was and is a lazy, manual-reading toad.

I initiated a hard factory reset an hour ago. The software downloading process is taking forever, and there’s all the username and password loading for the connected devices yet to come. Update: Everything is up and working again, but I doubt if I’m going to “mirror” anything again. Not. at least, with that “Mirror for Samsung TV” app.