Philips 30pw8402

[mmartines]

I just bought a 30pw8402 and I need some help. By the way I also have Comcast HDTV.

1. Can someone recommend a DVD I can buy to fix the horrid geometry problems?

2. Is it typical to have light spots in the corners of the set. Unplugging seems to help temporarily but it is not a fix. Do you think I just have a lemon?

3. The picture during sporting events seems poor. The grass is somewhat digital and their seems to be a funny digital edge around each player. Anyway to fix this or is it something I have to live with in a Philips? Is there a term for this?

4. Is anybody really happy with their set in SD mode?

I'm really new to the whole HDTV thing and appreciate your help and input. I am beginning to think I should get a different set.

[Dark Rain]

I had this TV and took it back. I had most of the same problems you describe and could not fix them. My advice is to take it back and get something different. This TV isn't worth the hassle.

[mmartines]

So which TV did you end up getting?

[Dark Rain]

Well, it's been nothing but problems for me. After the Philips I got the Toshiba 30HFX84. It had some problems and I had it replaced. The replacement unit seemed fine until I noticed some problems with it after a few days (convergence, faint horizontal lines while watching DVDs over component inputs, bad geometry). I thought I had a keeper but it's going back. :(

So, instead of getting a third one I decided to get the 30" Sony KV-30HS420. It should be here sometime next week. The comments for it around here are very positive, so hopefully I won't have any problems with it.

My faith in Toshiba HD CRTs is pretty much out the door now. This also goes for Philips and Panasonic. If I were you I'd check out the 30" Sony. Do a search for it here. CNET gave it a good review and Consumer Reports ranked it the highest for PQ over the other 30" units.

[mmartines]

Yeah I knew it, I have always had a Sony and swore by them. But going to HD I thought I might save a few bucks and try a new brand. Looks like I might follow your lead. As the say "Sony the one and only."

[Dark Rain]

I learned the hard way with trying to save some money by getting a cheaper HDTV. It's not worth it unless you're willing to put up with a crappy looking picture. The Toshiba seems to be hit and miss, but after two bad ones I've decided to move on to the Sony.

[oryan_dunn]

I've had an 850H for over a year now and I've been very happy. It does have its flaws (faint vertical lines that are only noticable on light blue or grey), but all crt tv's i looked at had problems in some areas (geometry, color decoder, faint lines, color spots, convergence, etc.). If you search these boards, even Sony's have problems. For me, it was which problem can I live with and the lines on my set are only noticable on the lightest of scenes when the ambient light is zero. Other problems such as geometry are noticable all the time, but can usually be dialed in quite nice throught he service menu. Just be prepared that Sony may not be 100% problem free either.

[mmartines]

Is the 850h a substantially different model than the 8402?

[oryan_dunn]

There are a few differences.
Cosmetic - The case is different as is the remote
Inputs - the 8402 has an HDMI port, the 850H doesn't
Features - 8402 allows aspect ratio control with 480p sources.
- the menus are slightly different.

[mmartines]

Any ideas on how to get rid of the bloching in the corners. It seems like magnatism or something, but I have no speakers next the the TV. The online troubleshooting indicate unplugging the TV up to 5 times should solve the problem. Well unplugging it once works, but then it comes back. This can't be right, sound like a lemon to you? By the way, did you use any special type of DVD to calibrate your TV?

[oryan_dunn]

I've used Avia to calibrate my tv. You could probably just use dve as avia has a ton of stuff i've never used.

As for the color spots, every once in a while, mine will have a spot in the lower left corner, but it will go away if i turn the set off and back on (the degausing fixes it). If it comes back all the time, i'd suspect that there is a problem, either with the shielding of the internal speakers or something. I'd also try moving it to a different spot in the room to see if that helps. The reason that the the color is off, is that electron streams meant to hit a green phosphor, for example, is hitting a red or a blue phosphor. It could be due to some weird magnetic field, or there could be a problem with the tv's calibration that it is slightly off.

[derek985]

Very useful thread... Thx!

[Protonus]

Originally posted by oryan_dunn
I've used Avia to calibrate my tv. You could probably just use dve as avia has a ton of stuff i've never used.

As for the color spots, every once in a while, mine will have a spot in the lower left corner, but it will go away if i turn the set off and back on (the degausing fixes it). If it comes back all the time, i'd suspect that there is a problem, either with the shielding of the internal speakers or something. I'd also try moving it to a different spot in the room to see if that helps. The reason that the the color is off, is that electron streams meant to hit a green phosphor, for example, is hitting a red or a blue phosphor. It could be due to some weird magnetic field, or there could be a problem with the tv's calibration that it is slightly off.

Actually it can be far more serious as my first Philips was damaged in shipping...

Hit the screen on the glass with your hand - does the color change slightly in the corners or "shimmer" when you do that?

If so - the shadow mask inside the picture tube may be loose. With mine - it was heavily damaged in shipping - ie a lot of broken plastic - and I had a big green donut in the upper right that was sort of "faded" - it would shimmer with impact...

hitting the TV makes the shadow mask vibrate and if it's loose, it will do that. However, it is unrepairable if this is the the problem.

The other issue is a purity magnet on the yoke of the TV may have fallen off, they are glued on - and fix permanant gaussing problems. Unplugging/replugging the tv or turnign it on/off - degauses the screen with a built in degausser.

However, it is also possible to have it truly degaussed using a degaussing coil or a magnetic tape eraser... that might fix your problem.

Lastly some ROOMS can gauss your tv.. do you happen to have it near a steel wall, on a metal table, or in a metal room?

Also NEVER turn or move your TV while it's ON. This gauss's the screen with the earth's magnetic field!

[rickmccamy]

Originally posted by Protonus
Lastly some ROOMS can gauss your tv.. do you happen to have it near a steel wall, on a metal table, or in a metal room?

Also NEVER turn or move your TV while it's ON. This gauss's the screen with the earth's magnetic field!




Absolutely, also most of us put away the VCR when we went digital, but the big magnetic heads in them can gauss a screen. I have the 34pw9819, last years Phillips, and just turned it a little to get behind it while it was on, green blob in lower corner. Turned it off for 30 seconds and it cleared itself.
As for the digitalizing around heads and other moving objects that only happened in SD and with my old non-progressive DVD player in Pixel Plus, When I selected progressive the picture wasn't as sharp, but no digital waves.