Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

[unxetas]

Howdy!

Picked this up yesteday from a craigslist ad for $50 thinking I'd try to fix it or just even take it apart and try to learn a thing or two. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this one out of the landfill and also quench my thirst for upgrading my TV (needlessly..).

The actual fault is different than what I expected (what the guy described over the phone) and I haven't been able to find a similar fault in my searches through badcaps and google..

The TV turns on, chimes and all that, then the image comes up - the screen is divided into 6 equaly spaced bands. The first two from the left are two shades of solid white and seem completely opaque. The third is still pretty bright, but text is visible. The second half of the screen is also washed out, but the vertical bands are harder to notice. They're not quite visible in the video, but I can see them in person..

Before I get too far into this, does this seem familiar to anyone? Is it likely to be a panel problem, or something that might be worth fixing?

I've seen some tcon failures where the image gets washed out/solarized, similar to what's going on on the right side. But not sure about the wide vertical bands. Is the number of bands a clue to narrowing what might have failed? Or are the bands and the washed up image two separate problems?

I'm a nerd but other than playing with micro controllers and building a CNC machine, my knowledge of electronics is fairly basic. I pick things up pretty quickly, though, and do have "access" to a very knowledgeable neighbor. I do have a decent meter and an old oscilloscope, etc.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

video:
http://s201.photobucket.com/user/unx...b78a6.mp4.html

[DjKrish]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Sorry to say, your lcd panel is dying. Theres nothing u can repair or replace in a panel other than replacing it or throwing it away.

[freakaftr8]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Unplug the ribbon from tcon to panel on each side individually. Could be a tcon problem

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

I guess the lack of consensus gives me some hope

I'll try removing the tcon ribbon cables tomorrow and see how things change. For all the stuff and fancy tools I have in my workshop, I'm having trouble finding a nice workspace to disassemble this thing! It's pretty darn huge..

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

I'm still trying to come up with a service manual for this TV, but don't samsung TVs have a test pattern generator in the panel itself? Is there a way to remove the tcon from the equation completely and test the panel?

Thanks!

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Not thread jacking but i actually have a samsung 32" LCD with the same issue so hopefully i can learn how to fix it from u guys

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

howdy folks.. A couple more clues. Finally figured out a suitable workspace and took the back of the TV off. Had a good close look at the tcon board and all the solder joints look OK with the naked eye, which I guess doesn't mean much I found a tiny little IC that looks blown - picture attached. Not sure what it does, but it seems burnt.

I also disconnected the tcon to panel ribbons separately with interesting results..? I'll use left and right as if you were looking at the panel while watching something..

Disconnecting the right side of the panel makes the right side black-ish and the left side grey. No text of vertical lines that I could notice, just flat grey/white.

Disconnecting the left side (the worst side when everything is connected normally..) made the left side a darkish grey, but not black. Again, no lines.. The right side comes up washed out, but also no noticeable lines. There is the usual "check signal cable" box visible on the right, and the box continues faintly all the way to the left - I guess that sort of makes sense, the panel is repeating the last line as it isn't getting data of what to do next..?

Anyway - does that tell anyone anything? Judging by the burnt IC, I'm temped to order one or two tcon boards from eBay as they're cheap enough to give them a try.. But it would still be better to figure out a way of testing the panel to make sure it isn't dead/dying.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated

[freakaftr8]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Yea replace the tcon board. It's toast.

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

thanks - I've ordered a board from eBay and will give it a try! In the meantime, I'm tempted to replace that burnt chip. Looks like it may be a transistor? It's tiny and I had trouble reading the markings, I think it says BKX and N DW. A google search didn't help much, so I might have misread it.. I'll check with a magnifying glass in the morning..

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

please keep usposted if the board works for u if it does i know what i have to buy

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

I will! I'm in Canada and the board was shipped yesterday from the US. It should take 1-2 weeks to get here.. The wait is killing me, but I'll most definitely update the thread when the board gets here - whether the news are good or bad..

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

no board yet?

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Sorry I had missed your post, but no, at the time, still no board! It arrived yesterday - the delay was courtesy of eBay's new "global shipping program". Basically sellers ship their items locally to a company called Pitney Bowes or whatever it is, that ships it to their own mega hub, which then ships it across the border into another hub, and then finally to your home. Sort of like a normal shipping company, but with huge delays between each bump, and barely any tracking info. Ugh...

Anyway - hate to disappoint you but the t-con board didn't fix my problem.. Put the new board in and things look mostly the same, albeit the right side of the screen seems better - less washed out. I'll have to plug in an actual source to see if it's just my imagination, but on the menu, it seems better. The first two bars on the left are still solid white though, and the third is still brighter than the right half of the screen. So I think I did have a bad t-con, but that wasn't my biggest problem.

I guess it all points to a bad panel, but is there anything else I can try? Is there a board with six connectors or anything that might make sense to be so evenly split? I obviously don't know much about how these things work, but it seems odd to me that a panel could be broken in such a way to give me such perfectly even bars - that might just be my wishful thinking, though.

Thanks for your help so far, everyone. I did buy a service manual for this series that I'll post up online when I have a little bit more time. I don't think it'll do me much good, but hopefully it'll help someone else in the future.

[mmartell]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

If you continue to tear down this tv you will be left with the screen surrounded by a metal bezel/frame. If you remove that you will find ribbon-like cable that dissappear down into the panel itself.

You might find there are six equally spaced ribbons (tabs).

Look up "tab bond repair", might apply here.

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

I don't think tab bond repair would work as I have tried it on mine and he and I have the same issue.. What about the mainboard is there a possibility that could be causing the problem?

[mmartell]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Well, yes, if it's not the panel and not the tcon

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

Hey Untexas I was searching the web today and came across this post maybe we should try it.....

SAMSUNG LCD LN32A450C1D

Video Goes Bright White : Washed Out Looking Intermittently Tapping Or Twisting The Panel May Affect This Symptom. This Model Has The T-Con Mounted To The Bottom Of The Lcd Panel. The 2 Ribbon Cables From The T-Con Are Connected To 2 Thin Circuit Boards That Run Along The Lower Edge Of The Lcd. Because These Are On The Lower Edge, The Weight Of The Panel Can Press Them Against The Metal Frame Around The Screen Causing Them To Short Out And Give The Symptom Descibed Above. We Have Found Inserting A Thin Strip Of Cardboard Or Index Card Strips Between The Circuit Boards And The Metal Frome Will Isolate Them And Prevent This Problem

SAMSUNG LCD LN32A450C1D

Very bright white screen with washed out negative picture This set has a very bright screen (white) The screen is washed out with a neg pic. Samsung's web site mentions a board that the SMD caps are shorting out to the frame. The board is apparently between the LCD panel and the T-con board. The problem was indeed the bottom frame touching the SMD's on the two circuit boards that are connected to the LCD panel. If you look closely, you can see that the bottom frame is slightly bent upwards towards the PC boards. Putting in two 8 inch by 11/4 inch pieces of cardboard between the boards and the metal frame rectified the problem.

[unxetas]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

I'll give that a try when I get a chance! I'll also look at the tabs..

whatusername, do you have a thread or pics of your screen? I'm curious to see just how similar it looks. Also, which model do you have?

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

No I do not I have had that TV since before I joined this site and pretty much gave up on it till I saw your thread.... But since I found that post I will play with the TV when I get home tonight to see if it solves the problem and will take pictures of it as is so you can see the similarities between yours and mine... its a ln32c450e1gxza

[whatusername]

Re: Samsung LN55C610 LCD washed out image, vertical bands

so i tried the little fix and it didnt work these are my pics of the tv issue
the last pic i put the tv upside down to see if it would help relieving the weight off the t-con....it didnt