Green screen problem - 32" 1080i YPbPr input (1 Viewer)

[RadGH]

In short, Our less than two month old HDTV just started giving a green screen on the YPbPr composite cables through both our digital cable box and DVD system. It's fresh out of warranty too!


Honestly, I know very little about anything TV related (I don't watch TV/Movies myself). The TV itself is an LTV-32w6 Westinghouse. It has two YPbPr input sources, both experiencing the same problem.

I called both our cable provider (Comcast) tech support and Westinghouse (Manufacturer). Comcast has much better support, but unfortunately none of their solutions changed anything. Westinghouse on the other hand could only suggest restoring factory defaults, which of course did nothing as we didn't change anything when it happened.

I've tried swapping the red for green to see if it was the cables, but nothing changes. I also tried green for blue. I was changing both inputs and outputs as I did this. The screen showed no response, still green, no flickering or anything when plugging the cables in.

Regular composite cables still work fine (Yellow Red White). Our TV also has an HDMI input, but unfortunately our digital cable box does not. And although our DVD player has both HDMI and YPbPr (does this have a common term?), they are both output. We do not have an HDMI cable right now to even test that port.

Our digital cable does however have a DVI-D output and our HDTV has VGA cable. I don't know if that would still qualify as Hi-Def though. And I don't see any DVI-D (out) to VGA (in) converters - Affordable ones anyway. Although you can get a DVI-I>VGA converter thats only a few inches wide for under $10...

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I don't really see any options myself, it doesn't seem like this is something you can easily repair. Westinghouse's website says you can buy replacement parts themselves but I wouldn't know what to look for.

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? Is that component just dead, or is there some kind of feature inside the TV (Which should have been fixed by factory defaults).

And as a last resort, since we can't use HDMI, are there any YPbPr (out) > HDMI (in) converters that don't cost a fortune? Google is saying no. It really does not matter to me, I don't watch TV, however my parents aren't happy about it and they know even less than I do.

Thanks for any advice you could give me. I just don't understand the problem. It seems unlikely that some of the internal hardware would just die from standard use. We don't even move it around or change inputs very often. In fact we've only moved it once since we bought it, when we bought a new stand. It just died yesterday when my mom was watching non-HD cable (Which was going through ypbpr at the time).

 

[Clinton McClure]

Good morning!

Let's tackle the easy one first. YPbPr is more commonly known as component video.

You say the Westinghouse is two months old but the warranty has expired? It should at least have a one year factory warranty.

To answer the question about inexpensive component to HDMI converters: It's apples and oranges. Component video, while being able to carry a 1080 video signal, is an analog connection and does not meet the requirements for HDCP (a digital copyright protection standard) compliancy. HDMI, on the other hand, is HDCP compliant (requires a HDCP compliant video display which most are nowadays), and is a digital connection. There may be some uber expensive A/V receivers or switchers out there which can fanangle a HDMI input to a component output, but the basic answer is: No, there are no inexpensive component-HDMI converters.

Now the difficult problem... The green screen. It sounds like the TV might have blown a circuit board for the component inputs. My best guess would be to find an authorized Westinghouse repair center and get a diagnosis. Then weigh the cost of repairing the TV vs. the cost of a newer TV. Assuming the TV is actually out of warranty coverage, usually it is more cost-efficient to just replace the TV.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ed Moxley]

Tell Comcast you want to exchange the cable box for one with an HDMI output. I'm pretty sure they have them. If, for some reason that fails, you can get a DVI to HDMI cable at Wal Mart for around $20 - $25.

Is there a setting in tv's menus to auto detect the type of connection?
Use your red, white, and yellow cables to double check the settings in tv's menus.

Does cable box have to be told you're using component cables for video output? Double check setup menus for cable box. I know you have to tell them when you want a dolby digital audio output. May you have to tell it to output on component also, for video. Same with dvd player. You'll probably have to tell it to output over HDMI, if you want to use that. Maybe component too?
Good luck!

For warranty to be out after two months, you must have bought the tv used?

 

[Allan Jayne]

It is possible your cable box can output, or your TV can accept, RGB via the component jacks. This is a feature, not a deficiency, but always involves a manual selection. Since everything was working before, should you have this feature you just need to set it back the way it was. All that counts is that what the cable box outputs and what the TV wants to get matches.