CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

Hi All, If a similar thread has allready been posted, please guide me in that direction. Here is the brief on my issue:

Sony 1272Q - I have had it for ten years now and purchased it used from a convention center. When purchased, I used a DVDO iscan doubler with 15 pin out to the RGBHV in on the 1272. Into the DVDO I had a DVD and cable box on s-vid and a vcr on standard RCA type vid. It worked fine for years and maxed at 480P. About two years ago, the image would randonly get an instant green hue to it and would usually go away in a few minutes. I'm not sure if it was getting worse, or just more anoying, but I was starting to guess that it might be the iScan or a cable was loose given the spaghetti of wires, etc.

AT the beginning of the year, I decided to "upgrade" everything. Current set-up into 1272: DVDO VP-30 RGBHV out to the RGBHV in. Into the VP-30; PS3 and HD cable box via RGB (HDMI runs into the HDCP issue and won't transmit image)and VCR via standard video. PS3 and Box running at 1080i. Originally, the color seemed off and I figured I needed to change settings on the VP-30, which I did. It all worked out for the superbowl and I had a frighteningly amazing image (a good thing) from the HD channel. However, this green tinting issue has come back. I have done adjustments on the G2 and factory resets, etc. and everytime it seems ok, it eventually does it's green thing. It will go back and forth with this and it is not a slow fade type of thing. Most recently, it is going greenish and staying that way for longer periods. If I switch input devices, it seems to reset itself for a while. Also, other than the color, the image quality (format) does not seem affected

I do not know how many hours are on the machine, but it is probably a lot.

So my questions now are, how do I know when the machine is crapping out or a tube (bulb?) is going. My un-educated guess is that the blue tube may be having an issue. If it is crapping out, should I consider replacing given the current technology. Thanks for any thoughts.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:46 am Post subject:

If it's going green then it's likly the red tube or a cable relating to the red feed.

You can check the hours of the projector by going into "SERVICEMAN" mode. Push and hold the {TEST} key untill it askes you if you want to enter service man mode. Push {>} then hit your {PAGE} key untill the hours option comes up in the menu.

How many hours do you have?

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

0142 hrs on all tubes. I'm pretty sure it has looped. 10142 hrs?

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

And what would be the reason to maintain this instead of getting an LCD pj?

jkruger · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2435 Location: Carlsbad, CA

I think it might be time to upgrade to a 9" LC projector! They are reasonably priced and the picture quality will blow your socks off.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:54 am Post subject:

That's a ton of hours on a good 'ol 1272. No doubt the image is much softer than it was 5 years ago. Given its age, it's very probably that you could spend an hour or two on it, re-seat some boards and possibly make the problem go away. While you're there, you could clean the lenses and tube faces, and take photos of the phosphor for us - I'd like to see what your 10,000+ hour 1272 looks like! Wink

When the problem shows up, what happens if you display a test pattern? Does the test pattern show the issue, or only the external input? Depending on the answer, we can narrow down some potential trouble spots and try to point you in the right direction. Is it ceiling mounted?

As for your other question about why not to go digital if you decide to scrap the 1272, it's up to you. You may or may not find a digital you like at a price you can/want to spend. Personally, I'm not interested in any digital projectors that are under about $3500 - a price which happens to be out of the question for me. So, for some of us, $500-1000 for a high-performance CRT projector is still a bargain. Others' opinions will vary.

SC

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

Thanks. "Re-seat some boards" - does that mean take them out. clean them up and make sure they're back in tightly? I do that on audio equipment all the time. I'll see what I can do for pics Smile

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

Oh yeah. It is ceiling mounted. I don't recall any issues during teh test patterns. The other thing that had occurred to me is if their is a problem with the BNC inputs on the back. I have new cables, etc. since the new set up and the chances of all the new boxes causing the same issue as the old seem rather slim to me.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:57 pm Post subject:

Yes, just pull the card and re-seat it. Sometimes you don't even have to clean the contacts - just the pulling and reseating could fix the problem. If you do it with audio equipment, then you know the problem - Hundreds (thousands?) of heating/cooling cycles work a connector loose over time, or oxidation on a connector prevents something from functioning properly. It's often heat-related... It works when it's cold, then progressively gets worse as it warms up. Of course, that could be a failing part, too.

Could be a loose board or connector, or a loose or bad component... Does the picture change to pure green, or is it cyan (both green and blue)? Next time it it happens, try to look into the lenses and see if the picture is gone or dim on one or two tubes, and which tubes.

Did you change the 5 BNC cable to the projector along with the other equipment?

That VP30 would look nice running into a G70 or XG... Wink, wink.

SC

waterlily · Joined: 29 Aug 2008 Posts: 44

Hi,

Probably nothing to do with your problem, but worth a check;

Press 'page' button to cycle through the menus and make sure Clamp option is set to H.P.

Sometimes even in the auto setting my 1252 used to fail to lock correctly on the signal, the picture looked a bit the way you described. Setting to H.P. fixed it.

Over the years I have seen a handful of post relating similar issues when CLAMP set to Auto.

Good luck Smile

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

The picture does not turn pure green. It seems like there is still red in the image, although at this point, I may be losing my mind. For some reason, I had it in my head that the blue was having issues. I did change the 5BNC cable with the new gear, so the only constant in al of this is the projector. I'm also going to check the clamp option. Thanks.

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

Something I did tonight, which I have not done for a while, was to reset each of the colors to their factory default. Does anyone know if this resets the G2 levels as well? I am hoping it does as I have fiddled with the blue (after reading a forum thread a couple of weeks ago) and the other colors minimally as well. I have run out of energy tonight and will continue tomorrow. I definitely need to econfigure things now, but that is probably a good thing.

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

The G70 here seems to be "sold"... probably would have been out of my price range anyway. The sad irony is that I kind of blew my dough getting the VP30 and newcabling and the PS3 and the upgrade in FIOS billing.... Have I mentioned I'm running all this at 120 inches? The NEC XGs might be affordable. There's always that Barco 909... oh wait... have to fix the wife's car first.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:31 am Post subject:

zogomusic · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Boxborough, MA

Thanks all for your responses. I reset all the settings to factory and started from scratch, re-seated boards and followed other suggestions above. Things definitely look better, but the problem is not completely resolved. It would also seem that the overall value of the unit does not warrant it being worth the tube replacement, so after I find out how much it's going to be to fix my wife's car, I may have to buy a different projector... sigh... Thanks again.

Bucketfoot · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 698 Location: Centennial, CO

I have what sounds like the same issue on my 1270.

For me it would happen after the pj had for at least 4-6 hours and then it would start giving a green tint to the picture. Often it would be intermittent, but sometimes it would stay that way. Turning the pj off, waiting a minute then turning it back on almost always fixed the problem.

This was roughly a year ago and I went through the process of re-seating things which eliminated the problem until just recently when I have seen this again once or twice in the last several weeks. I also have at least one fan that is starting to get noisy, so I'm in the same boat on starting to think about a different projector.

With everything going on in my life right now, I just don't know if I want to go through all of the setup of another CRT and I definitely cannot do any install/uninstall work myself for awhile (I have no issues with routine maintenance).

Fortunately I'm not a videophile so stepping up to an 8" EM machine would be one option, with the other of course being to consider a flashlight. My main issues there are I am cheap and love my blacks Smile

On the good side, mentioning no names, I do have a local chap I can always work with on a CRT upgrade Thumbs Up

Bucketfoot · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 698 Location: Centennial, CO

Does anyone have any recommendations for replacement fans for a Sony 127x?

I've got a couple that are starting to act up.