A colleague asked me to fix his TV. From the symptoms he described, I was pretty sure this would be another AS15F chip case. Philips TVs of the generation 2008/2009 will all break after about 6 years it seems. The AUO TCON boards have this built-in bug.
This image is typical for a mild AS15 failure. Shimmering magenta colors where they shouldn't be.
This is what it should look like. The boot image is actually an excellent test for gamma failures. I wish it would stay longer for testing. Any aberration in the blue gradients to other colors is a clear sign of gamma problems (the magenta stripes of the moiré patterns don't exist in reality).
Let's have a look into the machine:
The 9er series has nice features like big speakers and built-in WLAN. The back cover is removable without loosing the stand screws (that's extremely rare), and the TCON is not buried under the stand. Nice one, very serviceable.
So here it is, the blue trouble child. The AS15 is in the upper right corner.
On the heater plate with 160°C and with the hot air gun at 420°C, the chip comes off easily.
The first attempt was almost successful. The image didn't look 100% right. It was difficult to pin down its faults. Some dark areas in some scenes where too bright. Other scenes looked perfect. In other words: some gamma value had to be wrong. How can this be? It is not unusual that new AS15 chips don't work perfectly. I swapped the chip again and this time it looked good.
Here are the VGAMMA measurements of the first chip and the second chip in brackets. As you can see, the first chip isn't completely broken, but he second is much more continuous, even though there are a few jumps in it.
v1: 15.17 (15.2)
v2: 15.09 (15.12)
v3: 9.5 (10.24)
v4: 8.5 (9.55)
v5: 8.4 (9.24)
v6: 5.9 (7.08)
v7: 5.85 (7.0)
v8: 5 (6.25)
v9: 5 (6.2)
v10: 3.75 (4.6)
v11: 3.57 (4.4)
v12: 3.13 (3.9)
v13: 0.280 (0.333)
v14: 0.235 (0.271)
It is a mystery to me how some of the chips work in such a distorted way. I always handle them the same, therefore I am pretty sure it isn't my fault. Some work, some just don't.
Et voilà. Everything is back to normal. Frau Johansson was not available today, so I kindly asked Miss Evangeline Lilly for a test.
This TV is able to produce very dark blacks. I think it has a special filter layer in the panel. The orange and yellow tones are a little weak, but I am a spoiled plasma viewer :-)
The sound is the best I have ever heard in any TV thanks to the proper two-way stereo speakers, which live in their own, closed compartment.
Due to high-quality parts everywhere I could not find any suspicious capacitor. All made in Japan and good for many more years.
The higher series Philips from 2008-2010 are just very good machines.
Good work! Thanks again for repairing the tv - it still works...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThis is very helpful. I also have a television repair shop where I repair all models of tv. So if you are interested then please have a look at my work.
When you replace a AS15-F (its official part number is EC5575-F) it would be better if you tell the panel brand and model. Well, it’s brand AUO in almost all cases, but I’d like to know panel models. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI will check the panel number when I have another AS15 case. Why is this interesting to you?
DeleteGood morning, please i have the same tv which develop a problem that has to do with the t-con board, i took it to the repairer who try to work on the board but did not get a good result. the tv now has distorted color. i have try to source for a new t-con board for 37PFL9604H/12 but to no avail, does anyone knows where i can get this part or is there any equivalent i can use in its place and still get a good and quality color output. thank you so much as i await your response.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any secret sources for boards, either. All I do is google and eBay. There are no equivalents for TCON boards. The panels may be used in various TVs, but when you search for the boards number and not the TV, you will find those, too.
Deleteok. thank you very much
DeleteHello Hermann! :) I'm here again, unfortunately for my beloved 37PFL9604H/12 this time. It has served me flawlessly for the last three years with daily use (it's the main set in the house) but on monday evening it has developed what's I'm almost certain it is an AS15 issue. The image isn't as bad as the one in your photo, just 'pixelated' like it has lost resolution and some colors are wrong, especially in the menu. What's strange is that the fault developed while I was wiggling the antenna cable and I don't understand the connection between the two things.
ReplyDeleteI've opened the back (very easy as you say because of the fact that the television can remain on its stand), I've removed all the cables and adehesive tape which were on the way, unscrewed the t-con shielding but now I'm facing a severe problem. The shielding is glued to the t-con itself in six places with thermal conductive pads and I don't know how to handle it to have it unmounted. I fear to damage the lcd flex cables going to the panel and I don't know how to proceed. Do you have an advice for me?
I've made progress even on the other subject we've already talked of) and I'm going to update you on it in the right place soon after but before I'd like to make you a slightly off-topic question: I have another couple of subjects I'd like to talk with you and I completely understand that you don't like doing it in private because doing it here helps also others with the same or at least similar issue as it has been for me too. On the other hand, I don't want to make your articles dirty with off-topic questions. Any suggestion?
Thanks for everything and good evening! :)
You have to flip open (with your fingernails) the black locking bars on the flex cable connectors and pull the cables out before you make an attempt to remove the TCON.
DeleteThe head pads will come off the shield or the chips, respectively, when you pull the board from the shield. No worries. They are not actually glued, just a little sticky.
However, the AS15 does not pixelate the image. It provides the bias voltages for the LCD. A failure results in scewed colors.
As for the other subjects you mentioned: if they are not covered here in any of my posts, I might not be able to be of much help. Feel free to list them shortly in a comment here.
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ReplyDeleteHi and thanks for your reply! :) Doing what you've suggested (lifting up the two ZIF connectors) was the first thing I've thought but it seemed the metal plate had a protruding part on the both of them to keep them in place so I haven't tried but thanks to your advice now I know it is the pattern to follow and I would do it, I hope to find some spare time within the day and I'll post the results here, that's clear.
ReplyDeleteMaybe 'piexelated' isn't the right word to use: let's say it's more or less like in your pictures, just a bit better. While inside the menu it gets worse and it seems actually like in your photos.
In the meantime, I've ordered some RM5101 on Aliexpress (I was reading somewhere they're more reliable but still a compatible replacement, is it true?) and I would try the swap in the hope that everything would be fine. I love my 9604 and I'd like to bring it to life!
For what concerns the other subjects, here they are:
1) I own an old Acer Aspire One which has recently developed a very strange issue... Its display (a led one) works fine for days or even for just an hour then it starts 'bleeding' in the upper left corner, mainly vertical lines. When the bleeding starts, it stays so BUT if I don't use the netbook for some time (usually at least a day it's necessary), the next time the screen is as new again.
I remember reading you while talking about vertical lines somewhere but I don't recall if it was 'good' (in the sense something can be done) or bad.
The netbook is worth almost nothing so a screen replacement is out of question: if I can do something to repair it, it's fine otherwise I would leave it as it is now.
2) Probably you've well understood it: if possible, I try to repair my own tv sets by myself and I often do it for friends who ask me to indeed a friend has given me his 42PFL4606H/12 (yes, I particularly love Philips though at this point I'm starting to think they aren't so much reliable) which turns itself off in a short while (when it turns itself off, I can clearly hear the same arching sound which I hear when it turns on), I think because of overheating.
I'm almost sure about that because if it has been unplugged for a while it could resist up to five minutes but when it starts turning off it does it almost immediately.
I've tried to put an alu heatsink for memory from a PC GPU on the TOP264VG and I could get it to resist slightly more but not that much. I had succesfully managed to restore the factory defaults and I had almost completed the channels setup when it shut down so I tend to believe it has lasted a bit more.
I don't know if it has a meaning but when I've put the heatsink on, I think I could hear even clearer the 'buzzing sound' which the PSU constantly emits.
I've made this try because I've read that the TOP264VG could be the culprit for such kind of issues and it is easy to find and replace.
I've also read that another culprit could be the inverter PSU (TMS94876CT 080GL52T929TK) but unfortunately this one is almost impossible to find. I've found a couple of them in Russia but the sellers don't want to dispatch them to me and apart from this they're expensive and I'm not going to tell my friend to buy one if I'm not absolutely certain it would solve the issue.
I've found a possible replacement in a 80GL52T-933-V H34 but I have no idea if it is suitable or not. These 'things' seem to have no datasheets, specs, nothing. How could someone know if they're the right replacement? Honestly I don't know...
Please excuse me for being so wordy but I haven't found a more concise way to explain. Thanks for your advices as always and have a good day! :)
Concerning point 2 of my previous post, I've forgotten to add a thing (it wasn't a coincidence: it isn't a pattern I would like not to follow as I'd prefer to repair the PSU).
ReplyDeleteMy friend just asked me if we could swap the PSU but I haven't found an exact replacement (now I don't recall exactly if I hadn't found it at all or I had found it at an unaffordable price, it makes no difference anyway). His P/N is 715G4546-P03-H20-003U while I've found at a reasonable price a 715G3812-P02-H20-003U. It's still for a 42", it is very similar and all the connectors placing is the same. Given what I was saying (I'd like to try to repair the board I already have in my hands before), according to your experience is such a kind of PSU swap possible? What does need to be checked? Thanks again!
Geez, you keep them coming :-)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like an AS15 case, yes. I don't know about the RM5101. If it is pin compatible it should work. The chip is only 15 op amps in one package. Nothing fancy.
1) This is most likely a panel defect. The bonds to the panel loosen up or the driver chip is faulty.
2) Have no experience with this particular fault. I've heard about the TOP often, too.
Can't say if the other PSU will fit. They must have some differences. Being similar might not be enough.
Wow! How fast time does pass by! Almost a year has already passed since my last time writing here!
ReplyDeleteJust a brief update. I can confirm that the problem with my friend's 42PFL4606H/12 (described in point 2 from one of my previous posts) was actually the TOP264VG. A very easy repair (and cheap also) and my friend had been very happy! This earned me a tasty weissbier so I was happy too! ;)
I had instead abandoned my beloved 37PFL9604H because the AS15 swap is beyond my skills. I've taken a look at a very well done video on Youtube describing the process: not impossible at all but I'm certain the repair wouldn't be as accurate as I understand it should be if done by me. The T-CON is already sitting in a drawer and I'm thinking to ask for the cost of the repair at a phone repair shop. In the meantime, I've sadly watched TV on a Grundig branded Vestel 22" set for almost the whole year, what a pity!
Nice to be here again and keep going with your great efforts on this very well done and informative blog! :)