CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[dc_pilgrim]

I sold my theater equipment with my home, but since then the buyer has reported that the PJ has an issue with the blue tube not either not projecting or at a very low level output. The buyer reports that if he looks through the lenses he can see the image on the blue tube, but that it isn't showing up on the screen. I have asked him to cover the two other lenses and report if he gets any output on the screen.

He says the cables and the rest are unchanged from when I left it. I had put about a hundred hours onto the machine watching movies before I sold the place it sat unused (but installed) for about 3 weeks from when I left (and it was working fine) till he moved in.

The PJ itself is a 97 build. I swapped out the Convergence card when there were limitations in some of the controls. John Foley helped me with that issue. The tubes are pristine 8.5+ across the board. I don't remember the hours, but well under 5K. I have spares for all the other boards in a crate in my basement (minus lenses and remote).

The video chain is:

Toshiba A2 HD-DVD player to Yamaha Receiver via HDMI. Receiver to NEC Switcher w/Moome ISS card via HDMI (& component for other sources switched at the receiver, the Yamaha v661 does not transcode analog to HDMI), NEC Switcher to PJ via 25' VGA-RBGHV cable. The PJ is setup to project 1080i.

I'd like to help this guy trouble-shoot, and have a parts machine that I will send him parts with, even though I sold AS-IS. I could use help diagnosing the issue. Any thoughts? I am now 400+ miles away, which might make this difficult.

Thanks, Dave

[Curt Palme]

Are the test patterns bright, or is the blue dim there as well?

[Curt Palme]

Are the test patterns bright, or is the blue dim there as well?

[dc_pilgrim]

Not sure. I will ask him next time I speak with him. I emailed him a link to this thread so perhaps he will register and reply as well.

Mr. Levy, if you read this, to test the patterns, you will need the large remote that I left in the drawer of the rack (pictured here:



Use it in the room (it can also control the switcher on the rack - you don't want that). Press the TEST button and I think that will bring up the crosshairs like this:



Cover up the red and green, let me/us know how bright the blue is.

Don't tinker with the settings, or the PJ won't be converged afterwards.

[dropzone7]

This does not really make sense if he is seeing an image on the tube face. I don't know why but the first thing I thought of was perhaps the manual focus has been adjusted? I would ask if he has turned the wing nuts on the lenses at all. If he has and they are far enough out of whack then it might just be enough to blur the already dim blue enough that it either does not show up at all or just looks like a haze. Have him put up a test pattern like Curt says and if there is a reasonably focused blue cross-hair on screen then that blows my theory out of the water. If not, then have him try to adjust manual focus until it comes back in.

[dc_pilgrim]

Different issues

I spent a little time on the phone with Mr Levy today. He brought up the test pattern, and said he could see the blue, but that it was fainter. I didn't get to diagnosing the issue, since he was having problems getting an image to display.

We spent a dozen dropped calls trying to get a picture up from either a cable or DVD source. He was getting audio only. It was pretty difficult, especially since the phone connection was so lousy. I am disappointed that I couldn't move forward in helping him. But I ran out of time before a meeting.

But trying to determine the point of failure - (note he had an image previously, just not today)

sources (unlikely)
receiver
Moome card inside the NEC switcher
NEC switcher itself
projector
cables (don't think so)

I don't think it is the cables. We checked each connection, and they seemed to be fine.

It could have been that the PJ didn't revert to its signal after it pulled up the test mode. But I had him cycle the power on the PJ if that was the issue.

It could be that the configuration of his sources wasn't right in the receiver. I was trying to get him to connect his cable box direct to the Moome card in the NEC switcher when the connection died for the last time. He had sources hooked to the DTV input on the receiver on both component and HDMI.

I think it could be the input of the receiver or the NEC itself. The switcher was set to the right input (it displayed the right number). I can't remember, is the RBGHV input on the PJ selected via an input number, which one?

Back to the original issue:

Mr. Levy - The blue is always a little fainter than the red or the green. With the test pattern up, it would help to know the extent of the difference. Try putting the lense caps on a couple different ones to sense the magnitude. A little fainter is normal. A big drop off is not.

[dropzone7]

[macgyver655]

The issue with the test pattern is very important. If the blue test pattern is not as bright as it should be then messing with the source is not relevant. It is an internal issue. You must verify if the blue test pattern is normal or not.

Also have him turn the blue off and on with the button to see if the image cycles and make sure the blue is not just turned off.

If the blue test pattern is found to be normal and bright, but the regular picture is not, then I would suggest swapping the blue and green BNC's at the projector to determine if it's a source problem or not.

[Curt Palme]

You could also go into the 'white balance' adjustment menu to see if the blue comes back. This could be an AKB issue, or the video output board itself could be bad.

[Curt Palme]

You could also go into the 'white balance' adjustment menu to see if the blue comes back. This could be an AKB issue, or the video output board itself could be bad.