KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

[SullyE]

Hello.

First post here, hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I bought a known defective unit (the above model), and the person said it 'shuts down' after powering it on... with no Power or Standby LEDs flashing or anything.

Brought it home last night, checked it out and it did what he said it did. Powered on, backlight tried to fire up... then shutdown. No front LED blinking, to indicate what is wrong. So I opened it up, took some pics... and discovered the 'right' side inverter board power was unplugged. Plugged that back in, and it fired up! I felt a bit better, but then discovered some vertical lines on the right side of the screen when connected to an HDMI source, input number didn't matter.

Tried out the PS4 this morning, and noticed there is a rather severe 'lagging' or 'ghostling' affect across the screen... as if the unit is trying to work in real cold temperatures.

The 'million dollar' question here is... is it the panel, or possibly (and hopefully) the T-con board? From my limited knowledge and research, it seems like this board is the one that 'drives' the panel. Gut feeling is that it's the board and not the panel... but I guess that is what I am asking here. Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

If it is indeed the panel, I can at least part out the set on Ebay... as I know the other boards are somewhat desirable. Seems like this set was quite problematic back in 2008 when they first came out... having some kind of 'tab bonding' issue or something, which a lot of people were upset about, having spent $4,000 (MSRP) on a TV that only lasted 3 years. I'd be pissed too!

Anyways, I can post pics of the ghosting... but I don't know if that would help. I'll check Youtube for videos of the symptom too. If anyone has any knowledge to share on this, please do so. I'd love to get this TV fixed.

Thanks much,

Gregg

[Hamie]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Sounds like a bad panel and a dodgy seller that's tampered with the TVs to get a better price. As any TVs listed with a faulty panel wouldn't sell for much.

[Alastair E]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Refresh-rates on old LCD's is pretty shocking and will show itself up on fast moving PS action.
--Not so bad on std/digital TV--For which the set is basically intended!

There's Panel faults that also display as terrible refresh/ghosting too.

The vertical lines is probably the screen-tabs, so looking at its history and your comments I would say LCD panel/Tabs are the problem....

[Moreno83]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

I have 2 tv's atm that do the same. Is it also washed out? ( black ).

Try to apply some pressure on the top housing of the tv. I have a philips tv ( 8404 ) that does the same , picture is very laggy , like a delay! When i hit the top of the tv or apply pressure on the housing it disappears.

Fixed this same model before with applying some pressure on the tab bonds.

So my advice is to completely disassemble the tv and try this "fix".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PfZXFGDvQ

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Thank you guys very kindly... I appreciate it.

Yes, I do believe the seller 'messed with' the set to mask the true problem... shame on me for not getting that out of him. But, it's on HIS conscience not mine... and so it goes.

Moreno, yes... the center of the screen is 'washed out', the sides both look fine in terms of color/contrast/tint, etc. Just the center appears sort of 'dark'.

I plan to try the 'push' method on the tab bonds, I just need to look at the vid on Youtube to be sure I'm pressing on the right thing!! Don't want to do any more damage than what has been done.

I'll get the pics off my phone later today and attach a few, but at least I have a start.

Thanks a million. Fingers crossed.

Gregg

[Moreno83]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Ok thats a panel "failure". Just search on youtube for " Tab bonding repair ". Watch out , when the tv is on the small ic's on the tabs get hot. Its save to apply some pressure on the tabs when the tv is on , you will see it disappears.

good luck!

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

So I'm confused... if it's a panel failure, can it be repaired? I work for a major medical imaging company and used to repair digital detectors... and most units that had any sort of horizontal/vertical lines were scrapped, due to unrepairability.

Also, do I just apply 'pressure' to the area where the lines are? Once I find that, I've read about putting some small tubing in there to keep pressure on that area.

Sorry for the questions... but then what about the 'lag' or slow-motion effect in the panel? Will that go away from fixing the tab bonding issue?

I'm just trying to figure all this out. Haven't had any time to research or get the pics off my phone... but thank you guys again. I appreciate the advice. I'm already learning a lot and that's great!

Gregg

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Sorry for the delay, I had hoped to post pics with my original post... but didn't have time to grab them off my phone.

See link below for what my Sony KDL-52XBR4 is currently doing. The 'ghosting' may not be too clear to see... but the center 'fading' and the vertical lines on the right are rather apparent.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskr3T9o9

Hoping it's a tab bond issue, and according to some YT vids, I have the same issue... which seems 'fixable'!

I will update when I attempt to fix. Thanks to all for listening and the support!

Gregg

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Update: 12-22-2015

Well, I finally had a chance to take 'er apart yesterday (without my 4 year old around)... and discovered that it IS definitely a tab bond issue causing the faded center of the screen and vertical lines, lagging.

It's the upper right flex (which seems like the culprit in every video/write-up I've seen). I was ready to give up, but then 'pushed' somewhat hard in the center of the flex... and BOOM, the picture got nice and bright and crystal clear!! YAY!

Now... the tricky part, finding a way/method to fix it and keep it in place. I used some smaller foam cabinet door bumpers in between the frame and flex, but the issue came back after a while. So there's not enough pressure on the flex from both 'front' and the 'top'.

I'm going to try a few other things when I get home today, but does anyone have any suggestions on a 'good' fix for this issue? I've heard electrical tape mentioned, but don't know where I'd apply the tape. The narrow control PCB on top wants to "lift up" and that adds to the cause of the problem.

I'll try to post some pics... but I guess most folks reading this already know about the tab bond issue. I just need a solid fix for it, that won't fail when I re-assemble and move the set to the location I am going to use it. Last thing I want to do is have to disassemble this beast again! Although, it is kind of fun!

Thanks for the advice so far, this is a GREAT forum. Very happy to have found it! Oh, I forgot to add 'Sony' on the title of this thread... I will be sure to add that when/if I ever create another one. Sorry for that...

Gregg

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

By the way... I read the Sticky on attaching photos using the "attachment function", but where is that located??? I've looked several times (like right now) in the Quick Reply window and I don't see anything as such. Just this text window, and...

Ooops... nevermind. Guess what I just found.

Yep, the 'Go Advanced' button!

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

So, here are a few pics... now that I can attach photos easy. Whew.

The checkerboard pattern happens if I press incorrectly on that flex with the issue. But, when I press the 'center'... viola!

Those are the foam bumpers I used, but I think I have some solid rubber ones that I am going to try... a bit more rigid. I found a thicker foam piece here at work to put above the flex, to keep the PCB down as well.

Will post back. Stay tuned!

Gregg

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

So I tried putting a 3/8"x 3/8" x 2" long piece of rather 'solid' foam (with sticky back to the frame) in between the frame and the flex, and it worked immediately. Yay! Sort of.

Now... the very unfortunate issue is, when I put the outer frame back on, the issue comes back. Very frustrating. This thing is extremely finicky... wow.

I can apply a slight pressure to the outside corner of the set (with the frame on) and the issue then goes away.

Any suggestions? I may try a thicker piece of foam to try to apply more pressure to the flex, but I can have too much pressure in between or I won't be able to put the inner frame screws back in.

How are folks resolving this flex issue? Maybe mine is worse than others that I have seen videos on. One guy used the small rubber bumpers... but unless you get them in the exact correct position... the issue is going to come back.

Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Gregg

[waterstrider]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

hi. hope this tip will help. if the problem you're having is with the bond of the flexible pcb to the top pcb and not the one with the glass, you can gently scrape off the insulation of that flexible pcb, expose the copper contacts a bit so that you can solder them directly to the top pcbs contacts. it needs a bit of soldering skill. but that will be a permanent fix for it.

[SullyE]

Re: KDL-52XBR4 Ghosting Issue - Panel or Board???

Thanks waterstrider. A friend of mine actually just said the same thing!

I do have pretty good soldering skills working for a major medical equipment manufacturer... but unfortunately, it's the flex to panel bond, not flex to PCB. The flex is humisealed to the panel, and I don't want to go messing with that... especially after I got it "working".

I'll keep playing around with it. It's going to be used as a basement TV for now... so if I get it going, even partially disassembled, it's better than what I have!

Thanks for your idea.

Gregg