Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

[Livermoron]

OK - so yea, someone else posted the same question a while back and didn't get any help. I tagged on that one looking for help. But I figure maybe people don't always look at old threads even when someone adds something.

Problem:
Red being displayed in much of what is supposed to be black or very dark. Moves with the scene. Not all of the black is red, just a lot of it.

So, from reading user reviews for this model my symptoms sound fairly common which leads me to believe the fix should be known. I was told by someone that its the LVD (or LVS - I don't remember exactly) cables and that this model has 3. Only $15 each so I bought them and started replacing them. One is fairly easy to get to and that had no effect on the problem. The other two are much more difficult and involve removing the main chassis. I will probably attempt this on Sunday if I don't get any solid leads beforehand.

Thanks

[tom66]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

You mean the LVDS cable, and there is usually only one (at most two for older Dual LVDS displays.)

Red pixels are more likely to be a T-con issue than a cabling issue... LVDS cables break in laptops but rarely in TVs... still, good luck.

[Livermoron]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

Right, LVDS cable (This is the email I got from someone who had posted the same problem but never had any replies to his thread - "Happy to help, 2 part orders later and I got it fixed. The problem was the LVDS cable. The problem with this particular model is that it has 3 cables rather than 1 so I had to replace all 3 ($15 per cable). Been about a month since I fixed it and works great. The replacement is pretty straightforward, just lots of screws to access the cables. Prior to replacing the LVDS cables, I put in a new T-Con board, and that wasnt the problem, so in all I spent $100 on a TV given to me free. Hope that helps."

When changing the one cable I could tell there were 2 more by the connectors types and cable diameter coming off the same board. But they snake down into the main chassis.

Thanks for the input - I might just go ahead and do the T-con - oh well.

[tom66]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

Right, LVDS cable (This is the email I got from someone who had posted the same problem but never had any replies to his thread - "Happy to help, 2 part orders later and I got it fixed. The problem was the LVDS cable. The problem with this particular model is that it has 3 cables rather than 1 so I had to replace all 3 ($15 per cable). Been about a month since I fixed it and works great. The replacement is pretty straightforward, just lots of screws to access the cables. Prior to replacing the LVDS cables, I put in a new T-Con board, and that wasnt the problem, so in all I spent $100 on a TV given to me free. Hope that helps."

When changing the one cable I could tell there were 2 more by the connectors types and cable diameter coming off the same board. But they snake down into the main chassis.

Thanks for the input - I might just go ahead and do the T-con - oh well.

Wait, is this an LCD, or Plasma?

[Livermoron]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

wait, is this an lcd, or plasma?

lcd

[tom66]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

lcd

Okay, try the cables. If it works, that's great - but I'm still betting my 50 pence on it being a T-con problem.

[Livermoron]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

OK - I took your advice and bought a new T-con board - $40 ish from (I actually forget - I know vizparts wanted $103 ish). I installed the board (under a metal cover at the top of the TV held on with 3 tiny screws). The LVDS cables still looked like a royal pain to do so I didn't try them. The new T-con board fixed the problem - for about a week! Then the red came back. So I went back in (getting good at taking off the back of this thing) and started on the cables. Turns out the guy forgot to mention that all three cables are different! But I didn't see this until I had one disconnected from the T-con board! So I took down the part numbers and hooked that cable back-up to the T-con and put everything back together to wait for my other new cables to arrive. Guess what? The red was gone again! Its the freaking connection between the LVDS cable and the T-con! At least that is what I've concluded. Its been about a week and so far the red hasn't come back although I expect it to. The new cables are here but I am debating about what to actually do when the red does come back - replace the cables( hard) or just disconnect the one I did before and try to clean it or something.

To anyone searching for how to fix this problem I recommend just disconnecting and possibly cleaning the LVDS cables that connect to the T-con board - there are only two of them (the other LVDS cable goes somewhere else and didn't make any difference) and then reconnecting them. The whole process should take less than an hour. email me at fhbathotmaildotcom if you need any tips, etc.

[eznoobpwned]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

I'm sorry if I missed something in the rules about thread necromancy.

I'm having the same issues with my Vizio TV (I don't have the exact model number on hand). I should probably note that my issue temporarily goes away for a few days to a week just by being unplugged for an hour. Thus, it'd make sense about that replacing the T-Con or reseating the LVDS cables above fixed the problem for a week.

Has anyone had any more luck tracking this issue down?

[Livermoron]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

Try the disconnect thing since that is the only thing I found that helped my situation. Like I said, it should take about an hour. If that doesn't do it then you're on you own.

Although I will say that since I fixed mine (still fixed 11 months later) I haven't been looking for more solutions. So there might be others out there.

Best of luck.

[j4m3z]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

This unit has 3 LVDS cables, thought finding the correct part numbers will be quite a feat. All 3 cables need to be replaced.

[Ltank]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

Service Manual but no Schematics

[Livermoron]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

Update - 25 months later and the red started coming back. I took the back off again and disconnected both cables from the T-con and then reconnected. Walla - no more red! I think it is pretty weird but am not going to question it too much. I hope this helps someone!

[Low Country]

Re: Vizio SV470XVT1A - red pixels instead of black

You were so right on your fix to the "red static" in "dark" parts of the picture. I took the set apart this am and cleaned the two connectors with electronic cleaner spray. The set now works perfectly. You saved me the cost of a new set. Thanks much!