Sudden signal drop on on Panasonic Plasma - arg!

tinnedham · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
(HD) connected to the scaler.

Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
"no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.

The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
overheating.

If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
but typically only for a few minutes.

If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
restore.

This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).

I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
next.

Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?

Thanks!

Tony

Archived from group: alt>tv>tech>hdtv

mykey · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 47

On Sep 24, 1:35 pm, tinned...@gmail.com wrote:
> Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
> Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
> Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
> (HD) connected to the scaler.
>
> Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
> the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
> "no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
> being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.
>
> The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
> othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
> the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
> temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
> overheating.
>
> If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
> but typically only for a few minutes.
>
> If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
> restore.
>
> This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
> DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
> HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).
>
> I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
> tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
> because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
> next.
>
> Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tony

is this the cable signal dropping ? or does it drop signal
from any source? try the signal sources one at a time
with all others disconnected until you find the one that drops out.
or determine if ANY source drops, in which case could be
the plasma itself, and not any of the sources.
from what you are saying, you need trials of each component.

Gandalf · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 28

mykey wrote:
> On Sep 24, 1:35 pm, tinned...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
>> Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
>> Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
>> (HD) connected to the scaler.
>>
>> Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
>> the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
>> "no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
>> being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.
>>
>> The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
>> othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
>> the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
>> temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
>> overheating.
>>
>> If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
>> but typically only for a few minutes.
>>
>> If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
>> restore.
>>
>> This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
>> DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
>> HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).
>>
>> I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
>> tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
>> because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
>> next.
>>
>> Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Tony
>
> is this the cable signal dropping ? or does it drop signal
> from any source? try the signal sources one at a time
> with all others disconnected until you find the one that drops out.
> or determine if ANY source drops, in which case could be
> the plasma itself, and not any of the sources.
> from what you are saying, you need trials of each component.
>

He answered that in his original post.

"the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message "no signal"
displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program being
displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices."

-Gandalf

Gandalf · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 28

tinnedham@gmail.com wrote:
> Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
> Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
> Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
> (HD) connected to the scaler.
>
> Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
> the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
> "no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
> being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.
>
> The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
> othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
> the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
> temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
> overheating.
>
> If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
> but typically only for a few minutes.
>
> If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
> restore.
>
> This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
> DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
> HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).
>
> I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
> tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
> because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
> next.
>
> Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tony

Sounds like your troubleshooting methods are on the right path.
Hassle or not, try the component in.

I'm afraid to say what it sounds like. :-/

-Gandalf

conceptblue · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 1

3 possibilities -

1. iScan (scaler) issue - perhaps sending a signal that doesn't sync
with the DVI card (I'm reaching here, unfamiliar with how these
components talk to one another).
2. DVI card is shorting out.
3. Plasma monitor has gone bad.

#1 may be fixable by changing scaler parameters.
#2 is best hope as I need motivation to swap in an HDMI card (if they
exist for this monitor)
#3 is total disaster

t o n y

tinnedham · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

3 possibilities -

1. iScan (scaler) issue - perhaps sending a signal that doesn't sync
with the DVI card (I'm reaching here, unfamiliar with how these
components talk to one another).
2. DVI card is shorting out.
3. Plasma monitor has gone bad.

#1 may be fixable by changing scaler parameters.
#2 is best hope as I need motivation to swap in an HDMI card (if they
exist for this monitor)
#3 is total disaster

Tony

AZ Nomad · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 165

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:31:12 GMT, Gandalf wrote:

>tinnedham@gmail.com wrote:
>> Setup: Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY with Panasonic DVI card (TY42TM6D).
>> Plasma is fed signal only through DVI cable. Cable is connected to an
>> Anchor Bay iScan HD scaler/processor. I have a DVD player and a TiVO
>> (HD) connected to the scaler.
>>
>> Problem: Have had this setup, working since December 2004. Now, for
>> the past month, the video signal suddenly cuts out with the message
>> "no signal" displayed. This happens either with a DVD or Tivo program
>> being displayed, Which seems to rule out either of these devices.
>>
>> The signal drop times vary - sometimes the display will last 2+ hours,
>> othertimes it will only last 20 minutes. I've taken to powering down
>> the monitor to see if this is related to its reaching full operating
>> temperature. It does not seem to matter. It does not seem to be
>> overheating.
>>
>> If I power the monitor off, and then back on, I get the picture back,
>> but typically only for a few minutes.
>>
>> If I power cycle the scaler, the image on the monitor does not
>> restore.
>>
>> This seems to point to either the plasma monitor itself (ugh!) or the
>> DVI card - I am hoping it is the latter since I want to upgrade to
>> HDMI (provided a card is even offered for this model).
>>
>> I've jiggled cables, etc to rule out a bad connection. I have not
>> tried bypassing the DVI card yet and going component in, simply
>> because of the huge hassle it will be. But I suspect I will need to
>> next.
>>
>> Any sage advice out there, diagnostic technique, similar experiences?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Tony

>Sounds like your troubleshooting methods are on the right path.
>Hassle or not, try the component in.

What troubleshooting methods? THe OP has done nothing to simiplify the setup
or isolate the fault.
Hint: First step is to get rid of the scaler/processer.
Run just DVD player to TV and see if it works OK. If it doesn't work,
try a different component or test with just the receiver's OSD.