FixYourDLP.com Forums

OK... before I go out and get a new set or attempt to fix this one I thought I get some more informed opinions

HLN4365W... about 5 years old now, original bulb, all original guts

Maybe mid December I started to have this problem and have been intermittently since. Sometimes its been weeks between occurrences, but then it happened 3 times last night.

Watching TV normally, no problems... then all of a sudden the screen freezes and I get just black and white groupings of pixels that freeze the image from the screen. TV stays on, sound stays on, etc. Turn TV off, wait a minute or so, turn TV on... normal startup chime, middle light flashes like normal, then the "air siren" noise for 15-20 seconds, TV shuts itself down, restarts and works fine again. Sometimes, it won't start back up and it gives me the 3 lights of death. I can then unplug it for awhile, plug it back in and it'll work fine. Normally, its fine at that point for the rest of the night. Sometimes it can go weeks between this happening, but like I said... 3 times last night so I'm thinking it may be on its way out.

dre17,
The problem you are describing may be 1 of 2 problems.

1 - Color wheel - Reason: The color wheel may have a bad bearing, which in turn is causing the TV to shut down or disrupt the functionality of the DMD board. I would open the set and check the color wheel for issues. A good guide can be found at http://guides.fixyourdlp.com ... All color wheel installations are similar so it doesn't matter if the particular one for your color wheel is not available there. Your color wheel part number is BP96-00250A if you need it. Approx cost = $70-$100

2 - DMD Board - A bad DMD board will cause pixelation and freezing of the screen, including the infamous "black out" issue. If you are going to buy a DMD board and a color wheel, you might as well pick up a lamp from Discount-Merchant... As your TV should be set to run for a long time to come. DMD boards are expensive from samsung but Discount-Merchant sells them for $180-$250 .. which is less than half the price of the ones Samsung sells!

Let us know how it goes!