LG 55UP7000PUA washed out and dim

[x_orange90_x]

So I've got this 55UP7000PUA that has a very washed out and dim image. I've played with all of the settings, turned brightness to 100 as well as panel backlight, made sure no eco settings are on, etc. It looks like the backlight is at 50% or even less. I've been reading online that this is a pretty bad model with poor contrast and image retention issues, but I haven't seen anyone say it's dim like this. I've seen quite a few LGs with bad backlights before and they are usually blue. This doesn't appear blue, just washed out and dim. I've likewise never seen ANY backlights simply dim as a failure. But, could it be that they are failing? Or could it be weak capacitors or even a faulty panel? I haven't removed the back yet. I plan to check the voltage on the backlights and maybe even hook my tester up to them to see if they draw the same voltage.

The attached photos don't even do it justice; they even look brighter than the actual tv does.

[nomoresonys]

Did you try the different picture modes?

[nomoresonys]

Guess it's most likely backlight failure, easy to get there in 4 years if it has been run at 100% all along.

[nomoresonys]

After trying the usual picture settings, factory reset, firmware update. Post some pictures of the boards to see what we're dealing with. Can try a simple reset, probably won't solve but won't hurt, unplug from power hold power button in for 42 seconds, plug back in and try it.

[Diah]

its much like PSU 12V rail had no enough juice .. caps !

[b0ba]

backlight

[x_orange90_x]

nomoresonys
I did try all of the picture modes and even cranked the brightness to 100 on top of backlight at 100. I did not try a factory reset though, but the firmware did update and there was no change after.

Diah
I am going to pull the back off tomorrow and look at the power supply. It really does seem like a low voltage scenario. I'm also going to check the voltage at the backlight plug and then disconnect them and put my tester on then to see if they draw the same voltage.

[petehall347]

looks fine here ..if it bothers you that much try factory reset then ask how to to turn it down

[x_orange90_x]

I checked the voltage at the backlights plug last night and it was 123v. Then I unplugged it and put my backlights tester leads on the wires and got 120v there. So it's safe to say the backlights are getting the proper voltage. I then factory reset the tv and went through the setup again. I found something interesting when playing with the settings. Some things make absolutely no difference no matter what I set them at. Brightness for example, had no effect. The screen looks the same at 0 as it does at 100. Tint was another that had no difference from 0 to 100. I did find that if I manually crank the colors up under White Balance that it looks better, but it's not displaying yellow/orange colors correctly. They appear more washed out like pink and green. For example the iconic Liberty Mutual yellow commercial screen is a burnt orangey color and not yellow.
All of this is leading to me to think the main board might be defective somehow.

Something else noteworthy that I didn't mention before was when I got this tv the screen was covered in cigarette smoke. I cleaned it all off with alcohol and thought nothing more of it because I see this quite often. Well, after removing the back cover I see evidence of heavy smoke buildup on a few spots of the power supply and also on the casing. I've considered the possibility that smoke has gotten inside and discolored the diffusers, but I think it's unlikely.