I have a HLM 507w dlp set that after 3 years of perfect performance, the screen will just go black eventhough the bulb is still on. If i let it sit for a while and the screen will sometimes show and image that is inverted and the color is wierd. If i hit the tv menu button the menu will be inverted also. IF i hit the power button the tv will restart and work for a while but then go black again.
The problem is the service cant duplicate my problem that i am having.
I have tried different inputs, different devices, and plugging it into just the wall instead of the surge suppressor but it will just die from about 5 minutes to 6 hours of viewing and it will flash the three lights and i have two brand new bulbs i have tried but the set will not die for the service center. This has been going on for a month now and i dont know what to try next.

I assume that you have confirmed that it is not an oveheating problem.
Is there any possibility that the problem is video source dependent( happens on DVI but not on componet) and the service tech always uses a source on which the problem does not occur?

Maybe a voltage regulation problem? Have you tried to plug it into a completely different circuit? I have seen situations where the line voltage will drop not necessarily to the point that the system will power off but just enough to cause all kinds of weird behavior.

I have plugged the tv into two different circuits in my house but not difference. The last time I tried starting it the bulb would turn on right away but then the bulb would start flickering on and off and then die, so i could not get any image on the screen at all. So then back to the service center for the second time, and they will not come out to my house to see the problem either, and i have taken pictures and videos of the tv problems..

Any other suggestions why the service center can not duplicate my black sceen problem?? It couldn't be the bulb if it was still on when the screen went black, or the ballast, maybe the light engine, it is covered by an extended warranty so i want them to replace the likeliest part and get my phoenix suns hd games back!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you confirm that the provlem is present on more then one input source since each souce type is processed by separate hardware receiver chips. The types are analog cable/antenna (no STB connected), VGA, omponent, and HDMI/DVI?

ooo!oooo! My set does this! Started up last fall, shortly after its first bulb replacement. Drove us nuts for a couple of months, then stopped in January. Ran great up until a couple of weeks ago, then it started in again. Sometimes it wedges so hard I have to unplug it to get it to power back on.

I suspected the ballast, since it seems that a bunch of vendor are now selling bulb+ballast bundles. I bought a new ballast and put it in- TV was perfect for a week, but has failed several times since. I still have my original main logic board (the one that they offered the upgrade for)- my next step will be to try replacing that.

I haven't had a flickering problem- with mine it tends to just shut down, sometimes with 3 blinks, sometimes with one on solid.

I've seen it with component, svideo, and VGA.

My 6 year old daughter calls it "blurting". As in "Dad! The TV blurted again!" ;-)

Walford, yes i did check different inputs. I would hit the input button to select dvi from component 3 and it wouldn't help too much other than sometimes the image would be upside down and backwards with wierd coloring and would not be widescreen either. I am trying to talk the service center into replacing the whole light engine since this model tv has so many probs with the color wheel too. Maybe my color wheel is sometimes locking up or stopping and causing this problem. Thank you for any help in this frustrating matter.

So how do I convince the service center to change out the whole light engine. Anyone know of a good service center in the north phoenix area that will come out to my house and fix this?????

Dumb question (probably) but why don't you take pictures and/or video of your TV when it does this? You might even want to include a closeup of that day's newspaper for proof that it just happened.

They said they are going to hook up some field generator or something to try and replicate the problem i am having going through all the inputs, i took pics and videos but they said unless they see the problem they cant fix it.
Here are some other thoughts I have:
I never reset the counter in the service menu when i replaced the bulb, does that matter other than just knowing how many hours these bulbs are failing early.
The bulb door has a broken switch from when i closed the door and the switch broke off so I stuck a paper clip in the switch to make it happy. Is that why they want professionals to replace bulbs on this prehistoric DLP, so the switch doesn't brake because of a bad design.

Well I received my tv back unrepaired. So it sat for almost a month and cost me $100. But the good news is that my tv is working great. I have concluded that the resolution setting on my sat receiver from direct tv set at 1080i output was making my tv go black and give me the three lights, wierd isn't it. I guess setting it to its native resolution is the way to go in this case eventhough I though 1080i looked a little bit better.

My experience says it will start acting up again. Mine is currently "good" and working fine- with no additional repairs. The longest I had it work without issue was about 4 months- then it started up again.

I've seen the issue with DVD coming in component- 480i, Satellite- Svideo, HD receiver component- 720p. I've never put 1080i in.