Regarding my LG DU42PX12XC 42" plasma purchased in 9/2005 ...

I am getting some scattered red dots on the unit, usually in the center/top portion of the screen and really mostly visible when the picture is showing black
in that area.

It seems to happen mostly after the sets been operating a couple hours or more and it seems to come and go.

I did try turning off the SD edge enhancement, turned the contrast down to like 50 and even turned the color completely off.

Even with the color completely off ... I was seeing red dots. I've seen it from DVDs and well as my HD output from the dish 942.

So my question is -- should I call up the store and tell them about this problem and would the standard warranty cover this kind of thing?

Thx in advance,
Scott

Sounds like dead pixels. How many dots do you see? Some companies have a policies where they state a certain number of dead pixels is "normal" and a limitation/product of the technology. So, I'd say the store is the best place to go to in terms of getting any sort of return/service. Again, it differs company-to-company, and I can't say what LG's policy is.

Hmmmm. I dunno what I am saying.

Bottom line is that it's probably dead pixels. So, yeah, it's not something you should have to deal with. Especially if it's multiple. Pika.

Thanks.

Now let me clarify ... these red dots are not on all the time (they come and go in real time) ... but I have found that I can pause my Dish show and actually freeze the red dots along with it ... but the dots don't always appear (which is what I would expect with a dead pixel).

I also have not done the calibration DVD on my plasma either ... and some folks seem to suggest that doing this calibration can remove red dot / red pixel effects.

If that doesn't work, then I guess I need to call Ultimate Electronics and see what recourse I have.

Check you're cable box. A friend of mine thought his tv had failed and it was the cable box that failed.

There is small chance it could be my dish 942 receiver, but I am pretty sure that I have seen these same red pixels when watching a DVD.

If I can confirm that, then I seriously doubt that its the source, but rather the TV causing these effects. Also, the location of the dots is always in the same region
(top center of screen), which isn't really a random artifact in my book ... not just coincidental.

I had read somewhere to turn down the color ... but when I did (made it b/w) the red pixels were still showing throw here and there ... kind of proof that it was a physical problem with the pixels maybe?

I think I have seen what you are describing before. If you put the menu on the screen and then remove it, do you see more dots where the menu was (on a dark area of the screen, of course)? This is not normal operation and should be repaired under warranty.

Robert

I had green dots...still do have green dots...have the panel of the plasma replaced...still get them, before the TV "warms up"...It is visible with most input modes, but only when they are "active"...no signal, gives no dots...they go away after a few minutes.

Are you using HDMI from the 942 receiver? If so, try using component video outputs.

Thanks everyone ...

I am not using HDMI ... I am using component cables. Good advise, however.

robert123, funny you mention it ... I did exactly what you described last night
and did notice some dots under where the TV menu had been ... my set definately
has that characteristic ... and will do that sporatically (not always, but more and more
the longer the set has been ON).

I also noticed that it wasn't doing it for the first 1-2 hours and then after the
set was warmed up ... was doing it fairly often. I even paused a dish
HD show a couple times to see if the pixels freezed with it, well the red pixels
were there, but they kept moving around like red snow (or red distortion).
It definately not just a few bad pixels shining through ... it more of a red pixelized
snow effect which does come and go ... but slowly.

I lot of times if a movie has someone in front of the dark (or black background),
then these red dots appear on the edge of the persons head (or hair) ... very
obvious.

I think I'm going to have to make some calls and get this problem looked into.
For $3000 ... you don't expect crap like this after 4 months ... this should be
warranty covered I would hope.

oh bummer. dead end thread and i too am having these red snow like moments with my plasma.

it's not source since i get it with both comcast and dvd.

otherwise, and 99% of the time, picture is fantastic. if the snow is sort of normal and will not get worse then i can live with it.

hopefully this thread will go long enough to get some answers? :(

thruxton, I also agree that the majority of the time the picture is fantastic.

I am starting to believe that the red snow only happens when the temperature is very cold outside -- and the space behind the TV is below say 55-60 degrees.

I don't think that I've seen the problem occuring on fair weather days yet, or even when its 40+ outside ... but on days when its quite cold outside, like 10-25 ... then I've noticed a lot of this red snow effect occurring ...

Usually on those days, were struggling to keep our huge family room at 63 degrees and the wall space where the TV stays is probably cooler, since its an exterior wall.

The repair guy said that somebody else had a similar problem, but with green dots and LG sent them a new board to try and fix it. He told me observe the condititions during which the problem occurs and make a log of when it happens and the temperature, etc.

I agree -- lets not let this thread die ... many other may benefit as well.

I'm also wondering that for the money I paid if I shouldn't demand that the store I bought it from just REPLACE the set ... since I'm not too keen on diagnosing problems for LG for free.

By the way, I switched to using the HDMI output on the 942 and HDMI/DVI input on the LG plasma ... and I still get the red snow effect either way.

I have a Samsung 42" Plasma and I was getting pink dots (though I suppose they could be seen as red) . I called Samsung and they sent someone out and he fixed the problem. He said the voltage needed to be adjusted. He said with some plasmas, when they settle into the tempature of the home they sometimes get the dots and the voltage needs to be adjusted. I hope this helps someone.

Wow, I never heard of that before. We still do have the red dots, but there are sporadic. I really should have another service call, but it seems that whenever they show up, it ain't doing it that day! (hard to fix) For what I paid for this TV, I'm really just tempted to call ultimate electronics and demand a replacement, since fixing it seems to be all "on me" ... and odds are, I'll get the shaft the way things are going. Opinions anyone?

I have the Samsung HP-S5053 plasma TV,
Samsung HT-Q80 home theater in the box reciever w/ built in DVD player,
Xbox 360.

I also get the infamous red dots, but only through the HDMI output of my Samsung receiver. At first I thought it was a characteristic of burned DVDs, but it's happening with all my originals.

I played a movie through the xbox, and all is well (connected via components).
I changed from the HDMI cable to a composite cable on the Samsung DVD player, and all is well.

It leads me to believe the problem is with the Samsund DVD player when using HDMI. I'll try another HDMI cable tomorrow and even call Samsung. Anyone else have this problem?
-Mark

I get them with HDMI or composite ... on the Dish 942 or a DVD ... so I know its not the HDMI in my case.

I have a repair guy coming out to replace something this week, so hopefully, that will fix it.

The limited warranty will only offer replacement if (2) repair attempts are unsuccessful.

The worst part is that the dots are sporadic and hard to observe "on demand". They happen every day, you just never know when or how much.

In my case the problem is 100% reproducible. I tried another HDMI cable and the same thing happened. I also tried the secondary HDMI input on the TV and still the same thing. Then I went back to composite, and all was well again.

Called Samsung and they think it's the DVD player. Called Crutchfield and they'll send me a new one on Thursday. I may run over to BB and pick up a Sony HDMI player and experiment in the meantime. More to come.

just bought a 42" akai hd plasma and have red 'dots' all over the screen. Sounds like the above problems as they are def not bad pixels.
Happens on all inputs and even on diff power circuits so gotta be the tv.

Did anyone find anything further about this issue and it's solution?

We had a 50" LG model on display at work that would have the scattered pixels every now and again like you're describing. They'd come and go, but very infrequently. No lasting problem, though.

hope this thread hasent ended...have a lg 50px5d...i to have been trying to find out about this red dot (sparkles??) thing...have read others with this change connections or get it on one or two inputs (dvd-video-componet etc)...i removed all the input connections so the set is not receveing any signel and still get these red dots...has anyone solved this problem yet??? have been told that pixels are square and these dots look more like SPARKLES appearing all over the screen...someone please get back with some answer....thanks

An update from the thread starter on my problems which are now resolved!

This definately wasn't related to my Dish 942 player or anything other than the TV itself. This particular LG plasma is a high altitude model, but I don't know if that was a factor or not. For those reading this thread, I checked out all the connection/cable issues and it wasn't that. It was some kind of faulty board on the TV itself. Its kind of like a computer motherboard with little boards plugged into it which can be swapped out, if they go bad. Determining which board is the hard part and where the technicians come in. This is my basic understanding on my original problem here.

So I finally got my red dots problem fixed. I ended up calling LG warranty support and they provided me with some local repair places I could call for service work. Finding this information on the LG web site was nothing short of a tresure hunt in itself. After about a 1 month wait for my service appointment, the technician did CORRECT the problem!!

According the LG, they needed to make 2 repair attempts before you can get the TV replaced under warranty. So I told him to bring parts with him.

I believe he replaced a board on the TV and also made some minor adjustments. Since this repair call, the TV has been perfect and not more red dots !!! I wish I had more details on the repair, but I wasn't home when he did the work.

I have the same problem with my 50in. Samsung. I have red dots flicker on and off across the top and bottom of my screen. During black and grey scenes i see it more. Lately i've noticed even blue as well...........so, I called samsung up and they will send a tech out and see. I've had the TV for a year now and warranty expired, lucky i registared the TV and got a 3 month extention. I hope they can fix the problem otherwise i'll never get another plasma again!

Yeah, I was about 1 month from the end of my warranty as well (glad you had an extension!) and not a big fan of "service calls" ... but I'm glad I took the time and did it. It ended up costing me nothing, so this story had a happy ending.

On our initial service call, the tech said something to the extent that they could replace 1 of 3 different cards (on the LG plasma), and the tech could could decide which board to try replacing in sort of trail and error basis. I sounded like guesswork, but I think the second tech we had knew what to change and just did it.

I verified with my wife that they did actually replace something, and she said yeah, they put in a new board of some kind.

Good luck!

glad you got yours fixed...i have a tech coming on 12/6 for this red dot thing so im hoping he can find the trouble....would like to ask you or anyone else here about another problem i have noticed...when trying to set black levels i notice the screen has a light gray to it kind of like the briteness is set two high...i mostly see it in dark or night scenes and because of it i cant set the blackness to were i think it should be you know BLACK not grayish...another way to discribe it is watch the screen when you turn it on it lights up before the picture comes on...durring bright scenes it looks fine its just the dark scenes...has anyone noticed this... do you think having it recalabrated by a pro would fix this...thanks

I've been waiting for a couple of days now for a service call. I think they are backed up and busy. I want to get this problem fixed real soon because the sparkles are starting to irritate me. I don't even want to watch tv anymore because of it. Seems to get worse too..........well for the 1st hour its ok when i leave it on any longer it starts to appear. Glad you got yours fixed............i hope i get mines fixed soon.

I have an LG 50 inch plasma (50px4dh), and I see blue "sparkles" or "dots", in black areas, when the set is cold. I never saw them during the summer (when new), when the house was 78+ degrees inside. Now that the weather is cool, I see them a lot until the set warms up. I'm in Texas.

They are mostly near the top, and vary depending on the image on the set. I see them with any input. A certain mix of bright and black areas seems create a lot of them.

Does anyone have an explaination of what causes them (besides a "bad board")? I wonder if the voltage required to drive the screen is temperature sensitive?

just to mention...had service guy here and told me the red dot thing (could also be blue or green) was caused buy one of three service boards due to low voltage in the board...wouldent say anything about it (big trade secret) or whatever just said a lot of lg's seem to have this problem... so now its how long to get the part from lg...he did say all the pixel problems and picture freezing and remote freezing and amber light turning red and a bunch of other small problems were due to the cable card and twc in nyc...recamended switching to a box rather then the cc at least till they come out with the new two-way cards.....go figure...so now we wait...

have lost the tv guide on the 50px5d...just get a black screen and preview window on upper left corner...anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong...

Finally the service man arrived. He said that he gets a lot of calls on the same problem. He said the voltage in the TV is to high so he just lowered like 5 of the settings. When you open the back panel there are the voltage number that the TV is suppose to be set at. All he did was hook up his testing device and lowered it one by one. Now i don't see anymore red or blue sparkles.

50px5d...tv tech guy should be here friday but i find something else came up...lost the tv guide program all i get is a black screen and the small preview window at the upper left corner of the screen...no setup no nothing...anyone ever seen this problem before trying to figure out if its due to tv software or cable tv....about six months old and 2 problems in a row...whats next

Finally the service man arrived. He said that he gets a lot of calls on the same problem. He said the voltage in the TV is to high so he just lowered like 5 of the settings. When you open the back panel there are the voltage number that the TV is suppose to be set at. All he did was hook up his testing device and lowered it one by one. Now i don't see anymore red or blue sparkles.

Interesting! The service manual mentions "Va and Vs Voltage Adjustment", saying to set the voltages to the values written on the back of the plasma panel.
I'll bet this is what he is adjusting. But I only see 2 adjustments in the manual. Maybe it is two per color??

50px5d...tv tech guy should be here friday but i find something else came up...lost the tv guide program all i get is a black screen and the small preview window at the upper left corner of the screen...no setup no nothing...anyone ever seen this problem before trying to figure out if its due to tv software or cable tv....about six months old and 2 problems in a row...whats next

Hunter: When messing with the hidden menu's, I found one that said "reset guide" or some such thing. I'll see if I can find it again. But the service man should to his job. Ask him about "sparking dots" and voltage adjustments to fix them, please.

Before calling the repair tech, try placing a small fan behind your TV.
This solved my "red dot" issue as well as eliminating my temporary burn in effect on dark to bright to dark transitions - Seems that, at least with my samsung, the heat was affecting performance big time.
That was confirmed after 15 minutes running an 8" oscillating table fan behind the unit.

hope this helps

I've had some of the LG's with the heat related dots caused by bad logic boards.

thanks for the ideas guys BUT...long story short after having the sparkle like red dots on screen the tv guys showed up after three apointments when they had the wrong parts...anyway they changed a video board (dont know what it was called) the power supply and the cc card board all seemed to work BUT last night tv shuts down and comes back up on its own and now component input (rgb) plays all green and the remote control stoped working all other inputs play fine with a good picture..so have to wait to have these these repair guys back and start a new adventure with this tv...dont know what happened but im guessing one of the boards they changed went bad..hard to understand how all this stuff can go bad for no reason...should have known something would go wrong when the repair guy never checked out the tv with his meters just said he knows whats wrong...sounded fishy to me...and it seems i still have the red dots after the parts were changed ...im thinking ill let this repair go on and if anything else happens or the red dot thing is still there ill start getting on lg's case for a new replacement set...oh well...

whats a logic board....thanks

I have a samsung 50" plasma which I purchased 7/06. We love the TV. In maybe September we noticed red dots on the bottom 4-6" of the screen, no rhyme or reason to when the appeared. I called for a service repair, they came out and took the TV with them for testing. A few days later they returned the TV and no more red dots. About a week ago the red dots started appearing again.

The tech said there were some adjustments they needed to make to resolve the problem, I'm not sure exactly what they were but of course my concern is that they are back again.....

lg50px5d...when turning color control to zero should the screen be compleatly black & white or should there be just a little trace of color...just had the media board replaced and checking settings i just dont remember if it would show completly b & w and im trying to figure out if its working ok...

I have a vizio 50 inch plasma and have noticed red dots dancing around the screen during dark scenes. It happens with different input sources and different cables. The tv is maybe two months out of warranty but did have a warranty repair that could be related. A power board was replaced because sometimes you couldn't turn the tv off. Any experience with vizio and problems like this?

...they changed a video board...tv shuts down and comes back up on its own and now component input (rgb) plays all green and the remote control stoped working
...
im guessing one of the boards they changed went bad..hard to understand how all this stuff can go bad for no reason...
It probably means they did not find the source problem.
It is sometimes a fact of life in circuit repair; imagine this scenario:
Component A is putting out the wrong voltage. It never dies but keeps killing components B C and D with that wrong voltage.

Mike

I have this problem as well....seemed to occur with the weather change last week. Akai is awaiting me getting the serial off the back of the TV....I gotta take it off the wall first...lol!!!!

Just an update.
I had the same problem, I had red sparkling pixels on my LG 42PC3D.
The repair guy came out yesterday afternoon, and after tweaking a voltage regulator potentiometer on the far left panel on the back of the tv, the red pixels are mostly gone. They are 90% dimished and they are not red any more, kind of no color... So it's not 100% fixed but I can't see the remaining few sparkles any more if I stand more than 2 feet away. So virtually I consider it gone.

3 year old p55 (just out of warranty!!!) with faint red, green and white "sparkles" that have become obvious since the cold weather came on.

As noted above, problem totally disappears after an hour or two. Initial internal temp = 75F, after 2 hours 96F.

What gives?

Thanks.

I have this model Plasma Tv and it has Sparkles - pixel dots of red , blue and green all over screen ..large saturation of this in left corner with small light area ( this area showing only on black/ dark screen only ).
It shows only on black background even with out any signal connected to tv..
Signal source was rule out . Otherwise Colors great ... Resolution seems is off a little also.
Tv is under LG warranty and was in service for this problem for the past 3 months ! Repair center replaced X and Y board but it not corrected the problem - still the same ! Only I noticed Quality of picture become not that great as was before . Range of adjustments on Contrast and Brightness is not as use to be before replacing this boards..
Now service center saying by replacing PDP -the display panel will correct this problem ..
Any advise how to fix this problem ? :confused:

My toshiba has been having the red pixel problem off and on for some time, but very infrequently. Sometimes it really overwhelms the picture, other times a bit less as below:

http://dctconsult.com/pic2.jpg

Is this what you folks are getting?

I have the same problem with my Philips 50". The problem is not terrible though as it takes about an hour for me to start seeing the problem and its really only in certain scenes, especially greys. My friends dont notice it unless I point it out but of course I notice it. I only have about 2 months left on my warranty and I was thinking of getting it fixed but the autherized repair shop will only do it if I bring the TV to them which isnt easy (130lbs) and its out of town. I can live with the current level of sparkling but my worries are that it will get worse later. And if it does get worse after my warrenty expires how much will it cost? Has anyone had the sparkling get worse over time? Also has anyone had to pay out of pocket to get the problem fixed?

Sounds like dead pixels. How many dots do you see? Some companies have a policies where they state a certain number of dead pixels is "normal" and a limitation/product of the technology. So, I'd say the store is the best place to go to in terms of getting any sort of return/service. Again, it differs company-to-company, and I can't say what LG's policy is.

Hmmmm. I dunno what I am saying.

Bottom line is that it's probably dead pixels. So, yeah, it's not something you should have to deal with. Especially if it's multiple. Pika.

Your middle sentence (my bold) is correct.

A "dead pixel" in a plasma will emit no light. DUH!

Glad I found this thread. I've started noticing the blue pixels on the lower part of my 42 Samsung Plasma over the past few months. At first I thought it was my 360 because I only noticed it while playing Tiger Woods 07, but have now started noticing it during normal programming as well. It's not noticeable unless I look for it, but I did get the extended at-home warranty on the TV when I bought it 8 months ago so I'll probably give the shop a call to come fix. Sounds like it could be a pretty easy voltage fix or at the worst just replacing a card. Would rather do it now vs. waiting for it to get worse.

To note, there may be something to all the posts mentioning it could have to do with cold weather because that's when I started noticing it (in January when it finally started getting into the 30's and lower outside.

Regarding my LG DU42PX12XC 42" plasma purchased in 9/2005 ...

I am getting some scattered red dots on the unit, usually in the center/top portion of the screen and really mostly visible when the picture is showing black
in that area.

It seems to happen mostly after the sets been operating a couple hours or more and it seems to come and go.

I did try turning off the SD edge enhancement, turned the contrast down to like 50 and even turned the color completely off.

Even with the color completely off ... I was seeing red dots. I've seen it from DVDs and well as my HD output from the dish 942.

So my question is -- should I call up the store and tell them about this problem and would the standard warranty cover this kind of thing?

Thx in advance,
Scott

Red dot are NORMAL only when watching PINK Elephants, Hightail that beach back to the store as fast as possible. :(

My set went our of warranty in December, so yes, I my have to pay. The service company is going to pick the set up next week, since they are not sure what the problem is and wil need to observe it in the shop. A call to Toshiba gnerated a recommendation to unplug for a few minutes and then plug it back in . . .a reboot so to speak. This solves the problem, but it comes back. Regarding worse over time, it is becoming more frequent, so yes.

I have been trying to catch up on this thread. We are new to the plasma tv world. We have a Audiovox 42' plasma that is showing the same 'red snow' that has been talked about with almost all the same signs as mentioned. It is only a few months only and the second one that we have had because the first one was doing the same thing. This time I skipped over the retailer and contacted the company directly. They are willing to send someone out to have a look but did mention a possibility of burn in. If that's the case then we will have to pay for the visit. I just wanted to be clear before I have them come out. The red snow in that photo that someone already posted is almost exactly what ours is doing just not as wide spread at the moment and is worse after the menu has been displayed even briefly. Could this be burn in? Or does this sound more like a defect in the tv itself?

Thanks for any help.

Reds dots for me with HDMI aswell...

I have a Sammy HP-S4233 plasma, and I notice the red dots when I'm using HDMI through my PS3. When I switch over to component, the red dots are gone. They appear on darker screens, and are scattered all over. However, when I bring up my menu, the dots dissapear, and when I close it, they come back again.

-Tony

I have an LG 42 PC3D with the exact same problem with the red dots. It is noticeable in the dark areas as little individual red pixels randomly flashing. If you bring up the input menu and it goes off the screen the area previously covered with the menu will be full of the red dots initially then they seem to diminish. I went back to Best Buy and looked at the exact same model that they had on display and saw no dots. I didn't want to take the TV back as I really love the picture. I compared it to the Panasonic TH42PX60 and the Toshiba 42YDS69 and liked the picture on the LG better. After searching the web I found this forum and saw that I wasn't alone with this issue. I called the local LAG service center to come do a service call so hopefully they can switch the voltage or circuit board as has been done for others on the forum. I will update later as to the outcome of the service call.

P.S. Is there are thread devoted to tweaking the settings for the LG 42PC3D?

Thanks

I have a 50" Philips and am having the same problems. Red sparkles on the darker scenes. I called philips and they sent a repair tech out and he said its caused by "interference".

This happens on all inputs.

I had a service tech come to my house to look at my LG 42PC3D yesterday and he made some adjustments. I don't have red dots anymore but I do have multicolored dots now. They are not as numerous as the red dots but they are still there. The tech said the problem is with one of the circuit boards in the TV and he will order the part in. I'll give another update in a week or so after the new board is installed.

I've been reading this topic for a few weeks, along with other websites, and here's my story.

I've got a LG 42PC1DA 42" Plasma, which i purchased November 2006.

Aprox 4 weeks ago (25/03/2007) i noticed the slight scatter of RED Dots, like a now effect of red pixels.

I called LG, and they sent a local engineer to take it away, which they did.
10 days later, it arrives back, and i was over the moon........ UNTIL i switched it on.
It hadn't changed, the dots were still there, AND the rear panel was scratched with a screwdriver!!!!! I was FUMING!!!!!

These are the parts they Supposidly changed, i will copy the text as it is:

1 x 6871QCH077C
1 x 6871QYH053B
1 x 6871QZH056B

Replaced Y-SUS, Z-SUS, CTRL PCB all within Spec, This is a HD ready PDP will only work correctly on HDMI.

I called the Techinican company that had taken the TV within the first 60 seconds of having it switched on, and to my surprise, the technicians Actually tried to Fob me off with some crappy story.

"The reason you see the red dots, is because you have too many tv channels on the tv" - yes, that's what he actually said to me. I went on to ask, WHY does it do it with the Playstation, Xbox, DVD player and my Digi Camera?

His reply was, get this - "As i've said, it's down to you having too many TV channels on your TV" - At this point i laughed out loud, in utter disgust at this Cowby!

So, i asked WHY did you change all the above parts, if it made no difference what so ever to the TV?
The final reply i got was "It's a common fault with LG tv's, and we can't fix it"

OK, i said, i will report you to LG to ensure that you are not paid your fee for fixing my TV, as you haven't fixed it............... The technician is coming to my home Tomorrow (18/04/07) to have another look at it!

I jumped on the phone to LG, and explained ALL to them. And they ensured me it's not a common fault and they will send ANOTHER company out to me to view it.
I then called the shop i purchased it from, and have asked them to deal with it, they are ordering ALL the parts mentioned above, and will come to my home next week.

I pray this is fixed.

So, i have my TV back, with just as many Red Dots, AND scratches to the rear.


I'll post a Video and pictures Later

I have a 50" Philips and am having the same problems. Red sparkles on the darker scenes. I called philips and they sent a repair tech out and he said its caused by "interference".

This happens on all inputs.


That's rubbish! Ask them, if it's interference, what it could be. If they state it's the TV reception, unplug the ariel, and JUST use the AV, component etc.
I personaly beleive some technicians are cowboys, and they will just fob you off.

At the end of it, our trust is in their hands, and sometimes they push their luck.

Ok, got a Vid and Pics:

Here's a short 10second Video of the Dots apearing

CLICK HERE to view (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/truemobiles/reddots.wmv)

Here are my pics:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/truemobiles/reddots1.jpg
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/truemobiles/reddots2.jpg

Glad i found this site as well and a good thread. I am sitting here waiting for the service tech. Our plasma a zenith (lg) 52" lost it's picture last month and they repaired it when it came back we notice the lil red sparkles as well. Last week, it went again, loud pop and lost the picture. Will see what he has to say when he gets here

UPDATE!

Technician was supposed to be here at 4pm, but they just sent the delivery driver, who couldn't help me! So he called the Tech, and explained all to him.
I've got a headache from argue-ing.

He said "That's how it should look, it's common" i told him it wasn't. He wouldn't take the TV, and theres nothing else he can do for me.

So, i called LG, and filed a complaint, they rang him, and he even tried to tell them the same story. So, The store i purchased it from are coming here tomorrow (19/04/2007) to look at it. I hope they can fix it.

If not, i'm at a deadend, with a faulty TV, and still 6 months warranty.

This is Ludacrus!!!

I recorded the convo.

Another Update

Ok, so Currys (the store i purchased the TV from) have sent their tech guys to me today.
They looked at the TV, and said that THEY beleive the other technicians DID NOT change anything, as it appears the parts have not been touched.
So, they have now ordered the parts AGAIN, and will come to fit them next week.

Another week goes by................

They laughed at the comments made by the other technicians.

50px5d...so back in december had all the red dots (sparkles) plus the tv guide program went out and the service people changed just about every board in the set...so it worked till now and im back in the same boat...red dots and no tv guide program...has anyone here ever really get this trouble fixed...really fixed??? i cant beleave all these parts would become faltly in only a few months...swaping out boards doesent seem like the way to go...im in nyc...has anyone here found a service place that does quilety service...from the lg site last time i used broadway video service and i feel like why should i call them back if they couldent fix it the first time...theres only 2 other service centers listed for nyc and one never answers there phones...am hopeing someone here had better luck and can give me some advice...lg tells me there closest reps are down south and they cant send one of them up here..what the hell....any help....thanks :mad:

Well, i've just had the tech guys out again (6th time) and they've changed all the boards.
Same problem.
They don't understand it.

i am gutted once again.

They say "keep an eye on it"

WHAT? I WANT A NEW TV!!!


<<<<<< Updated >>>>>>

I've now ordered a Samsung 50" For the same price as the LG cost me.
Delivery / Exchange in 3 days!

I bought an LG 42PC3RV in Dec 2006. I have never realised this problem until yesterday night when I switch off all lights and left my TV idle (without signal).

To my horror I saw what seemed like half screen burn in. But after reading this forum and others, I think it looked like uneven contrast across the screen as seen on these pictures. As you can see, the contrast on the right seemed higher while the left seemed lower.

On broad daylight, you'll notice nothing while during the night if you turn on the adequate lights it's almost unnoticeable.

I thought my maid or my mother inlaw had screwed my TV but now I feel that the TV did came in like this when it was new.

Please comment and see what you think. Anybody had this problem?

My red sparkle pixel problem is now Solved!

After a total of 6 visits from Tech guys, it's now sorted.

The store i purchased it from (Curry's) have just delivered a New TV.

From a 42" LG 6 months old, to a Brand new 50" Samsung. Love it.

How much extra did you have to pay?

How much extra did you have to pay?

Nothing :D

Nothing :D

50" DLP? or LCD?

wow, lucky guy if you get LCD 50" coz the difference is almost 1,500 USD in my country

Update
I had a tech replace two circuit boards on my LG PC3D panel but the red dots are still present. Unfortunately I wasn't home when the tech came (my wife was)so when he tested everything when he was done I couldn't point out that nothing had changed. I did call him later and he said that LG told him to change the boards in question to fix the problem. From reading the other posts with this problem that seems to be the most common fix. They now want me to bring the panel in to the shop. I don't have a problem with that except for the fact that I would be without my TV for a few days. I may just live with it for now, to be honest I can only see the dots when I am close to the panel and not a normal viewing distance ;) , and take in my panel before I go on holidays.

PS. I went in to the local Future Shop and looked at a LG PC1D they had on display and it had the exact same red dots as mine. I asked a sales rep how common the problem was with the LG's and he said it happened a lot with the older (pre PC5D) models but not with all of them....kind of a hit and miss thing.

I wouldn't be happy with that mate.

I made sure i got what i paid for.

Simply call the Shop you bought it from, and state that it's been repaired, but not fixed. If it's within warrenty, it's their duty to solve the problem.

I never backed down, hence the reason i got a replacement.

I had the same "red dots" or "red snow" problem on my 50" Samsung Plasma TV. The dots were appearing primarily in the bottom center of the screen and were progressively getting worse with time.

a technician came out and adjusted the voltages and now -- NO MORE RED DOTS.

He played with all the voltages for while to get the right mix, but ended changing the Va, Vb and Vsc to fix the problem. Evidently, the voltage level that was the worst offender was the Vsc.

According to the technician, the voltages recommended by the factory are listed inside the back panel of the TV, but you can adjust each of these 5-10% up or down without any issues.

Though someone could probably do this themselves with a little bit of knowledge and a voltage meter, I wouldn't recommend it.

I hope this helps someone! :)

Jeff

Sorry to hear that, and we like all ppl in this forum understand how it feels when we buy something which is often quite expensive didn't perform what it should perform.

In my country, I made sure LG tech come over and do the repairs. He came on Monday this week and change every god damn parts there was to be replaced. The power circuit board, the graphic control card. Still the plasma display panel (PDP) had unequal contrast. I suspected the PDP fault but to replace it is like replacing the whole TV. The tech told me I didn't know anything about TV implying I was simply nonsense.

So as every other technician would say, "it's like this and a 6 hour white wash would do the trick". I said "no, you take it back and repair it". Normally technicians are reluctant to take it back because it gives them more work to take back to me after repairs but I insisted. So he punished me by saying it can only be repaired next week just to let me track back my decision.

Fortunately I had a 14" CRT TV for games. Now I've been using the 14" for 4 days and it's really torturing.

Today, I've called them and LG confirmed that they are changing the screen but I asked further the CS's not sure what screen meant. So I will check and hope it is the PDP they are going to change.

My wife works in Samsung and Samsung normally change the whole set if the PDP is faulty. So i guess that's why Samsung service is better.

Ok, so I called the company that I had been dealing with for service on my LG and they have ordered the third circuit board for my 42PC3D. I will make sure that I am there this time when the work is done so I can see the results for myself. My situation is a little different than yours CJuk. The store I bought the TV from doesn't do the service work for LG. I am dealing with one of the approved service places. I have contacted LG and they are aware of the situation as well. Hopefully board number three fixes things up.

My situation is a little different than yours CJuk.

Sounds like the same as me to be honest.
THe place i bought the TV from isn't an LG repair centre either.
I went through LG on 4 occassions, and not once was it fixed.
Then i went back to the store, and they replaced it.

Sounds like the same as me to be honest.
THe place i bought the TV from isn't an LG repair centre either.
I went through LG on 4 occassions, and not once was it fixed.
Then i went back to the store, and they replaced it.

Well in that case, the LG service really sucks there since they don't keep spare parts with them. In my case, they brought with them to my house 2 important parts, the graphic controller card and the power circuit card.

They replaced it on the spot but the problem wasn't solved either. Anway the story's been told above.

However what I'm happy with right now is that they've promised to replace my PDP which is the heart of the plasma TV. So I think my TV is like a new one but I'll have to start to settle my TV for 100-200 hours burn in period again.

My TV just got back and the whole PDP was replaced. I'm happy with the replacement and the display looked like when I bought it...like new!

My TV just got back and the whole PDP was replaced. I'm happy with the replacement and the display looked like when I bought it...like new!

Excellent news.
Great to see someone else with a repaired TV

I've followed this thread with interest for a couple of months as my poor LG 42" plasma (manufactured June 2006) slowly developed the red sparkles.

Try as I might to convince myself I can "live with it..." it's becomming more annoying so it's time to get it fixed (just can't face all the hassle some of you sound to have had trying to get it fixed...).

Anyway - today I phoned the fault through to LG, they took all the details and have advised a local company will contact me to come and do the repair (is this normal, I suspect it is?).

The model number is LG 42PC1D - as I say it was only manufactured last June so it's only just a year old; I can't believe they're having these problems still...

So - I'll keep you all updated on how the repair goes. A friend of mine (with exactly the same model) had it repaired a couple of weeks ago, it was the second visit. First time they came out, saw the fault and ordered a part (not sure what part it was), second visit they replaced it and it's been fine since. I hope my story is as successful....

Stuart.

I had the same "red dots" or "red snow" problem on my 50" Samsung Plasma TV. The dots were appearing primarily in the bottom center of the screen and were progressively getting worse with time.

a technician came out and adjusted the voltages and now -- NO MORE RED DOTS.

He played with all the voltages for while to get the right mix, but ended changing the Va, Vb and Vsc to fix the problem. Evidently, the voltage level that was the worst offender was the Vsc.

According to the technician, the voltages recommended by the factory are listed inside the back panel of the TV, but you can adjust each of these 5-10% up or down without any issues.

Though someone could probably do this themselves with a little bit of knowledge and a voltage meter, I wouldn't recommend it.

I hope this helps someone! :)

Jeff

I'm know a few things about electronics (Took it in a vocational high school)... But your information lead me right to the problem... I cracked open my Samsung 50" Plasma TV (HPR-5052) that had a case of the red snow thing.

I put on an image in my TV that was dark with high contrast (the tipical red snow image)

I went to the back of my TV and simply marked the VScan with a sharpie (So I would know where the factory set it to) and I adjusted little by little the control. Every little rotation (about less than 5 degrees counter clock wise) lead to less snow on my screen...

Now my beautifull TV is Red Snow Free... Thanks jeff5311 for that great info :)

This sure as hell beats waiting for some dumb ass to come to your house and not know or not care about what he is doing and mess up your TV or scratch the crap out of it.

I have the Tech manual for my TV, I could share it... or answer any questions that I may be able to answer... I could post pics too... I recomend you do it (be carefull) but truly recomend it... If I knew how easy it was, I wouldn't have beaten so much around the bush.

My TV clearly had marked the control and was not hard to get too.

Hope this helps. I was frustrated with this for about a month or two...

I hope this thread isn't dead yet. I've got a related problem and I'd like to know if anyone has any experience with it. I've got blue sparkles (they look like snow) that apear on the right hand side of my Samsung HP-S4352 Plasma. I called Samsung regarding this and they referred me to a local repair center. The repair center has the set now and has been advised by Samsung to install a "Y Main Board" and run a diffusion test on the set. Anyone have any idea what this board is responsible for in the TV? The tech was unsure if this would fix the issue (i'll know a little more tomorrow afternoon). Thanks for any help and suggestions in advance, guys.

the lg in my mom's room is a 42in and it has green dots. i don't know what to do. well we had it for about less than 6 months now and it has green dots. well it only happens when it heats up, like when you turn it off and it's all cool, it won't show until you watch for awhile then it shows up. i don't know what's wrong, i try adjusting the colors and stuff but still doesn't work. the menu is kind of awkward too, not as much options in the menu as the samsung in my room.

I'm know a few things about electronics (Took it in a vocational high school)... But your information lead me right to the problem... I cracked open my Samsung 50" Plasma TV (HPR-5052) that had a case of the red snow thing.

I put on an image in my TV that was dark with high contrast (the tipical red snow image)

I went to the back of my TV and simply marked the VScan with a sharpie (So I would know where the factory set it to) and I adjusted little by little the control. Every little rotation (about less than 5 degrees counter clock wise) lead to less snow on my screen...

Now my beautifull TV is Red Snow Free... Thanks jeff5311 for that great info :)

This sure as hell beats waiting for some dumb ass to come to your house and not know or not care about what he is doing and mess up your TV or scratch the crap out of it.

I have the Tech manual for my TV, I could share it... or answer any questions that I may be able to answer... I could post pics too... I recomend you do it (be carefull) but truly recomend it... If I knew how easy it was, I wouldn't have beaten so much around the bush.

My TV clearly had marked the control and was not hard to get too.

Hope this helps. I was frustrated with this for about a month or two...

Lots of techs crank the Vscan, VS, VC controls to tweak out the sparkles.

I will get rid of them.....

temporarily.

They'll raise they're ugly head again.

One of the latest sparkle issues I've seen is in the Philips latest model, the 42PF5321D line. Blue sparkles in the left top corner and possibly blue verticle sparkle lines down the left side. These same sets have a terrible problem with image retention. I've had these units on the MSNBC weather update channel burn-in in less than 10 minutes.

I personally believe all these sparkle problems, regardless of brand, are caused by a less than perfect charge on the panel when it was manufactured. Most of what's being done to correct it via board replacement is stop gap and a means for the manufacturer to fix a problem w/o replacing the panel. Saving panel replacements seems to be one of the primary goals of most techlines these days regardless of manufacturer.

I have red sparkles on my Toshiba 42HP66 which has LG glass. The service man came out yesterday and as soon as I turned the set on he knew what had to be done. They are ordering a new pdp with 3 boards attached. They said 5-10 days to get the assembly and it will take a couple of days to install. He said LG was aware of the problem. I asked about the voltage and he said he could change it but the sparkles would come back.

Are these red sparkles on the edges of image contours? I noticed this on the LG showroom floor, and pointed it out to the guy. He'd never noticed it before.

Lots of techs crank the Vscan, VS, VC controls to tweak out the sparkles.

I will get rid of them.....

temporarily.

They'll raise they're ugly head again.

One of the latest sparkle issues I've seen is in the Philips latest model, the 42PF5321D line. Blue sparkles in the left top corner and possibly blue verticle sparkle lines down the left side. These same sets have a terrible problem with image retention. I've had these units on the MSNBC weather update channel burn-in in less than 10 minutes.

I personally believe all these sparkle problems, regardless of brand, are caused by a less than perfect charge on the panel when it was manufactured. Most of what's being done to correct it via board replacement is stop gap and a means for the manufacturer to fix a problem w/o replacing the panel. Saving panel replacements seems to be one of the primary goals of most techlines these days regardless of manufacturer.

Well... Its been two weeks since the fix. No sparkles, I sure as hell hope you are wrong :D but I will post back if I see any miniscule sign of the sparkles.

Thanks for all of the info! I have a Pioneer 502mx 50" with red dots/snow on screen. I found this thread and used the information about adjusting voltages to clear it up. Well I raised the VSUS from 172VDC to 180VDC and that completely fixed the monitor.

The voltages for VSUS and VADR were 172 and 59 VDC which matched the sticker on the panel. I am guessing as the panel gets older it takes more voltage to drive it?

I hope raising it to this level won't hurt anything, but hey it was a write off already.

baccusboy, yes -- that is where the red dots were most noticible for me on my LG. It was especially noticible on black backgrounds, like a live music performance or a movie with dark background. Problem remains fixed for me and I'm very happy with my 42" LG plasma.

I am having the same issues with my Samsung HPS5053 and the Red Dancing "Snow" Pixels on the dark scenes. I have narrowed down the problem to probably the voltage adjustment. Does anyone know where the voltage adjustments on this panel are located behind the backing and any recommendtations on adjusting them, like can you do it while the set is on to see the difference in realtime? I am pretty knowledgeable about electronics and have done adjustments on other devices before, so I am willing to do this myself as I am just out of warranty. Also, does someone have the service manual for this model as it would be helpful for this and future tweaks? Any help is much appreciated.

I am having the same issues with my Samsung HPS5053 and the Red Dancing "Snow" Pixels on the dark scenes. I have narrowed down the problem to probably the voltage adjustment. Does anyone know where the voltage adjustments on this panel are located behind the backing and any recommendtations on adjusting them, like can you do it while the set is on to see the difference in realtime? I am pretty knowledgeable about electronics and have done adjustments on other devices before, so I am willing to do this myself as I am just out of warranty. Also, does someone have the service manual for this model as it would be helpful for this and future tweaks? Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks to the post by CYBERYAGA I was able to figure it out. Very simple and for those of you that are having the same issues adjusting the VSCAN on this set is very simple. Just pull the back panel (lots of screws - approx 20+) and also make sure you remove it from the base stand as the back panel loops over the base legs and is a pain when you wanna pull it off in place as its not possible. Once you have it off place it back on the stand and hook up all your components (power, HDMI, Component, etc..) and turn the TV on and put on a station or DVD where you can easily replicate the Red Snow. The VScan is a phillips shaped orange colored (at the top left of the board) adjustment head on the board directly behind the right support pillar (facing the TV from the back) about halfway up the screen. Also the Vscan is marked Vscan on the board next to the adjustment screw/head so make sure to find the correct one first. As Cyberyaga stated make sure to mark with a sharpie the original position of the screw and then turn counterclockwise in slow increments until you see an improvement. I did this last night and it worked beautifully and there is no more Red Snow. Good luck. :D

My never-ending LG hell continues.

As you may have seen in my previous posts, my LG 50PC5D model has been a nightmare (as was the previous 1080p LG they replaced TWICE before this one, before letting me opt for this plasma replacement this time around).

When I got the 50PC5D replacement, it buzzed loudly during bright scenes, and also didn't do HDMI at 1080i as it was supposed to (Korean version is supposed to do 1080i input, which it does, but there is a line jumping issue).

After complaining over the course of the past few months, and after no fewer than 4 service calls dealing with my buzzing problem alone (and them telling me every excuse from "it's normal" to "I don't hear anything" when I could hear it 10 feet away EASILY), LG replaced the ENTIRE inside of the unit, including the plasma screen (with the exception of the speakers and some small electronics near the speakers at the bottom inside of the set).

The buzzing is now gone. The HDMI STILL looks like crap. And now... WORSE... I have a blue sparkling effect that happens as a sort of halo around parts of the screen until the machine warms up after a few minutes.

So are you following me... this is effectively the 4th TV LG has sent to my home, and ALL have had various serious issues.


I have read online that there were big problems with the older version of this set (pre 50PC5D model) that had this problem, and I am now wondering if they replaced my screen with a cheaper one for an older model! This model is not supposed to have the sparkling problems.

For more information on this issue, see and scroll down to the LG comments:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/arch...p/t-635482.html

The sparkles can come in different colors, and mine are the kind that glow and trail along the edge of images. Gawd, I wish I just could have gotten my money back from this company 7 service calls ago! Yes, they have been here over 7 times, and including this panel, they have replaced my LG TVs with 4 new ones (including changing from LCD to PDP before) and ALL OF THEM exhibited some sort of problem.

This one also seems to have a blemish in the screen glass, as well. Not a dead pixel -- an actual screen blemish!

Stay far, far, far away from LG. Run far and fast. This is pure hell! I WANTED MY MONEY BACK 3 TVs ago, BUT THEY HAVE ALWAYS REFUSED!!!

Well it has only taken a few months and me being without my plasma for the last two weeks but my red dot problem is finally solved. After the third attempt by a tech to fix the problem (which actually made the TV have a totally new problem with the red colours going wacky) LG decided the TV was in fact defective. I ended up getting a credit at Best Buy and got the 42 PC5D for the same price as my old PC3D. I set it up this evening and .... drumroll... no red dots! :) I have seen some posts where others have had IR with this model but I haven't seen anything overly noticeable for a new TV. It took a while but I'm satisfied.

I started seeing red dots appear on my LG 42PC3D the last couple weeks - the TV is 9 months old. At first I thought nothing of it, but it seems to be worsening and luckily I found this post. I called LG Service today and the service rep immediately said this is completely normal, nothing is wrong. I argued with him on his definition of "normal" and finally got him to take my information down, but alas, I needed the serial number have them schedule a tech and I'm at work. I was then placed on hold, and he came back and tried to argue with me some more about the red dots being a reception problem with my cable provider. This is not a good start to my LG service experience. I may take a look at the voltage settings as well.

Hey Cyberyaga, I sent you the following PM awhile ago, not sure if you still around...

>>hey mate, I have the same tv and the same problem that you once had. I was wondering if you would be willing to share some knowledge about the procedure.

Any help would be appriciated, as my big beautiful set and I are growing apart because of it.

Well, right place and topic but wrong equipment...;

I've got a Samsung 50" plasma,, but,, exact same behaviour as stated in this topic.
Im going completly mad with this. I started chasing Samsung in January,, nothing.
Recently,, in the beginning of August,, a supportincident actually took place.

1st after approx a week, a guy came out, took the tv down, just to find that he had the wrong spare parts with him.
2nd time,, I was sitting at home waiting for them to come and pick the TV up for inhouse service..,, When the day was nearly ending ( a workday...) I called them and asked if they were coming soon...,, Reply,, oh..sorry,, can we book a new day..??

Anyway,, now it's step3 ,, they have pick the TV up, they have had it inhouse for approx 14 days and,, I just got it back again...with the EXACT same problem.

Dancing red-dots all over on the darker parts.

But,, here's some strange info/observations;

1. using DVD and/or Sat-box,, this problem does not occur.
2. using PS3,, it occurs badly and..here's the strange part, after using PS3
the error will also occur on DVD.

I've tested with different HDMI cables (named and nonamed..)
I've tested through HDMI switch and without HDMI switch.

Another strange thing happening is that the TV seems to "reboot" briefly 5-10 times a day when watching films/tv/etc. This "feels" like its occuring more if it's HD content.
This "reboot" is very brief,, 1-2 sec's.

Anyway,,, How to sort this out ??,,, Samsung can say that the error only occurs
IF Im using the PS3
(but If I do,, the red dots are even there with the built-in screensaver for the samsung)

Sony on the other hand can state the opposite;
I can use the PS3 to my LCD Tv with this problem...(which in fact also is a Samsung..)

I know one thing...,, Im going mad..

I had the LG Tech visit me two times this week. First time to diagnose the problem. He quickly determined I needed two boards replaced. Three days later he replaced the boards, fiddled with the settings a bit and maybe there is a slight improvement but the dots are still there. He tried to tell me I had the TV set on "demo mode" and switched it to Powersave On to dim the screen. Of course, with the dimmer screen the dots are harder to see, but so is everything else. I'm close to giving up on LG.

I just purchased a 50" panasonic 1080 plasma... i have had the unit 10 days and i already have green dots everywhere...

when i turn the unit on, it is terrible, kinda fuzzy all over... then it clears up for a while then it gets green dots.... worse and worse over time.... ending up with green dots everywhere...

this absolutely is terrible....

what are these green dots and how do i prevent them... do i need to install something differently?

I had an issue with red dots on my 42PC1DA as well so I called the boutique that I purchased it from and got the answer.It is your connections,not the plasma unless you are noticing this with dvds as well when using an HDMI cable.I was only experiencing these red dots when my plasma was on antenna(yes i said antenna.I dl movies so why bother with cable).I was told that the red dots are usually caused by cheapo interconnects such as analog.I was in the same boat as you just a week ago and thought my plasma needed to be sent off but after checking for the dots on HDMI(none were seen),my dealers answer was correct.

I have this very same problem with my LG 42", it's almost a year old now but has the red snow syndrome. I was reading through the posts and saw that it is actually the voltage which causes the issue, so I thought i'd try the Low Power option found in the menu, and it's made a huge difference! Before I changed the setting, the red dots would clone the blackened areas and stay there until a new image replaced the area, and with the Low Power settings they disappear after about half a second, which is even more bearable than before, but I still think I need to get this fixed up permanently.

I have a 9 month old Toshiba plasma(LG glass) that had the red dot problem. Toshiba gave me the name of a local servise outfit here in Seattle. They came and picked it up diagnosed it as a couple of boards that needed replacing and 5 days later I had my set back and working perfect. No cost to me. The repair man said a lot of LG's and Zeiniths had the same problem. Hope this helps.

I dont know if this thread is still alive or not but i have some info on the lg set. The plasma needs 2 boards replaced to fix the red snow problem. one is called the y sustain board the other is the z sustain board. The voltage adjustment does fix this problem also however sometimes adjusting the voltage is only a temporary fix. the most effective way is to replace these two boards. adjusting the voltages simply corrects the fact that the pdp panel is seeing the wrong volts from the sustain boards. as long as the boards dont degrade adjusting the volts will fix it. when you contact a repair center they will need the full model code off the set it will look something like this: 42PC3D-UE.ACCLLJR. were as the model number is 42pc3d, the rest of the code is a version code. without that info no one can order the correct parts ( not even lg ). sometimes I have had to actually go to the customers home open the set and get the part numbers right off the boards. This is because if you look up the model on lgs site sometimes one model code will have two differnt part numbers for the same part. (i've been fixing sets for 12 years and still have no idea why they cant have one code that identifies the parts in the set.) Anyway I hope this helps anyone who is still reading this thread. p.s. dont bother contacting me / responding, im a ghost!

well,, thanks "Ghost"... I guess you know quite well what your writing,,,

Actually,, I've been at war with Samsung for some time now,
they 1st had someone trying to fix at my place, then they brought it in for service,
no change and nothing better..

Then,,to make things MUCH worse, they actually booked pickup for the plasma 4 times in a row without even showing up...,,, Could say I was angry,

After chasing and threatining to use any kind of media against them,,they actually now agreed to give me a new TV alltogether....,, I guess they owe it to me after approx 7 months.....

Last time at my parents' I noticed their LG 42PC1DA exhibits this same red snow effect. It's mostly noticeable on a black screen, but you can see it all the time from up close, not so much from far back. Doesn't matter the connection used, HDMI, component, etc, it's always there. This set was purchased a couple years back - hence, I doubt there is any warranty left, and I'm sure the B&M they bought it from will not give a hoot. I wonder if this thing with replacing the boards would solve their problem - I wouldn't want to suggest a quick temporary fix like tweaking the Vsc, etc.

I'm sure they wouldn't be happy about paying a service rep to come in, order these parts & install them, etc, at the possible risk that it wouldn't even solve the problem. Is this something that I could order and replace these boards myself? I have a reasonable amount of tech knowledge, I build my own PC's, etc. nothing too major. Is this out of my league? Do I really need to call in a professional? Do I risk destroying their set? If that's the case, I'm sure they'd rather just live with it. In fact, they don't even complain about the red snow, it moreso bothers me when I visit them. :) I'd just like to be able to correct it for them.

I have an LG 42" plasma (42PC5D) and I am also experiencing the red dots. Before I take the TV in to a tech I would like to try to adjust the voltages before hand. Could anybody help me out as to where I can find the voltage adjustments on the back of the TV? Any pictures would be greatly helpful.

I have a service guy coming over Nov.16 for the same red pixelization problem. It sounds like quite a regular problem for LG. Thanks everyone for your info. This gives me some ground to push on LG. My plasma is 42pc3d less than a year old. I want new. I will see how it goes and post here.

My LG 42PC3R has the same problem. Any info on voltage settings would be great.

it's been a year or more since people in this thread started fixing the problem with voltage adjustments...have any of you seen the problem come back? just found this thread today and would love to know that this will atleast buy me alot of time as opposed to a little.

I have a 1-1/2 yr old LG 50PM1M Plasma Monitor...

Last year we noticed blue sparkles...tech guys came out and I showed it to them...they took the monitor to their shop and could not recreate the blue sparkles...so...they replaced some boards (???)...the problem subsided.

Now it is 9 months later and I now have red sparkles...LG has issued a tech to come an service our monitor (fYi...this is different tech company)...anyway they told me that they are familiar with this problem...I explained the possibility of a voltage regulation problem and they seemed to be receptive to this conclusion...

I will keep y'all posted...

I and many other people on the Zenith/LG 50 inch plasma have had the red dots issue and many of us had our sets pop and go black. see Zenith thread. Mine lasted almost 2 years before it died. good luck.... I will never buy a LG product again.

All I have to say is thank you to this forum!! Helped me with my red dot issue!
Well I think I am over Plasma all together, LCD all the way. I have Philips 50" Plasma for a little under 3 years now. The red dot issue started about a year ago. It progressed to the point where any dark/muddy scenes would be plagued with red, almost a third of the screen that I could see sitting 6-8 feet away. I searched and searched, only to find out it wasn't just a problem with Philips, but many Plasmas, as you probably all know by now. I saw a few posts here and there saying it was a voltage issue. Yesterday I had enough, I searched and came across this post. A few people said to adjust the pots Va, VB and VScan. Well I didn't want to pay a tech to come out and charge me an arm and a leg for something they wouldn't/couldn't fix. 50 screws later I took the back panel off, in the upper middle of the TV was a PCB with the Vscan pot. I marked the original locations, had a DVD paused on a nice muddy scene and and gave the pots a slight turn, after a few minutes I found the VScan and Va did the the trick, I turn Vscan about one and half ticks and Va about one tick. 98.9% of the red dots are gone! WOO HOO!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!

I have exactly the same problem and im two weeks outside of warranty. Im a computer engineer and the inside of the TV doesnt scare me so I decided to have a go at adjusting the power.

Before I started though I went through all of the menu options to see if any made a difference. Under the "special" menu I found a low power mode option. I turned this on and after about 30 seconds the image cleared up entirely.

Since I assume this has some performance impact I didnt want to leave it on so I turned it back off. But the red dots did not come back. TV was on for about 8 hours. I then turned it off from the mains and back on again. 8 hours and several DVD's later the dots have not returned....

I agree with one of the earlier posters that this could be a power supply issue. I did notice it happened more at night when more appliances/light are in use. If the power setting in the TV is as sensitive as we all think then even a minor amount of "noise" from the household mains could cause all kinds of problems.

Started taking things apart last night as after a small amount of time with low power mode turned off the dots to reappear but not as bad as they used to be.

Connected to the TV is:

XBOX 360 (VGA socket HD)
- HD DVD Addition
SONY DVD Recorder (old - scart)
SKY HD (HDMI)
Sony HDRSR1 camcorder (HDMI)

All of these are protected by a MasterPlug Gold Series Surge Protector.


If I unplug the DVD recorder and leave it for a while it clears up.
If I unplug the XBOX there is no difference until I disconnect the AUDIO connections (Bizare).
Unplugging the SKY HD decoder, XBOX looks fine in HD.
DVD player on scart input never has red dots.

Discovered with some playing around that the HDMI audio inputs and the vga AUDIO inputs share a common cable connection back to the sound processor (guess it was cheaper)

So basically, using high performance and high power functions results in red dots. Audio channel is bad design and lets one problem HD input affect the others.

On a whim I swapped the Surge Protector (8 sockets) with the one running one of the office PC's (8 sockets). Red dots still evident, not quite as bad but panel was just warming up again.

Swapped the 8 socket adapter for two lower quality 4 socket surge protectors. Red dots GONE. Turned everything on at the same time, no Dots. Left it running for hours, no dots.

My basic conclusion is that my High quality surge proectors are either using too much power themselves or the 8 socket adapter (which had other things plugged in as well - Photo viewer and other junk) should not be used to its max capacity. Devices may be drawing too much power.

When I add up the ampage I get within half an amp of the maximum rated capacity of the 8 socket protector. (For reference I live in England so we use 220 AC at 13 Amps. Household mains runs up to 30 Amps).

So im happy and I hope this helps someone else. Also explains why the dots are not recreateable in service centres. They probably have one AV source going to one TV so no high power use.

Didn't matter what else was plugged in/turned on. Seemed to be worse when the TV was colder. Red Dots got to a point where I had to do something. Luckily the pots were easy to find and labeled correctly. Played some Mass Effect last night, looked closely at the dark areas, the dots are 99.8% gone!

Just registered on this forum to say thank you to all in this thread.. esp those that pointed out that it's a voltage issue and how to fix it.

I've had my Toshiba plasma for a little over 4 years now and only in the past 4 months did I start seeing the red dots in the center of my TV on anything that was black or fading to black.

Anyway, to make along story short, I did was a few here suggested and dropped the plate from the back of the TV (after I unscrewed about 30 screws, heh) and after about 5 minutes with the flashlight I located the little plastic voltage regulators.

On my Toshiba 1 was on the one side and 2 were on the opposite side of the TV. After tampering with the 3 I knew I was tampering with the right thing because it did crazy rainbow color things to the TV. I wish I took a picture for you all but anyway.. each TV is different so that's no good. Mine were labeled V01, V02... the loner on the opposite side was also V01. At any rate I twisted the 1 by about 5 notches.. and the other by 2.

No more dots. Blacks are really rich, again. I think it had to do with the ambient temp of our house in the winter months (when we lived in the app the heat was paid for so we just had it cranked up.. but in our new house.. gas $$ is a whole new experience).

Thanks all. Glad I fonud this forum/thread before calling Toshiba or a technitian.

I've noticed that when I'm watching 4:3 programs and have black bars on the sides or if I watch really widescreen movies and have black bars on the top, I see green dots turning on and off in and around the area that should be all black. Is this what you guys are talking about? My 50PC5D is only a few weeks old. Should I be calling support to have this looked at or is this normal? I really can't see the dots unless I'm up close to the set.

My toshiba has been having the red pixel problem off and on for some time, but very infrequently. Sometimes it really overwhelms the picture, other times a bit less as below:

http://dctconsult.com/pic2.jpg

Is this what you folks are getting?

man could you have picked someone better then mr anti american murtha?
anyways i noticed this problem is SOURCE DEPENDANT. it all has to do with the signal coming in and NOT the wires.
i get this when watching NBC in 4:3 hd but converted not true hd. i thought it was my brand new plasma and allmost had a fit but i went and turned on the same show on my 42 inch lcd and the same thing was happeneing and this is OTA programming.
so its not the tv but some of the posts its obviously the set but the picture aboive is the signal.
thos doesnt happen when im watchin true 16:9 hd

Well...the tech guys replaced all boards on our 50" LG Plasma and it has been 2 weeks and no sign of sparkles...if they reappear so will I...on this board.

Before calling the repair tech, try placing a small fan behind your TV.
This solved my "red dot" issue as well as eliminating my temporary burn in effect on dark to bright to dark transitions - Seems that, at least with my samsung, the heat was affecting performance big time.
That was confirmed after 15 minutes running an 8" oscillating table fan behind the unit.

hope this helps

I've been seeing the red pixels on scenes with people's faces...it only happens near the top center of my plasma display. I tried Prongus's suggestion and put a brookstone fan pointing at the back of the display. It's positioned at the 10'o clock area and blows towards the 4 o'clock. The red pixels went away. I will say that before I watched the movie that exhbited these problems, I had the TV on for over an hour and periodically turned on and off my heater (which is not too far behind the plasma display.

So my guess is it may be temperature issues or variations. Try the fan idea and see how it goes for you...I will experiment more and keep posting. So far, after watching another 45 and repeating the same scene, the pixels are gone.

will let you all know...

EDIT: CRAP...it's still there...I just booked a tech call with Samsung. NUTS!

I have the "red dots" problem with my LG 42PC5D. It doesn't happen consistently, but seems to appear most when there the TV image has a lot of contrast. It occurs with any signal (cable box or DVD). It usually happens only after the TV has warmed up for some time.

I called LG and they told me to call the local service shop. The technician came to the house, but couldn't reproduce the red dots. I showed him some photos I had taken and he was immediately familiar with the problem. He said it is a firmware issue and he would need to take the TV back to his shop. I don't understand why he couldn't upgrade the firmware at the house (e.g. with a laptop or something). Maybe it involves removing some chips and flashing them.

I'll wait to see if the problem is actually fixed after firmware upgrade.

I actually have the 'green' dots problem with occasional red. Most of it appears randomly when the screen is darker and when I turn it on. After a while, it goes away slightly but is still noticeable. My ru-42px11 is 8 months out of warranty. *sigh* Could you let us know if the firmware upgrade fixed the problem?

Much appreciated!!!

The repair shop said they replaced the y- and z- sustain circuit boards and tried to update the firmware but were having problems doing so. Apparently there has been a change to the circuit board and compatibility with latest firmware.

So LG will be replacing my plasma TV under manufacturer's warranty.

Glad I found this thread, I have noticed lately my LG 42pc3d getting green sparkles in the dark areas of the screen. I first noticed it in the black letterbox bars when watching pirates on the ps3. At first I thought it was one of the HDMI cables or my receiver causing it. I finally realized that all the inputs are doing it I just never sit close enough to notice it. There are also some red sparkles but mostly green and it comes and goes. It is worse with dark scenes. Now tonight it is not doing it at all! I still have 5 months left on the 2 year warrenty. I think I need to get it serviced while I can. Has most people had success with the repair or not? Thanks

Got the same problem (Red sparkle) on my 42PX5d, the tech came and pick it up. Today my tv is back he told me they upgrade the firmware, the good new is there is no more red sparkel! The bad is that now there's pink sparkle on anything white. So he took it back, they obviouly did not test it.

The repair shop said they replaced the y- and z- sustain circuit boards and tried to update the firmware but were having problems doing so. Apparently there has been a change to the circuit board and compatibility with latest firmware.

So LG will be replacing my plasma TV under manufacturer's warranty.

Ive got this exact same TV LG 42PC5D with the same problems (red and green sparkles) picked up today (bought July 2007) by a service center. So I can expect a new TV? lol Thats not very reassuring, it just means the same thing will eventually happen...

Heres a pic of the ugly: http://img212.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62191_IMG_7741_122_393lo.JPG

Hello, I just registered to say thank you for the work above regarding voltage noise possibly being the problem!

I own a Westinghouse LCD with very similar red dots appearing. My TV is out of warranty and was pretty frustrated thinking I may have to buy another (am a broke college student :P ). Anyways, long story short I have my TV hooked up to an 8 socket surge protector that is shared with this PC and its own LCD. I literally turned off the LCD I was reading this thread on and within about 5 seconds the dots cleared up.

Seems my problem as again an overworked surge protector as well. Thanks again!

I've been experiencing the red and green sparkles in dark areas on the right-hand-side of my 42PC5D.

I tried unplugging things from the surge protector, and plugging the TV directly into the wall, but the problem persisted. LG is sending a tech out to my house and I'll update with the results.

Good thread, well I also have a dodgy LG 42" Plasma (Model 42PX5D-AB) purchased 03/2006 and yes we experienced red dots or sparkle since about 18 months after purchase. We thought we could live with it until we could afford to get it fixed but alas there was a load pop last week and the display died. I took the back panel off and checked that the resistance on the 4 fuses that I could find were low and doesn't look like a bown fuse, not sure if there are any other hiding anywhere else.

Finally decided to call a technician so will keep you posted on progress.

Philips 42 inch plasma, model 42PF9965

Problem: Occasional red dots on green backgrounds, or green dots on grey background. Gets worse over time. Power cycle sometimes helps. Eventually leads to red screen and blank picture blank. Sound unaffected.

Solution: There is a fracture in the video cable which connects the two video processing boards. (the ones mounted together under the metalwork to which the power inlet is attached.)

Much dangerous mucking about with live V opened up (but earthed!) revealed that if I froze the end on the lower board the problem came and went. The cable has small "HRS" connectors on each end and a bit ferrite bead on each end. I couldn't find the part number. It is the only real video cable in the TV - about 20-way connectors.
Minor wiggling of the lower end of the cable made the fault occur. Stressing the cable (temporary fix) has fixed the problem so now I need to get a new cable.

There seems to be much discussion of supply rail voltages but honestly, the cable itself is the cause of this problem on my set. (Temperature related because the crack is a physical defect.)

Note also power supply problem with this model which leads to set remaining on standby. Turns out PSU capacitors at top left of power board dry out.

Good luck everyone.

If you know where I can order a new cable (in UK) please would you be kind enough to let me know.
Thanks, Ed.

Got mine back, sparkles are fixed, they replaced the "Y-SUS" whatever that is lol I wonder if anyone has had the problem come back after repair...

I got my TV back from repair today. The tech told me they replaced the power source, and no more green sparkles so far.

I purchased a 42PC3D 10/30/06. Thought I could live with them but after awhile I wised up and decided to get it fixed since I purchased an extended warranty. Took in a week ago and picked it up today. They changed the y-sus and the z-sus boards and according to them that fixed the issue. He said they tested it for a day with no hint of sparkles. I picked it up without testing, which was a big mistake. I get it home, plug it in without any input and bam. Red sparkles worse than when I took it in. Called them up and then took it right back. I'll update when I get it back after round two.

Ive had the same problem with my LG 42PX4DV for about a year now and its starting to annoy me big time. My unit is out of warranty so does any one know the costs of these PCB`s so i can make i guess as to weather a repair is really worth the money!!

This is an EXTREMELY common problem with older LG plasmas. A lot of PXxD models had this problem. unfortunately, it requires the panel to be replaced in the TV. Hopefully you're still within your 2 year warranty period.

I am new to this discussion but not to this problem. I purchased my LG 42PC3D in September 2006. I took it in for warranty repairs a couple months ago and they replaced the CONTROL PCB. When i first got the tv back I thought it was fixed but now after about 2 months I know better.... the red dots are coming back!! I am taking my tv in again for warranty repair #2 tomorrow. I am hoping they will replace the Y-SUS and X-SUS along with maybe a voltage adjustment but Im not sure. The repair shop Im dealing with says LG will not replace the tv even to the point where they have to pay 3x the price in repairs....... I bought the extended future shop warranty which kicks in after the lg warranty runs out. Im hoping that if the problem doesnt get fixed I can hopefully get a new tv from future shop.

What a pain in the ass this is to bring the tv in and then be without a tv for approx a week.... and what a pain to pay this much money for something that has these problems. I dont think Id buy LG ever again...

So I was called down to the repair shop to pick up a repaired LG HDTV. This time I asked to view it before I left with it. Changed it to a black screen and they were still present. Switched to cable feed and they could be seen on it as well. They tried to say it was normal, which I quickly shot down and said was unacceptable. They will be contacting LG to get a new panel authorized or a replacement TV. I think I am going through HD withdrawals using a 13inch CRT for main television during this period.

Hi All Very interesting reading, I am a Service technician and a Very Honest one i repair plasmas and all sorts of othe electronic unit, any questions welcome.

As for these Plasmas As LG is the largest PDP maker in the world more and more plasmas use thier panels, specially the Version 7 panels, If you have ANY problems with a Version 7 panel ALL 3 PCB's Need replacing this is the YSUS, ZSUS and Control PCBS do not set them up as these PCBS are setup in the factory. If you have a VERSION 6 Panel the to be honest i am not sure if you have green or read or blue dots on screen just the large PCB needs changing, YSUS but i change the ZSUS as well (matched pair) just to be on the safe side....however the V6 PCbs are expensive and a the $$$ of Plasmas are comming down you may what to thing about the repair on a V6 panel.
If ANY tech Tells you dots are normal they are lying, although on the V6&7 panesl these may go away after 15-20mins of use.
Hope all this helps

I had a LG42PC3D (not sure if this is a Version 6 or 7 panel), I had an issue with red dots. Spoke with LG who ended up replacing the unit with a newer / bigger model (LG50PC5D). LG has been great with this issue.

I too have the red snow with an LG 50PX5D. Warranty on this TV was 2 years. At 2 years + 1 month we had the loud POP which nearly killed the picture (very dim and very low resolution). Thankfully I purchased the extended warranty.

Tech's replaced what they called the 'power board' and the tv looks normal aside from the red snow. The bill was around $750 for this one (covered under the extended warrantly).

A tech then came out and cranked up a setting internally to 'the maximum setting'. This got rid of the red dots, but at the cost of picture quality and out of whack contrast (blue blotches during white wash).

Had them pick it up and they made adjustments back to factory which brought the red dots back. Now they have indicated that I have burn in which I know was not there before!

They are now telling me the red snow is related to burn in so I contacted LG who basically told me that is crock of sh!t and to get the shop to fix it.

I will let you know what comes of this. My preference is obviously to get a new tv, but it really depends on what needs to be fixed. If a board or two then maybe just under the wire, but if panel needs to be replaced the tv will likely get replaced.

I just got a Samsung A550 50 inch plasma. I had red snow in bright white areas during calibration. The fix was to set the 'pixel cell' setting to 5. I had it on 10, and I guess it was overdriving the cells.

I was using a Bluray calibration disk played on a PS3 with HDMI.

What I want to know is -- do I have a defective set or is this typical if you have the pixel cell brightness too high?

The set is just 2 days old and already showing these problems. The red dots seem to appear in every black or dark area of the show. I did not mind it at first as I noticed that that the red dots disappear. But they kept on coming back, to the point that I am really very annoyed now. Sometimes I thought that it has to do with the quality of Korean products, as my LG DVD with 5-channel audio speakers have been to the LG repair shop so many times already. I never have this problem with my SONY 42" plasma. PLEASE HELP!!!!! Thanks.

I have this problem on a Vizio 42 plasma. I will attempt to adjust the voltage. The problems do appear to be related to temperature fluctuations. The voltage would induce either higher or lower temperatures.

What about a class action lawsuit for this problem? This should involve replacement costs as well as a penalty for loss of use.

I am having an issue with my plasma and wanted to know what you are seeing. Are there just a few random dots in dark parts of the screen or is it a larger group of pixels forming a pattern such as a small box, etc. I am seeing an identical pattern of red (intermittently) in the upper left corner of my screen, but it is more like a group of small boxes that flash on and off.

Thanks

Samsung PN50A650 owner here and had exact same problem few minutes ago, only when using PS3 through cheap 15 feet hdmi cable from ebay

VERY simple solution thankfully. I just used another HDMI cable that came with my digicam (which also happened to come with the plasma tv), and no more sparkling red / green dots.

i fixed mine, and made a web page with pictures!

but, it won't let me post the url until i have 3 posts.

so here, i am, this is the 2nd post.

sweet, 3rd post. the website i made is coming up below!

i fixed mine with the help of the guys that detailed their fix here in this thread.

http://www.jopezu.com/plasma.htm

hope this helps!

So I too have suddenly started getting this red pixel "sparkle" on my 50" Vizio. It was to the point where I hated watching TV as it just pissed me off. Even Blu-Rays looked bad!

So...did a search tonight and found this thread.

Thank you Jopezu!! I had my plasma fixed in about 30 minutes! On the Vizio, there are three pots. VSET_UP, VSET_DN and -Vy TP. I had to adjust each one. The VSET_UP seemed to add blue dots, if turned too much, but a very slight turn made the "sparkle" about 80% better. Then adjusting the VSET_DN made it even better, but not perfect. I then turned the -Vy TP and the last few dots disappeared. All three adjustments were very tiny, like one mark.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it is back to perfect tonight, for the first time in months!

mrfloyd..

i also have a 50" Vizio, with the red dot problem. where are these pots at, do i have to take the unit down ?

thank you

dave

This began as interesting reading for me because I have a Hitachi 42" Plasma with the same issue.

Last Sunday I was watching Deception DVD and it just got so bad that I pulsed the scene and decided to open it up to see if I can adjust the voltage. I was shocked to find out, after removing 33 screws, that the inside of my plasma was all LG!!! LG 42PDV7xxxxxx and made in Korea....

I did not find Vscan, Va or Vb. But I found 4 similar blue yellow knobs labelled Vs1, Vs2, Vs3 and Vs4. Anyway, to make a long story short, the sparkles are now gone and I am left with very small green dots that are not noticeable from viewing distance.

The only thing I would add is that after adjusting the voltage with a fixed scene, you have to move to other scenes to see if you had created other problems while fixing the original one.

I got my TV back from repair today. The tech told me they replaced the power source, and no more green sparkles so far.

The green flashing pixels are back! I'm putting a call in to LG. It is still under the two year warranty.

The green flashing pixels are back! I'm putting a call in to LG. It is still under the two year warranty.

Mine came back 2 days after I had tuned the voltage on the Y-SUS board. Strangely, it only happens when the unit is cold and only last for 3-5 minutes. Before I tuned it, it would get progressively worst with time and the dots were of more color and much stronger intensity.

I guess the voltage tweak just delay the inevitable -- Y-SUS and Z-SUS boards replacement.

Mine came back 2 days after I had tuned the voltage on the Y-SUS board. Strangely, it only happens when the unit is cold and only last for 3-5 minutes. Before I tuned it, it would get progressively worst with time and the dots were of more color and much stronger intensity.

I guess the voltage tweak just delay the inevitable -- Y-SUS and Z-SUS boards replacement.

Yeah, I don't want to keep delaying a permanent fix with tweaks and then run out of warranty and be stuck with green sparkles.

I'll let you know what the tech says and how LG handles the issue.

They said there were loose connections that needed to be resoldered to the power supply.

Not sure if I should believe this or not, but I will keep a sharp eye out for it when delivered today.

Does anyone have any experience trying to get a replacement TV from LG for this issue?

I think they are BS-ing you. They are just trying to delay long enough to put off having to replace the boards under warranty.

i have this problem as well. I was TWO months outside of the warrenty, and no amount of complaining would get them to fix my set. Not getting an LG again thats for sure. Just waiting for the price on the 50" kuro to drop and then I'm going pioneer!

I think they are BS-ing you. They are just trying to delay long enough to put off having to replace the boards under warranty.

They are BS-ing me. Since the most recent service, now my speakers aren't working right. Any deep voices or background music with bass come out very muffled.

I called customer service to get help and tell them that I want a refund. They tell me that that's not possible, and go through their notes from the technicians. Apparently, they have never replaced any parts on the TV, they've just tweaked voltages.

Their customer service has been terrible, and I have no idea how to proceed. They want to send a different tech out now. Any ideas how to proceed?

PS - Don't buy an LG.

I am having the same issues with my Samsung HPS5053 and the Red Dancing "Snow" Pixels on the dark scenes. I have narrowed down the problem to probably the voltage adjustment. Does anyone know where the voltage adjustments on this panel are located behind the backing and any recommendtations on adjusting them, like can you do it while the set is on to see the difference in realtime? I am pretty knowledgeable about electronics and have done adjustments on other devices before, so I am willing to do this myself as I am just out of warranty. Also, does someone have the service manual for this model as it would be helpful for this and future tweaks? Any help is much appreciated.

I just read the various threads on this issue as I was having them myself. My Samsung is almost 2 years old and wanted to get it fixed under the credit card warranty if it was a board. However, I know how much of a pain it was going to be after getting another item fixed under the plan. So, I decided to check out the voltages this evening (I am an amateur radio operator and just about everything I own has been opened at one time or another).

It took about 45 minutes to disassemble, check, adjust and re-assemble. I found that most of the voltages were very close, but the one that did the most to remove the dots was VSc (or Vscan). The sticker (upper right side -- you can see the sticker through the vent) said VSc should be -185V. It was -188. I adjusted it down to get rid of the dots (which was at -180V -- another posting said +/- 5% was fine). I also tweaked the others to match the sticker -- the remaining ones were only off 1V or less.

To do this, you will need a DC voltmeter that can measure at least +/- 200.0V with good isolation (don't try it with a $5 unit you got at KMart), a jumper with clips on both ends (to ground the negative probe lead) and a potentiometer tuner which is a non-conductive rod (you can use a screw driver but put tape over the metal shaft so you don't slip and short something out). On the 5053, three of the test point 'discs' are on the top of the board 7 inches to left and 7 inches down from the sticker. The potentiometers are on the left side of that same board. The other two potentiometers are located on the large board to the left of the above board; these test points are small hollow 'tubes ' coming out of the board and are marked with TP (for test point, of course). They are harder to see and I didn't memorize their location; just look around. One is very close to the potentiometer, the other one is not. I didn't notice one voltage adjustment affecting the others so it does not matter which you do.

ONE NOTE OF CAUTION: do these adjustments at your own risk -- there are obviously high-voltage circuits on these boards and if you touch them with bare skin or a metallic object, you are going to get bit :-) Also, it does not take much of a turn to vary the voltage -- a '1 o'clock' movement (e.g. 3PM to 4PM) can make a 20+ volt change. You REALLY need to turn the potentiometer VERY SLOWLY while watching the voltmeter. Going to far could fry a key component.

Good luck!

Very interesting.

I have a Tosh 42hp66 plasma which uses LG glass & maybe electronics. Over the past year, I have been seeing an increasing number of the dancing red pixels when the cable box is off and the tv is on.

Thanks for the lead.

In case anyone else is having this problem still, I had the repair guy out to my house today, and they said it was a controller board problem and not a voltage problem. No clue if they are right yet, but I will let everyone know once it's replaced.

Well I thought I would share my experience with the red dot issue on my LG plasma. I have a LG 42PC1D, and I have been having the red dot/ snow problem for a couple months. Its mostly on the bottom of the screen, and the left hand side of the screen. I had some tech's in today, and they told me that there is an updated version of a control board inside the tv, so they were going to replace that to fix the red dot issue. Ill keep an update as soon as I hear more, and whether the problem gets fixed

I'm getting some green and red sparkle in my LG 42pc3d.... bought it off of a friend.

Going to try the voltage adjustment this weekend.

Keep us posted about the control board replacement. I was thinking the firmware upgrade might do it....but on LG's site it says i have to call a number rather than download the firmware and flash it myself. Not sure what to think about that. TV is probably out of any kind of warranty, so would they upgrade the firmware free or would i need to pay?

I got my LG 42PC1D plasma back, and replacing the controller board fixed my red dot issue. I inspected it both with no signal, as well as while watching both SD and HD content. I couldnt find any red dots. So it fixed the problem, hopefully for good. I also had problems with HDMI sound cutting out, and they replaced the main PCB board for that, and thats okay too in case anyone has that problem. Part and part number are below for red dots:

Part: Controller PCB
Part # : 6871QCHO77C

I have been having the red dot problem for a couple months and I call LG they provide me with repair centre phone # in Toronto area

I call couple centres and one of them told me it can take week to fixed other one three days. So any way i dial one more number and explain them the issue then they ask me if I still have the warranty and tell me it will take them 15 min to fix red dots issue
I tell them how is this possible the outher centres tell me it can take week to fix and they start :) next day tech came to my house open back of my tv and connect something to tv and 15 min and red dots gone

Here is the repair centre name:
Tripole Electronics LTD
Tel: (905) 762 0321

Thanks for the info!

I'm in the Toronto area as well, and need to have this fixed. Only problem is my warranty has expired 3 months ago. Any idea how much this is gonna set me back?

Did you get an invoice of the cost?

Here's a quick video of the exact problem I and alot others here are experiencing.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auP5SKWYDps

The guy fixed it in 15 minutes? EIther he had a control board on hand and fixed it on site, or he adjusted the voltages, which is putting a band-aid over the problem. The controller board needs to be replaced with an updated version. Im not sure of the exact cost because mine was under warranty so they didn't put any prices on the invoice. Looking online, the board is probably between $100-$200, the labour is probably the killer.

Want to thank Jopezu for his instructions. He had a different manufacturer, so the instructions weren't exact, but close enough.

I had my plasma fixed in about 30 minutes! On the LG 42PC3D, there are two pots. VSET_UP & VSET_DN. I had to adjust VSET_DN, and brought it down 4 notches or bout 70 degrees in the clockwise rotation. The VSET_UP seemed to do nothing so i set it back to it's origninal position. The adjusting of the VSET_DN fixed it entirely.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it is better then spending $200 on a service call I had booked for tomorrow.

If down the road I have to replace the board then so be it.

Hi Guys,

I have been experiencing the same problem with my LG Plasma TV with lots of Red dots on the top centre of the screen and has been spreading.

After I have read through this forum, it is absolutely the voltage surge is the culprit.

My fix was pretty simple. I was about to purchase a surge suppressor but I just did a basic troubleshooting based on my connectivity including power. I just realised that I have daisy chained two power boards each one with max of 240 volts, altogether would be 480 volts and that a lot of voltage going through the plasma tv. I removed the two power boards and replaced it with one power board only (with six outlets) and voila, the RED DOTS are gone!

I suggest that you guys check your power output/connectivity. I hope this will help everyone.


Cheers!


CDC986

Hey guys,
I have a 42" Vistron plasma that had red and green dancing pixels on dark scenes after it had been on a while. It got that bad that I was out looking at new tv's today.
Had a quick search on net and came across Jopezu instructions ( http://www.jopezu.com/plasma.htm )for altering voltage, and hey presto, my picture is spot on now. I had 3 voltage adjusters on one board which did nothing, but I had another on the board just after the power input socket, I upped this ever so slightly and dancing dots vanished.

i have a 42" panasonic, 42px60u. I've been seeing these on my screen for a while now, and it's getting worse I think.

Has anyone tried the voltage thing with the panny's? Mine is out of warranty? Has anyone paid for this out of warranty?

I just wanted to thank everyone that posted information on this site. My Samsung HP R5052 had the dreaded red dot storm and was out of warranty so I came here seeking help. Based on everyones stories I had a service tech perform the voltage adjustment (to make sure I didn't fry my tv) and the dots are gone. He told me that it may shorten the life of the panel and that had the tv been under warranty Samsung never would have let him make the adjustment on their dime. Hopefully the problem is solved, but I will post in a few months to let everyone know if the dots stayed away. Oh, and I'll buy an LCD next time.

Want to thank Jopezu for his instructions. He had a different manufacturer, so the instructions weren't exact, but close enough.

I had my plasma fixed in about 30 minutes! On the LG 42PC3D, there are two pots. VSET_UP & VSET_DN. I had to adjust VSET_DN, and brought it down 4 notches or bout 70 degrees in the clockwise rotation. The VSET_UP seemed to do nothing so i set it back to it's origninal position. The adjusting of the VSET_DN fixed it entirely.

Not sure if it's a permanent fix, but it is better then spending $200 on a service call I had booked for tomorrow.

If down the road I have to replace the board then so be it.
hi Troll, i have now this issues myself, but it is not on all the screen... I just watch Clones Wars in bluray, and there were a lot of black screenscreen, and sometime i saw those red snow dancing on the edge of the screen.

I have the same TV as you, so you did those instruction to resolve your problem? you need to open the back of the TV itself like this? http://www.jopezu.com/plasma.htm ??

My warranty is out since less than 2 weeks. I have to check with witch credit card i did pay (maybe i can have 1 year more with it...)

thanks.

I just got my control board replaced and it completely fixed the problem. It took them damn near two months to get to me, but it's done and everything looks MUCH better.

As the OP on this thread, I thought I would update that my set finally died.

Details here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15513006#post15513006

I found a replacement controller board for under $60 ... and haven't bothered to install it yet.

I later found out the they have a kit with the controller+y+z boards in it ... that is the normal fix. But most of the time its just the controller board. ... with questionable y and z boards (can be damaged with controller board dies).

So if you see a blue line or a red and blue line ... your set is about to croak.

Not sure if this thread is still alive. I'm going to post my specific problem but first I want to ask if any of those who fixed their problem by adjusting the voltages have seen their problem return?? How about those who replaced circuit boards??

My LG 42" plasma was purchased in 2006 at Circuit City (ie no warranty). The red snow issue has gotten progressively worse the past several months. The red snow appears only within the same rectangular space that SD (standard def) formatted programming would appear. The snow follows the perfectly straight lines on both sides of the SD rectangle where normally there are black side bars. The 3-4" or so on both sides of this rectangle (where the black bars would be) have no red snow problem at all in either SD or HD (high def) programming. To be clear, the red snow only appears within the rectangular SD viewing area during either SD or HD programming.

I assumed this was burn-in and that I was screwed. I was thinking of buying a new TV and considering LCD for that purchase. Before scrapping my 3yr old plasma unit, I thought I'd do some research and came across this forum. Reading through the posts I tried a few of the suggestions. Switching to the power-save mode on the LG had a dramatic effect on the reduction of the red snow but the picture is a lot dimmer too. I then tried leaving the power-save mode disabled and increasing the picture brightness. It was on 63 since I first set up the unit in 2006. Increasing to 78 has reduced the red snow effect noticeably but its not gone.

My question to those of you who have experienced red snow: Does your red snow stay within the rectangular window defined by typical SD programming? Is this classic burn-in or is it something else? I can't figure out why the red snow would only appear in the SD rectangular viewing area. I watch plenty of HD content so if this is burn-in why wouldn't the whole screen be affected? During dark scenes in HD you can see the sharply defined SD rectangle. I wonder if its worth the effort of adjusting the voltages or replacing PC boards (ie will that work for this problem?). During brighter scenes the picture is beautiful but overall its extremely frustrating watching as it is.

Thanks.

I also have had red/green "sparkle" dot issues with my Polaroid 42" 720p/1080i plasma TV. This issue occurs on many brands of plasmas. I know this because I have been to some local bars that have a variety of different plasma tv's. All have the same problem. The brands range from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Polaroid. Mine began occuring after about a year and a half after purchase. I decided to take mine apart and adjust the board voltages. I was able to make the dots dissapear but it was only temporary. However, the dots are better then they were before I made the adjustments. I also picked up a Monster power conitioner at Circuit City for 50$ during their liquidation. The dots use to appear red at all times in dark scenes and now they appear red about a half hour after my tv has powered on. 45 minutes after my tv is on they turn to blue/green and than the gradually go away. I would recommend picking up a power conditioner from best buy to see if that helps. If not you may want to return it and think about dealing with the dots or purchasing a new TV. I am still looking for another Plasma TV (I refuse to switch to LCD because they look horrible on gaming consoles) this time I am purchasing an extended warranty. I also have heard that this a problem of the past and all new panels have resolved this issue. Hope this helps.

Hi im new to all this flat panel i.e plasma /lcd stuff,the only panels im used to dealing with were on my PC,but with the analog to digital switch ,i had to get rid of my beloved 36" mitsubishi tube TV,so i seen an ad for a 42" sabre (military brand with LG guts) monitor not tv for cheap,the guy said the red dots would appear ONLY when it gets hot,so he included in the deal a nice tower fan and true to his word ,the red storm/dots appear when it gets hot(a few hours of use 80 degrees F in the house) so i pointed the fan at the back left hand side and no more dots.works great no dots as long as i keep the fan on it picture is clean!DVD,cable,everything works good!
however i just gotta try the tweak that jopezu used on his ,if that doesnt work im going to rig a fan (pc type) to the monitor ,should be fun
ill be in touch

I adjusted the voltage back in October because the left side of the screen would be filled with green/white dots AFTER the plasma is warmed up. The dots would only appear in darker area of the screen.

Immediately after the adjustment (done with the TV on so I could test the result with different screens), everything was working in prestine condition for 3 days.

Then green dots started to appear on the left side of the screen when the unit is COLD (ie upon switching on). This has gradually, though very slowly worsen to more dots, covering more area (5/6 of the screen). But still the problem only last for 3-5 minutes when the unit is COLD. Upon warming up, everything is fine.

I am pretty sure that one day this is going to worsen to the "have sound but no picture" problem. Until then, it is working and I can wait for the new generation of neo-plasma from Panasonic to come out in April.

Also worth mentioning is that image retention seemed to have worsened after the voltage had been adjusted. I am sure the increased voltage is killing the panel faster. Although I am willing to bet the either one of the YSUS/ZSUS/Control Board is likely to die faster than the panel itself.