To all those considering buying a RCA television I highly recommend that you DO NOT! My 50" Dlp scenium tv has been in the shop for 6 months now and I have been fighting with rca ( thomson ) about getting a part shipped and have been getting the run around, even being told that a new tv will be shipped shortly, only to call back the next week to be told that no request has gone through for that. I am disgusted by their level of customer service and would not wish what I am going thru on anyone.

I bought a 50” RCA DLP four years ago last fall. I did so only because it was the best a local TV and appliance dealer with whom I had done a lot business had to offer. The PQ has been stunning but the cost of replacing a bulb, which I did about a year and a half ago, was outrageous, more than $500 . If it quits again I’m just going to hold my nose and replace it with an HDTV that I hope will be more reliable.

Thompson did replace a noisy light engine during warranty but I suspect that was only because my local TV and appliance guy, who was a long-time RCA dealer, insisted.

Does anybody know if replacement bulbs for RCA DLPs are any cheaper now than they were in the summer of 2006?

Try a Google search, I'm not sure what your model is but on some sites I have seen replacement bulbs for the older RCA DLP sets for half (or less) of what you originally paid.

Help my diagnose my problem. Go to turn tv on, fan starts running, I hear a loud buzzing sound, and it never turns on. It tries to turn on over and over, but nothing.

Could be the ballast or a defective bulb.

Could be the ballast or a defective bulb.

Thanks, the bulb is about 1 year old so its probably the latter. Well I refuse to spend any more money on this set so I'm off to find a 42-47" 1080P LCD to replace it with.

Okay. Anyone know how to break the RCA 62 DLP unit while under warranty to get a new one?

Hi Folks,

I have an older RCA HD DLP. I have a DVD player connected to it via DVI.

Yesterday I tried connecting my laptop PC (HDMI) to the TV using an HDMI to DVI converter plug. That worked fine, too. (Netflix instant-viewing on the big TV...)

However, now that I've plugged the DVD player back into the TV, some discs play, while others do not. The ones that don't just produce an odd flickering blue screen. Audio is fine. Also, component video is fine. But DVI video doesn't work for certain DVDs.

Is this an HDCP issue caused by my connecting to the laptop? Can I reset it? I'm stumped. Got any clues?

Thanks

Following up to my own post, I found a "hack" for the DVD player that disables HDCP. Lo & behold, my problem went away, and all DVDs play just fine over DVI now.

But it still begs the question: What happened to the TV's HDCP and how do I reset it?

Hi,
Anyone ever thought of modding their DLP scenium to handle 720p over dvi?

I've had my 61 inch for 4 years now... I want 720p via DVI!!! I thought we would get lucky with a firmware update that would fix this problem but I can't see it happening.

Does anyone have a color wheel and a ballast board for sale for a 50W151?

Or does anyone want to buy my styling Scenium that needs a repair :mad:

I finally replaced my 5 year old 50 inch Scenium DLP with s 60 inch Pioneer Kuro last summer. Do you want to talk about an improvement? The Scenium had PQ that was peerless by the standards of its day but that day was a long time ago; its bulbs were short lived and its light engine sounded like a jet engine. I have put it in a bedroom and don't watch it much any more. I haven't missed it.

"Help my diagnose my problem. Go to turn tv on, fan starts running, I hear a loud buzzing sound, and it never turns on. It tries to turn on over and over, but nothing."


My 4 1/2 year old HD50WLP42 was doing this! I bought a Bulb on ebay for $99. That didn't fix it so I put the original back in and took it in for a free estimate locally at a repair shop. They said the Color Wheel was bad and wanted $406 to replace it. I said no thanks. Bought a color wheel on ebay for $116 (after 10% off paypal coupon, and $44.95 Microsoft cashback.)
Put the color wheel in tonight. It took about 10 minutes! Tv is working again!

Recently I read on one of the Forums that both LCD and modern plasma HDTVs have turned out to be FAR more reliable that DLP sets. God knows, I am living proof of that. I bought a 50 inch RCA Scenium DLP in 2003. RCA had to replace the light engine under warranty and I later had to replace the bulb for, wait for it, $505! Worse, even the replacement light engine made more noise that a jet airplane. Never again! I bought a Sony XBR LCD set about two and a half years ago and a Pioneer Kuro not quite 6 months ago. Neither has given me a minute's trouble. Better yet, both are quieter than a stone.

I have had my RCA DLP since the day it was released and have had very few problems. I may upgrade someday, but for now this thing still works and work well.

Spacehulk -- You have been lucky if what I have read about the bulb life of Scenium DLPs is accurate. My original bulb failed after a little more that two and a half years and the set has been intermittently noisy since it was new. That said, my Scenium's PQ is excellent, especially by 2003 standards and I have never regretted buying it.

My 50 incher has not had a problem since I got it in Feb 2005. I do have a bulb ready though.....

After buying this TV (HDLP61W151) in the spring of 2004 and using it daily, the original bulb has finally died. I had often considered buying a spare bulb to have for this day but I'm glad I didn't since the price has come way down. 80 dollars on ebay and I'll be back in business tomorrow.

Would love to have a brand new 1080p set, of course, but I am pretty happy with the Scenium for all the years of reliable service it's given me.

Would love to have a brand new 1080p set, of course, but I am pretty happy with the Scenium for all the years of reliable service it's given me.
I bought my old 50 inch RCA Scenium DLP in 2003 but replaced it with a 60 inch Pioneer Kuro last August. Wow! I had no idea what I had been missing. A lot had happened in 5 years. I still have the Scenium in my bedroom but don't watch it much anymore. Nevertheless, it gave good service for 5 years and I have never regretted buying it.

I bought my old 50 inch RCA Scenium DLP in 2003 but replaced it with a 60 inch Pioneer Kuro last August. Wow! I had no idea what I had been missing. A lot had happened in 5 years. I still have the Scenium in my bedroom but don't watch it much anymore. Nevertheless, it gave good service for 5 years and I have never regretted buying it.

I noticed today that TigerDirect is now selling these as refurbs for <$500. I was surprised to see that there were any left after all of the problems people have had......mine still going strong with original bulb since 2/2005.