Another Samsung plasma issue

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by YamahaFreak

I will try and perform your suggested tests tomorrow evening. In the meantime, would it be safe to assume the panel itself is okay if it does illuminate for a brief moment upon each startup cycle?

I would say yes, particularly if there are no star cracks or blackened pixels on the screen.

John

[YamahaFreak]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a picture!! I feel really dumb...at some point, when I had the set apart, I must have forgotten to reconnect one of the right side buffer ribbons (see second pic)...as soon as I saw this error, I reconnected it and the set fired right up on the next try. (To be clear, this is after replacing the Y-sustain board.) The picture is still really dim to my eyes...maybe it's the picture controls. The bulk of my issues seem to be over! (EDIT: selecting the 'Dynamic' picture preset brightened things up quite a bit.)

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by YamahaFreak

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a picture!! I feel really dumb...at some point, when I had the set apart, I must have forgotten to reconnect one of the right side buffer ribbons (see second pic)...as soon as I saw this error, I reconnected it and the set fired right up on the next try. (To be clear, this is after replacing the Y-sustain board.) The picture is still really dim to my eyes...maybe it's the picture controls. The bulk of my issues seem to be over! (EDIT: selecting the 'Dynamic' picture preset brightened things up quite a bit.)

You'd be surprised how often that happens to seasoned technicians. No shame there. Fortunately, you didn't cause a problem. There were certain LGs that would destroy the display if ribbons were removed from the Y buffers. Happened to me, but that was during an intentional disconnect to check for panel loading. The panel was good before I got to it, but the loud cracking noise after disconnecting a buffer told me otherwise. Weeks later, the LG field rep issued a warning at a seminar about this. Too late.

As far as the picture, these later generation Samsung plasmas were not particularly bright. Early Samsungs were stunningly bright, but they suffered more screen burn, more energy usage, and a fairly high rate of buffer and sustain failures from all the power they were running. Those TVs would warm the room when running. You could literally feel the heat if your face was within two feet of them.

In a darkened room (normal viewing really), these have a fairly accurate picture and better black level than most LED TVs that don't use local dimming. Most people have gotten used to LED TVs being cranking to cartoonishly inaccurate images. A display should only be as bright as what we see with our eyes.

John

[YamahaFreak]

Originally Posted by JohnCT

You'd be surprised how often that happens to seasoned technicians. No shame there. Fortunately, you didn't cause a problem. There were certain LGs that would destroy the display if ribbons were removed from the Y buffers. Happened to me, but that was during an intentional disconnect to check for panel loading. The panel was good before I got to it, but the loud cracking noise after disconnecting a buffer told me otherwise. Weeks later, the LG field rep issued a warning at a seminar about this. Too late.

As far as the picture, these later generation Samsung plasmas were not particularly bright. Early Samsungs were stunningly bright, but they suffered more screen burn, more energy usage, and a fairly high rate of buffer and sustain failures from all the power they were running. Those TVs would warm the room when running. You could literally feel the heat if your face was within two feet of them.

In a darkened room (normal viewing really), these have a fairly accurate picture and better black level than most LED TVs that don't use local dimming. Most people have gotten used to LED TVs being cranking to cartoonishly inaccurate images. A display should only be as bright as what we see with our eyes.

John

Very good to know I didn't blow this one up with that little mistake as I'd probably have cried!! I'm also happy to know the darker panel is normal for this generation of sets. I have a PN50C550 from 2010 that definitely runs brighter and hotter, almost to the point of being a space heater during winter. That one also has a lot more temporary image retention exhibited on the panel. Still has a fantastic picture, though! On this 60-inch, I noticed the VS was a tad high (211 instead of 208) so I dialed it back to the proper spec. The VA was almost right on (within one volt) so I didn't touch it, especially since I've been told messing with VA voltage can kill the panel. I notice a faint crosshatch-like grain to the picture, for lack of a better way to describe it, but I'm thinking that's just how this panel is, and not a problem.

Thank you again so much for your help!!