Extremely Dark Picture . . . Am I Screwed?

[cjwct]

Woke up this morning, turned on my Hitachi 51" CRT (2 years old) and the picture is extremely dark black and you barely can see anything on the screen.

I switched the component cables to an HDMI cable and back again to no avail. Am I screwed ?????????

 

[cjwct]

Additional stupid q: I did not experience problems until connecting/using a PS3, could that have "killed" my tv?

 

[dfergie]

Shouldn't have caused that.

 

[cjwct]

Okay . . then what can the problem be?

 

[cjwct]

by the way dfergie . . . squirrel!!!!!!

 

[dfergie]

Yeah ... not sure, but doesn't sound good...

 

[cjwct]

well, I just emailed a local repairer to see what an estimate would cost . . . unfortunately, getting married in 4 weeks and have no money for a new tv right now . . . crap, now have to watch tv for a while on a 32" nonhd

 

[cjwct]

Repair guy is going to charge $100 to come out and give an estimate; does this sound fair?

 

[dfergie]

Yeah, I had to travel 80 miles to a repair shop for a Sanyo, but the estimate was included with the total cost when it was fixed... but that was the only shop close by here... so not sure.

 

[toto]

Woke up this morning, turned on my Hitachi 51" CRT (2 years old) and the picture is extremely dark black and you barely can see anything on the screen.

I switched the component cables to an HDMI cable and back again to no avail. Am I screwed ?????????

Is the almost entire area of the screen black, with a small outer edge that looks normal?

 

[cjwct]

no; whole screen dark and like I said, everything else is barely visible

 

[toto]

It doesn't sound like what
I thought it might be. Just in case you might hit your CloseCaption button (cc). Sometimes that is accidentally set at one of the text modes which would cover most of the screen in black.

 

[DJ Rob]

Check and make sure all of the inputs and the built-in tuner are dark. Could be a simple input problem.

 

[cjwct]

DJ Rob . . . interesting you say that because one of the component cables (blue) is basically just sitting in the input and can fall out upon touch. I am hoping that the tv just needs to be opened and those inputs tightened or whatever and it will be cheap and easy fix . . . I will post what happened tomorrow . . . . in the meantime I have another quick question . . . looking ahead (2-3 months), which of these would people suggest:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024NL4EC/?tag=bestplasmatv-20&link_code=ur2&creative=9325&camp=211189

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P58V10-plasma-widescreen/dp/B002JI0D4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276978574&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Panasonic TC P58V10 - 58" plasma TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV:?@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Nrj0nsgxL.@@AMEPARAM@@41Nrj0nsgxL[/ame]


Epson Home Cinema 8100 Home Theater E


I like the idea of a projector but this would be my primary source of watching television/moves, playing ps3 games, and I never have owned one before.

 

[dfergie]

jayn just got one of the Epson's haven't heard anything other than in this post... http://www.satelliteguys.us/television-sets-projectors/204602-mitsubishi-hc3800-projector.html
remember the FPTV's have longer lamp lifes if used 2 hours or more at a time ..

 

[cjwct]

like I said it is a couple of months away and my only concern with a projector is setting it up, making sure the image is properly aligned, etc., etc.

projectors would probably sell more if there was a campaign to ease people's worries!

 

[dfergie]

I run my 40" Sony in the livingroom for filler & News, for serious watching I go to either my small HT room or Bedroom (have FPTV's in both)

 

[jayn_j]

jayn just got one of the Epson's haven't heard anything other than in this post... http://www.satelliteguys.us/television-sets-projectors/204602-mitsubishi-hc3800-projector.html
remember the FPTV's have longer lamp lifes if used 2 hours or more at a time ..

I am still settling in with mine. I have around 20 hours on the set. I am setting up a home theater and have mine currently projecting a 130" image onto a blank wall. The set is spectacular and the total experience is very theater like. We went and saw Toy Story 3 (2D) yesterday, and it just confirms for me that it is going to have to be a very special movie to drag me out and have me spend $50. It is a new theater with good sound, but the total experience was no better than I have in my basement. That's the value of a front projector.

Interestingly though, I have a 50" Panny plasma that I use for casual viewing. That is where we go for TV shows, the kids' stuff or when we just want to be there for a short time.

If you do decide to go with the Epson, be sure to shop around. The link you posted is significantly more expensive than I paid. In fact, it is higher than the $1499 MSRP that is posted on the Epson website. I got mine from Amazon, but there are several reputable dealers that are offering good prices on the unit or on combo setups that include various accessories like screens, ceiling mounts and cables for less than that price.

 

[cjwct]

ok . . . surprise, surprise . . . tv is fixed . . . and only set me back $170 . . . it is more or less a temporary fix and I will have to buy a new tv but that can now wait till after the wedding . . . essentially, (and i am not a techie) the codes were reset, the crts were/are weak and and there was poor connectors due to (crap, forgot the term) . . . anyways, he cleaned the lenses, knocked off the crap on connectors, reset the codes. realigned lenses, and then tweaked the video settings . . . took about an hour and again . . . such a good guy and great service!

 

[dfergie]

Glad things worked out, $170 beats the heck out of 5 x that or so...