Samsung DLP line problem

You will need to replace the DMD board ($250) or the entire light engine ($560).

I have the exact same issue and same TV. On a very white screen, like the Apple MacBook TV commercial, we get horizontal lines on each side about every 5-6 inches down and the lines themselves are mostly on the sides and about 6 inches long starting on the side and going to the center. I noticed the top one is starting to reach all the way across. I bought it in Sept 06. Luckily I bought the extended warranty so will call Mon Dec 8th to get it repaired. I can then share what they did.

Not necessarily. It could just be the collapsing light tunnel problem. The symptom is more indicative of that.

I have an HL-S5086W (also a 2006 model) and began having a similar problem last week. However I don't have any that go all the way across and mine disappear completely (as far as I can tell) after the TV is on for 5-10 minutes. I'm guessing we're not the only 2 to have this problem so any advice anyone can give would be great. For now it's not bad because it goes away after a few minutes. Whatever the necessary fix, I assume it would be covered by my extended warranty I got through Best Buy?

So did anyone figure out what causes this issue? I have the same model with the same issue. the left side of the tv has some that completely fade away after 10 minutes but the right side ones fade a lot but never completely. Any ideas? Thanks

Count me in as another having the same issue. I have the same TV, manufactured at the exact same time. Did anyone find a solution with Samsung? Figures that it started happening on mine right after the warranty expired.

I have the same problem. Is it the collapsing light tunnel problem, or something else? Has anyone had any luck fixing this problem? Mine fades away within 15 minutes. Problem seems worse when the room is colder. Is that possible?

Always worth the effort - reseat all the ribbon, cable connections to each circuit board, or sub assembly. There are times when a poor connection can cause some of the strangest problems, often coming & going when you least expect it.

I'm having the issues as well on my HL-S4266W. What was the fix? Did anyone find out? DMD board or light tunnel? I just replaced the lamp and was going to try the color wheel as well, but I'll wait and see if anyone here has any input.

Hi, my Samsung HLN467wx DLP has been running great (other than the color wheel replacement a couple years ago) but now has developed a bad problem:

Turn on the TV, and all appears normal for a couple of minutes. Then flickering lines and color / artifacts begin to cover the screen. The entire picture appears completely corrupted/glitched within 30 seconds or so. The sound continues normally. No lights on the front panel are flashing or lit. No odd sounds come from the TV. At this point the power button on the remote and TV are unresponsive (the sound cuts off, but the picture corruption continues). In 10 minutes or so the picture goes completely black. After pulling the plug and letting the TV sit off for a few minutes, I can restart the TV and it looks normal, until the problem begins again in a minute or two.

If I unplug and restart the TV immediately after the above problem, then I get this new problem:
the TV seems to start normally, with sound coming on, but soon it shuts down and restarts itself before ever displaying any image. It does this 3 times, finally resting on a black screen with all 3 front panel/circle lights (Timer, Lamp and Temp) flashing on and off (Timer and Lamp are green, and Temp is red).

I've been searching around the net for hours today, and only seen one other mention on another forum of what appears to be the same problem, but they got no response. Any ideas?

I did read of known problems with the Digital and DMD boards, and that in some cases Samsung may even cover replacing the parts even for out-of-warranty TVs. Would be great if this is possible, is there any info available?

I have the same exact problem with my 46 inch DLP set. The lines keep getting darker and fade away less as the set ages. I wonder if this problem is covered under the recent class action lawsuit against Samsung?

The class action relates to the side shadow issue caused by a collapsing light tunnel. It has nothing to do with your particular dmd problem, tho they did extend warranty repair for people with white snow on their screens which involved a dmd replacement. You have nothing to loose by calling their Customer Service and see what they are doing for your issue, but I think they will tell you it's yours to fix.

I have the Samsung HL-S5086W with the same issue. I just called the Settlement hotline and had no luck. He did say they MAY fix it if a repair technician determined it to be a light tunnel issue. This TV went out after 13 months and it has been sitting unused for 2 years, I would love to have it back.

I have the exact same problem. After cleaning the internal mirror and the screen back, there was no change. I then checked my paperwork and found that I had 12 days left on my warranty! Called the Geek Squad, and the guy told me it was almost certainly the DMD board. He also said it was possible that the DLP chip itself was bad, due to the DMD failing and causing heat.

So, he basically confirmed what I learned here and in other forums. You can't be too informed!

Here's the best part: He ordered both parts in advance and scheduled a tech only 6 days from my call! I don't know if any of you have dealt with the Geek Squad before, but they used to send a tech to diagnose, then he had to order parts, then schedule a return visit, and then come back. This was often a 3 week process, and with my luck it was right in the middle of football season.

Thanks guys!

Can anyone confirm the solution is DMD replacement to the horizontal black line issue? I hate to order the part and find out it's not.

Thanks in advance.

This is a reply to put the "Samsung line problem" to rest once and for all. im sorry to stumble upon this thread so late but i feel like this problem needs a straight answer. after making sure u check all the connections on the main board and dmd board. unplug and re-seat them make sure they have no dust. if the test pattern show these lines along with some diffusion on the screen specially on a white background then u will have to replace the dmd board which houses the dlp chip. beware after replacing this board there will have to be some mechanical alignments for the picture to be centered which can be a pain to do if u dont have a mirror in front of the tv to see what u r doing. this is a dmd board problem as i have replaced countless to fix this problem and others involving green lines on the screen on a vertical lvl. the best thing to do is call a factory certified tech such as myself. there i hope this helps.