Anyone know of telltale signs that the bulb, color wheel, or board is going on a DLP? My dark colors are way off and I can't figure out why. Trying to narrow down what I'm seeing.
-pat
Not really, Pat, but I'll chime in with 2 cents anyways.
Bulb: I'd imagine that inaccurate colors would not occur suddenly, but progressively over time. Now, as a PJ owner, 200 hours is a nice chunk of time, but to most display owners, it isn't. Still, even with 200 hours, while there will be a fading of color accuracy so to speak, it still isn't technicolor all of a sudden. Was this sudden?
Color wheel: it might be that the most common complaint is noise. I saw this DIY article on your behalf. $40 for his model.
http://www.jangro.com/electronics/samsung-dlp-replace-color-wheel/
Then here is another thread, where the replacement of color wheel made for a very bad picture. He was then told the following, after which he said his pic was incredible:
According to my HLR service manual, after replacing the color wheel you need to go into the service menu and adjust the Index Delay and CCA. The adjustments are 6 and 7 step procedures, each (but they look easy in the manual). You can get a service manual for your tv at samsungparts.com and do the procedures if you are comfortable with the service menu.
http://www.highdefforum.com/rear-projection-tvs/66623-samsung-50-dlp-new-color-wheel-bad-picture.html
As for motherboards, you are really hoping that is not the issue here, at least in my experiences. Depending on how long a model has been DCd, or how long any certain company has no longer made DLP/RP, it can be enough to "total" your display. Luckily, Samsung still makes them AFAIK.
I believe I've now seen a couple of board issues with DLP. One had many static horizontal lines, some of them much more bunched up together. This friend finally replaced it with a plasma, which the family is very happy about.
Now, just to cover all the possibilities: Are you seeing this with ALL sources? If so, are all sources fed thru your receiver?
If say it's sat/cable that is the biggest offender, I highly recommend you try a different type connection. IOW, if it's happening via HDMI, try component, and if component, well vice versa.
I have seen dying STBs that had the funkiest colors ever, with any certain output. Just to be redundantly safe, you can try different inputs on TV and receiver too.