DLP Picture Problem--I'm stumped!

I'm hoping that someone here might recognize the problem I'm having
with my TV and help me out. I've posted about it a couple times in the
past but now I'm way past frustrated. Some background: I have a Sharp
DLP which for the first six months worked just fine. It had acceptable
SD pictures from digital cable and outstanding HD pictures. About six
months in it started making a loud noise. Sharp customer service said
that it was most likely the cooling fan so they sent the part and
dispatched the authorized servicer (AS) to replace it. It took the guy
two hours to figure out how to install it, but once he did the noise
was still there. So after consulting with Sharp, they decided the
noise was coming from the color wheel so they sent him a replacement
light engine. After that was installed, the noise went away but then I
started noticing problems with the picture. I could be watching one
scene where it was a beautiful picture, and then with a scene change,
it got ugly. It's hard to describe but one manifestation is that human
faces in a low lit scene will have purpleish splotches on them.
Background scenes will have bad color that has a smearing effect.
Again, this normally appears when the scene is indoors but not
exclusively. I wish I had some screen shots I could point to. At any
rate, I called Sharp again and complained and their answer was to throw
another light engine at it. It was replaced again but there was no
change. So after my next call, they sent another part. I don't recall
what the nomenclature of the part is but my servicer said that now I
basically have a new TV from the one I bought except for the case and
the projection screen--everything else has been replaced. The problem,
however, still remains.

There is one thing that is stopping me at this point from calling Sharp
and raising hell. Somewhere between the second and third light engine,
I had to replace my cable STB (SA Explorer 8300HD). It developed a
strange problem whereby I would try to change the channel and it kept
going back to ESPN HD. I could have lived with that but my wife wasn't
too thrilled. :-) When we got the nex box, the problem with the bad
color seemed to diminish somewhat. It's still there and in some cases
makes the picture look horrible, but I just remember that my feeling
after first getting the new box was that it just wasn't as bad. So I'm
a little stumped. Again, the picture was great until they made that
first light engine change, but it hasn't been the same since.

One last thing I'll mention is that my servicer is complaining of a
lack of support from Sharp. He said he is having no luck getting hold
of an engineer or a technician to answer his questions. He says he's
been servicing Sharp products for 20 years but that their technician
base in the U.S. has shrunk drastically.

So any ideas from you TV gurus??

And any recommendations on where on the AVS Forum I could post this?

Thanks!

Dave Clary
Corpus Christi, TX

Not sure, but sounds like the dreaded 'rainbow" effect,

Some people are unable to see it, some people are driven mad by it,
and sometimes once you notice it you can not stop seeing it.

Was a problem with early DLP sets....

You also might have some sort of alignment issue, though I thought all
the alignment on a DLP set was done in the light engine?

"Dave" wrote:

I'm hoping that someone here might recognize the problem I'm having
with my TV and help me out. I've posted about it a couple times in the
past but now I'm way past frustrated. Some background: I have a Sharp
DLP which for the first six months worked just fine. It had acceptable
SD pictures from digital cable and outstanding HD pictures. About six
months in it started making a loud noise. Sharp customer service said
that it was most likely the cooling fan so they sent the part and
dispatched the authorized servicer (AS) to replace it. It took the guy
two hours to figure out how to install it, but once he did the noise
was still there. So after consulting with Sharp, they decided the
noise was coming from the color wheel so they sent him a replacement
light engine. After that was installed, the noise went away but then I
started noticing problems with the picture. I could be watching one
scene where it was a beautiful picture, and then with a scene change,
it got ugly. It's hard to describe but one manifestation is that human
faces in a low lit scene will have purpleish splotches on them.
Background scenes will have bad color that has a smearing effect.
Again, this normally appears when the scene is indoors but not
exclusively. I wish I had some screen shots I could point to. At any
rate, I called Sharp again and complained and their answer was to throw
another light engine at it. It was replaced again but there was no
change. So after my next call, they sent another part. I don't recall
what the nomenclature of the part is but my servicer said that now I
basically have a new TV from the one I bought except for the case and
the projection screen--everything else has been replaced. The problem,
however, still remains.

There is one thing that is stopping me at this point from calling Sharp
and raising hell. Somewhere between the second and third light engine,
I had to replace my cable STB (SA Explorer 8300HD). It developed a
strange problem whereby I would try to change the channel and it kept
going back to ESPN HD. I could have lived with that but my wife wasn't
too thrilled. :-) When we got the nex box, the problem with the bad
color seemed to diminish somewhat. It's still there and in some cases
makes the picture look horrible, but I just remember that my feeling
after first getting the new box was that it just wasn't as bad. So I'm
a little stumped. Again, the picture was great until they made that
first light engine change, but it hasn't been the same since.

One last thing I'll mention is that my servicer is complaining of a
lack of support from Sharp. He said he is having no luck getting hold
of an engineer or a technician to answer his questions. He says he's
been servicing Sharp products for 20 years but that their technician
base in the U.S. has shrunk drastically.

So any ideas from you TV gurus??

And any recommendations on where on the AVS Forum I could post this?

Thanks!

Dave Clary
Corpus Christi, TX

Do you see this with DVD hooked up via component or HDMI/DVI inputs: this
might help distinguish whether the problem is the cable box or the Sharp tv.

On Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:22:09 GMT, wrote:


Not sure, but sounds like the dreaded 'rainbow" effect,


I don't think so. I've done a lot or searching on the rainbow effect
prior to this and the descriptions I've seen (along with some graphic
representations) don't seem to be anything like what I'm experiencing.
And everyone who watches my TV sees the same thing.

Thanks!

Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx
Home: http://davidclary.com

On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:00:45 GMT, "bmoag" wrote:

Do you see this with DVD hooked up via component or HDMI/DVI inputs: this
might help distinguish whether the problem is the cable box or the Sharp tv.

Hmmm...good catch. I don't view many DVDs (the last one was on golf
instruction) but I can borrow some movies from my son and check it
out. If I recall correctly, however, my DVD is hooked up via
S-video. I'll have to see if I can put it into the same Component
input that the STB is using for comparison.

Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx
Home: http://davidclary.com