Samsung convergence settings! (1 Viewer)

[david_b_m]

I know nobody asked for this, but without a service manual I had to spend WEEKS searching the internet for this information and finally found an obscure note in a post on a usenet newsgroup from 4 years ago. I figured I could summarize it and in the future anyone who runs a search on this site would pull it up pretty easy.

If you don't know, the Samsung RPTV's I've dealt with have a weak 9-pt convergence grid available through the standard menus. This is so coarse it's often impossible to even get the 9 points to line up, let alone the rest of the screen.

After allowing the set to warm up for awhile (for me the set literally would not ALLOW me to open the advanced convergence settings until it had been running for 15-20 minutes):

Press Mute, followed by 1, 8, 3 on the remote. This should bring up a full screen convergence grid.

Once you're here there are no on-screen instructions or status display so you're on your own.

Here's what you need to know:

Button "1" - all convergence settings to NO correction
Button "2" - return to factory default settings
Button "3" - return to your previously saved settings

Button "7" - Adjust red convergence
Button "8" - Adjust green convergence
Button "9" - Adjust blue convergence
(note that there is no visual confirmation of what color you are adjusting so you just need to try it and see the grid move... pressing 7,8, or 9 has no otherwise visible effect, which is why I couldn't figure this out myself)

Button "+100" - Red gun on/off
Button "0" - Green gun on/off
unmarked Button to the right of "0" - Blue gun on/off

IMPORTANT - Under flip/slide cover -
"Add/Erase" button - save current settings

I believe pressing "display" will switch you back to your source material so you can observe the effects of your settings; pressing "display" again takes you back to the grid.


Finding this information made my RPTV's picture quality increase 100000000000000x. My convergence and geometry were TERRIBLE out-of-the-box, and I endured it for FAR too long. This has changed my whole viewing experience. I still need to adjust the blue gun's focus, as I have some "blue haze" around white text on black screen, but at least it's equally distributed on all sides!

Hope this helps some others who are looking for this information.

 

[ethan_l]

dude this is Freakin' AWESOME
my samsung HCM-4215W is being replaced tomorrow by BB
due to the fact that the service tech couldn't fix my convergency problems

This will really come in handy when I my new set
anyways I have also noticed the blue haze problem on my old set (before the convergences got erally messed up)
could this be fixed in the advanced convergency?
also I've notice my picture being slightly shifted upward/tilted, have u experienced that?

also if you didn't know already you can get to the service mode menu by holding MUTE then press 182 (or 180, it's one of those), the TV must be off

 

[david_b_m]

anyways I have also noticed the blue haze problem on my old set (before the convergences got erally messed up) could this be fixed in the advanced convergency?
also I've notice my picture being slightly shifted upward/tilted, have u experienced that?

I'm pretty sure the convergence selections can't fix the blue haze, it appears to be a focus problem. I have not yet located any sort of electronic focus controls and I am hesitant to mess with the mechanical focus (yet).

As far as any tilting of the picture, if it's like a "diagonal" tilt, you can fix that by shifting the grid - perform geometry correction on the Green grid, then converge the Red and Blue to match. (START AT THE CENTER AND WORK OUT TO THE EDGES, then go back and do it again... repeat as needed. EVERY adjustment you make affects the cells around it, so it takes a while to get it fine tuned.)

Under the flip-lid on the remote, I also noticed that the VCR channel up and down buttons can move the entire picture up and down, so if you have centering problems this might help.

Enjoy! Glad this will help someone, I was losing my MIND over this.

 

[david_b_m]

By the way - Service menu requires that you hold down the mute key, but convergence menu you do NOT hold it down. Button presses are sequential - mute, 1, 8, 3

Just wanted to make sure that's clear.

 

[ethan_l]

yeah I got into the menu
pretty sweet deal

but do have another question though, how can u
navigate through all the points? I only found that the PMode key only lets u move left so it's a pain in the ass
if u need to go back one, are there any other navigation keys?

and when u talked about manual focus, does it involve opening the set?

thanks again

 

[Sergio Z.]

Wow, thanks! I bought my HCM-4215W in August and have used the basic conv. adj through the basic menu. I'll give this a shot! Anything to make the picture better!

 

[david_b_m]

but do have another question though, how can u
navigate through all the points? I only found that the PMode key only lets u move left so it's a pain in the ass

The navigation and adjustments follow the same scheme as the "user menu" convergence settings. On my particular remote there is a directional thumbstick that goes 4 directions to switch points, and then the channel/volume are used to adust the convergence at that point. Use whatever buttons you would use to navigate through any menu, if my set is any indication.

Manual focus involves actually loosening the thumbscrew on each color gun and twisting the lens into focus. As far as I can tell, the way to do this is to remove the screen and it "hinges" out from the bottom, so you can adjust, then put the screen back in place and check your adjustment. Looks intimidating to me so I thought I'd save that for another day (or a certified technician!).