And the kicker is, I am less then a month after my BestBuy 4 yr on-site Extended Warranty Expired :mad:

So my question is, is it worth paying BestBuy $100 to diagnose the TV, and then charge me for what ever needs to be fixed, or should I scrap it and pony up for a new TV?

What Happened:
To be honest I don't know, I left the house for a few minutes and my sister-in-law came over to walk my dog, she said she turned on my TV and the image was distorted and she smelt something burning (like rubber burning), so she turned it off.
[Probably more like electronics burning, but smelt like rubber to her.]

Description of what is wrong:
The whole image is distorted, the RED's are showing up below the normal, and the hole image is ghosting, and showing multiple (2) images, (1)the regular image and (2)then the RED's are showing up underneath.

Since I don't know how to accurately describe the issue, I've taken serveral shots on my digital camera of my TV:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung006.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung006.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung005.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung005.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung004.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung004.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung003.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung003.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung002.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung002.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung001.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung001.jpg)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung005-2.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung005-2.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung004-2.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung004-2.jpg) http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/th_Broken-Samsung002-2.jpg (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/basskozz/BrokenSamsung/Broken-Samsung002-2.jpg)
(Click on the thumbnails to view a larger image)

What is wrong with my TV, and is it worth getting it repaired?
I am a bit of a DIY'er, is this something I could handle on my own?

p.s. Is it bad that I am still using the TV, even thou the image is messed up?

Thanks in advance for any/all help,
-BassKozz

After doing some searching I found this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=832135
Which has pictures very similar to mine.

Can someone confirm that I have a convergence circuit failure? and will it cost me $300-$400 parts & labor? And at that point is it even worth it, or should I scrap it and buy a new TV?

:bump:

So today I just fixed my HCL4715W model TV. It had a picture very similar to the shots that you have shown. I had gone through a couple of stages of troubleshooting before getting to the real problem. However, the short cut would be ... do not buy a new convergence board, but I needed an STK392-040 Convergence IC and the pico fuse to go along with it. Once the IC was replaced, it looked like I had the exact same issue until the fuse was replaced. The best way to determine if the STK IC is bad is to go into the convergence mode (mute-1-8-3) and attempt to move each of the three colors up, down, left, and right. (changing colors is done with the number 7-8-9 on your remote) If only one color moves in all 4 directions and another color in only two directions, you are near certain that you have a STK IC issue. Get this IC replaced and replace the fuse that is located directly under that heat-sink. Once this is done, ... test, and enjoy.

If this is not the specific issue for you, please post back to the forum and I hopefully we can learn from each other.

nse_canuck

So today I just fixed my HCL4715W model TV. It had a picture very similar to the shots that you have shown. I had gone through a couple of stages of troubleshooting before getting to the real problem. However, the short cut would be ... do not buy a new convergence board, but I needed an STK392-040 Convergence IC and the pico fuse to go along with it. Once the IC was replaced, it looked like I had the exact same issue until the fuse was replaced. The best way to determine if the STK IC is bad is to go into the convergence mode (mute-1-8-3) and attempt to move each of the three colors up, down, left, and right. (changing colors is done with the number 7-8-9 on your remote) If only one color moves in all 4 directions and another color in only two directions, you are near certain that you have a STK IC issue. Get this IC replaced and replace the fuse that is located directly under that heat-sink. Once this is done, ... test, and enjoy.

If this is not the specific issue for you, please post back to the forum and I hopefully we can learn from each other.

nse_canuck

thats great.
doing a convergence service alignment to "test" if the convergence amplifier has failed is not really a great way of testing.
it would be better to test in the "consumer" mode of convergence allignment.
thats because any and all changes you make in the service alignment will reflect upon replacing the amplifers, turning a minor alignment into a major one.
a service alignment is only needed if the consumer alignment will not suffice after replacement of the amplifiers.