50" SXRD - Slight flickering in brightness, possible lamp problem? Need help

How many hours on your bulb? Others have reported similar issues and a lamp replacement did the trick.

If it's the same as the XBR2 (which I think it is), enter diagnostics by turning the TV off, press Power, Display, 5, Volume Up and then Power again. Press JUMP to cycle through the various service menus. When you get to one called "Panel" press 2 or 5 to cycle through categories until you get to Timer. Once you're in the Timer category press 1 or 4 to cycle through the Timer subitems until you see LMP. (On the XBR2 it's the first item under Timer.) The number next to LMP is the lamp hours.

I think folks on the XBR2 forum reported a similar flashing. Turning off Power Savings fixed it.

BTW, I don't think I've ever heard of a case where flickering was caused by the age of the bulb. I could be wrong.

Also, did you try turning off the auto iris?

My SXRD had the slight flickering problem after about 2 1/2 years. Change of bulb solved the problem.

Just so I don't give someone else bad instructions on getting to the XBR1 lamp hours, how did the procedure vary from what I described?

By the bulb yourself from a Sony supplier - not eBay. There are instructions for changing it in the users manual.

Make sure you buy an OEM lamp and not a generic lamp. And it could be anything but I would start with the bulb first as you would undoubtedly need one anyway.

Not what I said....I am stating IF YOU BUY A BULB, too many eBay are taking their old bulb, putting them in the replacement box and selling the on eBay - so make sure you get a new one - and that does not happen from someone who only sells 1 bulb on eBay.

You do not list your model number, so I have no idea what model you have. considering what you said about $150 v $230, I do not believe its an XBR2.

For the XBR2 for example, there is a service bulletin about a flashing/pulsating in a corner because of loose tape on the lens and after seeing that tape today during an OB replacement, I can easily see how that could happen.

thank you so much I finally got to see my lamp hours, anyway I;m having the same type of issue right now, my set is about 1 1/2 two. I have 3,610 hours on my lamp, so I would like to know should I be worried?

Also how many hours should I get out of my lamp? Is it safe to turn the power saving off.


Again thanks so much.

My 1-1/2 year old 55A2020 is still flickering a bit sometimes. Its been doing it for about 3 months now. Changing Power Savings from On (my usual setting) to Off stops it happening.

My brightness started flickering roughly 1,000 hours prior to an OB failure (green stain). The flickering got worse as time continued up to the point of being able to really detect the OB staining. I don't know if they go hand in hand, but since the OB replacement, all flickering has stopped. This makes me seriously believe they are some how related.

well I just realized that it was only happening while watching baseball on TBS, I didn't see it on any other channel, I know TBS HD sux big time, so maybe it was only TBS.

Guys,

I too have a KDS50A2000 which I bought in Sep. '06. Friday night, I was watching a DVD (PS3) and all of a sudden, POP! Well, so much for watching Red Sox vs Angels in the ALDS later that night.

As you know, no Big Box retail stores cary these babies as they're too expensive to keep in inventory. Mom & Pop TV repair shops don't carry them either.

After removing the original (Phillips UHP 100w/120w 1.0) I started searching the net for a replacement. As you know, you can get one through Sony (in what, 5 - 7 business days?) for $250 Well, I found the XL5200 through Amazon (of all places) for $88

Sony XL-5200 TV Replacement Lamp They're shipping from River Valley Electronics and are compatabile with the following Sony model numbers:

KDS50A2000
KDS50A2020
KDS55A2000
KDS55A2020
KDS60A2000
KDS60A2020

These lamps do not ship with the housing. Oddly enough, RVE sells the XL5200's for $118. But for an additional $20 you can get the housing too.
I'm not positive this is the exact OEM replacement lamp (my original has 2 numbers on it - 000003991 and 678071515. Not sure which is the P/N and which could be the S/N.

Anyways, As I'll probably receive this on Tuesday and at a substantial savings over the direct (Sony) OEM replacement, I think it's well worth any risk associated.

I'll let you guys know how it all worked out.

P.S. The Red Sox are the Angels Daddy!

My kds-50a2000 just went pop tonight also. It's a 2006.
All I get is the blinking red lamp light.
I think I'll go with these guys.
http://www.discount-merchant.com/Son...5200u_lamp.htm
and do just the bulb replacement.
I have no idea what my hours are with no pic.
Finn

Got the bulb today. I ordered it on Sat. No problem putting it in.
Works fine. Hope it lasts.

I replaced my lamp.
I went into my T.V settings and reset the lamp.
This is a recent screen shot of my set.




I didn't close the lamp door right the first time I powered up.
I got a flashing error, I then reset the door and got power.
Is that why I got #3 on the line that says L_Cover?
And why didn't my hours reset? or did they.
Thanks
Finn

I have a 2-year old KDS50A2020, which developed a flickering of brightness in the display. It happens on all inputs. Dealer replaced the OB under ext. warranty plan. Black level and color saturation greatly improved, but flicker remains. (Auto. Iris is part of the OB, so it was not the problem.
Power save on/off controls the lamp power supply; flicker stops when power save is off. Service tech wants to try new lamp power supply next.
Will post results once this is done.

I posted a comment 8/1/09 regarding flickering in my KDS50A2020. This is a followup to report that replacing the lamp power supply (Sony calls it the ballast) seemed to cure the problem. Set has been flicker-free for 2 weeks now.

Sorry to dig up an old thread for an old tv. But, I'm having the "flickering" issue on my KDS-50A2020. The TV was originally purchased by me, brand new from Best Buy, on Memorial Day weekend back in 2008, I believe.

About a year ago, 5 days before the Super Bowl, I had my original bulb finally blow out on me. It literally exploded. As you can imagine, I wasn't a very happy camper. Anywho, I decided not to buy the lamp from Sony directly due to the $250 price tag. After many hours researching on forums and online dealers, I found that the Philips brand was to OEM part. There were many knock-offs out there like OSRAM and the like which didn't perform as well.

I ended up finding a online dealer on ebay that sold the lamp I was looking for.

Everything looked great with the new bulb. I forgot how good the picture actually was.

Anyway, on to my problem: About two days ago, I turn the tv on and notice the flickering. I tried turning it off and on again a few times which didn't seem to help. Then today, I turn it on to catch up on some shows, of course it's still flickering, but after about 10 to 15 minutes, it stops, and hasn't done it since. It almost seems like something needs to be warmed up. I'm not quite sure what's going on there. However today, I'm going to leave it on all day, and check on it to see if it comes back after time.

So, I started perusing around on the internet, and came across this site, which seems to have knowledgeable people and information on it.

As others have recommended, I looked up the hours on the lamp. It's at 1350 hrs.. Not a whole lot, and like I said above, it's only about 11 months old. I think it should last a hell of a lot longer than that. I don't know haw many hours were on the orignal, but it was about 4.5 years old. I guess I don't watch a lot of TV.

At any rate, I'm probably gonna shell out some cash for another lamp assembly from the seller on ebay which I purchased from before. I just hope this new one lasts a bit longer than 11 months. I just can't justify spending $$ on lamps every year. But at some point, I need to cut my losses and get a newer, better TV, that doesn't require a bulb.

Hopefully, it's just a bumb bulb I got. If it's anything else, it's going out on the curb.

Thanks for your time, and again, sorry for digging up this old thread for an ancient television.

Jim