Still reeling from an embarrassing global recall of its laptop computer batteries, Sony says it has found a defect in some of its popular Cyber-shot compact digital cameras.

The liquid crystal display screens of eight camera models might not display images correctly, images could be distorted or cameras might not take photos at all, Sony Corp. said Friday in a release.

The company has offered to repair affected cameras free of charge.

The defect affects eight Cyber-shot models sold between September 2003 and January 2005, according to Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa.

Sony will repair for free only cameras that show signs of the problems, Kitsukawa said. He refused to say how many cameras might be affected.

It's the second time in just over a year that Tokyo-based Sony announced defects in its digital cameras. It cited similar problems with 20 other digital camera models last October and offered free repairs.