[elmhollow]

Received a BenQ PE8700 Thursday evening (after much reading here - Thanks!). Fired it up and ran a few of the built in test patterns, and a few minutes of video via S-VHS. Everything looked GREAT, even projecting on a beige textured wall. The projector will go in a theater that's under construction, but not quite finished.


Saturday night, we tacked up a white painters drop cloth on the wall in the living room, hooked up a DVD player via Component Interlace, hooked the DVD player to the existing sound setup in the living room via Coax digital, and prepared to watch our first movie. After a little bit of fiddling, we backed the movie up to the beginning, paused it to grab food and such. At this point, everything was looking great. The rig sat in pause for a long time while we messed with food, drink, and seating. At some point I was fiddling with picture in picture, tweaking brightness/contrast and so forth; in other words, exploring the menus on the projector.


When I un-paused, the soundtrack began to play, but the picture remained completely static. Immediately suspecting the DVD player, I tried pausing, unpausing, etc. Eventually, it became evident it was the projector and not the DVD player... one clue was powering off the DVD player and the image persisted on the PJ.


I then powered cycled the PJ. I waited for the bulb cooling cycle.


Ever since the PJ came back up, all interlace images look green/purple. This is not a subtle effect... everything is shades of green, with purple outlines. However, PJ menus and test patterns are still perfect - i.e. correct colors. At this point, I thought maybe a one of the three component cables was bad and had therefore dropped one of the colors. So I tried a different component cable. After much experimentation, I determined the following:


Composite Video in: Green/Purple image - bad

S-VHS: Ditto - bad

Component (RCA connectors - interlaced only on PE8700): Ditto - Bad

RGBVH (Progressive): Good!


So it looks like the de-interlacer partially failed? In that all interlaced inputs have this Green/Purple image and progressive inputs are OK?


Anyone encountered this or have any tips/hints? Again, this green/purple effect is not subtle... looks much like a negative of a color photo. I will be calling AVS (from whom purchased) and/or BenQ customer service on Monday...


Troubleshooting already tried: Two different DVDs in first player (both bad); A different DVD player via S-VHS (bad); Back to first player Input via Composite (bad), S-VHS (bad) and Component interlace (bad); First DVD player via S-VHS to a TV (Good); Input to PJ from a laptop on RGBVH (Good). Also tried resetting PJ to defaults on each input via user menus and "Load Factory Defaults" on factory menus. While I may have done something in the user menus, I'm certain I did not do anything in the factory menus, and the PJ has been reset since then. PJ has been power cycled several times, and as of this writing sat power off (master off & unplugged) for about 4 hours - no affect.


Thoughts?


Other early failure stories? At this point, the lamp timer says 3 hours 10 minutes. Sigh...

 

[Adam Turnage]

I would say your failure is pretty rare. But don't sweat it. AVS will have BenQ get a replacement out to you next day air. These are fantastic machines, well built, but lemons do happen. Good luck and let us know how everything turns out.

 

[elmhollow]

Thanks Adam. I agree with the "fantastic" just based on the hour or two before this failure. And, one reason I picked AVS as a retailer and BenQ as a brand is their excellent reputations for customer service.


Thanks for the good wishes and I will indeed post updates here.


Meanwhile, back to sanding drywall!

 

[elmhollow]

Called AVS Monday AM. Jason was very helpful, agreed PJ was bad, said BenQ would swap, offered to call BenQ on my behalf. I elected to call BenQ directly.


Called BenQ early enough (due to time zones) that techs were not in. Did get a live call answer; she took my info and assigned a case number, promised tech would call back.


Tech (Andy) called! Wow! How many customer service orgs actually DO call back? We talked about PJ issues and he agreed PJ should be swapped. Within a few minutes, he e-mailed two forms (one RMA, one hot swap). I've now e-mailed RMA form back to get assigned an RMA number. 'Hot Swap' form will need to be faxed for credit card signature... waiting for RMA # to do all of this.


So, BenQ's reputation for excellent customer service is holding up so far!


But, one little clarfication to some other threads that I've read that say "...you won't be without your PJ for more than 48 hours...". The fine print: Customer service is open M-F only; it seems to take a day to get the paperwork going, then they say they will ship within 48 hours... adding this all up, you could be without a PJ for a week or more (weekend, a day of paperwork, a couple days till ship, shipping days, another weekend?). Still, the hot swap warranty is an excellent deal; just be clear on the nuances of how it works.


Will keep posting regarding BenQ's follow through on the swap.


I am so glad that I chose a brand that has the hot swap, instead of potential weeks for service.

 

[Kevin Johnson]

Quote:

Originally posted by elmhollow But, one little clarfication to some other threads that I've read that say "...you won't be without your PJ for more than 48 hours...". The fine print: Customer service is open M-F only; it seems to take a day to get the paperwork going, then they say they will ship within 48 hours... adding this all up, you could be without a PJ for a week or more (weekend, a day of paperwork, a couple days till ship, shipping days, another weekend?). Still, the hot swap warranty is an excellent deal; just be clear on the nuances of how it works.

Regardless of the fine print, my experience was a 2 business day turn around:

Fri, 1:00pm (EST): BenQ service called and paper work started

Fri, 3:30pm: Paperwork completed. BenQ says its ready to ship.

Fri, 6:00pm: New 8700 shipped, Fedex tracking number received

Tue, 1:00pm: New 8700 received

 

[elmhollow]

Kevin,


Cool! This matches my experience with BenQ's responsiveness. Nice to know the shipping method is quick as well.



Others,


Learn from my mistake: The technician I talked to Monday e-mailed me an RMA and a Hot Swap form shortly after our conversation; this was about mid-day Monday. This e-mail was CC:ed to a customer service rep (hereafter refered to as CSR). When I replied to the e-mail with filled out forms, I did NOT "reply all", so the CSR did not get a copy... only the tech. I expected an RMA # back in e-mail. It did not come Monday, and for various reasons I did not call Tuesday until after BenQ had closed. I left the tech a voice mail Tuesday evening asking if I needed to do anything else to get the RMA # assigned... Wednesday morning he figured out what I'd done and forwarded the forms to the CSR, who promptly e-mailed me the RMA#. This # allowed me to complete the Hot Swap form & fax it. (Must be faxed for credit card # and signature)


So, I cost myself a day by not understanding the hand-off between tech and CSR... Clearly my fault - the original e-mail from the tech said the forms should be faxed to the CSR; I choose e-mail for the first form (not fax) and didn't send it to the CSR. I'm sure the tech did not notice the lack of CC: on an e-mail reply...


Both people at BenQ have been immediately responsive when they receive a voice or e-mail.


So, two things: BenQ Customer Service is keeping it's excellent reputation, and learn from my experience (if you ever have to do this) and understand the handoff to the CSR.

 

[elmhollow]

So, Completed paperwork late Wednesday.


Received projector Friday. Brand new unit, in fact, only 6 serial #s up from my first one. Works like a charm.


Way to go BenQ!

 

[Jasman]

You know I had a similar problem that somehow fixed itself.


I had a temporary setup with a Monster component cable (with BNS ends) that was working fine for about two weeks before I had the projector ceiling mounted.


When I was ready to mount it and use a different, high-end component cable (with BNC ends) already buried in ceiling, upon it's first use I noticed a similar green (no reds) in the picture.


I too thought that it was the DVD player, or a bad red cable in the component. Well, I then moved the component to a different DVD player, recycled everything (off/on) and replugged in the component. After doing this a couple of times, the issue resolved itself. Maybe the de-interlacer or a issue in the Benq got "stuck" and finally resolved with a hard reboot.


I swore that it took me a couple of times of changing everything to get it to work though.


I would assume that this can/will happen to others and it looks like a hard reboot and re-plug may do the trick.


I was close to giving up and ready to call Benq. I love my projector and would of hated to give up it's picture (no dead mirrors or pixels)!


Jasman

 

[Jasman]

After reading your issue CLOSER, I noticed that you had recycled everything several times.. who knows why mine "fixed itself" and yours didn't.


One occurance is an anomaly, two (so far) could show a potential pattern for these projectors.


Jasman

 

[elmhollow]

It's good to hear that your's was repairable via resets.


Looking at mine, and how it got there, I was convinced that a reset would fix it. My first post was getting too long/detailed and I summarized some actions... I actually tried three different sources, many different cables, let the PJ sit for 3 hours unplugged, then let it sit for 12 hours unplugged, tried factory resets of DVD and PJ, and even more...


However, if this does ever happen again, I'll probably try even harder to reset than I did with my 3 bulb hour old (at that time) PJ.


A couple of questions to see if this is really a trend. You may not know these, but if anyone else sees a similar symptom on a PE8700, please check all inputs before resetting:


1) All interlace inputs? Composite, SV and Component Interlace are identical bad. But, component progressive and RGBHV are OK? (I didn't check DVI)


2) I described the picture as green and purple. While it did look somewhat like a red was missing, it looked even more like a color negative.


Anyway, I agree on how fabulous the everything else is, and no issues whatsoever from my new unit... in fact, the lens is slightly cleaner than the first one!

 

[Savedsol]

 I hate to say this. I just got my Q on Tuesday. Played a 1/2 hour of DVDs through junky component on Wed while sitting on a temporary table. Last night I ceiling mounted it and was about 20 min into playing different DVDs. When I had my changer switch to the next disc (Titan AE) the Fox legal mumbo jumbo screen came up which should be red instead there was no red, just a nasty olive green color. I hit the aspect ratio button to try to get the picture to reset and instead it froze. After that neither the remote nor Qs power button would shut it off. So I flipped the switch (hesitantly) and flipped it back. When it powered back up it went into lamp cooling mode and then power down. The remote (and button) was able to turn it on but all I got was an upside BenQ screen. The white seemed to cycle through the color wheel (within one second the white background had 3 different tinges). From there I was unable to use any buttons on the remote or the Q. So I had to turn it off via switch. Turn it back on and again back to cool down mode and off. Let it sit. Pulled connections, powered on again. Nothing just the main screen. Called Q this morning and they are taking it back. The hot swap is a nice idea but you need to charge (via credit card) the one they are sending to you so and refund it when they receive yours. That's great and all but I just bought the thing days ago so my bill isn't paid and I don't want another multi thousand dollar charge on it! That's my story.

 

[elmhollow]

Of course, the credit card charge on hot swap is optional...


If you charge it, they send you one, you send your defective back, then they credit. That way, you're never physically without a PJ.


If you do not charge, you must send defective in, then they ship the replacement. Given their responsivness on my (and others I've read about) orders, this would mean being without PJ for about 3-6 days.


So, it is your option...


Bob

 

[threed123]

Make sure your cords are plugged in correctly. I had the same color problem, and then I would get minor flicker and freezes. I took the components out and reseated them again, and it worked fine. Clearly, one of the colors was not seated correctly and throwing both color and sync off.


I wonder how many people get caught thinking this is the projector. Always at least try another cord of the same type before declaring this a bad projector. The irony is that when you get the new one; your plug gets seated correctly and you think it really was the projector all along.


Bob

 

[Savedsol]

Tried all sorts of combos. Even tried composite and S-video with the same results. Just the main screen and neither remote nor hard buttons did anything.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Yes, if a user is experiencing the odd color-shift phenomenon using an S-video or composite (the first poster did mention composite gave the same problem) video then clearly it's not a matter of a component cable being properly secured!


I' plan to ceiling mount my PJ this week. Hope nothing crazy like this happens!!!


-dave