Panny problems! It's a love hate thing... (1 Viewer)

[Jael]

My poor panny, just born and suffering so many problems. 2 months in I discovered a faint area of lightness in the picture that was very intrusive. After 3 visits of the tech the problem has been minimized but now I have a new blemish. About 1/4 up from the bottom of the set is an area that seems to be stretched giving a fishbowl effect to panning scenes in all of my favorite movies (even my least favorite ones ). So It seems I'll be calling the panny support network again.

This brings me to my dilema. I didn't get a store warranty when I bought the set. I'm not feeling the warmest toward Panny corp right now as the set I've received has been a bit of trouble and am really resistant to giving them more of my money to extend my warranty. But the fact that I've had so many problems makes me feel the need to extend my warranty.

They want $350 for 2 more years... Do I have other options? Perhaps there are other warranty services available?

Thanks in advance,

Jael

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Jael,

I've read of some people buying an EW from Philips or maybe GE, instead of the store or original manufacturer. I don't have any details, but you can probably do a search to find out or post to ask specifically.

I just bought my Panny 53" w/ an EW from Best Buy. Their EW has a "no lemon" policy where the set would get replaced if it needed more than 4 repairs during the 4-year period. It cost $300, which seems about average for EWs.

_Man_

 

[Leif Wall]

Do you have the light at the left edge of the screen? If so, this is common among Pannys. I have it myself, though I've minimized it by going in the service menu and just shifting the image to the left.

If you want to fix that 'fishbowl' effect, you can go into fine convergence and straighten your grid out. Pretty easy.

 

[Jael]

I don't believe it's a convergence issue. The fine convergence has been adjusted. It's a horizontal line approximately 1/4 inch where the image is stretched. This line lives about 8 inches up from the bottom of the screen. If you watch the credits of a movie scroll up they have a nice looking ripple effect as the text moves across this spot. There is not horizontal distortion, so technically the space between the lines (the letters stretch slightly as well) increases and then decreases. In a movie this illustrates itself dramatically on vertically panning shots that cross brick or leaves. Aside from that my image is great!

As for light I don't think this would account for the problem as it is so localized and uniform. As well, it's location would make light sourcing a highly improbable culprit... It comes after the technician replaced a board in the chassis, so it could be a purely digital thing. (aack)...

 

[Jack Briggs]

I don't believe I saw a model number mentioned anywhere. Is this an RPTV or a direct-view set?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ah, from what you say in your second post it seems like an RPTV. Might the light blemish be from an internal reflection?

 

[Josh Lowe]

I have a 53WX42 that does the exact same thing, except the distortion appears about 1/3 of the way down from the top. doesn't really bother me, though.

 

[Jael]

After re-evaluating I actually think this is a convergence issue. The technician had to redo the convergence after replacing the board in the chassis. I opened up the grid and it seemed okay but after taking a second look and fiddling a bit I think (I'm sure) this is the problem.
As for rippling not being a bother, for me it drives me crazy! Nothing like being really engaged in a film and then being reminded of your hardwares shortcomings for delivering the experience. That's my own curse though
The Panny model is the PT47W42...
Does anyone have a good source for a convergence overlay so I can get these lines really squared off accurately?
Thank you for all the responses,
Jael

 

[Jael]

Jack, the light issue, which took 3 visits from the tech, seems to have been related to a faulty board. First thought was light reflecting back into the crt's but when the technician examined the projection of the crt's directly on paper and he could verify the line. Next thought was the crt's themselves but when he turned the yoke(?) the line did not turn with it? I'm not totally clear on that part, but it eliminated the crt's as a possibility and made him believe it was a faulty board. He replaced a board and the problem has been lessened to an acceptable level. It was a very subtle but intrusive problem. I don't think he (the tech) or the panny support had ever seen this one.
He had to go about re-doing the convergence as the eprom(?) was factory fresh and came very off despite their assurances to him that they would be close
He bumped one of my pots along the way and set it back by eye... By shear luck I think he got it back better then where it started.
Jael

 

[Jael]

Here is what I've found so far regarding overlays...
Link Removed
I'm wondering how difficult it is to have it printed on plastic sheet? I'm going to explore the possibility!

 

[Leif Wall]

Check www.panny.tv also. If you have a Kinko's nearby they can print it out for you. Unfortunately I don't have one here cause my grid ain't perfect either.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Maybe I'm way off-base here, but doesn't the fishbowl effect sound like a geometry problem, not convergence?

_Man_

 

[Leif Wall]

Yes. That is why I was saying to go into Fine Convergence to straighten the grid out. Straightening the grid is adjusting geometry.