DLP Flickering

[Genx87]

I have had a Toshiba 52 inch DLP since June of 2005 and it worked great. But in the last week it has developed a slight flickering. What I mean by flickering is the picture stays fine but the brightness goes down a bit and comes back. It isnt uniform and comes and goes.

Now a few things have changed since the week before Christmas. We got a TiVoHD which uses a cablecard and is connected through the component. Our Toshiba HD-DVD player is hooked in through the HDMI. Before we used Coaxial connection from a Series 2 TiVo unit with a Digital Box in front of that.

If it isnt a bulb what else should I be looking for?

 

[Muadib]

It could be the bulb. How many hours do you have on it?
It could also be that you are having power fluctuations in that room. I had the same issue with my projector, and got a surge protector from monstercable which fixed it.

 

[Genx87]

It is on a power strip that is supposed to have a built in surge protector. As for the hours, I'd have to check. The thing has been running solid since June of 05. Ill look through the manual and see if there is a way to check the hours on the bulb.

 

[jiffylube1024]

My guess is that it's the bulb. My family has the 52HM85 and has had it since boxing day of 2005. Here's instructions on how to check how many hours are on the bulb (I pulled this from another site awhile ago):

[remember 2004 TV's end in 4 like 52HM84 while 2005 TV's end in 5 like 52HM85 or 52HMX95, etc]



"Douglas T, the instructions for checking lamp life are correct as I have validated it on my set. Here they are again.Step 5 is the only part different on the 2005's.

For the 2004 models:

With TV turned on:

1. Press "mute" on the remote - 1/2 mute appears on the screen
2. Press "mute" on the remote again - mute appears on the screen
3. Press "mute" on the remote and hold the mute button -
4. Press the "Menu" button on the TV's front panel. "S" will appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
5. Press the "Menu" button a second time and the "S" will disappear. On the left side of the screen you will see "RCUT" followed by two numbers.
You are now in the service mode.
6. Press "9" on the remote and you will access the diagnostics page. In the right hand corner is the lamp time in hours.
7. Press "power" button on remote to exit the menu and power off the TV.

CAUTION: Do not use the up and down volume keys on the remote in this menu as it can alter the data and can be dangerous.

For the 2005 models:

With TV turned on:

1. Press "mute" on the remote - 1/2 mute appears on the screen
2. Press "mute" on the remote again - mute appears on the screen
3. Press "mute" on the remote and hold the mute button -
4. Press the "Menu" button on the TV's front panel. "S" will appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
5. Press the "Menu" button on the remote and the "S" will disappear. On the left side of the screen you will see "RCUT" followed by RCUT
ADDR DATA BINARY
224DH 00H 00000000B.
You are now in the service mode.
6. Press "9" on the remote and you will access the diagnostics page. In the right hand corner is the lamp time in hours.
7. Press "power" button on remote to exit the menu and power off the TV.

CAUTION: Do not use the up and down volume keys on the remote in this menu as it can alter the data and can be dangerous.
"

 

[Genx87]

Thanks a bunch, Ill check it out tonight. BB looked up my bulb cost. 184 bucks which isnt bad. I was expecting about 400 hehe.

 

[spacejamz]

little ticked off by my Toshiba set right now (62HM116)...bought it at Costco in Aug 2006...17 months laters (1143 hours on my bulb), the brightness is considerably lower which is an indication that the bulb is about to blow.

Even though the Toshiba warranty on the lamp is for one year, AMEX extends it another year, so they are paying for my new bulb (which was $180 shipped from www.dlp-lamps.com). You may want to check if your credit card (assuming you used one) does something like this.

Still have thoughts on just returning this TV to costco since I bought it before the policy change. A $2800 TV should last more than 17 months (1143 hours)...the bulb was supposed to last 10,000 hours.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Thanks a bunch, Ill check it out tonight. BB looked up my bulb cost. 184 bucks which isnt bad. I was expecting about 400 hehe.

Not a bad price on the bulb. My DLP bulb cost well over 450. Good thing I still have about 1500 hours left and only use it for the 360.

 

[SolMiester]

Thats why a bought a plasma, my DLP projector now has 2800 HRS and is only rated for 3000-4000, here's hoping i get another 3 yrs out of it now i dont use it as a TV!

 

[arcas]

Does your TV have some sort of automatic variable iris that was previously disabled? My Sony SXRD will adjust the screen brightness based on what's being displayed. I notice it sometimes when my DVR menu is visible in most of the screen while live TV is in a window.