Archive through November 23, 2005

FresnoCA Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 01:19 GMT Thank you JOHN S for the article reference, I will check it out. Perhaps the Hitachi black is inherently bluish/purplish, and no amount of adustment will do anything about it. It is an unfortunate truth I am frustrated with and will most likely never accept given my tinkering nature. I hope I do not ruin my set trying to fix it.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 364 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 11:52 GMT FresnoCA, I have done as much tweaking as I care to, short of going into the service menu which I will do only if forced to....like a wild animal cornered. Back in early '04, the first thing I ever bought from eBay was a CD-ROM of the service manual for this set (thanks to this thread). I've only looked at it once. But it's there if I need it. Tinker away however, and if you have a breakthrough please get back to us. Personnally though, I think this 'black' (or lack thereof) is the nature of this beast.
SPIKEDOG Unregistered guest	Posted on Saturday, July 23, 2005 - 18:43 GMT I HAVE HAD MY 50v500 FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS. ABOUT A MONTH AGO I NOTICED A LARGE AREA OF THE SCREEN HAS A BLUE TINT, AND DISCOLORATION. THE BLACKS CREEN HAS A LARGE PINKISH CLOUD. ANY IDEAS?
harmeek Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 03:40 GMT Hi Guys, A question that if you know the answer would help me out. I bought a Hitachi LCD rear projection TV 42V710 around 40 days back. I had a weird problem to start with , Sometimes when the power was turned on I would not be able to get any picture , neither the menu option worked . After turning the TV off and restarting the picture came up. After 40 days of using it for 2-3 hours a day yesterday the TV suddenly switched of in middle of a movie and the only thing I see is a very very light blue screen with two blue dots blinking one on the top left corner and the other one at the bottom of the screen. Now I can not get a picture at all even after turning it on and off multiple times. I have requested a service appointment from hitachi but can any one tell me anything about the blue screen of death and the two blue dots. Answers appreciated.
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 41 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 07:34 GMT The user: Watchdaride sent me an email through ecoustics, I replyed and bounced back with problems delivering the email. I will post it here for Watchdaride to read it: His email: Hello , i saw your post on ecoustic messageboard.. I just got tht problem ad sent it in fot repair. They said i need a light engine at a cost of $1900. It is out of warranty.Is it a pinkish tone you had to your picture and color adjustments wouldnt adjust it. I downloaded the service manual. I feel like i am getting ripped off.Do you think the adjustment you did would fix the problem? thanks. My response: It fixed my problem on my TV, and a few others, yes, it works. Read that manual, even if this will not fix your problem ( although I am 99 % sure it will) you can still order the part and change it yourself for probably half the price. Everything it's in that manual, including part #. Most of those $ 1900 it's labor charges. If you are not confortable with going into the settings, have a friend that is technicaly inclined to do it. I understand the frustration of changing anything in there, but trust me, everything can be undone if the wrong settings are set. Either way, save yourself $ 1900 . For that price, you can pay me to fly over and do it and still have some cash left Good luck.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 378 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 13:26 GMT Why these TVs go whacko for no apparent reason is very troubling to me. Please keep us abreast of developments here. Thanks.
Tdvbaja New member Username: Tdvbaja Post Number: 4 Registered: Jul-05	Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 14:04 GMT I called my service guy last week and he just called me today (he was on Vac) but he told me the cost for a Engine is $450.00 plus $200.00 for install. The engine is a refurb part number UX22201R but the are sold out of them -- and they are sold out of the new ones also. Hmmmm wonder why they are all sold out?? I am having him come by and pick it up and confirm it is the Light Engine then I am going to call Hitachi to complain. My Tech says he has replaced several of these already!
steven hopkinson New member Username: Watchdaride Post Number: 3 Registered: Jun-05	Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 02:01 GMT thanks EA, I am picking up the tv tomorrow and when i said i wouldnt fix it they offered to buy it for $200 . It sounds like a scam to me. i have had hitachi my whole life and after this experience i will stick with sony or just buy a cheaper brand and use the difference to buy a extended warranty. I would warn people to stay away from hitachi they do not stand behing thier product and thier authorized service dealers are just as crooked. x hitachi customer watchdaride
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 42 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 20:27 GMT Steven, it's not Hitachi's fault. It's the techs which are independent contractors that are crooks. Read one of my previous posts, where the tech intentionally put some wrong stuff in the settings so I can call him back again. They get paid a certain rate from Hitachi when the TV's are under warranty, but they can charge whatever they want if it's out of warranty. You can report them to Hitachi but I don't think it'll do any good. Let me know if you did the change and if it fixed the problem.
steven hopkinson New member Username: Watchdaride Post Number: 4 Registered: Jun-05	Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 21:33 GMT EA, i picked up the tv this morning and i got home and reset the memory and it works now. the color is back to normal . I called back the service tech and gave him a peice of my mind. They are saying that will not fix the problem. They wanted to charge me $1900 for a light engine that was good. I also called hitachi and they didnt really care . I want to thank you for your help . I downloaded the service manual you posted and it gave me detailed instructions on how to do it. If your ever in Orlando i'll buy you a couple tickets to Disney. thanks again,
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 02:25 GMT I just bought the Hitachi 50V500 set and overall I love it. But, I do have a few questions that I am hoping someone here can answer for me. (1) No matter what TV station I set my set-top-box for, it tells me I am in 1080i mode. Even for an SD station. Is this right? (2) I am currently using component video cables. On most HD movie broadcasts I find the dark images to be poor resolution. It will either look grainy of blotchy. Do I need new cables? (3) I seem to get a "temporary burn in effect" very quickly. At least that is what I think the cause might be for a bright, HD broadcast to look grainy or "striped" sometimes. It seems to go away eventually... I am totally new to this HD stuff, so any help would be very much appreciated.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 387 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 12:06 GMT Nomad..... (1) The same thing happens with my HD cable box. "1080i" on everything. I e-mailed my cable company about this over a year ago. The blockhead that answered had no idea what I was talking about. My guess is that my Scientific Atlanta box upconverts everything to 1080i. Anyway, I stopped thinking about it since I watch very little SD on this TV. (2) Your experience on dark scenes is pretty much the nature of the beast. You can minimize it somewhat by 1. setting the brightness level to about 50%, 2. black enhancement to no higher than 'Low', 3. contrast mode to 'normal'. Actually, a 'high' black enhancement setting will probably clear it up, but the downside is a significant loss of picture detail even in bright scenes. I ran this TV on BE 'off' for some time, but have settled on 'low' as a compromise. So my answer is no on new component cables. (3) I have to think about this one as I don't quite understand the question. Incidentally, I'll bet many people who own this TV use the 'dynamic' setting on contrast mode. Yes, when you change it to that setting the pecture seems to have more "snap" but to me the cost is a loss of too much picture detail.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 03:00 GMT John S Thank you so much for your reply! You were absolutely correct about the Scientific Atlanta box. The default is to output everything in 1080i. I went into the setup and changed it to Upconvert 2 option. This will take 480i/480p and display 480p, and it will take 720p/1080i and display 720p. I chose this because I have read that: (1) the native resolution of the 50V500 is 720p and (2) 720p is suppose to be a sharper picture than 1080i (progressive being better than interlaced). So far in the little bit I have watched, the pictures do seem better. Especially since I changed the BE to be OFF. I tried LOW also, but found the loss of detail to be unacceptable in most cases. As for the "temporary burn in effect", I have found that a static image can leave a ghost image in as little as 10 minutes!! It does fade slowly away, but I found an option to WIPE the screen and it works very well! I have yet to play with the dynamic mode on the contrast (maybe this weekend) and I think that I might try some DVI cables. I have read that these cables keep the signal in the digital format whereas the component cables convert it to analog and can produce "artifacts". I will not know for sure about this until I give it a try.
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 43 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 09:15 GMT It seems that everyone has a problem with the box, not the TV. Mine goes wako and resets itself whenever it wants to, a friend of mine ... the DVI port it's there but it just doesn't work ( and the manufacturer knows about it and does nothing to correct the problem ), and the frustration of calling tech support is unbearable. In the approx. 100 houses that I am visiting a month, it looks like 5 % of them have an HDTV. That is very low. And out of 100, 95 % have either the Dish Network or DirecTV. Very few have cable for TV, at least here in Los Angeles. I know why, the tech support is the worst of all with either Comcast, Adelphia or Charter Communication. I don't blame them for not getting into the HDTV market. The Dish Network has only 4 channels of HDTV, DirecTV makes you go on the roof and remove the antena yourself if you want to end the contract, Voom is out of business, so choices are limited. It seems that the TV unit is way too advanced and the providers are too cheap ( I wanted to say skeptical ) in investing in changing the box. That is bad for us, the consumer. To Nomad: this TV set upconverts everything to 1080i when watching an HDTV program. It is indeed maxed at 720p. But noone transmits at 720p. Not here in Los Angeles. It is still one of the best HDTV's I've seen ( I have my eye on that Samsung DLP whatever the name is ) and the image is on par with the latest DLP's. This TV will last me 10 years, no doubt about it. And having the service manual in hand ... oh boy John S... if I have some time these days ( second kid is 3 weeks old...hard to find the time ), I will open the TV and get that fan changed, the noise started to bother me. I will post the results.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 13:02 GMT Hello EA I am in Canada and have been using Rogers Digital Cable for my HDTV source. We have about 25 HDTV channels offered, although not every program on these channels is in HD. Sometimes I notice issues with the image and I can not decide if the problem is with the TV or with the signal. I am tending to lean towards the signal as it is rare and only in short bursts of about 1-2 seconds. I am using the component cables that came with my cable box. Do you have any opinion on whether it is worthwhile to invest in a DVI cable? I use the term invest because I recently priced the cable at about $165 dollars!!! Of course the salesman is telling me the difference will be AMAZING, but... Overall, I am amazed with the picture on this set. Far better than any of the other sets I had been looking at. Now that you mention the fan noise, it would be nice if it could be a bit lower. Is there anything that can be done about that?
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 394 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 13:12 GMT EA: I agree, the HD market penetration rate is very discouraging. I'm guessing a significant number of Americans have't even seen HD, not to mention have it in their homes. Here's a quote from Sports Illustrated: There are 12-13 million American homes currently equipped with HD television sets but only one-third of those are getting HD programming, says Bruce Leichtman of The Leichtman Research Group, Inc., a television consulting company. That means only about four million of approximately 105 million American homes are equipped for enjoying our real national pastime -- watching TV -- in its full glory. That's not even 4 percent! If you are a part of this ultra-exclusive club, I offer a hearty congratulations as we bestride the narrow world like a Colossus. As for that other 96 percent, you have my condolences. The whole column here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/jacob_luft/07/19/hdtv.confessions/ Got lots more to say but I gotta run.... Nomad hang in there. You've got me wanting to try an experiment...I'll be back tomorrow when I have more time.
big nate98 Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 17:46 GMT I have had my t.v. for about a month now, love it. Only thing is that in the bottom right corner and along the bottom of the screen, I get a yellow bar, and maybe a 4"x4" area in the corner. It is not there all the time, comes and goes. it is really noticable when there is a white scene, I am just using a regular satelliete feed, with an S-video cable. Any ideas as to what this might be, the t.v. was manufacutered in Dec. 2004. So I am hoping it has had all the bugs worked out from the previous year. Thanks for your help.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 18:34 GMT Okay, so I put out the $150 to buy Monster Cable DVI input and ran that from my Scientific Atlanta box to my 50V500 and watched several HD programs. I still get issues with the picture quality. In many scenes, even if only for 1-2 seconds, the picture is very grainy, almost pixelated. I can not seem to determine why it does this, as it comes and goes so fast and under different situtations on screen. It seems to happen when: (1) there is a bright flash on the screen such as lightning or gun fire. (2) the camera is focused on a person, and something moves by in front of the camera blocking out the person for a second. Right now the cable company is saying it is a problem with the TV and the store where I bought the TV is saying it is a problem with the cable signal. At this point I am ready to return the DVI cables as they do not seem to be improving the picture over the component cables that I was using before. Has anyone else experienced this grainy effect? I notice it the most on HD broadcasts. Any help would be appreciated.
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 44 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Monday, August 08, 2005 - 04:27 GMT Nomad, yes, I had that too. And it was very easy to fix, luckily the tech from the cable company was knowlegeable. All he had to do was to change the wire from the pole to the house. The old wire was just not up to par for HD. $ 150 for a DVI cable ? Does it cook and wash dishes too ? I paid $ 50 for mine, generic brand, and it made a huge diference compared to the component cables. To Big Nate: I have no clue what can be wrong. You may want to try the component or the DVI cables instead of the SVHS. I mean....you paid a good buck for this TV, might as well enjoy full HDTV.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 395 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, August 08, 2005 - 04:38 GMT Nomadandsuzie, Don't ask me why DVI cables are so expensive, but I'm not surprised you still have picture issues. I had pretty much the same problem a year ago: a 'pixelating' picture that came and went. And it never happened when I watched a movie on DVD, either. So the cable co. sent their best guy out. He checked my box and put a 15dB line amp in and I haven't had any problems since. So I think your problem is with the cable signal. It was then he confirmed what the cable people told me earlier--that their Scientific Atlanta had non-useable DVI ports, due to a lack of electronics inside the box. Consequently, I have not tried a DVI cable on the box. Here's an interesting article on this subject: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm I went in to the menu on my cable box and tried all settings, Upconvert 1, Upconvert 2, Fixed, and Pass-Through all with the same results....the TV's seeing "1080i" all the time. So apparently my cable box works differently then yours. But you are right, since the TV's native resolution is 720, then 720p should be chosen over 1080i. One of the early contributors to this thread (he must've gone and got a life!) discovered the superiority of 740 over 1080 on his satellite box, but none of us were smart enough to know why then.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, August 08, 2005 - 10:25 GMT Thanks John and EA! I do not watch many DVD's but I watch some today and you are right. No issues with the picture. I will be calling my cable company today. After hooking up the DVI cable, I changed my cable box settings to Auto DVI. The manual says that incoming programming is automatically formatted to the scan rate supported by your HDTV. In this mode my 50V500 tells me that all SD channels are 480i and all HD channels are 720p. The DVI cables appear to work MOST OF THE TIME, but I am seeing an issue every now and then. I will loose the picture and the DVI ALERT comes up telling me my TV does not support HDCP and I should use YPbPr connections. Then, the picture comes back fine. Again, I am sure it is the signal or the cable box. Slightly off topic, I need to buy a new DVD player. Mine is old and is not even progressive scan. Does anyone have any recommendations? Does anyone know if the new "upconverting" players are worth the extra money? Thanks again to everyone. There is so much to know about to get the full potential out of this awesome HDTV.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 399 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, August 08, 2005 - 13:10 GMT Some folks on this forum swear by their upconverting DVD players, but even though I haven't tried one, I've always wondered what the value was in upconverting an SD signal. This reminds me of Hitachi's VirtualHD 1080p processing...something that's never mentioned in the owner's manual. Here's a link to an old post of mine on this thread about it: https://www.ecoustics.com/cgi-bin/bbs/show.pl?tpc=2&post=79460#POST79460
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 400 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, August 08, 2005 - 13:25 GMT big nate98: This thread, now almost 2 years old, is full of complaints on screen "crop circles", "splotches", and similar anomalies with the picture. As these Hitachis get older, they seem to go away, as was the case with me. If you are still under warranty, I would schedule a service call. They may not do much about it, but at least you'll be on record with the complaint. Good luck.
thepet Unregistered guest	Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 06:55 GMT Hi, I am new to this thread. I have owned the 50v500 for 18 months. Had the fun of resetting in the service menu for color problems (one day looked like a old DOS game on an RGB monitor) once. PROBLEM: I have a Pink/red cloud in the top/center of the screen (especially pronounced when the screen is black). It shows thru during cable or DVD playback. During HD shows, it is less pronounced. I have 4000 hrs on the original lamp. Any suggestions? Is there something else I need to try in the service menu? I have redone the flicker and the TA1383->CONTM1 and TA1383->CONTS1 settings. Still pink/red.
Dan Vitous New member Username: Dvitous Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-05	Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 20:33 GMT It's looking like this thread has kinda morphed into an "all things Hitachi", so I'll throw this out here... I have a 6 mo. old 50v715, and I recently encountered the following problems: - What sounds like static "pops" in the sound. It seems to be more noticable some days than others. This has been going on since it was a few weeks old. Either it goes away for long periods, or I just stopped noticing on a regular basis. I'm not 100% sure it's not signal/cable related. I have HD cable, component video from the box, and a direct cable line into AntA - split after the surge protector. - I just now developed 2 horizontal bands - pink and green across the entire bottom of the screen, and green across the top. No other noticable ghosting or pink hue change. With both problems, I'm thinking just bite the bullet and call for service and make use of the warranty while I can. Anyone else have experiences like this? I may not fix it myself this time (if it can be corrected in setup)... but would be nice to know for the future. Other than that... GREAT SET! Thanks - Dan
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 00:57 GMT Well, I have finally decided to return my Monster DVI cables. They do not seem to make any improvement in the PQ and they are way too expensive. I also read in a forum somewhere that LCD projection screens do not display digital signals, so the idea of keeping the signal pure does not apply. Is this so? Is pure digital only for LCD and Plasma displays, but not for RPTVs? Thanks, AJM
plbveb Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 02:01 GMT "thepet" ,it sounds like i may have the same problem . i also HAD the pinkish/red hue problem, but was able to fix it thru the service menu. any thoughts on the cloud issue? fyi...6250+hrs purc. date 10/03
Anonymous	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 12:24 GMT plbveb, thanks for the reply. Sry, I don't have anything on the cloud issue. What steps did you take in the service menu to clear up the pink/red problem?
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 406 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 14:35 GMT Nomad... With an open forum like this one there's good news and bad news. The good news is that there's plenty of entertaining posts to read that would have been censored on more tightly moderated forums. The bad news is the same as the good news. People are free to promulgate their whack-o agendas, or worse, mistaken perceptions. Of course your Hit LCDRP is digital, as is the case with all fixed-pixel displays. So your DVI cable experiment was worth trying, but I must say I wasn't surprised at the outcome.
thepet Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 15:53 GMT For "plbveb" and anyone else with the DOS RGB problem I described above, this is what I did in the service menu to clear up the problem. I was helped via a free service call (over the phone from a tech - very helpful. I described the problem and he walked me thru it. Best I can figure is that I left the set on overnight with no incoming signal, and when I checked the next morning, I had a lamp light on. There might have been a power surge over night. When I restarted, the DOS RGB type display was what I had). Attempt this at your own risk. >Get into the Service Menu >Write down the HPOS (026) and VPOS (07) settings (you will need them later). Also, write down the TA1383 setings for CONTM1 and CONTS1 (mine are 0B and 09 respectively). >Go to Mem INIT and hold the joystick to the right for a few seconds. The check box should be selected. >Reset the HPOS and VPOS values. Reset the TA1383->CONTM1 and CONTS1 values. >Go to LCD ADJUST and check the Ghost settings >Go to the V.COM entry and use your joystick to adjust the flicker settings for red, green and blue. Your target is the least amount of flicker possible. With the green and blue, there will always be some flicker. After this, my picture came back to life. My only lingering problem is this red/pink hue (circle/spot) in the top/middle if the screen. I am going to attempt the same sequence again and see if this helps. Any other suggestions, would be appreciated. PS>I bought the tech manual on ebay, and it helps with the service menu values.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 19:13 GMT John S.. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was confused as to why LCDRPTV's would not use a digital signal... Maybe you could help me with another problem. I believe that I needed a new DVD player because my old one is not Progressive Scan. It does have component outputs though, which is good. In another forum I read that it would be a waste for me to buy a new Progressive Scan DVD player because my Hit 50V500 performs the upconversion for me. I was told that the only benifit would come if the DVD player had a better upconverter than my 50V500 did. I was told that a $2500 HDTV would have a better upconverter than a $100 DVD player. Is it true that the 50V500 upconverts the DVD signal to progressive scan anyways? By the way I was told not to buy the upconverting DVD players for the same reason. My set already does it for me. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. AJM
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 407 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 22:38 GMT Nomad... A long time ago on this thread I lamented not being a videophile enough to compare my old non-progressive scan player (a good Sony in its day) with a prog scan unit I picked up cheap ($80 a year and a half ago). Never got around to it, mainly because I found the cheap player's picture to be just fine. I can tell you that, from what I've read, there's not a huge difference between them...progressive scan just gives a more film-like and smoother picture. Your Hitachi does have a proprietary up-scaling circuitry the goes all the way to 1080p. Yeah that's right 1080progressive. And that's on every single video that gets fed to the screen. The owner's manual doesn't mention it, nor is there any indicator light or on/off switch for this processing. I've read also that many digital models from other manufacturers also do the same sort of thing, yet the conventional wisdom is that a prog scan player is still preferable. I wonder.... Anyway, please read my post on this link. It is a quote from the sales brochure for the 50/60V500 Hitachis. https://www.ecoustics.com/cgi-bin/bbs/show.pl?tpc=2&post=79460#POST79460
tleo Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 00:28 GMT I am a newbie to RPTV and in the process of buying one. I have narrowed down my choices to Hitachi 50V710 (50 inch LCD with built-in tuner) and samsung hlp5663 (56 inch DLP older model w/o tuner). Looks like both are closeout models and are priced around $1999 (w/o stand) in the local stores (these are not floor-models) this weekend. Do you think this is a good price for this Hitachi ? I think picture quality was better with Hitachi, but with samsung, I am getting a bigger screen (and DLP which was rated as somewhat better in some of the reviews when comparing with LCD). But Hitchi seems to have better reliability. Also is it worth getting the extended warranty ? The store where I am finding a good deal is asking for $499 for 4 years BTW, I didn't notice anything about black color not being rendered properly with this LCD model, it looked very similar to the DLP model on a side-by-side comparison at the store. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/tips/help.
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 45 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 06:09 GMT tleo, why not get this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=12918 15&CatId=1830 The price is fantastic, and it's one of the best looking TV's that I've seen. Circuit City sells it too probably for much higher price. TigerDirect are well known, I buy stuff from them a lot, never had a problem. This Samsung was $5000 a year ago when I got my Hitachi 50V500. I don't know if the Samsung has less problems, search for a thread like this. Good luck.
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 46 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 06:57 GMT For tleo and everybody else: Take it from an ex-electornics-sales guy $ 500 for extended warranty is way too high for a TV that costs $ 2000. That's 25 % ( 1/4th )of the cost. Bargain the price of the warranty ( trust me, it works ). Pay no more than $ 250 for 4 years ( that's 12.5 %, which makes more sense. When you buy a $ 22,000 car, they ask you if you want to buy extended warranty for $ 900. That's 4% of the price of the car. Nobody buys it To give you another example: my receiver/amp, a JVC888BK cost $ 500 a while back. I got the 5 years warranty for $ 50. I only got the warranty because with an amplifier, a lot more things can go wrong then with a TV. Warranty is insurance, insurance is good for a house, car and life insurance, not a piece of plastic and silicon and surely not at that price. I understand the fact that you want protection for your investment, but not when the protection costs you 25 % of the investment. That's where they make their money, because it costs them absolutely nothing. They ask $500 for extended warranty because they look at the price of the TV, and being a hot item, they know that deep down you want that assurance. If you buy lets say a 32" CRT TV for $ 500, the warranty for that is only $ 75 tops. Why ? LCD's are ... what... more prone to problems than CRT's ? Just because CRT is proven technology and LCD is new-ish you must pay the price for warranty ? You do the math and be the judge. I've been on the sales floor and sold warranties, and if it looked to crooked, I slashed down the price. I got fired for that, but I slept better at night
EA Bronze Member Username: Jedimaster Los Angeles Post Number: 47 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 07:58 GMT To Nomad: John S is right, as I tested the DVD player ( a Philips DVP 642). I don't know if the progressive scan it's a must, but for the price of the DVD's lately... get one that includes it. Actualy, is there one that does not include it nowadays ? They are too cheap to even worry about that. The problem is this: a DVD player has a max resolution of 520 lines, and a DVD player is not digital. Do not expect that a DVD movie to look as good as a high-definition broadcast. It's not there yet. However, take a look at this and read the specs. It may be something better than what the rest offer: ~~http://www.liteonit.com/index.htm~~ They have some hi-def recorders/players. It seems that the "digital" part changes as new units come out. A computer monitor used to be digital 3 years ago, now, if you don't own an LCD monitor with DVI, it's not digital.
djgoody Unregistered guest	Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 15:40 GMT Hi all, New here. My wife and I took advantage of the tax free weekend in Mass (last weekend). We ended buying a the last floor model 50v500A from Sears for $1399. It has a dead/stuck bright green pixel in lower left corner of screen and another dim blue one lower mid to mid right of screen. It also doesn't have the remote, but Sears oredered one from Hitachi for us. We went back yesterday to buy the 5yr EW from Sears for $599. because all the Sears associates said the bulbs were covered "everything is covered". On the way home the wife ordered take out. As I was waiting out in the car, I read through the Sears Master Protection Agreement (MPA) and paragragh 9 sec f clearly states they do NOT cover bulbs or any other extendable items. I called the service company and verified this. They also wanted to know the store location and associates names who claimed this. I am going back to Sears today and cancelling my EW with them. I might get the Repair Master contracts. I Just wanted to warn some of you about Sears promising to cover the bulbs when the clearly do not. Also, what do you think my chances are of getting Hitachi to fixed these dead pixels? Was the TV still worth for what I paid? and does a Photo card come with these or are they optional? Thanks in adavnce! This place rocks with info ;-) Mike in Rhode Island
djgoody Unregistered guest	Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 23:38 GMT Well after further investigation, Sears and their warranty people both confirm that replacement bulbs ARE indeed covered under the Sears 5 yr warranty at no cost. So I guess it's kind of worth the $599. seeing I'll be getting free lamp replacements AND the TV is covered. :-) Did I mention I watched my first HD programs last night? Monster Garage, Sports Center and Late night with Conan all looked incredible. Can't wait for some HD football games.
steven hopkinson New member Username: Watchdaride Post Number: 5 Registered: Jun-05	Posted on Monday, August 22, 2005 - 17:15 GMT did sears give you in writing it is covered? Verbal agreements are not any good 12 months from now. i would stay away from Hitachi . As you can see from many post they have alot of problems with there tv and average repairs are over $500 . It is better to invest in a sony or a cheaper brand and use the diference with a service agreement.
Nomadandsuzie Unregistered guest	Posted on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - 12:07 GMT I am still greatly confused about the 50V500's ability to upconvert signals. Specifically, when it comes to DVD players. I contacted Hitachi via their email tech service department and was told that I do NOT need a progressive scan DVD player because the TV will upconvert the signal to 480p. Next, I PHONED Hitachi's service department and the rep on the phone told the exact opposite, that I DO need a progessive scan DVD player to enjoy the improved image quality. He admitted that the improvement would not be a huge difference, but said it would be noticeable. Does anyone know how these TV's work and how to hook them up to a DVD properly???? This is starting to get silly....
Hired Gun New member Username: Hired_gun North Bend, Oregon USA Post Number: 10 Registered: Apr-05	Posted on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - 13:58 GMT I hooked up my Kenwood progressive scan DVD player to my 50V500 with an S-Video cord and then ran the audio through my 600 watt surround sound Kenwood receiver. I looks and sounds awsome. It's only a very little bit nicer than any of the upper cable signals but way better than regular cable. Don't make it harder than it is. It's just a big TV. You will drive yourself crazy if you keep messing with it. I only bought a new dvd player because my other one gave it up. The new one was only 80 bucks or so. Not a big deal. Do your self a big favor and just stay out of the service menu. One wrong move and down the road a bit the tv starts looking funny. Mine is much better now that it is set back to it's factory settings. Just keep you adjustments to the regular menu and you will be fine. For an extended warranty I'm going with warrantybynet.com 4 more years for $241.80 It covers: Pays for parts and labor No deductible or Hidden Charges Over 12,000 Service Centers Nationwide Covers all parts and labor Repair or replacement is guaranteed Fully insured program 24 Hour, 365-Day Operation Center Wait a couple weeks aftre you submimit your quote request and they will send a discounted offer. That's when to buy. And Yes, the bulb is covered. My current bulb is going on 5000 hrs. I doubt the warranty department will be buying many of them as I have talked to several people with over 10,000 hours on their bulbs. I'm still waiting for Charter cable to bring in HDTV.
Casey Bronze Member Username: Mccambley BREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 25 Registered: Jun-05	Posted on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - 17:30 GMT Hired Gun If you want to take advantage of progressive scan DVD player you must hook it up with component video cables {red,green, and blue}.S-video can only deliver 480i picture. Factory setting are not always the best way to go they are set to sell the TV on a well lit sales floor.
thepet Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 04:20 GMT I have owned the 50v500 for 18 months. Had the fun of resetting in the service menu for color problems (one day it looked like an old DOS game on an RGB monitor). PROBLEM: I have a Pink/red cloud in the top/center of the screen (especially pronounced when the screen is black or program/DVD is showing a dark scene). It shows thru during cable or DVD playback. I have 4500 hrs on the original lamp. Any suggestions? Anyone cured this via the service menu?
HDDD Unregistered guest	Posted on Friday, August 26, 2005 - 22:00 GMT thepet, I am having the same problem with my 60V500 - nice big red/pink circle in the middle of the screen. I've had it for about 18 months with the same hours on the original lamp. I had a service tech out today to look at it. He called Hitachi and they said the light engine is toast and I need a new one. Luckily I bought the extended warranty so he ordered up a new for me. However, I would like to know if there is anyway to try and fix this problem in the service menu as well?
Doublewide Unregistered guest	Posted on Saturday, August 27, 2005 - 18:08 GMT The pink/red cloud/circle does mean you have a bad light engine. I bought a used 50V500A and it went out after a year. Good thing I have the extended warranty. The repair man ordered the part. It took almost a week for it to arrive, and about 45 minutes for 2 service men to fix it. Now the set looks better than it did when I bought it.
HDDD Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, August 28, 2005 - 21:12 GMT Thanks DoubleWide - I hope I have the same luck witht he new light engine. I've come to find out through this and other forumes that MANY MANY people have had this same problem with the 60 and 50V500 series. I've read on some other forums (or maybe earlier in this one) that Hitachi no longer replaces the light engine with a new unit - but instead uses a refirbished light engine?? Makes me nervous that I'm going to get some unit that has LCD panels with 50,000 hours on it - anyone else heard about this? I've also heard that the replacement unit has had some changes made to it - runs cooler and quiter and isn't defective like the original units in these TV's. Anyway, just wondering if anyone has anymore information on this. Wish I would have known about this defect before I bought the TV. It's very frusterating not knowing if the replacement engine is just going to do the same thing a year down the road. Thanks, HDDD
Ben New member Username: Copper701 Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-05	Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 22:48 GMT HELP!!! I have 50V500 with 1850 hours on the bulb. Every now and then when turning the unit on the screen goes birght white. I have sound but no picture. Sometimes if I turn it on and off several times the picture will come back. This also happens when its on for a long time 10-12 hours. I have searched the net with no help on this matter. I wish it was under warranty but its not. Thanks
HDDD Unregistered guest	Posted on Friday, September 02, 2005 - 18:57 GMT Ben, Sorry to hear about your problem. Not even two thousands hours and it's already crapping out on you! Is there anyway you can buy an extended warranty after you've run out of the original. warranty? I would highly recommend it if you can. My light engine was just replaced in 60V500 at a cost 1400. Luckily it is still under extended warranty - and after reading through this forum and a few others, it is well worth the money to buy the extended warranty. I will extend mine for another 3 years - it wouldn't surprise me if the light engine went bad again in that time. The tech that came out told me that if anything goes wrong with these TV's it is always over 1000 for the repair. It is unbelievable how many people on this forum have had problems with this TV - and how many have had to have the whole light engine replaced. Anyway, wish I could offer some help on your TV - haven't heard of this one before.
abc Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 22:20 GMT Whoever is telling everyone not to purchase the extended warranty for this television is full of crap. I purchased the extended warranty from Sears for 500, and recently needed to have the light engine replaced to correct the infamous red blob issue. Had I not had the warranty, the cost to me would've been 1300. So with one single service call, the warranty paid for itself nearly 3-times over. Do yourself a favor and buy it. Even if you need one bulb replacement, which you will, it will virtually pay for itself.
JodyM Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 12:54 GMT My roomate just bought the 50v500 for $1299 (floor model). So far it's great except for one thing... When viewing XBOX games at 480p it is simply unplayable. Everything is pixelated. It's far better to play in 480i. Is there a setting or two I need to change? Here's what we were dealing with: - XBOX connected to component video 1 - XBOX settings were set so that 480p, 720p, and 1080i were enabled - TV was outputting a 480p format - Games we tried were Project Gotham Racing 2 and Halo 2. Both support 480p. It's not a huge deal that the xbox games play at 480p, the main reason he got the tv was for XBOX360 games at 720p, but I'd like to know if there is a simple (or not so simple) fix. Thanks!
RichB Unregistered guest	Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 05:14 GMT I have been a proud owner of the 50v500 now for almost a year. I recently ran into what seems to be a pretty common problem with the set. I powered it up one morning and had the pink washed out color problem. After reading about the service menu and what can be done to fix the problem, I decided to play it safe and call Hitachi for service since it is still under warranty. After a 3 week delay and a couple of cancellations, a service technician came out and accessed the service menu and did a "memory init". The red / pink washed out colors went away instantly and the technician left. Later I noticed that the picture was not nearly as sharp as it was before. I had restored all of the user settings to the way they were prior to the memory init, but the picture still looked fuzzy. I tried different inputs with different equipment connected to the TV (DVD player via DVI, DirecTV receiver through component) and different resolutions (480i, 480p, 720p) but the picture looked grainy. Looking closely at the screen, I noticed that primary colors (red, green and blue) had a checkerboard pattern of darker spots that appeared to be moving rapidly. This "motion" happens even when the source is paused. My first instinct was that it was some interference so I powered down all equipment near the TV and turned of my WIFI in the house and still had the same problem. My guess is that the memory init the technician had done caused some sort of calibration to be reset. Has anyone out there experienced this before? I have contacted and fought with Hitachi and the service center about this problem. The service tech has been out again and said that this is just the way this type of TV displays the picture. I think he just doesn't know what he is doing. Anyway, he had me take pictures of the problem so he can email Hitachi with them but the pictures don't do it much justice. This guy they keep sending out can barely work the remote and it took him over 5 tries to bring up the service menu. He borrowed my laptop to access Hitachi service site just to figure out what to do, so I am not confident he is experienced with my model. It has been over a month that my TV has been in need of repair. Doing some research online, I have found a service manual for the product. It states that after you do a memory init, you should input an RGB test pattern to input 1 via component cables and run the RGB auto adjust procedure and then input a sub contrast test image via the same way and run a sub contrast auto calibration. I know this wasn't done. I would like to know where I can get a hold of these test patterns myself if anyone knows or if anyone has had the "checkerboard" problem before as I think I am going to have to take matters into my own hands. Please let me know, for my poor TV's sake. I absolutely love this set and hate to see it suffer. I am not sure if this has been posted before but if anyone can find it useful here is a link to the 50v500 service manual. It might be nice to have as a backup if you own one of these sets just incase. Be sure to download all of the parts as it is a multi-segmented rar file. Thanks in advance for anyone's help. Service manual Link: http://fileshare.eshop.bg/downloadsm/13164/Hitachi_50V500.html
HD Fanatic Bronze Member Username: Hd_fanatic Boise, ID Post Number: 96 Registered: May-05	Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 05:47 GMT Just a suggestion, have you tried adjusting your set with the DVE disc? I would try that first. If you get the HD version, it has tons of test patterns to adjust to. If all else fails, it might not be a bad idea to have your set professionally calibrated. It usually costs around 250-300 bucks though. Once you have your set adjusted right, I would keep the settings saved somewhere in case this happens again.
Robert C123 Unregistered guest	Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 05:50 GMT Hey Guys: I'm here in Jamaica, and I have had my 50V500 for over 2 years now. Have been extremely pleased. But have had the Pink/Red Circle in the Middle that alot of people complain about, also at the top of the screen it is blue.... I have done research and a replacement Light Engine is in Order. Does any one know the exact Part No., and is this something I can replace myself? If so, if anyone has any instructions to do so? Please drop me an email. Robert
LizFromGermany Unregistered guest	Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 09:05 GMT hi guys. i live in germany and have had my 50v500 for two years now. just this morning it's decided to cover everything in a wretched pink hue. i've tinkered with the colors and it still looks bad....i am assuming this is a lamp problem. if not, please set me right. also, the part # i need (if it is indeed the lamp) is ux21511. anyone know where i can have this shipped to germany, or anywhere in germany i can get this part? thx in advance.
steven hopkinson New member Username: Watchdaride Post Number: 6 Registered: Jun-05	Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 09:42 GMT liz, I had that same problem. All you have to do is reset the light projector to original settings. They will try to sell you a new one but try this first. Check EA posting on july 2 and you can down load the tech manual and it will tell you how. They wanted to sell me that manual for $125 at hitachi.
Mitchy Beaman Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, September 25, 2005 - 15:46 GMT I turned on my 50V500 Hitachi LCD 50" TV this morning and the screen is all white with blue vertical lines. I have turned it on and off a few times but the same result occurs. I still have sound and I can change the channels and such. I have no idea what is causing this. I have read the manual but it does not offer any solution to this problem. Anyone have any suggestions??? My TV is about 8 months old.
Anonymous	Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 17:27 GMT I just had an engine lamp replaced on 9/23 05 and after the tech left shut the TV off. I turned it on a few hours later and behold the same problem you are having. The tech called and is coming today but said over the phone it sounds like a bad engine lamp again. So the one he replaced it with is bad also and I had to wait 5 weeks for it to come in. He said they have 207 on back order and 7 of them are his repairs. I do have the extended warranty. I have had this TV for 10 months and get a great HD picture but before my year is up if after this repair I'm going for the Circuit City lemon sale 3 times in one year you get a new one but I won;t get the same TV might go for a Sony.
TWerner Unregistered guest	Posted on Saturday, October 01, 2005 - 18:23 GMT Hi I am new. Any help on the following is appreciated! We have had the 50v500 since Dec. 03. No problems to this point. Although lately movies seem dark. Is that a problem? I can not get that service manual to download. Any Ideas? tryed saving to open, in firefox and IE. After much confusion on what best to do I think we have decided to go with a HD/DVR from our cable company for now to view the few HD channels available and see how we like DVR itself. Also our extended service warranty is about to expire. From the posts I have read so far I am confused about it. Is it better to just by parts and replace on your own or keep the warranty going ? How do I access the bulb hours menu? Should we go for the professional calibration? Is it worth it? Thanks for any responses. I'm sure if I get time I can find much more great info already posted as well.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 464 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 - 00:56 GMT TWerner, My 50V500 is exactly the same age as yours. No problem here either. Shortly after buying the TV, I bought the service manual on a CD ROM on eBay. It requires Adobe Acrobat 5.0 to read the PDF file. The extended warranty for a TV of this age would be relatively expensive, and is probably not of paramount importance, especially since you don't seem to have a problem at this relatively late date. I've never used a pro calibrator. I have had good results with a calibration DVD called Digital Video Essentials. At $25, it's a steal. The accumulated hours of use is on the first page of the service menu. To access the service menu: 1. Starting from a cold (off) TV, press the INPUT button on the TV's front panel then press the front panel power button. 2. Hold both buttons until picture comes in. Let go immediately, or the service menu disappears. 3. If not already there go to ANT A input (B works as well I think). 4. Press input button to get out, or turn off the TV. The first menu page shows hours of use in the upper right corner.
Tammay Werner New member Username: Twerner Post Number: 1 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 14:19 GMT John S, Thanks for the reply. I found and ordered the manual on e-Bay. I will be ordering the DVE from Amazon as well. Unfortunately after spending a entire day reading about this TV. I turned it on in the evening to watch a DVD only to notice that on the blank screen I DO in fact have that pink crop circle everyone talks about! I also have green and yellow halos around peoples faces. I'm so mad! I guess I just had not been paying close enough attention to notice all that until I knew what I should be watching for. So another forum AVSforum.com also has really good info on all these issues with this model. I plan on trying to use the DVE to fix this and the ghosting but have a sinking feeling that it is my light engine. Based on everything I have read on that forum and this one I think I will keep the warranty. Three more years will be 455.80 but that is a small price to pay with what this light engines cost and the fact that many people have them go out multiple times along with all the other various problems this set gets. Yikes!
HDDD Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 04:56 GMT I really wish I would have done my homework on this TV before I bought it. Logging on to this site just once would have convinced me not to buy it - can't believe how many people have to have the light engine replaced. I just don't think, nevermind - I know I could not buy Hitachi again after this. I love the picture, it's sweet but the headache and extra $ it costs to fix it (and it looks like anyone who owns this TV will have to go through this at least once if not multiple times) is just not worth it. Anyway, I'm glad a lot of people have posted about the service manual and DVE. I'm sure Hitachi would love to sell anyone a service manual and make more $$$ after already ripping us off on this TV. For anyone tempted to buy any closeouts on this model Hitachi - STAY AWAY - buy something else. This thing is a money pit.
JMB Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 15:42 GMT I am using the 50V500 as a second monitor running XP Media Center. The resolution won't is very low (everything is very big) and on display in control panel the slider bar won't move of the minimum (640) to higher resolution. I am using the HDMI input on Vid 1. Do I need to install a special driver? Is there any way to make the resolution higher
JMB Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 15:42 GMT I am using the 50V500 as a second monitor running XP Media Center. The resolution won't is very low (everything is very big) and on display in control panel the slider bar won't move of the minimum (640) to higher resolution. I am using the HDMI input on Vid 1. Do I need to install a special driver? Is there any way to make the resolution higher
Michael Somers New member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 7 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 18:59 GMT Here's another example of the bloom. I have a service tech coming to look at it tomorrow, but it looks like I already know what the answer will be. Here are two pictures that show what I'm talking about. The first is a shot of the TV set to an unused Video input. The blue is a little exagerated because of the extended exposure time but you can clearly see the redish bloom I'm talking about. The second shows the same area affecting the picture.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 491 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 12:56 GMT Michael, Good luck with that service call, and please let us know how it turns out. I do have a couple questions for you: How many hours is on the set? Do you have enough ventilation room in back of the TV? (The exhaust port is directly in back.)
Michael Somers New member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 8 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 13:51 GMT John, Thanks for the response. The TV is about a foot off the wall so I believe that ventilation is adquate. The TV has 4486 hours. I just received a call from the technician. He had the following questions. 1) How big is the spot? 2) Are there stripes? 3) Does anybody smoke in the house? I told him that the spot was a couple of feet big and appeared to be growing very slowly over time and that there were no stripes. The picture was viewable and nobody smokes in the house. He paused for a couple of seconds and said that he guessed he needed to come out and look at it. I'll show him this site as well when he gets here. I plan on posting the results of his visit as soon as he's done.
Michael Somers New member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 9 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 19:56 GMT Well, the service guy has come and gone...WITH MY TV!! Apparently he had no idea what the problem was. He thought maybe someone was smoking in the house and that was making the optics dirty. I told him that I been looking into it on the web and that in most cases the light engine needed to be replaced. He didn't do a thing!! Just looked at the picture and said "I see what you mean" and that it would need to go to the shop if I wanted it fixed. They will determine what is wrong with it there and then order the appropriate parts. I should have it back in 7 to 10 business days. What happened to troubleshooting? I don't think this guy would have been able to do anything I couldn't have done myself. This was a very frustrating experience. What's most frustrating about this is that the TV was watchable. Now I have nothing! I called PC Richard and they said that they could not understand why I was upset that they couldn't fix the TV at my house. "We can only do the job right at our shop. And you do want us to do it right. Right Mr. Somers?" AHHHHHHH!! I just hope they can have it back to me before next weekend.
DZ Unregistered guest	Posted on Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 16:53 GMT A positive word for the Hitachi 50V500...and not to question those who have had big problems. I'm at 2+ years of ownership with near 4000hrs usage. The picture is and always has been brilliant and the user features are superb. I used to post alot to this board around the time I bought the TV (John S. may remember) but now I find little need. The only glitch I've had was a sudden pink-hued picture which appeared one day in my first year, and that was quickly fixed by a Sears tech using the service menu (warranty visit). I was lucky to have a tech who really knew these next generation TV's. Two things he said at the time which I still believe to be true: 1) The vast majority of problems with 50V500's are software related (as opposed to a bad light engine or lamp), and 2) ventilation is REAL important for TV longevity. I've got my 50V500 standing alone on a family room wall, clear on all sides. I'm not so sure even a typical entertainment center provides ideal ventilation for these TV's.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 492 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 01:57 GMT DZ, Yes I remember. It is very good to hear from you again, especially since you have positive news. I guess you had better luck with your service tech vs. Michael's who sounds like he never saw one of these sets before. DZ, did your "pink-hued picture" problem look like Michael's above? Your tech's comments about the problems/ventilation on this TV were interesting. Thanks for sharing them. Michael, After looking through the service manual again I feel it is possible that you maybe could have fixed your problem yourself via the service menu. Now, your store (PC Richard?) will probably install a new light engine which might not be necessary. If you are interested, I could send you a CD-R of the manual. Please keep us posted on the repair of your set and good luck.
Michael Somers New member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 10 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 13:07 GMT John, I would definitely be interested in a copy of the service manual in any form. Let me know what you need from me and I will get it to you. As far as updates, I will keep posting updates as soon as I have them. I plan to call the service department tomorrow to get an update. I figure 2 full days (assuming that they don't work on Saturday) is enough to have diagnosed the problem. Watching the Giants game yesterday on my daughters 19" had her and my wife snickering. They think it's all very amusing. This is going to be a painful few weeks.
DZ Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 21:43 GMT John, My "pink-hued picture" had the entire screen pinkish and somewhat washed out on all inputs. It didn't appear as a large blotch as with Michael's photo. I'm convinced a power blip was the cause of my problem. The TV has working fine when I turned it off around 4p.m. one summer afternoon. Some thunderstorms moved by fairly close over the next several hours, and when I turned the TV back on in the evening the pink hue was there. At the time I was using a basic power strip for all my plugs including the TV. After the glitch and tech fix I went to a mid-level surge protector, I think it's 1300 joules, and the problem has not reoccured in well over a year.
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 12 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 15:31 GMT I just got off the phone with P.C. Richard's repair department. All they were able to tell me at this point is that they have ordered the parts. They couldn't tell me what was ordered. Next I asked if I would get a report of what was done. I was told that they usually do not provide that for a warranty service but I could request that it be provided when I arrange for the TV to be returned. In the meantime, it will be 3-7 business days before they get the mystery part. Looks like another weekend of small screen football. Stay tuned...
Alex Parrell New member Username: Scoobyhitshard Waco, TX United States Post Number: 2 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 02:58 GMT Mike, I got your message regarding the linking of your post to this one. I have a link to where you can get the service manual. I tried what Danny at the top of this page said worked for him. Unfortunately my settings were already defaulted to what repaired his TV. I'm usure if I can post likes so just send me an e-mail and I'll give it to you. It's a 2MB PDF, very confusing, might as well be in Greek. BTW some jerks are selling this same service manual for about $10 on ebay.
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 14 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 13:00 GMT Alex, I went to the eserviceinfo.com site and downloaded the manual yesterday. It was less than intuitive but I was able to get the full manual (193 pages). For anyone else who is interested, here is the link. http://www.eserviceinfo.com/index.php?what=search2&searchstring=50V500 There are 2 differnt documents here. The first, "50V500.part14.rar" is the 193 page Service manual. The second, "50V500A.part2.rar" is a parts list addendum. These files are compressed using WinRAR. This is similar to WinZip but has better compression ability. It can be downloaded for free from www.rarlab.com. To get the manual; 1) Create a directory to save the multiple files to. The manual is in 14 parts. 2) Save each file to the new directory. (You will need to save them all before you can open the files) 3) Once you have downloaded all 14 parts, open one of the files with WinRAR. 4) Double Click on the PDF file. 5) WinRAR will automatically open up all the other parts and combine them to make the complete manual. 6) Save the open PDF as a new file to a different directory on your computer. You should now have the complete manual. The same steps apply for the parts list addendum.
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 15 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 13:21 GMT By the way...After looking at the service manual instructions for removing the light engine (P.W.B. Assembly), I understand why they didn't want to do this at my home.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 496 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 13:40 GMT Basically the first 48 pages are a rehash of the user's manual. Things get interesting starting at page 49 with the "P.W.B. Adjustment."
Alex Parrell New member Username: Scoobyhitshard Waco, TX United States Post Number: 3 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 15:17 GMT This is driving me crazy! I've gone through the entire "ghost" removal feature, color saturation, flicker thingy and nothing. Heck I thought I was getting rid of it, but it turns out the pink ghost was hiding behind my extremely high setting in the magma. So everything was bright white. I did notice that the ghost is only visible in dark images. For example, when I'm changing the channel it defaults to what is supposed to be a dark screen on my cable box. When I'm playing splinter cell on xbox live(a stealth game where dark areas are littered through the game.) Yet if I'm watching TV for the most part it's not bad at all. I did see that my light engine has 4800 hours on it, so I'm wondering if it isn't just time to change it. Any insight before I have to shell out my $ for a service call would be great.
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 16 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 17:16 GMT Well, I called the service department for a status update and they are still waiting on parts. I did find out that the part that is on order is part number UX22202. This is the light or optical engine. Here is a picture from the web. P.C. Richard still does not know when the part will be in. 7-10 business days from 10/31 is the standard answer. So maybe I'll have the TV back by the 18th? We'll see.
D Shrum New member Username: Cashclip Post Number: 1 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 06:15 GMT I just read your posts and looked at your pictures and it looked just like my 50v500 which is not a year old. In August I had that problem and the repair man knew right away it was the engine lamp.It took 5 weeks to get the part in but he did it at my house. But the engine lamp he replaced the bad one with was also bad and many problems from neon red to blue stripes so he came again and I have all ready waited 5 weeks and no engine lamp because they are all on backorder.You might be waiting awhile if that's the part they ordered. Still don't know why they had to take it to the shop.
Steve Vance Unregistered guest	Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2005 - 00:24 GMT I woke up a couple of days ago to the dreaded red tint problem - it took awhile to scroll through the whole log here to get the problem fixed, but you guys did it. Since I had to get the full fix from multiple posts I though I would post the whole fix (at least for this) in one place. Steve From Simon -- September of 2004 To display the service menu, have the TV off and be sure the cooling fan has cycled off. On the TV front panel, press and hold the INPUT button and the POWER on/off button at the same time. (My set was on ANT B when the tech worked on it, so I don't know if ANT A/B makes any difference) As soon as the picture comes on with the service menu overlaid, let go of the buttons. If you hold the INPUT button too long it will remove the service menu after a couple of seconds. That's also how you turn off the service menu by pushing the INPUT button again which serves as an exit. (Please note -- on my 50V500 I had to press the input slightly before the power and then when the menu appeared I had to let go of the input slightly before I let go of the power button) Now about the service menu...something the manufacturer DOES NOT want the home user to mess with and probably for good reason. An unknowing consumer could screw things up royally by adjusting values, kind of like messing with the registry on a PC. But I watched the tech's workings like a hawk and took notes...he was good about it. The service menu is highly technical with several dozen parameters and code values. To fix my color problem the tech went to LCD DRIVE on the menu and adjusted the 3-character codes for SIG-C-R, SIG-C-G , and SIG-C-B. (menu navigated by using the remote's 4-directional round select button) Somehow my codes had become faulty, possibly from static shock or a power blip when the problem initiated 10 days ago(altho I use a surge protector with TV). The codes for these parameters were showing "000" whereas the correct code was "01D" (zero-one-delta). If the problem ever occurs again, I would now know how to fix it. From cigamd -- December 2004 I read the post by Simon (9/7/04, original post 8/18/04), but after adjusting those three settings still had the pink hue. The technician couldn't make it back out, but had found Hitachi's service bulletin on this known issue and faxed me the fix (with the same warning about accessing the service menu myself). In addition to the three adjustments referred to in Simon's post, there are actually six other fields in that same LCD Drive menu that had to be reset to get my great PQ back. Its likely not a permanent fix, as I don't know what causes the software to lose the default values, but now this 5 minute fix seems to work and sure beats waiting days for a technician. Per the other warnings, its not for the faint of heart (and could be a very bad idea if you change the wrong values), but here's the full set of default values under the LCD Drive adjust that should eliminate the "pink hue": SIG-C-R '01D' SIG-C-G '01D' SIR-C-B '01D' BRT-RO '000' GAIN-RO '0BC' BRT-GO '000' GAIN-GO '0BC' BRT-BO '000' GAIN-BO '0BC' Again, I'm sure its best to leave this to your local service technician, but if you're not getting satisfaction that route and are comfortable accessing the service menu (or desparate enough), this is the interim fix.
TWerner New member Username: Twerner Post Number: 2 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Saturday, November 12, 2005 - 03:27 GMT Update: After a month wait my new light engine and lamp have been replaced. I am in the houston, TX area. If anyone is having problems I would be glad to recommend my repairman. He was extremely knowledgeable about this set. Yes, all of the light engines are refurbs but have been upgraded. My parts were around $600 wholesale plus unknown labor billed to CC since I had the warranty. Since these high tech sets are prone to problems I did renew my warranty. The tech said he sees more Sony TV problems by far for those of you fed up and wanting to switch.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 502 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2005 - 17:05 GMT TWerner, Good to hear you're back in business, although it is not good to hear you needed a light engine. Was your tech extremely knowledgable about this TV because he's worked on plenty of them? Maybe he sees more Sonys because there's more of them out there? Why are all the light engines refurbs? Is that why it took so long, like waiting for an available liver for your liver transplant? Finally, it's good you had warranty, but how much do you think CC really had to pay for this repair?
Steve Vance Unregistered guest	Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2005 - 23:01 GMT Steve Vance here again. The problem with this board is that you learn enough to know there is a problem. I cured the pink-hue problem with your help. While reading about that fix I noticed that I also had another problem - the pink cloud - I only see it when the screen goes blank - when a TV channel is on I never see it - but I did notice the other day when watching a DVD that when the credits where rolling on a very dark gray screen I could tell it was there. From everthing I have read it is a light engine problem. However, I keep reading something about using the DVE to fix things. What is that? I had read before about the following fix quite awhile ago but am unsure if it applied to the pink cloud - this was from probably over a year ago ""I fixed it! I used the service menu to toggle down to "LCD Adjust". I then used the remote and pushed the stick button to the right. A new menu appeared (See above). I then pushed the stick button again to the right. A black box appeared on a white backround. I saw the pink ghost on the left side of the black box. I moved the stick button to the left to eliminate the pink ghost. I then hit the "exit" button on the remote twice to exit the service menu. Settings are back to normal. Just like new!"" - Anybody think this will help?? If not I'm just going to wait and see if it gets worse. I have 2700 hours after a little over a year and have been very very happy with this TV. Thanks for the help
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 17 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 01:08 GMT Steve, As soon as I have this resolved, I will post the findings. For now, I'm still waiting on parts. My gut feeling is that this could have been corrected in the Service Menu but, I'm not an expert. I only hope that the people that are diagnosing this are.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 505 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 01:40 GMT Steve, DVE stands for Digital Video Essentials, a DVD setup disc for help calibrating TVs and also with speaker balancing. I do not think it will help with your problem, although I do recommend its use. It costs no more than a new release DVD movie. Your second paragraph refers to someone correcting a "ghost" image problem some folks had some time ago on this thread. I do not think it applies to your problem. Keep us posted and good luck.
TWerner New member Username: Twerner Post Number: 3 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 14:16 GMT JohnS, I was just thankful he had worked on these before regardless of the reason! It is so hit or miss in the Houston area getting a service person who A) can speak english and B) who actually has had excellent training to do his job. Many people seem to be running into service providers who don't have a clue as how to service these. According to my tech the light engines are all refurbs because after the big production run on a particular model that factory set-up is torn down and they move on to the latest greatest thing. Only so many light engines spares were made new and then they start recycling the parts. Also the refurb light engines have an upgrade on them. I forgot what it was specifically but they have an improvement on them from the origninal. My tech said he personally would not buy any of the high tech sets because the technology was released to the public before all these types of kinks so to speak have been worked out. They are money pits because the parts do break down like this. I saw the bill and both prices for cost of the part and cost charged CC. I did not see labor charges.
Steve Vance Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 14:43 GMT Thanks both John & Michael for the reply. Michael, looking at the picture of your pink cloud that is exactly what I now have except it is not as extreme yet. I did not buy the extended warranty and I am about 2 months out of one year so I guess I looking at having to foot the bill unless someone can come up with an answer before it gets too bad. It's kind of disappointing that it appears to be a very common issue with the sets. It don't expect a company to stand behind what they make forever, but when there is an obvious defect in the design I think they should at least make it as painless as possible. From what I have seen Hitachi does not respond at all. Anyone have an idea what this is probably going to cost?
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 18 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 15:27 GMT Steve, I looked up the part number for the engine on-line and $1800 seems to be the going rate. Since I purchased the extended warranty with PC Richard, I have not been working with the Hitachi Tech Support group. In your situation, I would start with them and post their response here. The other thing we could all do is post the following information from our sets; Serial Number- Date of Purchase- Hours of run time- Problem Decription- (Should be one Line) With this information up in one location, you and anyone else would have some ammunition to work with when calling Tech Support. It would be harder for them to dismiss your problem as a one off when you can list a bunch of other units by serial number that have had the same issue. With your set being 2 months out of warranty, they will certainly try to have you foot the bill. But, in my opinion, you have a valid claim to having this done under warranty. The warranty date is not a hard "go/no go" date. If you are persistent, I believe you can get them to cover it. By the way, if you don't have it yet the Phone number for Hitachi Tech Support is; 1-800-448-2244 Then Press; 1= TVs then 5= Speak to Service Rep. (It will ring) Then 2= Projection/LCD TVs If you can, Have the information I listed above ready. I will post my information later today. I just need to get my serial number.
Steve Vance Unregistered guest	Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 19:33 GMT thanks Michael - I'll do that when I get home. I did call Hitachi service when I first got the red all over hue problem that I fixed through the service menu. All they would say is "you'll have to call a service tech" - I was persistant because I had read enough about the problem at the time to know it was common, and it would have been easy enough for them to give me the easy fix, but no luck. I called 2 different "authorized" service companies to start. The first said their tech was sick and it would be 2 weeks before they could schedule me - the service call would be $120 to diagnosis the problem. The 2nd said $60 for the service call, but they would have to take the TV to fix the problem. Luckly I kept looking around and found the fix myself. I don't mind paying for service, but I like to know I really need it....
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 19 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 13:21 GMT Problem Descrition---- Serial Number- V4A013206 Date of Purchase- April 2004 from P.C Richard Hours of run time- Aprox. 4000 when I noticed problem. Problem Decription- Pinkish Bloom or Cloud visible during dark scenes or when screen is blank. Solution- Service is replacing the light engine.
JOHN S Silver Member Username: John_s Columbus, Ohio US Post Number: 509 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 17:22 GMT Michael and Steve, Very good idea. If everyone on this thread with a problem documented it with the above data we would have some solid history. TWerner, In my 15 year (big box TV retailer) experience, you have to take a service tech's opinion with a small grain of salt. All he sees are the problems, and not the many products that are not broken. I've never invited a service guy out to my house to see a 50V500 that works fine...... All you have to do is read the many posts of people with CRT RP problems. (Anti-freeze leaking on the mother board? How quaint!) New technology is not necessarily bad.
SRC Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 00:55 GMT Michael, I really am pleased with my Hitachi but....... Having the same problem as yours...my 50v500 has started to show what your photo is showing...purplish red glow on dark scenes and black background, etc. Called my local warranty repair center and they asked me to describe what the set was doing, after my description...they told me to call Hitachi directly. The warranty tech said he just replaced a Light Engine just 2 weeks ago on another 50v500. As of today, Hitachi called me back with authorization to proceed with my set. It will be heading out this Thursday for repair. I only hope that I will continue to be pleased with my 50v. Hitachi 50v500 Serial #V410**655 Hours - 3210 Year purchased - 1/13/05 Year produced - Sept. 2004
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 20 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 21:27 GMT Did Hitachi tech support acknowledge this as a known problem? If so, Steve might be in luck with getting his set covered. I spoke with P.C. Richard service again yesterday. They still don't know when the parts will be in. I told them that I would call again Friday and if it looked like I was going to be without a my set for a few more weeks that I would be requesting a loaner. We'll see if I actually get anywhere with that.
Anonymous	Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 22:37 GMT Sounds like everyone is learning alot about these HDTV
SRC Unregistered guest	Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 23:32 GMT Michael, The Hitachi tech support would not go as far as saying that there was a known problem. But I found this interesting, when I called my local Hitachi warranty service center after Hitachi called me, my local tech confirmed that Hitachi did indeed call him and gave him the OK to proceed but wanted him to perform some specific testing before LE replacement. The service tech will be at my house in the morning and I will try to get more from him then. Scott
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 21 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 17:27 GMT Scott, Thanks. Keep us posted. Does anyone know if there's a web-site that posts Technical Service Bulletins? I have to assume that Hitachi sends these out to their Authorized Service Centers. I'm asking beacause, looking through this thread and other sites, I'm noticing that there are only three problems that seem to plauge this set. 1) Pink or Red Ghost 2) Pink Hue 3) The Pink/Red Bloom or Cloud All of these seem to be related to the red section of the engine. Therefore, I'm wondering if Hitachi has released a Service Bulletin that's related to problems with the Red Color of the Optical Engine. Any thoughts?
Steve Vance Unregistered guest	Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 21:11 GMT I'm back - sorry, I've been cheating on you guys and spent some time on the AVS forum. Here is my information: Serial Number- V4H032780 Date of Purchase- 10/17/2004 Hours of run time- 2800 Problem Decription- Red Cloud While I have been gone I paid to have a Hitachi certified Tech come and and diagnose the problem. Cost me $140. The tech was a joke - I know more about the TV now than he does - all he could do was follow the Hitachi service script. Anyway, I got my diagnosis and prepared myself for the fight since I am a month out of warranty. I think Hitachi's attitude is starting to soften - I got a guy named Joshua on the phone almost immediately. He never denied that he ever heard of the red cloud when we got to the problem. He just asked what they could do for me. I simply said all you have to do is pay for it and I will be happy. He put me on hold for about a minute and came back and offered to pay for parts. My response was polite, but firm. I said no, I did not think that was fare considering that this had been a known issue with the sets long before I was out of warranty and if he could not make the call on paying for it all then I needed to speak with someone who could. He said he would get me over there and I was back on hold. He came back about 3 minutes later and said since I was only out of warranty a month that they would agree to cover all of the cost of replacing the LE. I really kind of feel sorry for these guys. What a crappy job to have. They are obviously working off a script that they have been given in a plan to mitigate Hitachi's financial damages. Anyway,I really appreciate everyones help and advice on how to deal with it and it worked exactly as you said. I'll update with more info about the replacement experience later. Because they are doing the right think they have earned my loyality back - I still love the TV!
Michael Somers Bronze Member Username: Tv_mike Post Number: 22 Registered: Oct-05	Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 15:10 GMT Steve, GREAT NEWS! I'm glad to here they came through for you and I agree, I still love the TV.
Anonymous	Posted on Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 23:44 GMT I got mine fixed with a little help from a tech. Simply power enter all the info like the service manual says. Which is alot of work, then shut it down holding the info button until full powerdown. That resets the alignment of the magenta light engine core.
Danny Pierce New member Username: Ontarff Post Number: 9 Registered: Dec-04	Posted on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 15:46 GMT I just thought I would post the page location to fix a ghost problem with the 50V500. I posted this last December. https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-video/114992.html

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