Hello All,
Wondering if you folks might be able to help me out. If this is the wrong forum, please let me know... I have a Hitachi 57S500 RPTV and so far I've been quite pleased with it. However, recently I've noticed something that I don't much care for. When part of the image is bright, and part is dark, I see a halo effect in the darker part of the picture. Almost like light is reflecting around inside the cabinet and contaminating the darker portion of the picture. I'm wondering if somehow some dust ended up on the tubes or, even stranger, on the mirror? I usually keep the contrast and brightness pretty darn low since the set is in my basement and I can keep the ambient light low down there.

I've had the set for about 2 years now and I've never had it cleaned. I did have to take the cabinet apart when I moved it to the basement after completing my HT down there. Maybe it got contaminated then. Anyway, what are the risks involved in cleaning the insides out? Should I attempt to clean the tubes and mirror or is this better left to a pro?

Thanks in advance,

simp

Anyone?

I have had the same RPTV for about 6 months. I notice something similar to what you describe but usually only with S-video not component. I doubt it's dust but more likely adjustment related. Overall I love the picture on the Hitachi, much much better than the Sony it replaced. If you do go poking around inside be careful of the LETHAL voltages present, even with the unit off and unplugged.

you should have it professionally serviced. you will probably cause more harm than good trying to do anything to it.

If you took it apart just to move it and the problem appeared, i would call a pro. I would imagine that the problem stems more from incorrect cabinet rebuild than from dirt contamination, unless you moved it into an ash bin. If it's a tube unit, it could undoubtedly benefit from a professional calibration.

Thanks for the input guys. I doubt that taking the cabinet apart to get the unit downstairs is the culprit here. As I mentioned, I used Avia to calibrate the TV myself. So last night I did a little tinkering. I put the video settings (brightness, contrast, etc) back to where they were when the TV was upstiars. Keep in mind these settings were at higher levels across the board because my living room upstairs is pretty much all windows so there's a lot more light. Anyway, at the older settings, the halo effect went away. When I put the settings back at my "basement" senttings, the halos reappeared. So, I found a happy medium between the two that seems to work well.

Thanks again for the responses,

simp

glad to hear you figured it out. my hitachi also has difficulty with brightness settings, though i have not seen what you describe as a halo... the only defect i had on a hitachi was these circular rings on one set i had (took it back for new one) that were where the lenses reflected onto the screen. it looked like a piece of glass that someone had cracked with a round object and these rings radiated from the center points... it was a like that brand new, took it back and got a bigger newer model and no problems except for setting adjustments and it becoming older and older technology.

I hear you on the "older technology" issue. I wouldn't mind having one of the fancy newer sets that are out there now days. However, I was a very early adopter of LCR RPTV sets. Maybe too early... I had two different Hitachi's and one very early Sony VEGA model. None of them lived up to my expectations. Bulp problems on the Sony, and some kind of streaking or blob lookin' deal on the inside of the screen on both Hitachi's. (My friends referred to it as the Blobvision instead of the Ultravision...) Anyway, thanks to a very lax return policy at my dealer, they all went back to be replaced by my trusty 57S500 CRT based RPTV.

In know things have improved vastly for the other technologies: LCD RPTV, DLP, Plasma, etc. And ergonomics alone could drive someone to one of the newer sets. But I like my current set and don't see replacing it anytime soon..

later,
simp