Thank you Ms. Ahardt for giving me the honor to start this thread. Since I'm the only HitHo to have encountered most of the known problems associated with this set, I'll post some issues pics on my set.

I just got back from CES and have tons of work to do. So, I apologize if I can't elaborate on the issues. Ahardt, Manpig, TTA89, Shark.....help me out here.

The first and most widely known issue is the smudges/smears. The only suggested fix by the tech is screen replacement.

The second issue is the crop circle. I do have crop circle on one of my set, but I am unable to take a good picture of it.

The third issue I have is I see Rainbows! I think I'm the only one with this issue. As you can see there are 2 vertical rainbows on the right side of the screen, and 2 horizontal on the upper left corner. I suspect this might be a light engine problem. :confused:



Ok gang...I need to run. Fellow HitaHos please add as much input as you can. ;)

The smudges look like just mine. I haven't had a chance to call Hitachi yet about it. Mine go away and don't really bother me as I only see them for a few min in really bright scenes.

The rainbows took me a min to find, I think I see a red/green thing to the right of the guys head in the last pic.

I don't see anything in the Hockey pic though.

But congrats on the smudges, You are a winner!!! Ding Ding you win a free service visit. :(

I think the so-called rainbow looks like an internal reflection from an external light source--to me at least.

good pic on the smudges. look like mine only i barely have them and don't have as many as you. mine are never noticable in regular viewing. i can only view them with the screen wipe white screen.

i see your rainbows on both your pics. that does look like a light engine problem and I doubt that anything you could do would fix that. looks like you will have to leave that up to service or replacement.

good job on showing us your problems.

The extreme red push problem probably is better described as a pink push. Everything (all channels and all inputs) have a pink hue to them (even grey side bars) pretty much unwatchable in my opinion.

The fix is replacement of the light engine. The installation took about 1-1.5 hrs. Pretty extreme replacement as the light engine is the guts of the TV.

If this occurs to you I would make the tech call Hitachi if they are not sure what the problem is, as it is a known issue. Don't let them start replacing main boards etc in an attempt to hunt down the problem.

After the replacement of the LE my TV was back to normal and Hitachi extended My warranty by 3 months for all my pains.




Found the reference to the problem. It's in the "Hitachi LCD-Projection Training Manual", under Known Issues

"Pink Picture or Not Enough Green or Green Missing:
Even with Color turned all the way down, the picture remains pink. This indicates
an Engine Failure. Please replace the Engine Assembly.
• UE22331 for 50V500
• UE22333 for 50V500A
• UE22333 for 50VX500 (Service Manual PA-0178 shows p/n UE22331,
please correct)
• UE22334 for 60V500A"


Hope this helps and goodluck,

-Spike

HI all.
New Owner and extremely satisfied-except...now I know the stuck pixel thing is a given with these TVs, but i was under the impression that they would not be noticeable from a normal viewing distance. I however have one bright blue pixel in the bottom right corner of the screen that is visible on all dark scenes, or when there are black bars, and most of the time for that matter. Since this pixel distracts from the viewing experience, can the set be replaced-even if just one pixel, or is there a fix?
And it is not like i get up close and inspect for these things, it is just incredibly noticeable.
Thanks
MATT

Originally posted by Crazy MB
HI all.
New Owner and extremely satisfied-except...now I know the stuck pixel thing is a given with these TVs, but i was under the impression that they would not be noticeable from a normal viewing distance. I however have one bright blue pixel in the bottom right corner of the screen that is visible on all dark scenes, or when there are black bars, and most of the time for that matter. Since this pixel distracts from the viewing experience, can the set be replaced-even if just one pixel, or is there a fix?
And it is not like i get up close and inspect for these things, it is just incredibly noticeable.
Thanks
MATT

CrazyDude,

You might wan't to check with one of the other Texans to see who's is bigger, but I'd say that if you can see it from where you normally watch TV and that is within Hitachi's recommended viewing distance, get yourself on the phone to you friendly neighborhood fixit dude or replacement dude.

PhaxDude

Originally posted by spikedog007
The extreme red push problem probably is better described as a pink push. Everything (all channels and all inputs) have a pink hue to them (even grey side bars) ...

The fix is replacement of the light engine. The installation took about 1-1.5 hrs. Pretty extreme replacement as the light engine is the guts of the TV...

Found the reference to the problem. It's in the "Hitachi LCD-Projection Training Manual"...
-Spike
Hope my tech has taken this training course! LOL.
Btw, is this manual in PDF form? hmmm?

My tv turns off and flashes the lamp light, this indicates the lamp is not inserted correctly, I reseated the light box, it is still doing it. It is within 30 days, so I am replacing it.

Originally posted by Crazy MB
HI all.
New Owner and extremely satisfied-except...now I know the stuck pixel thing is a given with these TVs, but i was under the impression that they would not be noticeable from a normal viewing distance. I however have one bright blue pixel in the bottom right corner of the screen that is visible on all dark scenes, or when there are black bars, and most of the time for that matter. Since this pixel distracts from the viewing experience, can the set be replaced-even if just one pixel, or is there a fix?
And it is not like i get up close and inspect for these things, it is just incredibly noticeable.
Thanks
MATT
i have a bright blue one in the upper right corner. The service guy said that there has to be at least 6-10 pixels on the right panel to be replaced by Hitachi

So today my wife and I were watching the Lion King, and after like 1 hour, the TV just turned off. I waited a few minutes for the fan to run, and pressed the power button, and it came back on. The remote was on the side table, so it wasn't accidently pushed. Same thing happened yesterday while watching Leno. The remote was on the couch and I just thought are dog sat on it, but now I think it maybe was the same as tonight. Has this happened to anyone? Any ideas?

MATT

jckftrds-
Can you see it from seating distance? If so, screw what that guy said. It interferes with your viewing enjoyment. If you can't see it- don't sweat it. If Hitachi gives you snit for it, talk to a second, third, etc tier person.

Crazy MB-
I think J9_ls1 had a similar issue (but he also had flashing lights indicating possible incorrectly seated bulb). Do a post search under his name and read all relevant posts- see if it sounds similar). He posted right above you and he's evidently getting a new set- I don't blame him. Snit happens- whatyagonnado? Hopefully, a pattern is not developing.

Ahardt, thanks for the reply.
Yeah, but mine just turns off, and no red lights blink. However If i try to turn it back on immediately, the bulb, and other red lights flash a few times, but then stop (which happened the first time, and so yesterday i just waited until the tv finished its cooling process, and turned it back on.)
J9_Is1, do your warning lights flash imediately,or is it like mine?
MATT

well well..
so problems aren't SONY's only right now with LCD rptvs ..

this is bad :(

sorry for you guys that have defect sets :(

my GWIII only worked for 2 weeks before dying..
so i know what it's like :(

I don't think the problems are all THAT widespread, so far. Only 2 people and I THINK that their sets still turn on and everything, no buzz or anything like that so far, they turn off by themselves- we'll have to wait and see.

J9_ls1-
Is it the LAMP LED or the TEMP LED that is flashing?

Crazy MB-
When the lights flashed for you, which ones were they? Do you remember? Check on pg. 8 of the OM for which light is which and what the blinking of them may mean. My red lights come on when I turn the set on- that's the only time, though, and this is normal. If I turn the tv off, it won't immediately come back on- I suppose it has to complete some sort of a shut down or cooling process. Takes about 15 secs or so to be able to turn back on.

I'm wondering if this is a cooling issue as opposed to a bulb issue.

The temp ad lamp lights flash a couple of times, but only if I press the power button before it finishes cooling down, or whatever. It turns back on. If it happens again today, i will report back.
MATT

The temp ad lamp lights flash a couple of times, but only if I press the power button before it finishes cooling down, or whatever. It turns back on. If it happens again today, i will report back.
MATT

So it happened again. It turned off, the blue light was flashing fast, then slowed down. Then it came back on by itself for 2 seconds, and turned off again. It did this 3 times in the span of 2 minutes before coming back on for good. Each time it came back on and turned off, the temp and bulb red lights were on for a few seconds after the picture went away. They did not flash, and they did turn off after a few seconds--they do the same thing when you turn the tv on for the first time. Now it is on and working.
update: after this happened yesterday,I happily watched football (well sadly since the good guys all lost) in all its HD glory all day yesterday and had no problems.
J9_ls1, has your replacement come in?All good?
MATT

Received my replacement set yesterday and everthing looks good. No smudges, crop circles, or color bands. (fingers crossed)! There are 6 lit pixels (can't detact at normal viewing distance) and one black pixel (don't know if it's dead or dust/dirt) right on the center of the screen which I can see at 10'. Oh well, I guess I'll keep this one. :p

Has anyone called Hitachi about the smudges and had it fixed yet? I am about ready to do it as they are getting annoying and after seeing that my Parents set is issue free I think its time to join the ranks.

:D

Originally posted by TTA89
Has anyone called Hitachi about the smudges and had it fixed yet? I am about ready to do it as they are getting annoying and after seeing that my Parents set is issue free I think its time to join the ranks.

:D

This is interesting news! Do your parents live in the area (cold)? If Hit's screen maker has fixed the situation, it might be time for all of us smudgers to call for the replacement screen. This is one of the cues I have been waiting for.

Thanks,

Bruce

Hey where do you live? I'm in Andover and my Parents are in Tewksbury (next town over).

I'm gonna call this week and see whats up

I've been seeing the following on my TV for some time. I'm not sure if it is cable related or not, but it happens on all the inputs. Basically it looks as if there is a reflection of the electrical signal, but what is odd is that it looks more like a wave on the surface of water. Sorry about the quality of images. I will try to describe each.

The first image is from Fox News. The ticker in the bottom of the screen has a black background. Just above the ticker is a green football field. You can see a black line extending from left to right about two pixels up from the ticker. This is the fundamental problem I'm having. You will have to ignore the overall blockyness since it was recorded from cable using a ReplayTV (additional MPEG encoding and decoding).

The connection is from a ReplayTV through svideo on video3.

Any thoughts?

The second picture is from the DVE sharpness tuning screen. There is a circle around the image. You can see on this picture that the circle has a aura that I believe is due to the same problem as the previous picture shows. In this picture notice the black circle is surrounded by a brighter grey area that is surrounded by a darker outline. The connection is from my Xbox to video2 through component cables.

Any thoughts?

Smooth-
Picture 2 looks like it might be EE. Have you run this pattern through another dvd player? Can you see this around things on a movie- a person or object? Pause and look on a movie. Braveheart tends to be pretty EE free, Jurassic Park is loaded with it. Is your sharpness turned down? Have you done a search to see if xbox adds EE? Is it only on this pattern that you see this or other places, too? This is the sharpness pattern so I might assume that there is some sort of "enhancement" around the lines already that become more pronounced as sharpness is increased. Do you see it on similar patterns?

Picture 1- no clue. It looks like you might have a similar line running through the bottom of the ticker. Guess it might be interference from something. Those are all my best guesses for both pics.

I think EE is the culprit, but it seems that it is within the TV itself. I see EE on all inputs (haven't tried DVI or coax). I have the 50v500 (not a) so I wonder if anyone else with the non-a unit can check for these artifacts. I'm going to venture into the SM today to check for any EE settings there. Sharpness does make it look worse, but setting sharpness to zero doesn't eliminate it. With regard to Fox News, I also see it on pretty much every graphic. They have a triangle showing the direction of stocks. This triangle has EE on all three sides.

Does anyone else see this? Should I call for a "repair"?

Cheers

Originally posted by Crazy MB
So it happened again. It turned off, the blue light was flashing fast, then slowed down. Then it came back on by itself for 2 seconds, and turned off again. It did this 3 times in the span of 2 minutes before coming back on for good. Each time it came back on and turned off, the temp and bulb red lights were on for a few seconds after the picture went away. They did not flash, and they did turn off after a few seconds--they do the same thing when you turn the tv on for the first time. Now it is on and working.
update: after this happened yesterday,I happily watched football (well sadly since the good guys all lost) in all its HD glory all day yesterday and had no problems.
J9_ls1, has your replacement come in?All good?
MATT

Update... because of the holiday yesterday, I was able to do lots of quality watching yesterday, and had no problems. So maybe the problem just happened 3 days in a row, and now there is no problem, or I am in the denial stage of this whole process.

Originally posted by TTA89
Hey where do you live? I'm in Andover and my Parents are in Tewksbury (next town over).

I'm gonna call this week and see whats up

I'm in Melrose.

Something strange happened to my 1 day old replacement 50V500 last night. When I turned on the TV, all I got was a blank screen with no sound. Then gradually the screen turns pink and audio comes on. I checked all the connections and they were fine. Pop in a DVD and the screen is blank. Turned the volumn up and down, but the display bar was not showing. Switch source back and forth, and nothing was displayed.

Turned the set off and waited for the lamp to cool. Then turned on again and same thing happened. I thought not again!

Turned on the set the third time and I was able to get it to work. I'll report back if this happens again tonight. :(

I also noticed when I do a screen wipe, the left and right sides of the screen is a little bit brown in color. It's not completely white. :confused:

fourizonly,

that's one powerful jinx someone put on your azz.

Originally posted by manpig
fourizonly,

that's one powerful jinx someone put on your azz.

No ****!

Time to find a new hobby :P

I recently purchased a 50v500a that has a crop circle :mad:. 1.5” in diameter, green, only visible against dark background, left-center of screen. I cannot return the set, so I enlisted the help of the top-notch Hitachi service network, who showed up at my house last week to work their magic :rolleyes:. Their initial diagnosis was that there must be dust somewhere in the light path. I was somewhat encourage by this, since this is what the consensus opinion is on avsforum. So, I was fooled into thinking they might know what they were doing and might be able to help. It was all downhill from there. My v500 was the first one they had worked on, so their next step was to scratch their heads and try to figure out how to get inside the tv. So they popped off the front cover and started taking screws out with a manual screwdriver. I could not take the agony of watching them loosen dozens of screws by hand, so I offered my power screwdriver. This lessened the time spent in agony, but believe me the agony was still there. They took off a dozen or so screws from the front and tried to get the screen off. This didn’t work, so they did some more head scratching and started taking screws out of the back. Repeated the head scratching and screw removal process a couple more times until they had 40 or 50 screws removed :rolleyes:. If this was not my tv, I would have been laughing my a$$ off, but since it was my tv the humor was smothered by the anger and exasperation. It was obvious that they did not have a clue, so I recommended calling Hitachi tech support to see what they said. Of course this bruised their egos a bit, but they went ahead and made the call. Without much questioning or hesitation, Hitachi recommended replacing the light engine.

I had hoped that the silver lining in this cloud would be that, by not being able to return my set, we might finally determine a reasonable fix for the crop circle problem. Unfortunately, the solution is still to replace the light engine. This is of course no comfort to the v500 owners out there who are worried about getting a crop circle a year from now when the set is out of warranty. Will the fix still be to replace the light engine???

The service manager I am working with locally said that they just don’t have enough experience with these sets to know how to fix this problem. Everyone who has the problem is either sending it back under an exchange policy or getting a new light engine under warranty. He felt that within the next 3-6 months they would have more experience with this technology and would know how to fix them. Obviously, this is no help to those of us who want the answers now.

So, now I am making calls between the service rep and Hitachi to try to expedite the process. The service tech said they could buy the light engine for $1700…this is considerably less than earlier reports of $4000, but still a huge chunk of change.

Mattysan was going through the same process about a month ago. Last post I saw was that the new light engine was at his house and the tech was coming the next day to install it. Never saw a follow up post to tell if the new light engine solved the problem. Mattysan, if you’re out there, an update would be appreciated.

Also, is there anyone out there who has the service manual in pdf format that is willing to share? That way, the next time I have a service call, I can show the tech what to do ;)

I will update as things develop.

bdouble,
Great post. I (and the wife) went through the same exact experience with our 50V500. I got it hooked up this past weekend, we watched in awe, were totally and remain impressed, even with the non-progressive DVD, but a green hue crop circle showed up just left and below of dead center the next day As with you, it may have been there at day one but the beauty of it all may have obscured our reality sensors. It only shows during dark scenes.
I bought this 50V500 from the Sears Retail Outlet here in CT and fortunately purchased the EW, which I may call on eventually. We're not at that point yet, but I'm sure we'll get there. Additionally, the power LED doesn't illuminate when the TV is on.
I'm curious how your story goes. Please keep us updated because I'm in the same boat.;)

well, according to Hitachi customer service, my new light engine is being overnighted and should be delivered tomorrow. Service tech said he will be out on Friday to install it.

I'll post an update after the installation of the new engine.

btw, for those of you who have the sm....have you noticed the large number of pages and color photographs devoted to detailed instructions on how to remove and replace the light engine??? No other part or issue has one full page of color photos and instructions, let alone 13. Am I the only paranoid soul who thinks the reason they spent the time to do this was because they thought they might have to replace a bunch of light engines? I'm probably just a bit jumpy because of the situation I'm in :confused:

hey guys. i actually just started a new thread cause im having problems with my set. i just found this thread so ill post the same message here...

"hitachi 50v500A fuzzy & pixelated..newbie..please help
hi. from the advice of some members on this board i just purchased a hitachi 50v500A from sears. so the 1st thing i checked out was the dvd. i have a toshiba sd2200. it's old but i plan on getting a new player soon. anyway, i hook up the dvd and put a movie in..and the video looks like crap. it's not even regular tv quality. it's watchable but a little fuzzy and pixelated looking. what really makes me mad is that the dvd picture looked awesome on my little 20 inch panasonic, a regular 4:3 tv. the picture with the hitachi just doesnt have that clear and brilliant look to it. now i thought it was maybe because i was using regular hookups..the red white and yellow ones. but i tried the green, blue and red ones and the pic still looks bad. and its not just the dvd..its the cable too. the picture looks the same. i thought maybe it was because i was only about 10 ft away. so i backed up to around 20 feet and still looks bad. does the picture always look like this out of the box? do i have to do some major configurations? i'm not tech savy at all. i paid a lot of money for this tv and i dont know if i didnt set it up right or if i should call hitachi and get someone to look at it. please help me out."

Toys, that doesn't sound right. Take your DVD to the store and hook it up on the display unit. DVD on my 50v500 looks awesome! Of course, HD is better, but I still have no complaints about the PQ with DVD's.

Cheers

How do you have your DVD player hooked up to the TV?
I know when I first looked at the TV at Sears they had Shrek playing and it looked incredibly awful (pixelated). They had the DVD player connected through the composite input. They switched to s-video and things got better. Mine is connected through component and it looks very good.

-Spike

Originally posted by Man-E-Toys
hey guys. i actually just started a new thread cause im having problems with my set. i just found this thread so ill post the same message here...

"hitachi 50v500A fuzzy & pixelated..newbie..please help
hi. from the advice of some members on this board i just purchased a hitachi 50v500A from sears. so the 1st thing i checked out was the dvd. i have a toshiba sd2200. it's old but i plan on getting a new player soon. anyway, i hook up the dvd and put a movie in..and the video looks like crap. it's not even regular tv quality. it's watchable but a little fuzzy and pixelated looking. what really makes me mad is that the dvd picture looked awesome on my little 20 inch panasonic, a regular 4:3 tv. the picture with the hitachi just doesnt have that clear and brilliant look to it. now i thought it was maybe because i was using regular hookups..the red white and yellow ones. but i tried the green, blue and red ones and the pic still looks bad. and its not just the dvd..its the cable too. the picture looks the same. i thought maybe it was because i was only about 10 ft away. so i backed up to around 20 feet and still looks bad. does the picture always look like this out of the box? do i have to do some major configurations? i'm not tech savy at all. i paid a lot of money for this tv and i dont know if i didnt set it up right or if i should call hitachi and get someone to look at it. please help me out." Yo, I too have the same player and the picture really looks like crap even hooked up via component. On the other hand, my Panasonic XP50 looks awesome with 50V500.

Please say a prayer for my 50v500....the new light engine has been delivered and the tech will start this afternoon on what will be his first light engine replacement on a v500 :confused:

decided to let them take it to the shop instead of performing the surgery in home. since he is a first-timer I would like him to be able to concentrate. This is difficult to do at our house with 2 90 lb dogs and a 3 year old girl creating havoc.

2 questions - how long did it take the techs to get a replacement light engine, and how long did they think it would take to install?

Looks like I am going to be in the same boat; seems that my green LCD panel died on my 35 day old 50v500... Have a Sears repair tech coming out on monday.

-DrumAnBass

I had mine replaced. Took two techs about 2-2.5 hours. Think they estimated about 3-4 hours. It was thier first LE replacement as well. The tech seemed to be very good (first tech they sent out was a MORON!!!:mad: ). As has been mentioned, hitachi goes through great detail on how to replace the engine and so long as you have a good tech it shouldn't be that painful. I think they sent two techs out because the whole screen asembly (top half of the tv comes completly off) needs to be removed.

Good luck!

-Spike

Originally posted by drumanbass
2 questions - how long did it take the techs to get a replacement light engine, and how long did they think it would take to install?

Hitachi recommended replacing the light engine on Monday and the part arrived on Thursday---so 3 days for that part. I had to force the issue with Hitachi a little bit to get them to expedite and overnight the part and made daily calls to Hitachi and service center to check progress. Overall, I would say Hitachi did a nice job on being responsive and expediting. If I had left it to the service center to get the part from their distributor, it would have added 2 weeks.

Since it's his first time, the tech is a bit unsure about the amount of time for repair, he thinks 2-3 hours. There are about 50 screws and several parts that have to be removed to get the light engine out....definitely not a tidy modular plug and play deal. If all goes well, my set should be ready by lunch tomorrow.

Originally posted by manpig
fourizonly,

that's one powerful jinx someone put on your azz. No Sh*t :mad: TV didn't power up properly again last night.

Turned on the set and saw 2 vertical green bands and about 15 green horizontal lines aginst a white screen. Then they slowly disappear and the screen went completely white. While I do get audio, but it didn't not display TV menu.

Turned the set off and on (waited till the lamp cools) for 6 times, I finally got video.

Called Sears Tech last night and they don't know what's the problem. Sears tech coming on Jan. 31.

Called Hitachi Tech this morning and described what was happening to my set and was told the set is defective.

What should I do fellow ho's? Should I wait and have the tech come next Saturday and try to find the problem? Or should I exchange for another set? I think Sears is fed up with ME. :mad:

good news.....v500 is back at home with the new light engine.....and its working like a champ with no crop circles :D hopefully this will be the end of major issues....cautiously optimistic at this point.

Great news bdouble! I'm happy to hear that everything is working good.
BTW...that was a pretty darn quick replacement and delivery back to your place. I'm quite impressed especially since you had to deal directly with Hitachi. I don't have any experience dealing directly with them but I expected that it would have been a long drawn out process.
As far as my crop circle and power LED problem.....I called the Sears Outlet center yesterday and talked with the rep who sold me my last TV. I must have done something right because this weekend they're having a 50% off sale on all there TVs! I explained to him the problems I'm having with mine and he said to come in and exchange it because they just took delivery of 3-4 of them on Tuesday.

So, he put one aside for me and I went over there this evening to check it out with remote in hand and everything looks good. The girl who was helping me looked at the price and told me it was 50% off and that after I exchange my other one (which was $650 more), they will honer the 50% off! I nearly busted a nut when she told me. Therefore, I'll be bringing mine back tomorrow morning and exchanging it for this one. As long as this one works without any problems (ie. crop circles, smudges, LEDs), I'll be very happy. Either way, I can't go wrong in picking up a 50V500 for one/six/four/nine.00 along with the 3 year extended warranty.
For anyone living in the CT area, this Sears Outlet has been top notch as far as being friendly and accomodating. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in buying a TV from there. As I mentioned above, all their TVs are 50% off this weekend, and as far as I know, they all qualify for the extended warranty.

I got a replacement for my Hitachi and found new issues. 5 to 6 dead pixels and SDE. I see the SDE mostly on white back ground. This wasn't there in my old TV.

Regarding the DVD player, my old Toshiba DVD player (SD 6109) without progressive scan when connect through the Monster2 component cables produces awesome picture and is no different than HD931 picture quality. I tried all kind of settings with HD931 still I did not see any difference in the picture quality. HD931 with DVI cable was worst as it was very grainy so I returned that set. I bought a cheap DVD progressive player (Cyberhome 300S) which has the same quality and I am going to use it for burnder medea.

Does any body has any idea why there is no difference in the picture quality ?
Please Help.

Can somebody explain if the issue I am seeing with my TV is SDE.

I see a light snow like screen on the surface when the camera is moving against a bright background. This you can notice a lot when you are watching ice hockey in HD.

If this is SDE, did any body got it fixed by a tech.
It is still under warranty, I am thinking to get another replacement.
Please HELP !!!

mnocs-

yeah, I can't complain about Hitachi's responsiveness. from the time they determined I needed a light engine relacement, it took 4 days to get the part there and have the repair done. I actually went and picked it up myself instead of waiting for delivery, which they couldn't schedule until Monday. Not a big deal for me, since the repair center is only 15 minutes away.

sounds like you got the deal of the century on your replacement set....as you said....you must be living right! hope the new set has no problems. good luck!

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by FaxMan
RickGGGGGGG,


BTW, did you know that if the TV is off and it detects a signal via Input2 it will automatically turn on?

=Fax
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I originally posted in this in the general thread since the above quote came from there, but as this is the official issues thread....
Could this be the reason my TV occaionaly turns on in the middle of the night?
My TV also sometimes turns off, then on, then off, then on again all by itself.
And no, I dont have any of the timer functions on.

MATT

I also posted this on the main thread - how loud is the fan supposed to be? I got my set yesterday and am surprised at how loud it is.

Originally posted by Crazy MB
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by FaxMan
RickGGGGGGG,


BTW, did you know that if the TV is off and it detects a signal via Input2 it will automatically turn on?

=Fax
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I originally posted in this in the general thread since the above quote came from there, but as this is the official issues thread....
Could this be the reason my TV occaionaly turns on in the middle of the night?
My TV also sometimes turns off, then on, then off, then on again all by itself.
And no, I dont have any of the timer functions on.

MATT

Loco Matt,

Does whatever device you have connected on I2 switch on/off at the same time? Can you replicate the problem by switching whatever you have connected to Input2 on/off without touching the TV?

I guess it could be that or errant IR or RF signals bouncing around. Do you have any animals that might step on remotes?

Then again, one of us may be loco.

--Fax

Originally posted by rsingleton
I also posted this on the main thread - how loud is the fan supposed to be? I got my set yesterday and am surprised at how loud it is.

R1ton,

I can only hear mine if the sound is completely off.

Do you have something behind it that may be reflecting/amplifying the sound?

Do you have carpet on your floors?

Without blocking the airflow, you might want to put something soft near the air exit.

=Fax

FaxMan - yes, the fan blows into the wall ... maybe that is reflecting it. Yes, the TV room is carpeted. When you say something soft near the air exit, what do you have in mind?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I assume we're talking about the lower right hand side of the tv if you're standing behind it (where it glows).

Originally posted by FaxMan
Loco Matt,

Does whatever device you have connected on I2 switch on/off at the same time? Can you replicate the problem by switching whatever you have connected to Input2 on/off without touching the TV?

I guess it could be that or errant IR or RF signals bouncing around. Do you have any animals that might step on remotes?

Then again, one of us may be loco.

--Fax

No, the first time it happened i thought that a dog steeped on the remote as she was on the sofa, but since then i made it a point to keep the remotes on the side table, so when it turned on in the middle of the night, the remotes were not touched, and the dvd player was off.
The dvd player is hooked up in vid 2. HD box was in vid 1. Does the set turning on if it detects a signal only happen in video 2, or does it hapen on all component inputs?
MATT

Originally posted by rsingleton
FaxMan - yes, the fan blows into the wall ... maybe that is reflecting it. Yes, the TV room is carpeted. When you say something soft near the air exit, what do you have in mind?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I assume we're talking about the lower right hand side of the tv if you're standing behind it (where it glows).

I'd say anything... a piece of carpet, a pillow, a padded brassier, ManPig's toupee... that would absorb rather than reflect sound would help. I guess a stray piece of junk bouncing around in the fan blades could cause a racket also.

Can you hear it when you have the volume at normal listening levels?

I'd say I can only hear it if I'm standing next to it and everything else is off.

Yes, I believe you have the correct location.

Originally posted by Crazy MB
No, the first time it happened i thought that a dog steeped on the remote as she was on the sofa, but since then i made it a point to keep the remotes on the side table, so when it turned on in the middle of the night, the remotes were not touched, and the dvd player was off.
The dvd player is hooked up in vid 2. HD box was in vid 1. Does the set turning on if it detects a signal only happen in video 2, or does it hapen on all component inputs?
MATT

AFAIK it only happens on Vid2...

Otherwise, this chump is stumped.

I noticed some of you guys mentioned that your sets have smudges. I've had my set for about a week now and have just noticed 2 smudges on my screen. One on the left and one on the right. So I had a tech guy from sears look at it early this morning. He said they would have to order some replacement part. I don't know what part he was talking about though. Is this a common problem with this set? I looked at my tv again just now and now I can't see the smudges. They're exactly where the gray bars are if you set the set to 4:3. But as hard as I tried I can't spot them now. Do these smudges disappear and reappear? It was only distracting in bright scenes, like cartoons. But now I don't see anything. Am I losing my mind?

Crazy MB - Is there any consistency in the times that your set switches on/off? not sure if you've considered this, but there is an event timer (in the setup menu) that can be used to turn the tv on or off at specified times on specified days. Perhaps somehow this feature got turned on.... I realize this is a longshot....just trying to think of anything it COULD be that wouldn't require repair or replacement.

bdouble,
No i thought of that too, not till yesterday though, but all timers are off.
Also, it doesnt happen every day, andat the same time. Two weekends ago it happened friday night, saturday evenng, and sunday afternoon--3 days in a row. Then I had no such problems, until this weekend, it woke my wife and i up at some ungodly hour when it turned on.
also as I had stated above in my second post to this thread, when it turns itself off, after it goes through the 1-2 minute cool down process, it turns itself back on again--and repeats 2-3 times before remianing on.
In conclusion, i KNOW for certain after checking that it is not a timer problem--unless of course it says they are off, but through some glitch, thinks they are on.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
I apreciate any and all help I can get.
MATT

Originally posted by Man-E-Toys
Do these smudges disappear and reappear? .... Am I losing my mind?

Can't attest to your mental health :p but most who have them have reported that the smudges do come and go. The theory is that they are temperature-related.....they seem to go away once the set has been on for a bit and warmed up. There was a lot of discussion about this issue at the "Hitachi LCD Rear Projection Owners Thread," which is closed to new posts, but you can still find a lot of good info and interesting hypothesizing about smudges there.

All,

[Just repeating a problem I had and posted on the main post.]

I got vertical blue and white bars a couple of times last Saturday. I let the set sit for 30 minutes, and it came back on, and has operated nicely since. Called a Hitachi recommended service center and will let them know of this so that it is documented.

I and one other have noted this issue.

As an added protection, I did procure a Monster Power HTS3600 power center, just to provide some surge protection and voltage control. I'm wondering if a voltage sag would cause this?

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by FaxMan
RickGGGGGGG,


BTW, did you know that if the TV is off and it detects a signal via Input2 it will automatically turn on?

=Fax
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sounds like a few of you hold the exclusive on this one. I certainly can't duplicate it. Might be a STB issue.

Bruce

Bacffin - that's a setting you can turn on or off. I don't remember the name (movie something or other), but it will turn the TV on when it detects a signal from a certain input. Supposed to make it easy to watch a DVD - it sees you started a movie and turns everything on for you.

Ah...More coolness! Got to really read the manual more and play with it! Thanks for the info.

Here is a picture of the blue and white stripes.

Originally posted by steveeg1961
Here is a picture of the blue and white stripes.

Steve,

That's messed up dude. Call for service immediately.:confused:

Fax,

Don't have a rug you mofo. What is there is real you piece of sack.

Yo Ho's who's sets are on/offin.........yo houses are haunted

Originally posted by rsingleton
I also posted this on the main thread - how loud is the fan supposed to be? I got my set yesterday and am surprised at how loud it is.

Dude, the fan is so damn loud it scares my cat. Earplugs are the solution.:eek:

Ive had a 50V500 for a few months now and I have a few problems that I have seen.

First, when scenes are dark, i get this kind of greenish cast in the dark grey areas. This doesn't seem to affect the brighter areas of the picture.
I have also noted that when the screen fades from a dark scene to totally black that I get greenish ghosting for a few seconds. Does anyone else see this? I have calibrated using DVE but it has not seemed to help.

In some cases I was not sure if this was artifacting from Dish networks signal, But now I am sure it is not since I see it on DVDs as well. I have not checked to see if I see this under HD mode, It mainly occurs through 480p and SD model on my Dish receiver.

Second, I see flickering of colors (especially faces). It seems like a persons complexion changes shades of reddish to slightly greener. I am wondering if these two things may be related.

Anyone else see this?

r u using BE? if you are then turn it off and see if that helps. also, make sure you have not enabled auto color or sumpin.

Also take a look at your contrast mode, I use normal. I think automatic does strange things.

-Spike

Originally posted by manpig
Why in the heck would a woman buy a whole pig if she can get a MP Schnitzel for free?

From the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language regarding "schnitzel":

German, from Middle High German snitzel, diminutive of sniz (slice)....i.e. small or thin slice :eek:

I hope it's ok to jump in here. I pick up my 50v500 on Monday (I have another thread about box size if anyone knows). I plan on putting it in a built in cabinet. It will only have about 1/4" on each side and 1/2" on the top. It will be a tight fit. Should I be worried about airflow and overheating? I plan on cutting a large portion of the back out to allow some airflow.

Originally posted by bdouble
From the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language regarding "schnitzel":

German, from Middle High German snitzel, diminutive of sniz (slice)....i.e. small or thin slice :eek:

Well well Mr. English Professor: Ain't ya eva hear of a WIENER SCHNITZEL?

Originally posted by RxMan1
I hope it's ok to jump in here. I pick up my 50v500 on Monday (I have another thread about box size if anyone knows). I plan on putting it in a built in cabinet. It will only have about 1/4" on each side and 1/2" on the top. It will be a tight fit. Should I be worried about airflow and overheating? I plan on cutting a large portion of the back out to allow some airflow.

i think the box size was posted in the orig thread. u might try a search for it there. there is no intake filter on the Hit so you don't have to worry about that being covered up. i read in one of the Sony LCD threads that the input air comes in thru the speakers..........same with Hit???????? dunno. if so, the speakers are on the front left and right and the others are on the sides near the bottom so you might be restricting that area a bit but i would think you would still get air flow. the outflow is in the back on the left side as you face the tv.

Originally posted by manpig
Well well Mr. English Professor: Ain't ya eva hear of a WIENER SCHNITZEL?

yes, literally a "thin breaded veal cutlet"

not sure if connotations like 'diminutive', 'thin' or 'cutlet' were what you were going for.....just trying to help a brother out

Originally posted by steveeg1961
Here is a picture of the blue and white stripes. Yeah, that's what I'm seeing on my set. The lines on my set will slowly appear and then disappear.

Yesterday, the set turned on properly. Well, I've recorded the problem on my digicam, so if the set turns on without a glitch tomorrow I can just show it to the Sears tech.

I had the Sears tech out yesterday to deal with my "red push" issue (lack of green). Turns out it was a matter of going into the "service" menu and resetting the color balance there. Very bizarre how a TV could tell itself not to display green anymore...! I thought for sure it was an LCD panel failure. I guess thats why I am not a TV repairman!

So, the lesson is, if the color suddenly gets whacked on your TV, go into the service menu and check things out. I know I saw a post here somewhere about how to access the service menu...?

-DrumAnBass

Originally posted by drumanbass
2 questions - how long did it take the techs to get a replacement light engine, and how long did they think it would take to install?

Looks like I am going to be in the same boat; seems that my green LCD panel died on my 35 day old 50v500... Have a Sears repair tech coming out on monday.

-DrumAnBass

Did you see what settings in the SM he changed?

For those who have seen the blue and white colored bars, I have also seen them a few times. They have appeared when I have turned on the TV before the television has completely turned off (flashing blue light is still on).

How I corrected it was to turn off the TV, unplug the power cord for 15 seconds and then plugged the power back in.

What I suspect is that the processor(s) sometimes get totally confused and won't reset properly when the the power cycle is not followed properly.

Similar things happen when turning on and off computers and other such devices. From my background, this can be hard to design so that this situation won't happen.

Originally posted by casey10s
For those who have seen the blue and white colored bars, I have also seen them a few times. They have appeared when I have turned on the TV before the television has completely turned off (flashing blue light is still on).

How I corrected it was to turn off the TV, unplug the power cord for 15 seconds and then plugged the power back in.

What I suspect is that the processor(s) sometimes get totally confused and won't reset properly when the the power cycle is not followed properly.

Similar things happen when turning on and off computers and other such devices. From my background, this can be hard to design so that this situation won't happen. So you are saying by unplugging the power cord for 15 seconds will eliminate this problem forever?

Originally posted by fourizonly

So you are saying by unplugging the power cord for 15 seconds will eliminate this problem forever?

This will not eliminate the problem forever, it will just reset the processor(s) so that the TV will work properly. If I turn the TV on too soon again. this problem may occur again. This is just to get the TV back to normal operating mode.

I have a computer that I sometimes have to do the same thing if I get a power glitch. There is no hard reset button on it just a soft one. The same for this TV.

Originally posted by manpig
r u using BE? if you are then turn it off and see if that helps. also, make sure you have not enabled auto color or sumpin.

BE is off and so is all of the auto functions.

I am beginning to think that my gray scale is off in the lower IRE scales. I may try to hire a ISF tech to set greyscale and see if this helps.

As for the flicker, has anyone gotten into the SM and adjusted flicker? Red and Blue seem to flicker very slightly, but green can only be adjusted down but still flickers to much(?). I was going to check out sets at the store to compare relative flickering in each color on an independent set..

Hey folks,

Last night, while watching tv, my power went out twice. This obviously caused my 60V500 to shut down without properly cooling the bulb... are occasional events such as this deadly for my bulb -- will they significantly shorten the life of the bulb?

Should I consider getting a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for the TV?

SteveO,

Not sure anyone could accurately predict what a power off with no fan would do to your lamp. It ain't good that's forsure. Is this a common occurrance where you live? If so, then I would buy a UPS. Those lamps ain't cheap. I saw today someone post that the Sony lamp is only $200.
That really pizzes me off.

Originally posted by jluksch
Ive had a 50V500 for a few months now and I have a few problems that I have seen.

First, when scenes are dark, i get this kind of greenish cast in the dark grey areas. This doesn't seem to affect the brighter areas of the picture.
I have also noted that when the screen fades from a dark scene to totally black that I get greenish ghosting for a few seconds. Does anyone else see this? I have calibrated using DVE but it has not seemed to help.

In some cases I was not sure if this was artifacting from Dish networks signal, But now I am sure it is not since I see it on DVDs as well. I have not checked to see if I see this under HD mode, It mainly occurs through 480p and SD model on my Dish receiver.

Second, I see flickering of colors (especially faces). It seems like a persons complexion changes shades of reddish to slightly greener. I am wondering if these two things may be related.

Anyone else see this?

It sounds like you may need a service call.

I have not heard of anyone complain with problems such as yours and I followed this thread from the very beginning archived thread. I posted settings in there I believe on page 27 to help people get started.

Flicker is caused by Black Enhancement; turn it off.

The Hitachi black scenes are black with no green tint, if you can't adjust it out then there is something wrong with your set.

Tint control on peoples faces has never been a problem.

:cool:

Originally posted by spikedog007
Did you see what settings in the SM he changed?

Unfortunately I was at work and my wife dealt with the repair dude, and she see exactly what he did, other than that he went into the service menu...

-DrumAnBass

Originally posted by PoolShark
It sounds like you may need a service call.

I have not heard of anyone complain with problems such as yours and I followed this thread from the very beginning archived thread. I posted settings in there I believe on page 27 to help people get started.

Flicker is caused by Black Enhancement; turn it off.

The Hitachi black scenes are black with no green tint, if you can't adjust it out then there is something wrong with your set.

Tint control on peoples faces has never been a problem.

:cool:

Thanks, I saw one message towards the beginning of the Hitachi LCD thread, describing the greenish tint, but you are right I have not heard of anyone else complaining or noting this. At first I was not sure if Dish network artifacting was a problem. Movies that appear to be a problem are Clint Eastwoods "unforgiven", Ghost Ship, and others that are inherently dark movies..

I guess I should call Hitachi.. Thanks

srs148,
The fact that there is a power outage and you're fan does not cool down the bulb properly will not damage the bulb. The only thing you need to be concerned with is if it happens often, then it will shorten the life of the bulb. How much??? It's hard to tell. As was mentioned by manpig, if it happens often, getting a backup is a good idea.
This happened the second day I had my 50V500 and I was nervous too but I feel pretty confident that when the EEs and Reliability weenies designed the TV, they took into consideration improper cool down of the bulb (ie. power outage) in calculating the MTBFs (mean time between failures) of the bulb.
Besides, I think other components are more susceptible to damage during an abrupt power outage rather than the bulb when talking critical failure.

Originally posted by manpig
SteveO,

Not sure anyone could accurately predict what a power off with no fan would do to your lamp. It ain't good that's forsure. Is this a common occurrance where you live? If so, then I would buy a UPS. Those lamps ain't cheap. I saw today someone post that the Sony lamp is only $200.
That really pizzes me off.

MP, it's actually not a common occurrance for the power to randomly go out, but we were in the middle of a snow/sleet/rain storm, so my guess is that everytime the power went out, someone had just slid into a utility pole!

Regardless, the sub-$100 investment in a UPS probably isnt a bad idea...btw, how much do our lamps cost?

One thing I noticed after the power came back on was that the TV automatically came on as well... there must be some circuitry that senses if it was shut down properly or not...

SteveO,


Lamp link: http://www.partsolver.com/Product.asp?InventoryID=12236572&SubstitutePart=False&ModelManufacturer=Hitachi&ModelNumber=50V500&ModelID=374014

Haven't heard if anyone ever found a better deal than this. Prob not. I wish AVS would hook us up with one of their famous power buys on the lamp. Are u listening Barry?

Interesting: I just called the lamp supplier and they said they have a new part from Hitachi on the lamp and it is $178.50. I tried to talk to their corporate account people to set up a HitHo discount but I got disconnected.
They have zero stock right now btw. I asked if the new lamp comes housed in the little case ours is in and they did not know. I am guessing it is.

here is the new link: http://www.partsolver.com/Product.asp?InventoryID=12228220&SubstitutePart=1&ModelManufacturer=Hitachi&ModelNumber=50V500&ModelID=374014&OrgPartNum=DP00541&OrgPartMfg=Hitachi

called these guys and was quoted $170. asked about qty discount on 10 and was quoted $157. anyone interested in a qty dealio?

http://www.vancebaldwin.com/pages/Parts-HIT1.htm

last post: I worked a deal with this last group to get the lamp at $165.26 + shipping on qty 1. No tax unless u live in FL. I ordered 1. They have 5 more in stock. If anyone is interested in this deal then pm me for details.

Originally posted by Crazy MB
HI all.
New Owner and extremely satisfied-except...now I know the stuck pixel thing is a given with these TVs, but i was under the impression that they would not be noticeable from a normal viewing distance. I however have one bright blue pixel in the bottom right corner of the screen that is visible on all dark scenes, or when there are black bars, and most of the time for that matter. Since this pixel distracts from the viewing experience, can the set be replaced-even if just one pixel, or is there a fix?
And it is not like i get up close and inspect for these things, it is just incredibly noticeable.
Thanks
MATT
Not an issue, an update on an issue...
I posted this a few weeks ago. Funny thing though. The pixel was noticeable about 80% of the time. We recently got TWC's newest HD cable box(they were out when i got the tv and had te old 2 piece unit) the moto 6200. Now, i can not see the blue pixel--even on black screens--unless I get up close to the screen. At first I though that somehow the cable box helped, but I havent seen the pixel during dvds either. So, hurray. Any ideas? Is the pixel becoming less bright? Dying? Getting unstuck?
I am overjoyed that I might not have to go through the return process. (knock on wood).
MATT

Matt,

that is good news. ahardt believes that if you are nice to your pixels and talk to them sweetly, that the bad ones will improve.

Originally posted by manpig
Matt,

that is good news. ahardt believes that if you are nice to your pixels and talk to them sweetly, that the bad ones will improve.

Evidently, cursing at your TV and threatening to return it works as well.
My theory, TVs need discipline.

Originally posted by manpig
ahardt believes that if you are nice to your pixels and talk to them sweetly, that the bad ones will improve.
somehow I didn't picture ahardt being the nurturing type...guessing she's more in the tough love camp, though her post to grizzledbiker a couple of weeks back nearly brought tears to my eyes... it was just dripping with kind, gentle sweetness :p

Originally posted by ahardt
Grizzledbiker,
....You add nothing constructive to this thread. Occasionally, you posted something mildly non-offensive, but that type of posting has become more infrequent.....

....I suppose it's possible that you have some sort of an illness or disorder that prevents you from understanding and responding to unstated social cues and rules of conduct- if this is the case, I truly apologize for being so hard on you when you're doing the best you can. If you don't have an illness, then I don't know what your problem is. Your negative attitude may, however, be an explanation for the discord in your marriage (the details of which probably would have been more suitable for another forum, possibly Dr. Phil?). Perhaps a reevaluation of the way you interact with people is in order?
actually the only reason I had tears in my eyes was because I was laughing my a$$ off. btw, where has the queen been lately? I feel like I need some discipline.

Originally posted by jluksch
Thanks, I saw one message towards the beginning of the Hitachi LCD thread, describing the greenish tint, but you are right I have not heard of anyone else complaining or noting this. At first I was not sure if Dish network artifacting was a problem. Movies that appear to be a problem are Clint Eastwoods "unforgiven", Ghost Ship, and others that are inherently dark movies..

I guess I should call Hitachi.. Thanks

jluksch

I also have this tint you describe. I mostly see it while watching SD D*. I also experience strange color on peoples faces time to time. It looks like the picture changes from flesh tones to animated people, especially on black people. I was thinking it was due to poor signal strength. I was watching Pale Rider in HD the other day and when Clint was in the cabin at knight the dark walls looked like they were moving and had a green tint to them. But this movie was made in 1985 so I thought again poor quality source.

If you get service to come out and look and yours and there is a problem with the set let us know. I thought I was just being to picky.

I have also noticed a 1/4" vertical line three inchs in on the right side of the screen that is lighter in color then the rest of the screen. It is more noticable on light scenes. Has anyone else seen this?

My fan can be heard over normal listening volume of the tv?

Originally posted by bdouble
btw, where has the queen been lately? I feel like I need some discipline.
Around and reading, I assure you.

I regret to inform you all that my fingers were broken in a horrendous television tweaking accident, the details of which I will not go into to protect the innocent (me). The doctor says they will heal in 4-6 weeks, so expect me back and posting by then. I will say that my tv is perfectly tweaked at this point, which is good because the hit remote is now MIA- as I said, I won't go into details, but believe me, achieving the perfect tweak wasn't easy. Think I'll prolly get hazard duty pay.

Due to said injury, it has now taken me 5 1/2 hours to type this short post. See yas.

Well my 50V500 crapped out after 9 days-the Friday before the Super Bowl :mad:

The problem was that the picture lost both resolution and color accuracy. The picture was blotchy, the screen was overly bright and the color was waaaay off (reds and yellows were way to hot). Up to this point, I'd had no problems with the set--the picture had been superb.

After explaining to Hitachi tech support what had happened and what I had tried, they told me the set needed service. Since I had purchased it at Circuit City, I called them and am now have a replacement on order. CC is giving me a display model to use for the Super Bowl (to watch my Patriots play), which I thought was extraordinarily great service.

When I was talking to Hitachi, I really didn't have to describe the problem much to the rep. I got the impression that this was a known issue.

Oh well...

Originally posted by socd
jluksch

I also have this tint you describe. I mostly see it while watching SD D*. I also experience strange color on peoples faces time to time. It looks like the picture changes from flesh tones to animated people, especially on black people. I was thinking it was due to poor signal strength. I was watching Pale Rider in HD the other day and when Clint was in the cabin at knight the dark walls looked like they were moving and had a green tint to them. But this movie was made in 1985 so I thought again poor quality source.

If you get service to come out and look and yours and there is a problem with the set let us know. I thought I was just being to picky.

I have also noticed a 1/4" vertical line three inchs in on the right side of the screen that is lighter in color then the rest of the screen. It is more noticable on light scenes. Has anyone else seen this?

My fan can be heard over normal listening volume of the tv?


I also suspect this. I have dish network and get this on older movies, but I also get it using DVDs, so I dont think the entire problem is the bad uplink of satellite TV.

I was watching the news yesterday and if I look closely at faces, the faces shift colors from reddish flesh tones to greenish flesh tones. I have been trying to observe what is going on so I can duplicate it for the service tech when I get them to come over..

Is there any way to get PIP to fill up the screen? I can get two 50% windows side by side, but can't get rid of the bars.

I finally got my 50v500a hooked up yesterday. I have been watching DirecTV connected via S-Video and I have to say the picture looks horrible. I like to watch alot of sports. I can't even watch a basketball game for more than a few minutes without getting a headache. I was expecting alot more. When the players run up and down the court I just see lots of bluriness. What do I need to try? This is not what I expected to get from 3K. I'm new to all of this, but, I'm guessing I have a very bad screen door effect.

My wife says the picture is horrible as well.

HELP.

RxMan-
This is in no way a scientific sampling or anything, but I have heard more complaints about satellite feeds than cable. I don't know if this is the case or if it just appears that way. I have cable and my SD PQ can be pretty damned good. Faxman has satellite and his SD feed looks like crapola. He's supposed to be getting a HD box soon, I think.

Is there anyone with satellite that has a pretty good or non-foul PQ that could speak up for RxMan and Faxman about how to improve their PQ?

I should be getting my HD box tomorrow. It is still going to be via Directv, but hopefully it will be much better in HD. I watch ESPN 50% of the time and it just so happens that it is the worst channel I have seen :(

I just tried some of the adjustments mentioned in other threads and have seen some improvement.

What aspect are users watching SD content with? I'm using 4:3 expanded.

4:3 expanded is the best of the stretch modes imho, but you are still stretching. try not stretching for awhile and see the improvement.

I prefer 16:9 stretch to 4:3 expanded, myself.

if you are talking about stretching sd then you are sadly mistaken. lmfao

I have spent a few hours reading through various threads. I am glad to see that manpig had the same initial reaction that I did. Like I said above, I will have a HD receiver arriving today. Do most people see more of a 'wow' factor from HD content or DVDs?

Is the DVE disc worth picking up? I have tweaked mine based on what people have posted here. I'm a little confused about something. If I tweak using the DVE disc via my DVD player, the results would be optimized for that player, yet, I plan on watching the majority of HD and SD content via satellite.

Does the HD package (component cables) make any difference at all when players games on an XBox? I'm talking standard 480 games.

Originally posted by RxMan1
I have spent a few hours reading through various threads. I am glad to see that manpig had the same initial reaction that I did. Like I said above, I will have a HD receiver arriving today. Do most people see more of a 'wow' factor from HD content or DVDs?

HD all the WAY!!! I've got DirectTV and a SIR160 (i think that's it). HD looks incredible and the SD is not that bad. Unfortunately since I'm hooked into the dvi input I only get the stretch modes of the SIR, which aren't that great.

Originally posted by RxMan1


Does the HD package (component cables) make any difference at all when players games on an XBox? I'm talking standard 480 games.

For non 720p & 1080i, the HDpack gives you 480P (most all games support this and it gives you widescreen for games that support it

Here's a list of games supporting the various HD levels


XBOX HD (http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100055)


-Spike

So your saying that the HDpack would be worth it? For example..Would Madden 2004 look less jagged with the HDPack?

It's 34 degrees here right now, but, I'll probably be hooking up the new triple lnb oval dish in a few hours. :) I need to see something that wows me.....and especially the wife. She's not impressed with the investment at this point.

Originally posted by RxMan1
So your saying that the HDpack would be worth it? For example..Would Madden 2004 look less jagged with the HDPack?

It's 34 degrees here right now, but, I'll probably be hooking up the new triple lnb oval dish in a few hours. :) I need to see something that wows me.....and especially the wife. She's not impressed with the investment at this point.


Less Jaggy? Probably but I still notice jaggies on all my games. I got a wireless controller so I could sit about 9 -10 feet away without a cord to trip over and the jaggies are not visible. You would get 16:9 with madden rather than either letterbox or stretched version! I've heard games like soul caliber at 720p are incredible but I've yet to try anything but 480p games.

Can't believe the wife doesn't say wow to a good DVD. Monster inc. certainly made my wife say wow. Matrix Reloaded is also a good demo disc. HD will definitely wow her just don't try to wow here with ESPNHD, my wife is sick of seeing sports HD or not. :)

Forgot to say that the XBOX HD pack also gives you digital 5.1 sound. Assuming your receiver supports it.

LOL. OK, I bet not stretching the games will make them look better. I had my DVD player unhooked (still gettiing everything in place) so we watched via the xbox. Not the greatest way to watch a DVD especially without component cables.

Thanks for the tips. Sometimes a little doubt creeps in with an investment like this.

How is your HD receiver connected? Do you have to switch from Input1 (dvi) to a separate input on the tv when not watching HD content?

Hooked into dvi input and all channels come through input 1. If you wanted to use the v500 for stretching you could hook the svhs or composite to another input for non-hd viewing but I think quality might suffer a little.

I also have component hookups for the xbox and my dvd player, since only one other component input is available on the v500's I use the component switching on my audio receiver to switch between xbox and dvd for input 2.

Works for me ;)


-Spike

The reason I ask is that the Hughes E86 manual says that the component cables are for HD content then it says note when hd content is not present, no video will be displayed. This really baffles me. It seems like 2 connections like you mentioned above would be needed. My audio receiver doesn't have component inputs just s-video. :(

RxMan - I get HDTV via Charter. Discovery is by far the best PQ of all the channels they carry, and it is the one that made my wife an immediate believer.....she was impressed with DVD PQ but when I flipped to Discovery HD her jaw literally dropped in amazement. the good thing for me is my v500 and my HD cable box showed up the same day, so I dind't have to deal with the doubting and nay-saying for long.

As many have noted, the downside of getting a few HD channels is that it then beomces painful to watch SD channels. After suffering through the super bowl in SD, even my wife was saying "this sucks....we need to get more HD channels." so, I'm now in the process of switching to DISH and putting up a small OTA antenna for the local HD feeds, which will up my HD channel count from 5 to 11.

don't despair.....I am pretty confident that once you get an HDTV feed you will get some WOW factor :)

Originally posted by RxMan1
Do most people see more of a 'wow' factor from HD content or DVDs?

Is the DVE disc worth picking up? I have tweaked mine based on what people have posted here. I'm a little confused about something. If I tweak using the DVE disc via my DVD player, the results would be optimized for that player, yet, I plan on watching the majority of HD and SD content via satellite.



The difference bet SD and HD is pretty evident especially when viewing sports or a sitcom or Leno. It will be less wowing on some of the dramas.
PBS HD has some pretty incredible looking stuff. Discovery HD has rave reviews.

A good DVD should be able to wow you also if your dvd player is pretty good and you have your set tweaked properly.

A DVE type disc is imperative if you want to get the most out of your PQ experience. While it is true that you will be tweaking to your dvd player, most believe the end results will work pretty well with your other inputed devices with minor subtle tweaks.

Thanks Guys. I will report back when I get everything hooked up.

OK. I got the dish installed. I get upper 80s to 90s on all 3 sats. Looking foward to some HD content tonight.

Originally posted by spikedog007
Less Jaggy? Probably but I still notice jaggies on all my games. I got a wireless controller so I could sit about 9 -10 feet away without a cord to trip over and the jaggies are not visible. You would get 16:9 with madden rather than either letterbox or stretched version! I've heard games like soul caliber at 720p are incredible but I've yet to try anything but 480p games.

Spikedog,

I have my xbox hooked up via xbox Monster component cables. Bad news first - 480i games and 480p games have way more jaggies than I've ever noticed than on our analog Toshiba 56 widescreen RPTV. The 480p games have an overall better PQ (discounting the jaggies) and in fact the jaggies show up worse (comparing the same game) via 480p than 480i (when enabling or disabling the 480p setting on xbox control panel). I've been telling a friend how great "Prince of Persia - Sands of Time" is for months (before I got the 60vx500 last Saturday). We had him over last night and I wasn't too excited about showing it to him because of the jaggies. It really takes away a bit from the otherwise impressive graphics. This loss in PQ with 480p (and 480i) xbox games is our biggest disappointment associated with upgrading to the new set.

Good news: Got a few 720p games. Got "Amped 2", "ESPN NBA Basketball 2004" - Jaw-dropping amazing! After all 720 matches the native pixel resolution and it's the first HD-level stuff we've seen the set display (working on upgrading to HD DirecTV just haven't pulled the trigga yet). Also got "Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4" which has 720p support but haven't tried it yet.

I wish there was some way to minimize the non-native 480 jaggies of xbox games other than choosing 480i over 480p. 480i or 480p ouput from our JVC DVD player looks great on the set but consistent with the xbox I have noticed that if watching material where computer graphics (or CGI) is used, jaggies will suddenly become noticeable. An example of this is the CGI space scenes in "Babylon 5" series DVDs.

Hope that helps a little.
Wired.

I was unhappy at first with the graphics of the 480p games as well but as I said before sitting back a little bit further from the set and they are almost unnoticable. I think the problem is in developers not using the anti-aliasing the xbox has or whatever AA the xbox has isn't very good. I can guarantee you the graphics are better than a PS2 or GC. My guess is your old SDtv set had some sharpness settings that cleaned up the jaggies and now the v500 shows you what truly is being delivered to it.

Glad to hear the 720p games are that much better, I haven't gotten any yet, but now I can't wait.

You should head over to the Home theater gaming forum, they may have some suggestions but I think you probably stuck with a few jaggies until more true HD games come out, or XBOX2 in 2005!!!

-Spike

OK. I finished my install of the oval dish last night. I hooked up the receiver and was instantly impressed by the HD content. My wife came home and there was a show about amusement parks on. She didn't say wow...she said 'OMG! That is awesome!'. Whew! I can relax now. :) Can't wait for the Grammys.

Originally posted by spikedog007
I was unhappy at first with the graphics of the 480p games as well but as I said before sitting back a little bit further from the set and they are almost unnoticable. I think the problem is in developers not using the anti-aliasing the xbox has or whatever AA the xbox has isn't very good. I can guarantee you the graphics are better than a PS2 or GC. My guess is your old SDtv set had some sharpness settings that cleaned up the jaggies and now the v500 shows you what truly is being delivered to it.

Glad to hear the 720p games are that much better, I haven't gotten any yet, but now I can't wait.

You should head over to the Home theater gaming forum, they may have some suggestions but I think you probably stuck with a few jaggies until more true HD games come out, or XBOX2 in 2005!!!

-Spike

I'm already 10 feet back from the set and can clearly see the jaggies - yep, it's a curse. I guess I could hope that as my eyes age I won't notice them as much .:p

I think it's just the inherent technology differences between CRT which can frequency adapt various resolutions better and fixed pixel like LCD that have a "favorite" native resolution. I agree with your opinion that anti-aliasing might not be used to the extent we need in the games or by the graphics processor on the xbox. This would be due to performance reasons since AA is a processor intensive operation.

Looks like the best I can hope for is more 720p games especially the sequels of some of my favorite games ("Halo", "Rally Sport Challenge", etc). Already have "Project Gotham 2" and it's "only" in 480p :mad:
Wired

I just took delivery of my 60 inch LCD from Sears 2 days ago after waiting almost 2 months. The set is absolutely great except....

I have powered the Hitachi up roughly about 15 times. Sometimes I just get a white screen upon power up. This has happened 4 times. During this experience the OSD is not visible and changing the inputs does not matter. The screen is just stark white. The only remedy seems to be to power the unit down and unplug it from my Panamax surge protector for about 30 seconds. After about 30 seconds, I plug the v500 back in and power up. If it powers up correctly, it will work with no problem.

As an experiment I have tried to plug the V500 into a different section of my surge protector. Although I leave the Panamax on all the time, I originally had the Hitachi plugged into the power delayed input.

I would really appreciate some advice from anyone who has experienced this problem or has a fix.

I am also curious to hear about what Sears does to fix or replace given that these TV's are in such short supply?

I have noticed when watch HD content via Directv that the screen is cut off on the sides. I can see half of the CBS logo on the right. When CSI started last night. It said High-Def presented by Zenith (or whatever)..I could not see the Z in Zenith on the left side either. I am on 16:9 standard not zoom.

Originally posted by RxMan1
I have noticed when watch HD content via Directv that the screen is cut off on the sides. I can see half of the CBS logo on the right. When CSI started last night. It said High-Def presented by Zenith (or whatever)..I could not see the Z in Zenith on the left side either. I am on 16:9 standard not zoom.


you should head over to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25 and do a quick search on your STB model. This sounds like an issue with it rather than the v500

-Spike

Originally posted by RxMan1
I have noticed when watch HD content via Directv that the screen is cut off on the sides. I can see half of the CBS logo on the right. When CSI started last night. It said High-Def presented by Zenith (or whatever)..I could not see the Z in Zenith on the left side either. I am on 16:9 standard not zoom.

RxDude:

Sounds like your STB may be in some sort of stretch mode...

Catching up from your initial posts... I was unimpressed with SD and received the same spousal reaction you did. Was even reluctant to invite friends over to show off. :(

However, either the DVE tweaking I've done has helped or we're just used to it more. It no longer bothers us.

DVD has always been awesome.

You beat me to HD... I keep holding off until I can get my hands on the E* 921 HD/DVR receiver. I've been spoiled with my SD DVR and can't go back to watching 'live' tv.

Not sure about if D* has HDNet, but they broadcast some HD test signals for calibrating. I think they're pretty early in the morning so you'll have to get your coffee up an possibly cover your windows to simulate your regular viewing conditions... (that's why I want DVR... I can tweak on my own schedule):D

Along with some of the threads here, www.dbstalk.com and www.satelliteguys.us are great forums for satellite folks.

-FAX

Got my brand new 50V500 delivered today from CC. They set it up and it would not power on... I was so excited to get it today. Now it will be Friday before I get a new unit.

I'm gonna buy my 50V500 on Wednesday. Getting it from a local store (Video Only) but I've been wondering...a lot of you folks refer to visits from Sears techs which I assume you mean you bought at Sears. Do they provide better service than the standard Hitachi service? Or will the Hitachi service be OK if necessary? The place I'm buying from offers extended warranties from GE. I will, of course, get the deails in advance but was wondering why so many folks here seemed to go with Sears.

That is probably my fault. I posted the initail review for this TV back in late august, and just so happened to work for sears at the time. My poor PM box was tortured for the next 3 months with floods of emails, requesting a good deal. Some people got lucky and some didn't. Either way, its a done deal now, and thankfully, now that it has quieted down, I can begin posting again.

That said, Sears service is QUITE excellent. And considering some of the PROBLEMS, I have witnessed firsthand with this set, quite necessary too.

IF you want details, I can list them, but it is alot, and I'd rather not if I don't have to.

But if you need to know, ask, and I'll tell you.

-The Krakken-

Was there ever any indication from Hitachi as to the cause of the smudges and/ or crop circles that were reported in the original thread?

I've had my 50V500 for a week and I like it, though I wish the SD picture quality was a little better.

I've watched several DVD's since I got it and the sound has been good. However, I rented Open Range this weekend and the audio for the dialogue was VERY hard to hear (the player is hooked to the TV via component video with Monster audio cables). All the other sound was clear (rain, horses, other effects), only the dialogue was affected. I popped the DVD out and took it upstairs to my theater setup and it was fine. I tried changing the audio setup on the TV as well as on the DVD player, but nothing improved very much.

Any ideas?

did you try the settings on the receiver. I had a similar problem and i was using optical cables and didn't set the receiver to digital multichannel. push one button and your hair blows back

I've had my 60V500 for almost exactly a month now and loved every minute of it... no racetracks, or other crazy issues to speak of.... Well, I attempted turn it on yesterday afternoon to be greeted by three rapidly blinking lights (in succession). After I powered down, only the Lamp light remained illuminated.

I attempted to turn it on again after unplugging the set for a few minutes with the same results. I contacted Hitachi immediately and they gave me the contact number for the local service center. Looks like the bulb is burnt already and now I have to wait until Friday for a tech to come out to look at it....

I guess it was too good to be true that I had a trouble-free set :rolleyes:

Originally posted by rms56
-The Krakken-

Was there ever any indication from Hitachi as to the cause of the smudges and/ or crop circles that were reported in the original thread?

From what I understand, its a defect in the "Light Engine". Whatever that means. We actually have right now, two of them upstairs in our store where they both have the same problem. The entire engine has to be replaced in those sets, and fortunately for the owners its still under warranty (though they both have service contracts), or else it would be very expensive.

One estimate places the replacement of the 1st TV's engin at well above 1800 dollars. I am not sure why, but any more, and you are almost better off buying a new TV.

Given the high number of these we have sold (I have personally accounted for almost 200, since I got back to work in October--had pneumonia), and the fact that we have only two "reported" with these issues, I am inclined to believe that although the problem does exist, it is the exception and not the norm.

EDIT: We just gave them new TV's and sent them on their way. We'll re-sell these as used once we get the parts back.

See the Hitachi V500 Series Poll - we had quite a few reported through the original thread.

There has been so much written on this site that I had to decide whether to spend my time reading or writing. As you can tell by the number of my posts, I have been doing allot of reading.

I have had my v500 since October, and have loved every second of it...That was, until last week when my colors started to look strange. Try as I might, pink push and bad greens. When my three year old daughter asked me why the gray bars were pink, I realized I had a hardware problem.

In an ironic twist of fate, I got a note from Sears last week, giving me a second chance to purchase the Master Protection Agreement. I called Sears to schedule to appointment and gave the nice lady that took my call the part number to the video engine (thanks Spike) along with a ref. to the Hitachi service manual.

Am I worried? No. With the Sears Master Protection Agreement, if they have to come out here four times in a year, I get a new TV! I also have to assume the replacement engine does not have the same problems as the one the unit was shipped with.

So, thanks again Spike, and anyone else who has ever posted to the former 100+ page board for all your help. Somehow, I don't feel alone going through this.

Glad my experience helped ease yours.

Good luck!

-Spike

Folks,

I couldn't wait to get home today so I could post my first possibly helpful message. You know, give a little back to the community.

Here is my tale. As you can see from my previous post, I wrote it earlier today at 1:30 AM. Here is the WOW factor. Sit down for this. Less than 9 hours later, my TV is good as new! How is this possible? Sears!

Spike, I definitely had the same problem you had. Tried all the adjustments, and still pink. Turned the color all the way down, and the gray bars and menu were still pink. After I posted my note last night, I got on the phone with Sears, 800 4 MY HOME, and told them the problem I was having. I knew I was going to need a new light engine, so I told the nice lady what the problem was, had her type in the part number of the engine for my TV along with a reference to the Hitachi service manual. She then asks if the tech can come out between 8am and 12pm. I let her know that if he can be here by 9:30AM, I will still be home. She also let me know that while my TV might require a new light engine, the tech must come out first to ascertain the problem before ordering parts. Fair enough. Tech gets here by 9:30am and I quickly make it clear to him that I know what I'm talking about, show him that the problem exists on all inputs, color adjustments don't solve the problem etc. (I was in a hurry and didn't have time for him to go through everything I had already checked). I let him know that I was familiar with others who had the same exact problem and had the light engine replaced. He let me know that he had replaced an engine just the previous week, and didn't seem too pleased about possibly having to do it again. He also let me know that this was not a part he could just order, Hitachi would have to be involved. I say, "Make it so." (Need to get to work). So, he gets on the phone with Hitachi (I can only hear his end of the conversation. I had offered to put him on speaker but he declined) and I can tell Hitachi is going to make him verify some things before sending out a light engine. They talk him into the SM.

Pay attention here, this is important.

I have never gone into my SM.
My TV was working just fine last week then one day, it was messed up.
I was certain this was just a formality but, I was curious, so I paid attention.

He gets into the SM and goes to what I think was labeled LCD DRIVER. (I still think the Hitachi guy just wants to make sure I didn't mess with anything). Then he goes to DEVICE ADJUST. First thing there is SIG CR which he changes the value to 01D. (At this point, I realize he is going to try some things...quick, find a pen and paper). He changes SIG CG to 01D, BRT RO to 000 (maybe he just left that there), GAIN RO to 0BC and GAIN GO to 0BC. There is a chance he may have changed one final setting that I might have missed, maybe he just checked it. I was out of room on the business card I was writing on. He then went back and hit select over each of the settings as if to "accept" them. I think he just turned the power off to get out of the SM but even before he did, it was evident that the pink was gone, and the problem corrected.

Interesting thing is that when I asked to speak to the Hitachi rep., I was told by the tech that he couldn't talk to me so I spoke through my tech. My main question was, did something happen to the light engine and this is an adjustment or patch to compensate for the problem? or, did something happen to knock these particular settings off? Unfortunately, if the Hitachi guy knew, he wasn't sharing. He told me, through my tech, that this was a problem that their engineers were familiar with and this is the solution they have.

I sincerely hope this information is helpful to others who may soon encounter this problem. Fear not. Please also note that I personally have never, and, have no intention of ever going into my SM. I know bad things can happen if you mess things up in there and as my tech informed me today, going into the SM can void your warranty.

Originally posted by Moo Man
I say, "Make it so."

Nice write up, Picard. Thanks for the diligent work :).

WEB just got some of these units in: [50V500A[Dealer Link REMOVED] I'd order but find myself pretty much out of the market just now. Not quite as enthusiastic as I was beginning of Jan.

mooman,

Just so I understand this. A few tweaks in the SM and all is working fine? Seems a little fishy. If this indeed was a known problem that the fix was replacement of the LE why would a few minor SM tweaks fix it.

Is the picture back to what it was before you had the problem? I know when I was fighting this I went into the SM and tweaked the hell out of it. I could get rid of the pink push but the overall PQ suffered greatly. I guess I just don't understand how all of the sudden SM settings would get changed and the pink push would occur.

I guess what I'm saying is be careful that this was not just patching the problem rather than actually fixing it. Then again maybe Hitachi got tired of replacing LE's and found an easier workaround. Wish they would have done this for me as it took almost a month to get mine working again.

-Spike

P.S. a good test for me was to watch a movie with characters against a white background. Before the new LE I would see "streaking" of colors into the white background. (Bruce Almighty scene with Bruce and god in the abandoned warehouse).

The 4 units available at UEC WEB were gone with in an hour. Wonder if any were ordered due to my above posting?

Originally posted by srs148
I've had my 60V500 for almost exactly a month now and loved every minute of it... no racetracks, or other crazy issues to speak of.... Well, I attempted turn it on yesterday afternoon to be greeted by three rapidly blinking lights (in succession). After I powered down, only the Lamp light remained illuminated.

I attempted to turn it on again after unplugging the set for a few minutes with the same results. I contacted Hitachi immediately and they gave me the contact number for the local service center. Looks like the bulb is burnt already and now I have to wait until Friday for a tech to come out to look at it....

I guess it was too good to be true that I had a trouble-free set :rolleyes:

I *had* the exact same problem... and then it went away. After about the 5th day with the new set I tried to turn it on one morning and got the blinking lights in succession. According to the owner's manual that indicates that the TV is warming up, or something to that effect. After a few minutes of that it would stop with the Lamp light illuminated (and no picture of course).

After powering it up/down about a dozen times or so (I was pissed, the SuperBowl was in a few days!) the TV came on. I had the same problem the following morning so I called CC and a service tech was scheduled to come out and look at it.

Well the problem hasn't happened since. Every time I turn it on it comes up w/o a problem. The tech looked at it and although we couldn't reproduce the problem they're ordering me a new lamp.

I wonder if these sets had a "break in" period of a week or so, as I have not had the problem of random tv turn on, or off by itself since that first weekend (5 days after initial purchase. It continued for 3 days, but since, nada).

Moo Man-
spike's right...you might wanna double check and make absolutely sure things are cool. Still good write- up, though. Ahardt out.

Spike, Ahardt, we are all on the same wave length. That is precisely why I tried to get on the phone with the Hitachi rep to find out what the heck had happened. As I don't understand what changes he made to the SM mean, I can't tell if it was a patch to a problem with the light engine, or, if the problem was, settings in the SM spontaneously changing. Unfortunately, I didn't get an answer.

Trusting the fact that I have had this TV since October, and, have read just about every post in the old Hit. Owners Thread, you have got to believe me when I say, there definitely was a problem unlike any I had ever seen prior.

Maybe the reason I was not more demanding of an answer from Hitachi (remember I couldn't actually talk to them) is that I have a four year warranty with Sears. I know if push comes to shove... they still have "Satisfaction Guaranteed".

Maybe my symptoms were the exact same as Spikes, with a different root cause, but, my service tech. had just replaced a light engine the previous week on a TV with the same problem, and thought he would have to replace mine. He was just as surprised as I was that the problem was fixed through the SM.

As to my picture quality now, it seems better than it ever has! I'm sure that is just because I've been watching it for a few days in pink and was starting to get used to the pink. I do think its safe to say, its as good as when I got it. Now, if anything comes up in the future, rest assured, you will be the first to know.

I was hoping someone would see the changes that were made to my settings and verify that the settings were just put back to where they were supposed to be, or, my new settings are different from the stock settings. By the way, I have a 50v500.

-Moo.

Originally posted by grizzledbiker
The 4 units available at UEC WEB were gone with in an hour. Wonder if any were ordered due to my above posting?

So what are you pretending to be interested in now?

I had an identical experienece to Moo Man. 50v500; magenta image, no green. Based on the posts I had seen, I was expecting the worst with a light engine replacement. Sears tech came out, went into the SM, did something (!?) and all was well. I wasn't there to witness what he did unfortunately. The image is now perfect.

Sounds like Hitachi got tired of replacing 1500-2000 dollar LE's and actually figured out what the problem was. Still a little a funky how the SM could change sporadically like that. More likely some electronic component failed and they found out how to bypass it by SM settings. At any-rate, glad to hear that Hitachi has made progress on this, just a little disappointed us early guinea pigs had to fight so hard to get this fixed. Live and Learn.

-Spike

Originally posted by Moo Man
...He gets into the SM and goes to what I think was labeled LCD DRIVER. (I still think the Hitachi guy just wants to make sure I didn't mess with anything). Then he goes to DEVICE ADJUST. First thing there is SIG CR which he changes the value to 01D. (At this point, I realize he is going to try some things...quick, find a pen and paper). He changes SIG CG to 01D, BRT RO to 000 (maybe he just left that there), GAIN RO to 0BC and GAIN GO to 0BC. There is a chance he may have changed one final setting that I might have missed...
...My main question was, did something happen to the light engine and this is an adjustment or patch to compensate for the problem? or, did something happen to knock these particular settings off?
Excellent observations, MooMan.
I have had a similar experience, but my tech hasn't even tried the SM yet. (we're negotiating a new appt.).
My temporary solution to a "pink push" problem was to tweak the Red Drive values *down* for all the video modes. I did this by eye using the gray bars as a reference. When the gray was neutral, I powered off and on again. Decent color, but not world-class.
I am waiting for the official fix--hopefully, Hitachi will send me a new Light Engine, cuz I don't want to deal with randomly adjusting RGB values occurring in the future!
I'm also philosophical on these repair issues. The units are so new the service industry doesn't have any real experience yet. So as long as they are smart enough to get the real Hitachi fix, they should be able to better serve us. Anyway, pioneers have to deal with lots of sh!t; no paved roads where we go, eh?
--Rat

Originally posted by spikedog007
mooman,

Just so I understand this. A few tweaks in the SM and all is working fine? Seems a little fishy. If this indeed was a known problem that the fix was replacement of the LE why would a few minor SM tweaks fix it...

... I guess I just don't understand how all of the sudden SM settings would get changed and the pink push would occur...-Spike
Spike, hey I still have pink push, and am still waiting for the tech to fix it right. But I've adjusted the grey level pretty well in the SM, by lowering the red drive levels on all the video modes (see my reply to Moo man). Good enough for now.
Of course, I restore the original values whenever the service guys come around -- I'm not doing their work for them!
--Rat

That's how I lived with mine for a month (sm/lower red). There where still allot of serious issues though. Like I tried to explain to mooman, there was this strange streaking of colors. Very noticable when image was against white background like watching a hockey game.
Also this didn't fix the lack of greens, very noticable when watching football, grass was brown.

-Spike

This is great feedback on the red push. Has anyone noticed a flickering effect? It occurs on all channels and is more dramatic in scene shifts and darker images. It looks like the screen gets brighter for an instant.

This is great feedback on the red push. Has anyone noticed a flickering effect? It occurs on all channels and is more dramatic in scene shifts and darker images. It looks like the screen gets brighter for an instant.

Originally posted by Gentlemanbrew
This is great feedback on the red push. Has anyone noticed a flickering effect? It occurs on all channels and is more dramatic in scene shifts and darker images. It looks like the screen gets brighter for an instant.
GB-
BE (black enhancement) has been known to cause this flickering effect. If you feel your pic is too washed out once you turn BE off, then get a disc and tweak your pic (get one anyway if you haven't already). The first thing Joe Kane advises is to turn off all enhancements. Doesn't mean ya gotta do it, that's just what he recommends doing to get a pic that is closest to SMPTE standards. Also, you'll get a more "saturated" pic with a better/best quality feed.

If that doesn't fix the flickering, I dunno what's up. Maybe somebody else would. Let us know.

Oh, BTW, what they are talking about isn't red push. It's actually a fairly severe issue with something- I guess with what and exactly how severe is still up for debate. What they are talking about is not, I repeat, is NOT red push. Thank you for your time and attention.

Originally posted by Ahardt
GB-
BE (black enhancement) has been known to cause this flickering effect.

Yep, Ahardt's right on as usual. I can also add that I have black enhancement set to low on Video 3 which is our DirecTV input and we get some flickering as the feature is adjusting to the composition in a new scene with shadows or black objects. I used Avia to (quickly) callibrate the DVD input on Video 2 where I do not have BE or any other enhancements set (as Ahardt suggested is recommended for best quality against the standard). I have to go back and tweak a bit more since I found my black levels were just a bit too low and some detail was getting lost in dark scenes. I based my TV input generally on the DVD input settings with some differences that looked good to the eye + as mentioned above, I set the BE to low. The flickering can sometimes be a bit annoying but overall I like the look for now. I may re-examine the TV input and tweak things up eventually without BE set at all.

By the way and update on our efforts to go HD to Ahardt and anyone else who's read my week 3 update. We were scheduled for the HD upgrade from DirecTV on Saturday but the appointment was hijacked by incompetence with a pinch of stupidity thrown in for bad measure. Despite my efforts to make sure they noted on the work order that a 4x8 multiswitch was needed (and it was although it just said "multiswitch upgrade" which should have been sufficient to somebody on the ball) and being told that the guy would have one with him, he showed up without one. It sucked but I totally prepared my wife that I expected he'd show up without it. For our trouble, DirecTV gave us the Showtime packgage for free for 3 months (cool more HD when it's finally installed!).

We're rescheduled for tonight. I've already put the Phase III dish together with the proper azimuth, elevation and tilt set amd I even have fish line run to the basement from the family room to try to make his job easier. I had DirecTV call the install company yesterday to remind them about the multiswitch and to confirm the time. They said they'd call me if there's any problem. We'll see tonight. HitHo's - appreciate good group karma for good luck tonight and positive energy so we can finally get our first look at HD on a v500!

Wired

Hello,

Glad I have found this site for sure. I am the owner of a new 50v500A for about a month now and I love it! I think I was lucky as I have had no real issues with the unit. Digital picture and DVD's look fantastic. I do now however, notice something in the image. I am not even sure if it is a smudge but it comes and goes. I noticed something on the image that was only visible on light backgrounds in the same location. I thought my screen was dirty so I wiped it down (using a special soft cloth, no liquids) and the "mark" went away I thought maybe it was dust or something on the screen. Over the next week or so this "mark" slowly came back, in the exact same spot and same shape, it appears to become more pronounced the more the set is used. I am not sure if this is one of these smudges that people are referring to or not, it if is, how come when I clean the screen it seems to dissapear AND howcome it comes back agian? Interesting issue, I have a picute of the clear screen with no mark and this PM i will take a picture of the mark(s) as they seem to be comming back again. Any thoughts??

take it apart and clean inside of screen

I notice this too on bright scenes in which the camera is panning , you almost get the effect of viewing the image thru a thin sheet of bumpy ice.

Because while the scene underneath the actual screen is moving, because the screen stays stationary, you can almost see some of the dirty veritical streaks....whether they are just dirt, dust, smudges or perhaps just slight shadow reflections of the screen's surface onto the picture, it does get annoying if you notice it.....It almost gives the illusion that the actual screen is not completely transparent.

Does this make sense to anyone?


BTW, how and Should you have to open up the screen if the set is only a few days old?....Should you be something like this on a TV so new?

Finally, has anyone did any SERVICE MENU tweaks to improve their picture even further then what is available in the USER MENU??

I have used Dutchmaster's user menu tweaks and they seem very good but Im always game to do more tweaking!

Don't listen to grizzled. He does not own one of these sets and has no freekin idea what he is talking about. If the problem earlier described is indeed a smudge then it is possible to make it go away with pressure on the affected area. This seems to be a screen separation dealio as best we can tell. For most if not all, it happens on either the left quadrant and/or the right quadrant of the screen and never in the middle. It is most usually in the areas where you might see the gray bars on 4:3 material. These smudgie lookin things are usually noticable only on very light backgrounds.
Most people notice them when they first power up their sets and for most the problem goes away as the set warms up .........hour.......two hours at the most I think has been reported. I believe someone captured a pretty good dig pic of this early on in this thread.

Again, do not take your screen apart to clean as grizzledude suggested!

Manpig,

That is exactly were mine are, small one on the lower right hand side and a fairly large one on the left.

What is the correct filament orientation for the replacement lamp? Will this improve PQ? Is there any truth to the rumor that a certain breed of flatulent monkey may be used to re-fill the lamp gas? (after a six week regimem of vitamins and special diet)

Thanks ahardt and wired. I'll get the calibration disc and try the pic with BE off. It seems I do not get the flickering on DVD but on HD cable (through box) and straight analog or digital cable.

Originally posted by grizzledbiker
What is the correct filament orientation for the replacement lamp? Will this improve PQ? Is there any truth to the rumor that a certain breed of flatulent monkey may be used to re-fill the lamp gas? (after a six week regimem of vitamins and special diet)

I rest my case. You are one strange flatulent monkey grizzlefuk.:D If you truely knew anything worthwhile then you would know there is no option to change the filament orientation. And scuse my azz if your post is an attempt at humour.......ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...............i forgot to laugh.

Service Menu Tweaks???

I just contacted Hitachi via the 1 800 number regarding these smudges. The guy at the other end indicated to me that he has never heard about them and the set is so new they are not sure of all the issues yet. I think everyone needs to contact HiT to at least register this as an issue. Then hopefully there will be a MOD that works and we will all be happy. Replacing the screen doesn't always sound like this is a fix for this issue. The replacement screen still has a 50 / 50 chance of the same problem occurring since no change in the manufacturing process has occurred. Just my 500K cents worth :)

I just took delivery of my new (well refurbished) 60V500A. I am extremely happy overall with the TV. However, the seems to be a very bad red push that I have not been able to tweak out with minor tweaks. A white back ground looks pink????? Does anyone know what this could be?? and how to correct it. I have hooked up a DVD player yet, but I did not hook up my OTA HD recevier and it seemed to be fine. Thanks for all your help!

Originally posted by Uwish
I just contacted Hitachi via the 1 800 number regarding these smudges. The guy at the other end indicated to me that he has never heard about them and the set is so new they are not sure of all the issues yet. I think everyone needs to contact HiT to at least register this as an issue. Then hopefully there will be a MOD that works and we will all be happy. Replacing the screen doesn't always sound like this is a fix for this issue. The replacement screen still has a 50 / 50 chance of the same problem occurring since no change in the manufacturing process has occurred. Just my 500K cents worth :) The only fix from Hitachi regarding these smudges is to replace the screen. They have a new part number for the replacement screen and this is documented on the service bulletin.

For people who have intermittent video problem (power on but no video just audio), the remedy is light engine replacement.

Yes, Hitachi is aware of all these problems.

how do u know if you qualify as someone who has these SMUDGES?

Can someone explain what these SMUDGES are, cause I notice when my screen is OFF there is some smudgey streaking..

Originally posted by the4lams
I just took delivery of my new (well refurbished) 60V500A. I am extremely happy overall with the TV. However, the seems to be a very bad red push that I have not been able to tweak out with minor tweaks. A white back ground looks pink????? Does anyone know what this could be?? and how to correct it. I have hooked up a DVD player yet, but I did not hook up my OTA HD recevier and it seemed to be fine. Thanks for all your help!

Post all your user settings and we might be able to see a problem.

Originally posted by DarkFudge
how do u know if you qualify as someone who has these SMUDGES?

Can someone explain what these SMUDGES are, cause I notice when my screen is OFF there is some smudgey streaking..

Smudges that we speak of here are visable with the unit powered on. If you first start your unit and go to the screen wipe with the white screen then you can see them on the left and right quadrants as previously discussed. Word of caution: Ahardt believes that using screen wipe will cause bad pixels and more smudges and possibly weeds.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by fourizonly

For people who have intermittent video problem (power on but no video just audio), the remedy is light engine replacement.



WTF?:confused:

Originally posted by manpig
WTF?:confused:
Pig-

This is the problem that I reported about a month ago. So far, I've seen 5+ V500 owners with this "new problem".

The set does not power up correctly. Sometimes I just get a white screen with magenta or green bands and the bands will gradually fill the screen. Then the screen will go completely blank.

During this time the OSD is not visible and changing the inputs does not matter.

You can find this on pg. 4.

. . believes using using screen wipe will cause bad pixels and more smudges and possibly weeds. weeds?? Wow! what next? of course coming from a guy that names himself after some obscure local Pa. band manpig (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/p_29533.html) I can see where the weed would factor in. Now I understand why your seeing these strange images.

what is a WEED???..............how many more adjectives do we have for Hitachi display problems that I am no aware of????

what is a WEED???

hey man, if you don't know what weed is . . ask manpig where he keeps his. hemptv

Originally posted by fourizonly
Pig-
This is the problem that I reported about a month ago. So far, I've seen 5+ V500 owners with this "new problem".
The set does not power up correctly. Sometimes I just get a white screen with magenta or green bands and the bands will gradually fill the screen. Then the screen will go completely blank.
During this time the OSD is not visible and changing the inputs does not matter. You can find this on pg. 4.

I was having a "no picture at all and no sound" issue (only three blinking lights in rapid succession) and had a service tech come out to look at it last week. He reseated the bulb and the problem went away for the day. However, the next day the same problem returned, so I reseated the bulb myself and switched the power back on. Upon power up I got the exact same problem as described above. Though I did get audio.

On three separate occasions after that point, my TV would not power up, so I reseated the bulb each time. On two of the three occasions I did this, I got the same blank screen issue.

If, however, I turned off the tv and let it set for a minute or two, then re-powered it, the picture would come back. My tech again came out this past Monday and he said that altough the bulb was not burnt out, it was bad. He didn't go into detail, but apparently there was a bad batch of bulbs that were produced that caused several anomolies with the set, so he replaced my bulb. Since then, I have encountered neither issue. Problem solved? We'll see....

Did he get the filament aligned properly? Somestimes known to affect PQ.

grizzledbiker

Please do not make off topic posts in the thread. Comments like...

"hey man, if you don't know what weed is . . ask manpig where he keeps his. hemptv"

and

"Did he get the filament aligned properly? Somestimes known to affect PQ."

..are really not needed.

Thank you.

Originally posted by DarkFudge
what is a WEED???..............how many more adjectives do we have for Hitachi display problems that I am no aware of????
There are no weeds. That was manpig 's humor.

I saw in an earlier post that there was a problem with a green hue, I have a two week old set and contacted service about the problem. A service tech showed up today and authorized a replacement set from Sears, claimed it is a chip problem and can't be repaired. This is the second LCD set I have had since January, First was a Sony that died within two days.

I have the white screen on power up problem and am expecting my replacement from Sears in mid March. My remedy of unplugging and plugging back in seems to be less reliable so I now keep my set on 24 7.

I also seem to have a new problem. My sub-woofer (Velodyne DD-18) seems to be rattling something internally inside the Hitachi. This rattle is audible at moderate home theater volumes.The sound is very metallic and seems to be coming from the lower middle rear of the set. Does anyone else have this issue?

I bought this TV in Oct when they first came out and a little while back i noticed the smudges. At first it looked like it was dirty but they don't go away when you clean the screen. They do appear to go away and reappear but I would say there on the screen for about 90% of the time. I watch a lot of hockey and the Ice really makes the smudges more noticable. I also have 2 crop circles.,...acutally, im not sure what everyones definition of a crop circle is.... Theres 2 circles, twice the size of a quater, that appear on the bottom of the screen. They don't take the picture completely away but there noticable in dark sceens. I can best describe it as looking through a magnifiying glass from far away. Should I call Hitachi or Sears about these issues. I do have the EW but not sure who to call first and has anyone had any success with the smudges?

Originally posted by Ivan1670
I saw in an earlier post that there was a problem with a green hue, I have a two week old set and contacted service about the problem. A service tech showed up today and authorized a replacement set from Sears, claimed it is a chip problem and can't be repaired. This is the second LCD set I have had since January, First was a Sony that died within two days.

Ivan,

Not sure if you had the same problem as I did, but if you did, AND, if the service guy came out to your house and DID NOT call Hitachi from your house, he had or has no clue as to what he is talking about so you get the old "must be a bad chip" answer.

It's like the old lady with her first computer who finds that her cursor isn't moving. Takes it in and the tech says "Must be a bad mother board and installation. We will swap out the mother board and reformat your hard drive. That ought to fix the problem." Is it possible that was the problem? Yes. Likely? No.

I guess my question would be, did the tech tell you specifically which chip, had the problem? Please pardon my skepticism, but, if you have seen my previous posts (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3397417#post3397417), you will note that I had a similar problem which I was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had a major hardware problem. Sears tech came out, (no, he didn't have a clue either but admitted that) called Hitachi, and in less than 30 min. I was good as new (still am so far). If your service tech. did perform his due diligence, and did call Hitachi, then, again, please pardon me.

-Moo.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky, but the only problem I'm having is the loud fan. The tech said there's no guarantee the replacement will be quieter. Anyone had any luck with this?

Originally posted by Perfectchris
Should I call Hitachi or Sears about these issues. I do have the EW but not sure who to call first and has anyone had any success with the smudges?
I absolutely would call about these issues...there is no reason for you to accept these kinds of problems, especially considering the amount you paid for the set. I believe that you have to go through sears for service since you have their EW.

I have not heard of anyone getting the smudges fixed thru service. The leading theory is that they are caused by a problem with the screen, but, again, have not heard of anyone confirming this theory.

It does sound like you have 2 crop circles. what color are they? I had one on my 50v500 that was green...most of those posting here about crop circles have had green ones, but I assume they could be red or blue as well. I think they are caused by dust or other foreign particle on the lcd panel or somewhere else in the light path. the only known fix to date is light engine replacement. this is what I had done, and I've had no problems since. good luck.

Originally posted by eagle1
I suppose I should consider myself lucky, but the only problem I'm having is the loud fan. The tech said there's no guarantee the replacement will be quieter. Anyone had any luck with this?
Please post a follow up once you've had the fan replaced...I'm curious to hear if it improves. My fan is louder than I'd like it to be for sure, but I'm not sure if my set is defective or if it is just normal to have this kind of noise with these tv's. I know it's not because I have great hearing....my wife would attest to this :p

Originally posted by bdouble
I absolutely would call about these issues...there is no reason for you to accept these kinds of problems, especially considering the amount you paid for the set. I believe that you have to go through sears for service since you have their EW.

I have not heard of anyone getting the smudges fixed thru service. The leading theory is that they are caused by a problem with the screen, but, again, have not heard of anyone confirming this theory.

It does sound like you have 2 crop circles. what color are they? I had one on my 50v500 that was green...most of those posting here about crop circles have had green ones, but I assume they could be red or blue as well. I think they are caused by dust or other foreign particle on the lcd panel or somewhere else in the light path. the only known fix to date is light engine replacement. this is what I had done, and I've had no problems since. good luck.

I am positive they are not blue or red. its really hard for me to describe but I have to say its like a blur and not specifically a color. I will call sears and see what happens. You would think with the amount of money you pay you would get a set that is acceptable.

Moo man,
The tech did not call Hitachi, I didn't argue when he said they were just going to replace the set. If there is a fix to it, I would like to know how. With my luck the new set will have issues. I'm getting frustrated with the whole LCD thing.

I wouldn't let these issues put you off the LCD technology. It is new so there will be some issues as we all know. I can't remember a new tech that didn't have issues, if we could all have weighted about a year then most of bugs will be worked out and we would all have 50v500xyz but I love the tech and my set has only had some smudges which haven't returned since I first noticed them and my set is the "A". I did contact HiT about it and they told me the A model IS a "newer" version as there are different parts codes associated with it IE LE part # etc. But from a set that has only been on the market for less than 6 months I think most of the issues are being worked out. Don't forget, these units go threw hell in shipping and its true some of the components may be "nudged" or need to be re-seated by a tech. Maybe they should all go threw a burn in after factory delivery to address some of these issues.

Originally posted by Ivan1670
Moo man,
With my luck the new set will have issues. I'm getting frustrated with the whole LCD thing.

I just stopped the delivery of a replacement 50V500 for this same reason. Sears said they will give me a Sony instead, but they don't have a delivery date until April as they are waiting for all the "fixes" to be completed.

Hi folks,
Have had our 60vx500 for exactly 1 month. We are about 10.5 ft back from the set. We've viewed a good variety of source material during the month we've had it and see a couple of distracting effects when there is a white background (e.g. hockey games or snow scenes).

1. Botchy magenta patches: The center portion of the screen appears mostly uniform white but extending out from there toward the corners there are various areas of blotchy magenta patches. While watching a hockey game this is most noticeable in the bottom left and right quadrants. I've read other posts here and on the other HiT LCD threads that mention a reddish problem against white backgrounds like hockey games so this may be essentially the same issue. I think some may be calling these "smudges" but not sure. Have tested with the screen wipe and likewise the magenta botchiness is essentially there although it looks just a little different - hard to explain.

2. Center hot spot: The very center of the screen has a bright white spot about the size of a silver dollar. Do not notice this unless there is a white background. Looks like an internal reflection and see this even when there are no lights on in the room. This is much less distracting than number 1 above.

3. SDE: There is some sceen door effect mostly noticeable on very bright or white moving backgrounds but this is inherent with fixed pixel technology and something we knew to expect and can live with.

4. Not sure if this is related to SDE but sometimes notice (again, white backgrounds only) more of straight vertical line down the left edge of the screen (closer to the edge of the screen than where the gray bar edge would be when watching in 4:3 mode by the way so I know it's not any temporary burn-in). This is a strange one as other times it doesn't seem to be there or it seems to change if I change my angle. Again, not much of a problem compared to number 1 above.

As mentioned in an earlier post on the general owners thread we noticed a slight 3-4 inch scratch on the bottom left of the plexiglas screen after delivery. Fortunately it's not easy to notice it but we did report it to the store and a Hit authorized tech was out at our place a couple of weeks ago to check it out. He ordered a new screen and is waiting for it to arrive. I called the store and as per their suggestion, the service tech on Friday to report items 1 and 2 above. He's going see if he can get any information about these and he'll check them out when he comes out to replace the screen.

Very interested to hear from anybody else who notices any of these issues - particulary 1 and 2 when watching hockey games or other stuff against a mostly white background. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.
Thanks!
Wired

Originally posted by wired711
Hi folks,
Have had our 60vx500 for exactly 1 month. We are about 10.5 ft back from the set. We've viewed a good variety of source material during the month we've had it and see a couple of distracting effects when there is a white background (e.g. hockey games or snow scenes).

1. Botchy magenta patches: The center portion of the screen appears mostly uniform white but extending out from there toward the corners there are various areas of blotchy magenta patches. While watching a hockey game this is most noticeable in the bottom left and right quadrants. I've read other posts here and on the other HiT LCD threads that mention a reddish problem against white backgrounds like hockey games so this may be essentially the same issue. I think some may be calling these "smudges" but not sure. Have tested with the screen wipe and likewise the magenta botchiness is essentially there although it looks just a little different - hard to explain.

Wired
Wired~I have the same problem on my last set and it bugged the hell out of me. This is not the smudge issue.

My tech was on the phone with a Hitachi engineer and was told the color should be uniform. You can easily see the magenta patches when you do a screen wipe. I suggest you call service immediately.

As for smudges, the only remedy is Screen Replacement because I saw the service bulletin.

Originally posted by fourizonly
Wired~I have the same problem on my last set and it bugged the hell out of me. This is not the smudge issue.

My tech was on the phone with a Hitachi engineer and was told the color should be uniform. You can easily see the magenta patches when you do a screen wipe. I suggest you call service immediately.

As for smudges, the only remedy is Screen Replacement because I saw the service bulletin.

As I noted in my post I see the magenta patches on screen wipes as well and I agree, it really bugs the hell out of us too when watching hockey games. Also as noted, I did in fact speak with the service guy on Friday to give him a heads up for when he comes out to replace our scratched plexiglas screen which is on order. He said he'd look into it and check out the issue when he comes out.

So, you said it was a problem on your "last set". So, what's the story now (with your new set)? Do you have a new set now with absolutely no magenta patches on white backgrounds> Is replacement of the entire set the only reasonable way to resolve it?

Thanks for the feedback. Very helpful to hear from someone else who had the same issue and knows what I'm taking about. Please let me know about my questions above.

Appreciate it.
Thanks,
Wired

Originally posted by wired711
As I noted in my post I see the magenta patches on screen wipes as well and I agree, it really bugs the hell out of us too when watching hockey games. Also as noted, I did in fact speak with the service guy on Friday to give him a heads up for when he comes out to replace our scratched plexiglas screen which is on order. He said he'd look into it and check out the issue when he comes out.

So, you said it was a problem on your "last set". So, what's the story now (with your new set)? Do you have a new set now with absolutely no magenta patches on white backgrounds> Is replacement of the entire set the only reasonable way to resolve it?

Thanks for the feedback. Very helpful to hear from someone else who had the same issue and knows what I'm taking about. Please let me know about my questions above.

Appreciate it.
Thanks,
Wired
Wired~ I can write a book about the problems I had with my 50V500. I'm currently on my 6th set that was delivered yesterday. It was a Feb. '04 built 50V500A, and I think I finally got a working set (fingers crossed)

The last set was the only set that has the magenta patches and I really don't know if Hitachi is aware of the problem. I speculate this might be a light engine problem. Make sure to have your tech call Hitachi and see if there is any possible fix.

Originally posted by fourizonly
Wired~ I can write a book about the problems I had with my 50V500. I'm currently on my 6th set that was delivered yesterday. It was a Feb. '04 built 50V500A, and I think I finally got a working set (fingers crossed)

The last set was the only set that has the magenta patches and I really don't know if Hitachi is aware of the problem. I speculate this might be a light engine problem. Make sure to have your tech call Hitachi and see if there is any possible fix.

Fourizonly,
Thanks again for the helpful feedback. It will help if I need to refer our service tech (who said he is familiar with this forum) or Hitachi to another customer who "had" the same issue.

Six sets is mighty scary. Sound like a nightmare! Our 60vx500 is a January 2004 build. If we have to get a replacement set to resolve the issues I've noted, hopefully we'll benefit from anything they might have specifically addressed in the later builds (or just get lucky). Speaking of, sincere, good luck with set#6!!!

Please keep us in the loop on how it goes.
Feel free to PM me if you'd like to "chat" in more detail.
Wired.

Where do I find the build date?

Where do I find the build date?

Originally posted by JakiChan
Where do I find the build date? There is a sticker on the back of the set indicating the build date.

Hi Wired,

I have the 50V500 and I do notice the "screen door" effect. For me it is more like projecting on a somewhat dirty screen. After looking at my set closely I can see the grid where the pixels are located and some of them have different distances between them with some areas having thicker grids than others. When looking at SD, the gray sidebars have a light brown grid on them. It is much more noticeable on light colored scenes. Is that what you see?

Any of you experienced Hit Hos have any comments on this?

I don't have the bright spots or the magenta coloring.

I have been wrestling with OTA antenna and D* HD receiver issues and not really worrying about the Hit because the PQ is pretty darn good. Now that it is under control, time to decide whether I have a decent set.

Hi Wired,

I have the 50V500 and I do notice the "screen door" effect. For me it is more like projecting on a somewhat dirty screen. After looking at my set closely I can see the grid where the pixels are located and some of them have different distances between them with some areas having thicker grids than others. When looking at SD, the gray sidebars have a light brown grid on them. It is much more noticeable on light colored scenes. Is that what you see?

Any of you experienced Hit Hos have any comments on this?

I don't have the bright spots or the magenta coloring.

I have been wrestling with OTA antenna and D* HD receiver issues and not really worrying about the Hit because the PQ is pretty darn good. Now that it is under control, time to decide whether I have a decent set.

Originally posted by berth
Hi Wired,

I have the 50V500 and I do notice the "screen door" effect. For me it is more like projecting on a somewhat dirty screen. After looking at my set closely I can see the grid where the pixels are located and some of them have different distances between them with some areas having thicker grids than others. When looking at SD, the gray sidebars have a light brown grid on them. It is much more noticeable on light colored scenes. Is that what you see?

Any of you experienced Hit Hos have any comments on this?

I don't have the bright spots or the magenta coloring.

I have been wrestling with OTA antenna and D* HD receiver issues and not really worrying about the Hit because the PQ is pretty darn good. Now that it is under control, time to decide whether I have a decent set.

Hey Berth,
Yeah, I think that pretty much describes SDE and it's inherent to fixed pixel technology (at least it is at this resolution and in it's current state of technology). To me, it's kind of how photo slides from a slide projector look on a screen. Those screens sometimes have a somewhat rough texture (like sandpaper) and that texture can often be noticed a bit through the picture. SDE doesn't bother me all that much (certainly not compared to the magenta blotches issues on white backgrounds) and I knew to expect this before I bought the set. It's more or less of an issue depending on how close you are to the set and how sensitive one person is over another to it.

Glad you don't have the bright spot and especially, the magenta blotches. Really annoying when watching hockey games or anything with bright white backgrounds. I'm working on getting a tech out to look at it.

Wired

Now that I've finally finished reading every post in this thread . . .

I purchased my 50V500 model (not the A) from CC on the 16th of Feb. It is a January 04 build.

Noticed the fan noise right away. Drove me crazy at first, but I think I've started to get used to it. I can't believe that some people posted they don't hear their fans at all, mine is loud.

On 2/29 I noticed that there was about a 1" light pink/purple area on the screen. Not visible in black backgrounds, but otherwise it is very obvious and permanent, especially with white background. Sounds like this might be the "magenta patch" others have had problems with? I have a digital picture of my magenta patch against the white screen wipe, but I wouldn't know how to share it with the forum.

I'm taking advantage of the CC 30-day return policy and getting a new set this Thursday. I hope the exchange lands me one with a quite fan as well. I've learned a lot about what to look for in my new set, hope my info helps others as well.

Got my replacement 50V500 set today, but I requested another exchange before I even had a chance to turn it on. The speaker on one side, which is covered with a very thin metallic screen had some indentations in it like it had been pushed on and permanently deformed.

I noted that the new tv was also a January 04 build and not the A model. The fan was louder than I would hope for but definately a little bit quiter and less high pitched than the previous tv.

Man, you are having a run a bad luck. My fan noise is barely noticeable when the set is on and muted. As for those smudges, mine go away after the set warms up in about 10 minutes. All I need to do is calibrate it, which brings me to my next question...where can I get my hands on the colour bar calibration DvD...?


S

Originally posted by Uwish
All I need to do is calibrate it, which brings me to my next question...where can I get my hands on the colour bar calibration DvD...?

Amazon has both "Digital Video Essentials" and "AVIA Guide to Home Theater".

Both offer a complete slate of video and audio calibration tests. Some people like DVE, some like Avia, some like (and have) both. You can't really go wrong with either.
Wired

guys I THINK I am also experiencing the SCREEN DOOR EFFECT that you all talk about........let me describe it and you tell me if its it;

It seems to appear like a very dusty or dirty screen with a rough sandpaper texture that seems to be most apparent or visible during scenes with very light ( white ) backgrounds.....I noticed it at it's worst during a broadcast of a HD hockey game ( Rangers vs Wash on MSG )

It almost appears as if your watching the game thru a thin sheet of textured and dirty plastic....another description is the rough texture can even appear to be crystalized resulting in almost the fainest appearance of various colors crystalizing in this textured surface.


Folks, Im wondering if this is isolated to only the Hitachi LCD's or would I be subjected to this if I also switched over to the Sony GW III units????

Originally posted by DarkFudge
guys I THINK I am also experiencing the SCREEN DOOR EFFECT that you all talk about........let me describe it and you tell me if its it;

It seems to appear like a very dusty or dirty screen with a rough sandpaper texture that seems to be most apparent or visible during scenes with very light ( white ) backgrounds.....I noticed it at it's worst during a broadcast of a HD hockey game ( Rangers vs Wash on MSG )

It almost appears as if your watching the game thru a thin sheet of textured and dirty plastic....another description is the rough texture can even appear to be crystalized resulting in almost the fainest appearance of various colors crystalizing in this textured surface.


Folks, Im wondering if this is isolated to only the Hitachi LCD's or would I be subjected to this if I also switched over to the Sony GW III units????

sorry this is short but im about to sleep.... i need to say ditto. But I havent reallyt watched HD hockey. SD hockey has a nasty screen door but i think its from the protective screen

Hi,

I've had my 50V500 for about a month. I bought it for my home theater for DVD's only.
Any disc that is in widescreen has a great picture.
However, when I play DVD's that are in the 4:3 aspect only, the picture has a certain blurriness to it.
I've tried 4:3 standard, expanded, 16:9 standard and expanded. The best is 4:3 standard but the picture is still crappy.
My DVD player has a DVI connection but to rule the player out, I hooked up my old player with the S-video connection and the picture was the same.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to correct this?

Thanks

I was up right next to the screen tonight and noticed that it looks like there are pixels off to the left that are blocked by the bezel of the screen. I could see it easily with my computer display. Not that many, maybe 5 columns. But I'm wondering what could explain this - is the LCD not aimed at the screen properly? Is this a geometry issue I could fix?

Originally posted by Helter
Hi,

I've had my 50V500 for about a month. I bought it for my home theater for DVD's only.
Any disc that is in widescreen has a great picture.
However, when I play DVD's that are in the 4:3 aspect only, the picture has a certain blurriness to it.
I've tried 4:3 standard, expanded, 16:9 standard and expanded. The best is 4:3 standard but the picture is still crappy.
My DVD player has a DVI connection but to rule the player out, I hooked up my old player with the S-video connection and the picture was the same.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to correct this?

Thanks

Any Hitachi owners have advice on this problem?

Helter-
If I had to guess, I would say it was due to the DVD transfer itself. When they enlarge a widescreen movie to be played at "full" I assume they just enlarge the whole thing, flaws and all (and then crop the crap outta it), so you tend to get blurriness. I don't watch "full screen" versions so I haven't seen one to know. Or if you're talking about a tv series, less money is usually spent on these. Are you talking about a tv series b/c it seems like they would look better than a "full" movie. If you're talking about older 4:3 stuff, dvd production houses didn't make dvds to be watched on a 60" screen, more like on a 32" screen. I have no other ideas though. You might do some searches on the forum and see what you can find, esp the DVD players forum, or maybe someone else will mosey along and let you know.

Jackichan-
There is so much that confuses me about your question, I'm not sure where to start. See it with your computer display? Elaborate please. You mean when you run your PC through your tv? There are reasons why you get overscan with that. Please see the hitachi v500 computer thread for info on that. Or did you watch something on your v500 and then on your PC and compared the two 2? What you're describing is called overscan, not geometry. They are 2 different things.

Originally posted by Ahardt
Helter-
If I had to guess, I would say it was due to the DVD transfer itself. When they enlarge a widescreen movie to be played at "full" I assume they just enlarge the whole thing, flaws and all (and then crop the crap outta it), so you tend to get blurriness. I don't watch "full screen" versions so I haven't seen one to know. Or if you're talking about a tv series, less money is usually spent on these. Are you talking about a tv series b/c it seems like they would look better than a "full" movie. If you're talking about older 4:3 stuff, dvd production houses didn't make dvds to be watched on a 60" screen, more like on a 32" screen. I have no other ideas though. You might do some searches on the forum and see what you can find, esp the DVD players forum, or maybe someone else will mosey along and let you know.

J

I've tried concert DVD's only available in 4:3, television shows on DVD, documentary shows, as well as movies and everyone is blurry in 4:3.

When I show them on my 9 year old tube RCA TV the picture is not blurry.
I spoke to someone in tech support at Hitachi and they recommended having someone come out and take a look at it.

Seems pretty bizarre, but since this is a new technology is anything possible?

Helter-
You probably should get hitachi to look at it if everything looks blurry to you. Remember though, i don't know how big your RCA tube is, but showing something at 32" or whatever may look less blurry than watching it at 60"- the whole issue that most people have with SD. But I have a 4:3 concert DVD that I wouldn't even call blurry (although i was briefly subjected to a full screen copy of x-men that was very blurry) so if you think everything is blurry, maybe something is wrong and you should call hitachi. Hopefully they can help you out. Let us know.

Just to clarify my tube is a 35 inch screen and the Hitachi is 50 inch.
I prefer everything in widescreen, however many things are not available especially concerts.

I hear ya on the size thang, I was just generalizing.

I got the DMB central park show shot in HD. Totally rocks. The sad little 4:3 video I have is so tired now. Tired.

Watched a Black and White Film on DVD last night. (woody allen's "Shadows and Fog") I have watched this film before on a regular CRT set and the photography is stunning- but for some reason on the 50V500- there is a green haze in the grey scale. I was horrified.

I was showing the film to someone for the first time and did not want to ruin the experience by constantly clicking into the video menu and adjusting controls. (which did no good anyway)

After the film- I played a few minutes of Citizen Kane- it looked a little better- but still had a green tint. The controls do nothing to change this.

I have a high end pioneer player and I am hooked in through component (480p)
Color films looked great.

The pincushion thing is starting to get to me. It looks like the screen bends in or something - I notice it on credits and on any square window from the computer. Dunno if it's just me or if it's a bad set, but it's getting annoying. I don't think it's an optical illusion...I think it's really there.

Jaki-
Get a ruler and measure. And measure and measure and measure. Then you'll know.

I didn't see this issue on the Sony, however. So even if it's just some illusion it's still an issue. Is it how I'm sitting or something?

Originally posted by JakiChan
I was up right next to the screen tonight and noticed that it looks like there are pixels off to the left that are blocked by the bezel of the screen. I could see it easily with my computer display. Not that many, maybe 5 columns. But I'm wondering what could explain this - is the LCD not aimed at the screen properly? Is this a geometry issue I could fix?

Master Chan,

A. Unless 'right next to the screen' is your normal viewing distance, stay away. You might find stuck pixels and try to hook kick them into submission.

B. Have you look at the geometry and/or overscan patterns on DVE or Avia disk? If you are seeing tilt, or bow or curve, you might have a geometry problem. There are some service menu settings that can adjust this. (Only for GrandMasters)

C. Expect that you would (and should) get some overscan. The edges of the picture sometimes have junk on them. Even different DVD players exhibit different amounts of overscan going through the same TV. i.e. 931=big overscan (-;Sorry A). Good news though... The directors and producers expect for you to get some overscan so all of the big action takes place well inside of this area.

D. Next time you go to the movie theater, stand 'right next to the screen' and notice that part of the projection hits the black part. Make sure you stretch out and warm up before this experiment cause you're likely to get lots of stuff thrown at you.

=SenseiFAX

Originally posted by bokes
Watched a Black and White Film on DVD last night. (woody allen's "Shadows and Fog") I have watched this film before on a regular CRT set and the photography is stunning- but for some reason on the 50V500- there is a green haze in the grey scale. I was horrified.

I was showing the film to someone for the first time and did not want to ruin the experience by constantly clicking into the video menu and adjusting controls. (which did no good anyway)

After the film- I played a few minutes of Citizen Kane- it looked a little better- but still had a green tint. The controls do nothing to change this.

I have a high end pioneer player and I am hooked in through component (480p)
Color films looked great.

bookes,

What color temp were you using? Are you aware that your v500 has a special B&W setting?

Could be that your green gun may be a bit pushy or your others are a bit weak. You might benefit from an ISF calibration. When we did mine we found that all of my color temps were somewhat off and the color tracking was also running amookes.

Tell your guests to leave the room to take dookes and turn your color and tint down to zero while they're out of the room.

=FaxOokes

Originally posted by FaxMan
C. Expect that you would (and should) get some overscan. The edges of the picture sometimes have junk on them. Even different DVD players exhibit different amounts of overscan going through the same TV. i.e. 931=big overscan (-;Sorry A). Good news though... The directors and producers expect for you to get some overscan so all of the big action takes place well inside of this area.

I was more trying to tweak my HTPC setup than eliminate overscan. :-)

Originally posted by FaxMan
B. Have you look at the geometry and/or overscan patterns on DVE or Avia disk? If you are seeing tilt, or bow or curve, you might have a geometry problem. There are some service menu settings that can adjust this. (Only for GrandMasters)

Now this is the magic question. I am having an issue with the "pincushion" effect. I'm now seeing it a lot more than I did when I get the set, but maybe I am nitpicking. The geometry pattern on DVE made it hard to see, but in 4x3 mode I see it and now with vertical lines in any mode, but maybe I'm going crazy.

If there are any tweak masters in the SF South Bay who want to check my setup, let me know. :-)

Posts: 3
Update on fan noise & replacement
A few weeks ago I posted about my 50V fan whining after about 5 minutes. Called HH Gregg, they sent a tech who replaced it. It's a little bit better. But I did learn some interesting things from the tech....

1. The fan looks like a normal 12 volt computer fan, nothing fancy. Connections are the same. Tech said he would change it again ... would even put another fan in if I found something quieter. My question: I know there must be a company making quiet fans...any ideas who? There are actually 2 fans. Tried to disconnect a fan to determine which one was making the noise, but the set will not turn on with just one fan connected.
(By the way, there's a big block of styrofoam inside to keep noise down.)

2. We were talking about some folks having color issues. His experience was the problem wasn't necessarily the TV itself, but rather the source. He said he's only seen 2 people using DVI, so maybe some of the color problems are related to cables, etc? Just a thought.

3. Tech said sometimes a power surge will cause the set to lose all video color settings memory, and it'll go to pink. Requires a service call to go into the service menu and correct (so he says)

That's the thing about DVI...it's a digital connection. As long as the 0s and 1s are readable then the signal quality doesn't really matter. It's not like an analog signal where bad cable can affect the performance. As long as your cable is of reasonable quality and the distance is sane then you should be fine.

I have 2 round circles on my Screen of my Hit 50V500. They are around 2 " in dia. I see them when they screen is whit or gray. The set is about 6 months old. I don't know if the word smudge is correct. It almost looks like a greass finger mark but I clearned the screen and they are still there. Has anyone ahd this problem. The set has very little hours on it. I wouldsay around 60 hours.

Larry

I'm going to have to call service tomorrow, I think. My 50V500A has developed severe color "clipping" and banding especially in the blacks. It has been most noticable in "The Deep" scenes of Finding Nemo, especially the appearance of the Anglerfish at 33mins. The floating "specks" and the lantern exhibit insane bands and "flattening" of the colors, there is no smoothness at all.

I've attemted to take pics, but my point-and-shoot digital won't focus on the screen. You can see them here: http://aiden.ressafamily.com/unsorted_pictures/20040313/

Any ideas what would have caused this? I've seen it with my $60 toshiba Prog-scan DVD player, my XBOX (component) and with HDTV from a Motorola 6200, on both Component inputs as well as my TiVo on the S-vid input.

A,

I have seen this effect also, this "halo" sort of effect is most likely due to a non calibrated set. I have contacted service regarding this issue also and they told me to adjust the Black level. With the level on high the effect is diminished but still noticeable. Has anyone else had this issue? I can only see it on really dark scene with an intense light source.

I've calibrated my set with DVE and it just started happening this last week.

Sopranos tonight (in HDTV) was almost too black to watch. I'll try calibrating again, maybe something happened.

Quick check of the calibration with color bars and mid-tones are fine. I can't seem to make any difference with brightness and contrast. To demonstrate what is happening I took a picture and used photoshop to adjust the curves and clipped the bottom 15% or so to zero and the top 10% or so to max. The top half is the original image, the bottom is the clipped image, arrows for quick reference. This is basically what is happening to *all* video on my TV, any input, any source:

http://www.angrykitten.com/misc/clipping-demp.jpg

When I would look at the 50v500 in the store I saw these wierd de-interlacing artifacts on cable, especially on material with lots of scene changes, like music videos. The guy in the store couldn't explain them but blamed them on the crappy cable signal they had. I didn't see them at home, but I did tonight after turning on "Auto Movie Mode", the 3:2 pulldown.

What good is this feature supposed to do and when should it be on? Definetly not when watching cable. :-)

Aressa,

did you notice this effect before, IE when you watched Nemo before were any of these effects present? It sounds like my set is behaving in a similar fashion, I wonder if anyone else is having this issue

Hi Eagle1,

Go to the Newark Electronics web site www.newark.com and search for axial fans. There are three set of manufacturers there with the noise ratings listed. You might be able to cross reference your existing fan to determine the amount of air that it pushes. You can use your credit card to order, but there is a $25 minimum.

Have you taken a sound meter and measured the noise? You can buy one from Ratshak for $30 or so. I'll measure mine so you can get a reference.

I can hear my fan when the set first powers up, but I don't notice it. I have been considering getting some foam that is used for noise suppression (dark colored foam with peaks and valleys) and putting that behind the set and my AV cabinet, when I install some fans to keep the HD receivers cool.

bert

Hi Eagle1,

Here is a link to a site that sells some of the foam that I referred to:
http://www.kellyindustries.com/speakers/studio_foam.html

bert

Originally posted by Uwish
Aressa,

did you notice this effect before, IE when you watched Nemo before were any of these effects present? It sounds like my set is behaving in a similar fashion, I wonder if anyone else is having this issue I've watched Nemo 100 times before (18month old Son, you see!) and it has never happened before this last week.

Sounds like a service call is in order for sure. Might be an issue with the LE or something..not sure. Let us know how it goes.

I have included a link to show a couple of images of the issue I am having. Very similar to you Aressa. Please take a look, they show this "pixel halo" around the characters which happens in low / black lit scenes with intense light sources.
This also happens regardless of input, I am using input # 3 , S video on a Sharp Progressive Scan DvD player. All dark images display this pixel halo, but I haven't noticed any other image issues under normal viewing (ie digital cable). I have adjusted the black level, contrast, brightness etc with no effect.



http://members.monarch.net/simonspage.html/TV.html

Originally posted by Uwish
I have included a link to show a couple of images of the issue I am having. Very similar to you Aressa. Please take a look, they show this "pixel halo" around the characters which happens in low / black lit scenes with intense light sources.
This also happens regardless of input, I am using input # 3 , S video on a Sharp Progressive Scan DvD player. All dark images display this pixel halo, but I haven't noticed any other image issues under normal viewing (ie digital cable). I have adjusted the black level, contrast, brightness etc with no effect.



http://members.monarch.net/simonspage.html/TV.html For what it's worth, I had seen a post about this months ago. The problem is with Finding Nemo, not your TV. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, it is done intentionally so to call it a problem would be inacurate. I was seeing the same thing with my TV when it was new and wondered what was going on.

I will try to see if I can find the original post on the subject and point you there.
You might try other Pixar movies or any other movies to rule out an acutual problem with your set.

Hi Ho's,
I, as well as at least a few others have in these threads commented about imperfections that become visible against white backgrounds. These tend to become most noticeable when looking at predominately white-backrgound programming where the camera is panning side to side. The best example I have found is an ice hockey game (and unfortunately, I watch a lot of games) but can also be visible using the TV's screen wipe feature on the Screen Saver menu which displays a static white background.

The imperfections are:
- Reddish or magenta colored patches mostly toward the edges of the screen (the center area may look OK) rather than an even, consistent pure white background edge to edge. Like most, my color temperature is set to Normal. I've tweaked using Avia. I've noticed that setting color temperature to High seems to make the reddish patches more very light gray but also has the undesired effect of shifting colors over to the blue side.
- I also can notice a hot spot (bright white spot) at the very center of the screen about the size of a silver dollar (looks like an internal reflection - it's not nearly as objectionable as the reddish botches).
- Sometimes, faint vertical line close to the left and lesser-so, the right edge of the screen. These are closer to the edge than where the gray bars are so I know it's not any kind of burn in. These are sometimes hardly noticeable at all and other times, a little more so.

Just to note that screen door effect is noticeable against light colored backgrounds, especially white particularly when the camera is panning but this is as expected with LCD (fixed pixel) displays and is not what is being considered as a problem here.

I'd like to ask as many of you who are willing to take a few moments and try to check out a few minutes of an ice hockey game and/or check out how things look when using the screen wipe function of the screen saver menu. Since I haven't heard of that many of us stating we currently have the issue, please send me a PM with your feedback rather than clogging up the board. Please let me know what model you have (I have a 60vx500) and if you see any objectionable imperfections of the kind I discuss above or anything else. If you see a pure white, consistent and even display edge to edge with no strange discolorations, lines or hot spots I'd like to hear that kind of positive response as well. For those of you who are happy with how things look and would rather not first become aware of any possible issue you didn't think you had, I completely respect that decision not to look :)

My appreciation to anybody who is willing to take a look to evaluate and a few moments to provide some feedback. It will help me decide how much of what I'm seeing is the way this set is for everybody and how much is a possible defect in my particular set. Thanks to all in advance.

Wired

Originally posted by Moo Man
For what it's worth, I had seen a post about this months ago. The problem is with Finding Nemo, not your TV. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, it is done intentionally so to call it a problem would be inacurate. I was seeing the same thing with my TV when it was new and wondered what was going on.

I will try to see if I can find the original post on the subject and point you there.
You might try other Pixar movies or any other movies to rule out an acutual problem with your set. This is not just a Finding Nemo problem. This happens with all sources, all inputs, SD or HD, 480, 720, or 1080.

The finding Nemo dark scenes are just the most dramatic and easy to demonstrate.

Uwish - That is exactly what mine looks like, you just got better pics than I did. As I said, this was not happening a week ago, it was perfectly smooth low-black gradients, and while the "fish halos" (which are part of the movie) existed, they were nowhere near as dramatic and chopped.


I still have not called service yet... I'm in the process of getting laid off at work, so things are a bit unorganized and my TV is low on the priority list.

To quote Robert DeNiro in Analys This....."You, you....you"

I thought my eyes were playing tricks but it seems that something is wrong with my 50V500A.

I was just watching a nature show on PBS HD and the green ocean had a pink hue on the white foaming tidal waves. I don't know if it was being broadcasted that way or if my tv was displaying it wrong but it bugged me.
Anybody else seen it? Are the smudges you guys are talking about a darker spot on uniformly bright scenes? If so I may have them.

Has anybody in the Indianapolis area had to call service yet?

Turk

Turk,
These appear as darker purplish (reddish/magenta) colored blotches or patches close to the outsides of the screen. As per my post above, it sounds like what you are seeing could possibly be related to the same thing (can't say for sure though). If you get a chance, a really good test to see if it was just the broadcast you were watching or if it's always there is to check out a hockey game and see if the white of the ice is perfectly uniform white or if you can see the purplish blotches against the white background (easier to discern while the camera is panning which of course it does most of the time during a hockey game). The other thing you can do is from the Screen Saver Menu choose the Screen Wipe function which puts up a bright white background until you hit "exit" on the remote. If you get a chance to check this out, let me know what you find.

Originally posted by Taucherguy
I was just watching a nature show on PBS HD and the green ocean had a pink hue on the white foaming tidal waves. I don't know if it was being broadcasted that way or if my tv was displaying it wrong but it bugged me.
Anybody else seen it? Are the smudges you guys are talking about a darker spot on uniformly bright scenes? If so I may have them. Turk

Well, my set has been pretty darned good up until tonight.

For the record, I have had a few small problems with the set over the last several months of ownership (Since September). One was the smudges, but they obviously disappear after the temperature inside the set gets warm. The other was a very dark blue crop circle, which was only really visible on a black screen. I had been meaning to call to get a tech out to look at the crop circle, but hadn't taken the time to do it. BTW, I've known about this crop circle for a month or so at least.

This new problem is something altogether different. I don't really know how to describe it, so I'll have to attach some pictures, because it's probably the only way you'll get the drift of it. It basically appears on all inputs, and is something being created in the light path. It appears to be electronic in nature, almost like the grid from a printed circuit board, or a mapping of some type. It creates an overlaid image. I don't know how well this will show up, as I'll attempt to post some pics with some examples.

This is with the white screen whipe and it causes the "pattern" to show up the best.

Here's one with flash difference and white screen.