Help! I screwed up my TV! (1 Viewer)

[Brian W.]

I have a cheap 27" Goldstar TV that I've had since '96 (no snide remarks, now), and I was trying to see if there was some control inside the set that would allow me to do vertical squeeze for the "anamorphic trick." My old RCA TV 27" that I'd had prior to this had vertical/horizontal knobs on the back, so I thought they could be inside on this set.

Well, I took off the back (after unplugging the set, of course), and all I could see were two little dials. I found out these are sort of the "master" brightness and sharpness controls.

Oh, jeez, I don't know what I did, but I CANNOT get the picture looking like it did before I messed with it. I have to adjust it darker than I did before or I get these thin diagonal lines that are visible in dark scenes. This is no real problem, since I can increase the brightness back to normal with the standard brightness control, but the focus...God, the focus...

If I turn up the "master" focus as sharp as I think it was before, I really notice the horizontal lines in the picture, particularly when the camera is tilting up or down, and the aliasing is terrible. If I turn it down so the aliasing subsides somewhat, I lose sharpness towards the edges of the screen, though the center is still sharp.

I found a somewhat happy medium, but the aliasing still seems to be worse than it was before I screwed with the TV, and I still notice the horizontal lines in the picture a bit when I never noticed them before.

What did I do and how can I fix it myself? A better set is coming in the near future, but I'm stuck with this for now. Thanks in advance.

 

[DougR]

BIG Sledge Hammer ??

 

[David Sim]

Unplugging a television does not reduce the risk of getting shocked, much.
The capacitors can hold a deadly charge for weeks.
Careful.

 

[Bill Slack]

It's only 10,000 volts or so....

Sorry, can't help with your problem... Maybe an excuse to upgrade?

 

[Jack Briggs]

David and Bill took the words outta my mouth (or keyboard). You have no business mucking around inside a TV's chassis unless you're a qualified technician (or if you really know your stuff and are a good electrician of sorts). Unplugged, a TV can be every bit as dangerous.

If this low-end model has a service menu, then that's where you would be able to perform the so-called "squeeze" trick. RCA's old manual-adjustment knobs are not to be found on current TVs.

 

[Brian W.]

Thank you all SO MUCH for your helpful remarks.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Brian, seriously you could have DIED if you touched the wrong part

 

[Brian W.]

I appreciate the concern (seriously), but I didn't touch, and wouldn't have touched, anything deep inside the TV at all.
I put on rubber-soled shoes and looked the thing over carefully to see if there was anything on the outside edge that resembled a knob, then very quickly touched the tip of my finger to the knob to make sure it wasn't charged, so I wouldn't freeze to the thing if it was. I was really quite careful. It's not like I stuck a wrench in the TV or something.
I don't know, I didn't think about it that much, because my dad always fixed our TV himself when I was a kid. Then again, he repaired arcade games for a living, so he was trained in that sort of thing...
Maybe I should call my authorized Zenith repairman...

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

>>>I put on rubber-soled shoes and looked the thing over carefully to see if there was anything on the outside edge that resembled a knob, then very quickly touched the tip of my finger to the knob to make sure it wasn't charged, so I wouldn't freeze to the thing if it was. I was really quite careful. It's not like I stuck a wrench in the TV or something.

 

[Brian W.]

Well, what I meant by "frozen" was holding onto something I couldn't let go of. But now that you guys have got me SCARED...

Then, of course, you may have to make the decision on whether the repair is worth the expense.

True, and anyway, I wonder if a lot of the difference is not my imagination, because of course I'm scrutinizing the picture closer now, so I'm noticing things I wouldn't have noticed before.

I did think about just going out and buying another TV -- I could probably get one as good or better for less than I paid for this, but I hate to spend anything on a TV when I'm planning to replace it with a Hi-Def model in the coming year. I guess I'll just suffer. Sigh.

 

[Jack Briggs]

A Toshiba 27A42 can be found at several places for less than $400. And you can perform the "squeeze" from the service menu.

Finally, it is good that you are scared to go inside that television now. No one was jumping on you.

 

[Brian W.]

Ooh, now you're tempting me, Jack. But I looked at that Toshiba online and didn't see anything about anamorphic squeeze in it's long laundry list of features. How can I find out which tube TVs have the anamorphic squeeze option?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Brian, you can only do the squeeze on that Tosh from the service menu, and the manufacturers don't even acknowledge the existence of service menus (for liability reasons). Thus, the 16:9 "trick" is not listed in the specs. You'd have to buy the set, get the service menu codes from someone, and then get the correct values after that.

As for sets that do it from the user menu, there's always the Sony WEGA series. But you'd be paying an additional $200 or so.

 

[Steve Berger]

The controls you turned were probably the focus and G2(screen drive) controls. They are usually found on the high voltage transformer. The top one is usually focus and the lower is G2. G2 should generally be turned down (with an insulated handled screwdriver, left hand in back pocket) until the backround diagonal lines just disappear. Focus should be obvious;usually at screen center. Unfortunately the adjustments need to be made with the set running and the back off. Not hard but I don't know your level of ability. Sometimes these controls are sealed with paint and the old locations can be seen if you look closely.You might want to check with a flashlight.If G2 is set too high the TV can go into a random shutdown condition.If it's too low the tube may never turn on.A small service company with a reasonable minimum charge rate would be nice but that might not exist in your area.Sometimes hobbyist groups have some adept technical people that might help out if you know any. (robotics,ham radio,auto restoration,etc).