The color on my Samsung LN37A550P3FXZA LCD tv fades after 10 seconds. It's a 5 yr old tv. I've opened it up and cleaned out dust, nothing has changed. Does anyone have any advice before I go buy another?
"emily, this could be caused by a failing inverter, bad ccfl as well as bad capacitors on the main board. I would suggest to take a look at the mainboard and check the capacitors for any bulging, leaking etc. Remember that there was a big issues with Samsung having used sub par capacitors. Your TV is part of the group that was affected by this. Check this site.. Of course it is also possible that this is a bad white balance. Go into service mode and see what checksum you get on White balance. It should be 0x000. to access the service mode Turn the power off and set to stand-by mode
Press the remote buttons in this order; POWER OFF-MUTE-1-8-2-POWER ON to turn the set on.
The set turns on and enters service mode. This may take approximately 20 seconds.
Press the Power button to exit and store data in memory.
- If you fail to enter service mode, repeat steps 1 and 2 above.
There is also a way of resetting your set to factory default, I'll keep you posted. Hope this helps, good luck.
Update
To access it would be the following :""Access Service Mode
Using the remote
1 Turn the power off and set to stand-by mode
2 Press the remote buttons in this order; POWER OFF-MUTE-1-8-2-POWER ON to turn the set on.
3 The set turns on and enters service mode. This may take approximately 20 seconds.
4 Press the Power button to exit and store data in memory.
- If you fail to enter service mode, repeat steps 1 and 2 above.
5 Initial SERVICE MODE DISPLAY State
'''* How to enter the hidden factory mode.
a. into the factory mode
b. key input : 0 + 2 + 1 + 4 + exit
c. select option byte menu -> in menu -> out menu
(... hidden menu appear...)
hidden menu : Video/Scaler, Enhancement, SOUND, Dynamic Contrast, LNA+
A couple of years ago,I fixed the 'planned obsolescence' under-rated capacitors (10volt rated on a 12volt power supply - they just last long enough to run out the warranty/extended warranty, i.e.: 5+ years) that Samsung choose to put in these TV's, for a cost of $3.60 (capacitors are REALLY cheap!) and a half-hour labour taking off the back, removing the connectors and unscrewing the power supply board (which is smack in the middle of the workings of the TV, and the first thing you see when the back comes off) unsoldering the faulty capacitors, re-soldering the 20volt ones and putting the whole thing back together.
I wonder how many Samsung TV's are at the dump that could have been fixed for $3.60?
I'm not sure if this is what's causing your problem, but it's such an easy and cheap fix, that it can't hurt to try it. My TV at that time was working ok, just taking ages to come on- up to 15 minutes! Eventually, it didn't come on at all, and we were shopping around for a new one, when my wife thought of checking the internet for a cause. If we'd called in a repairperson, the chances are he or she would have replaced the power supply - and we'd have had a bill for several hundred dollars.
The TV cost us $1500 in 2010, and the nearest equivalent would have cost $900 when we were looking before I fixed it, so it's worth trying to fix it yourself."
Most likely this problem is the T-Con (Timing Controller) board. The Gamma IC has failed. You can replace the board, or if you are skilled enough with removing and soldering surface mount components, you can replace the failed IC on the board for a few dollars plus shipping. The IC is most likely AS15- followed by a letter suffix.
