Sudden signal drop on on Panasonic Plasma - arg!

Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

On Sep 24, 1:35 pm, wrote:
Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

is this the cable signal dropping ? or does it drop signal
from any source? try the signal sources one at a time
with all others disconnected until you find the one that drops out.
or determine if ANY source drops, in which case could be
the plasma itself, and not any of the sources.
from what you are saying, you need trials of each component.

mykey wrote:
On Sep 24, 1:35 pm, wrote:
Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

is this the cable signal dropping ? or does it drop signal
from any source? try the signal sources one at a time
with all others disconnected until you find the one that drops out.
or determine if ANY source drops, in which case could be
the plasma itself, and not any of the sources.
from what you are saying, you need trials of each component.


He answered that in his original post.

"the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message "no signal"
displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program being
displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices."

-Gandalf

wrote:
Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

Sounds like your troubleshooting methods are on the right path.
Hassle or not, try the component in.

I'm afraid to say what it sounds like. :-/

-Gandalf

3 possibilities -

1. iScan (scaler) issue - perhaps sending a signal that doesn't sync
with the DVI card (I'm reaching here, unfamiliar with how these
components talk to one another).
2. DVI card is shorting out.
3. Plasma monitor has gone bad.


#1 may be fixable by changing scaler parameters.
#2 is best hope as I need motivation to swap in an HDMI card (if they
exist for this monitor)
#3 is total disaster

t o n y

3 possibilities -

1. iScan (scaler) issue - perhaps sending a signal that doesn't sync
with the DVI card (I'm reaching here, unfamiliar with how these
components talk to one another).
2. DVI card is shorting out.
3. Plasma monitor has gone bad.


#1 may be fixable by changing scaler parameters.
#2 is best hope as I need motivation to swap in an HDMI card (if they
exist for this monitor)
#3 is total disaster

Tony

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:31:12 GMT, Gandalf wrote:


wrote:
Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

Sounds like your troubleshooting methods are on the right path.
Hassle or not, try the component in.

What troubleshooting methods? THe OP has done nothing to simiplify the setup
or isolate the fault.
Hint: First step is to get rid of the scaler/processer.
Run just DVD player to TV and see if it works OK. If it doesn't work,
try a different component or test with just the receiver's OSD.

What troubleshooting methods? THe OP has done nothing to simiplify the setup
or isolate the fault.
Hint: First step is to get rid of the scaler/processer.
Run just DVD player to TV and see if it works OK. If it doesn't work,
try a different component or test with just the receiver's OSD.

good point. the individual components must be tested one at a time.
it is not unusual for a DVI card or a television to crap out and we
have heard many reports of these malfunctions.
unfortunately, the problem is intermittent and each component will
require testing for hours to pass the test. intermittent problems are
the most difficult and time consuming type to isolate.
when panasonic learns of these types of malfunctions, it informs
service centers but never informs the customers who purchase
the equipment. I am very familiar with the secret panasonic
service bulletins.
failure as described here is frequently thermally related, when
a certain component heats up to a degree, it fails. when it cools back
down, it works again.