FixYourDLP.com Forums

Hitachi Ultravision 60 inch DLP is the TV in Question here.

3/4 of the screen seems "tinted" in color, and the whole screen is dark and colors are not nearly as bright as they used to be. there are also a few areas that have blue dots on teh screen all the time when turned on.

Could it be something like a Color wheel or Lamp? If its something like that, is it something I can replace? I am a Master Toyota Tech, so I have tools and some mechanical skills....

Any ideas? I dont know ANYTHING about TV's and this seemed like the place to ask.

Thanks!!

-Kurt

Hello spoooolin.
First of all just to clear things up, Hitachi Ultravisions are not DLP technologies, they are 3 LCD projections instead. What is the main difference? DLP has a color wheel, while 3LCD projection uses 3 separate LCD chips (blue, green & red) and a prism in the middle. Now, the symptoms you describe are very peculiar.
The “not so bright issue” could be related to the lamp, have you replaced it in the last year or more? These lamps last from 6000 hours or more, but they are not eternal.
As for the blue dots, the problem might have to do with the LCD chips; they start to burn in time duo to the heat emitted buy the light of the lamp.
If you are determend to spend money & time to repair this TV the first thing is trying to resolve the easiest issues. In this case it would be the lamp. If you change the lamp that might resolve the dim picture issue. As for the blue dots & tinted areas you’ll have to buy a new light engine, because it is very difficult to buy the colored chips separately.
Just remember when looking for a tv part, search buy part number, NOT buy model (two TVs with the exact model may contain different and not compatible parts from different generation).
The lamp is very easy to replace, the light engine on the other hand is another thing, the tricky part is remembering all the steps you take in disassembling the tv and reassembling again, in trick that I use is taking pictures of every thing I disconnect, in case I mess up.
Good luck.

Well, I ordered a Lamp from DM, got the lamp with the housing. The housing didnt fit, the lamp was the same part number as what was in the TV, so I just put the new lamp, into the old housing, and it fixed the color issue, not the blue dots are little more noticeable.

I can deal with the blue dots, since they are not to noticeable most of the time. But if its a Cheap fix, I wouldnt mind fixing it.

I am a toyota Tech for a living, so taking things apart, and putting them together is not an issue for me.

Hello again spoooolin.
To fix the blue dots you can do the easy but expensive (280 to 400 bucks), by simply puling out the light engine and installing a new one. The other is the cheap but hard, not because of the installation, but hard to find the lcd chips sold separately.
If you decide to buy a part remember to search buy part number, and compare photos with your part so that you make sure you are buying the correct part.
Good luck.