But what about this service rep's theory, does it hold water. Even before replacing the ICs I was not able to get into "the grid". The screen would just remain black after pressing the blue button or the MF button.

Sorry, I can't help with that since I'm not a technician.

Wow 57, I've read quite a few of your posts and I've never seen you give in so easy. So you never seen the symptoms I've described?

If you were doing the work and you had the time and the cost was negligible, then I'd say go ahead and try to replace the resistors (hoping that they hadn't blown the ICs again), or hoping that there's nothing else wrong (fuse?, board?, solder?), however, I cannot recommend that approach if you're going to spend money to have someone else do it.

Well now that I have to retrieve the board from the service rep, I might as well do the additional work he's not willing to try. But 57, you still have not commented on my symptoms. Have there been any posts with people not being able to get into DCAM mode? Again, I just get a black screen when I press the MF or the blue button.

I cannot recall, you may need to search this thread yourself using some keywords like DCAM and/or blue and/or black. Thread's over 6 years old.

The tech should have checked the resistors when he took the board to his shop. Sometimes they open up due to a shorted STK and sometimes they don't. And yes, I am a TV technician. If replacing the STK's did not fix your problem, and the resistors check good, then the next choice is the DCU or Digital Convergence Unit. Ask him if he checked the low-value resistors--it only takes a few seconds to check each one. But the fact that the set doesn't go into the Magic Focus mode at all, tells me that there is more wrong with your set than just the STK's or the low-value resistors.

I just got the Hitachi 51F500 from a friend and i'm having issues with the screen. The left and right edges appear to be curving inwards, making the picture warped as if it was a sheet of paper folding towards me. It's only slight, but very noticable. If a person is standing in the middle of the screen his/her dimensions are fine, but if they move towards the edges of the screen, it stretches them out and distorts their figure.

The colour convergence seems to be fine, and the picture is sharp for the most part, but once an object is in the stretched out part, it appears slightly blurred out. It's really distracting to watch movies like that.

What could be the issue, and what can i do to solve it?

Thanks in advance

If the convergence ICs are OK, then you simply need to do a convergence - link in post 1 of this thread. I believe this model also has a two colour convergence per the operating manual instructions, however, that doesn't help if all three colours are off and then you need to do a DCAM convergence which allows you to straighten all the colours.

I would think this is the first sign of a convergence IC problem though.

Useful post for those new to the forum - FAQs, Search Tips, Optimization, etc:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741

Let me just make sure i understand correctly, since i am not really TV-technology literate :). Are you saying that i should do the manual convergence setup through the convergence magic option? Since all the colours are fine, it's just the bending of the picture that is the issue.

Also keep in mind that i do not own a remote, so i'm not sure if troubleshooting is doable without one.

1. I'm not sure if magic focus will help, but you can give that a try.

2. Second option is to do a manual convergence as per the operating manual, however, that only allows you to adjust 2 colours, so if the 3rd colour (usually green) is not in the correct position, this will not solve the (curving) problem.

3. Lastly, to do a proper convergence of all 3 colours you need to do a DCAM convergence as outlined in the link in post 1. People usually tape strings to the front of the TV in the proper positions or get an overlay to straighten all the lines.

4. I don't believe you can perform convergence without a remote.

5. If the ICs are starting to go, then all of this is academic because those (and other things) need fixing first, per post 1.

Due to the age and performance of these CRT-based RPTVs, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort with new TVs relatively inexpensive.

Ok i have an update on the issue. It seems to be isolated to only one VGA input jack on the back. I switched my PS3 (which i use to stream movies) to another input slot, and the picture is straight as an arrow with no bending or warping at all. Does that mean it's still the ICs that are the issue, or something else?

Sounds like the issue may be related to one particular input. Can you try still other inputs? What about the TV itself - say connected directly to antenna or cable coax? What does the TV's menu look like - straight or curved? Some more experimenting on your part with various inputs, feeds may help us help you.

I have tried 3 different inputs, and from the looks of it only one is bending the picture. All the other ones are working fine, with sharp colours and no curving of the image. Unfortunately i do not have a cable signal or an antenna, so i cannot check those inputs.

I saved the settings on my tv by pressing the pip button but then i got an overflow message now when i press magic focus on my tv a black screen with + signs show up on the screen. And in order to get to DCAM i need to first initiate DCAM but its not possible now since it goes straight to black screen. Please help me

1. You probably got the overflow because you didn't do a "great" job of the DCAM. If the lines are not straight, then the system will often not memorize the convergence you did. Here's the thread on DCAM convergence - you may need to go to "medium" or "course" (should be coarse) to start the convergence and then finalize it in "fine".

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=9539

2. In order to get out of the "+" (static) mode you're in, you need to reset DCAM by pressing the small blue button that's usually on the left side of the chassis when looking at the front of the TV. Do not hold this button, only press/release and you should be able to get into DCAM. This is also outlined in the above link.

If you have more questions on DCAM, please ask in the DCAM thread, after reading it of course. This thread is for IC issues.

I guess you meant "coarse" instead of "course". Of course.

Yep, we touch typists need to be careful of those types of errors.

Good day all-great forum by the way. I have had the misfortune of having my 10 year old set go down on the first day of my holidays, but a quick google search brought me here. I had lost the red vertical adjustment on my set, so I replaced the 110 chips with the 150's (purchased from Global Electronics at $32.00 each so i assume they are OEM chips) . All went well with the replacement, but now I have an issue with the red won't stabilize.
When I go to the standard menu convergence screen, I can get the blue and the green to align, but the red cross hairs keep moving about an inch back and forth (diagonally in the corners and horizontally on the 2 cross hairs on the side and vertically on the ones on the top and bottom). The red has both vertical and horizontal adjustment now, it's just that it won't stop moving.
When viewing a normal signal, there is also flickering horizontal lines across the screen.
I have removed the board and rechecked the 1.2 and the 68 ohm resistors and re-soldered almost every solder joint on the board, but when I re-installed it, it was the same.
I have posted a short video on mediafire, if someone cares to view it as it really isn't something that would show up in a still picture. here is the link http://www.mediafire.com/?dulr1a983t36z8g
If anyone can give me a few pointers on where to check next, I would really appreciate it.

rechecked the 1.2 and the 68 ohm resistorsAs noted in post 1, it's almost impossible to check the resistors and they should always be replaced when replacing the ICs. A bad resistor can also blow a new IC. So, it could be bad resistor(s) and/or a new blown IC. I'm not saying that will solve your problem 100%, but it's a good start. The other possibilities are listed in post 1.