You remember this. Due to circumstances I couldn't be there for the disassembly of the light engine. I will refer to the tech that did it as Ed. He is highly competent, and has an idea what he is dealing with. Super tight tolerances etc., but did admit that he was a bit weak on LCD light engine theory. Who isn't ?
I am a co-owner of the set, and under my instruction to be careful, they did indeed take the light engine apart, and got it back together into running status.
The picture originally had a somewhat skull shaped area that was all blue in about the middle. The rest of ther picture had no blue.
They removed a pinkinsh colored filter from it, nowhere hear red enough to be a color filter, but it might possibly have been for the blue, to correct the colorimetry. Right now I don't think so. It is either that or the set has another fault. The burnt pattern was EXACTLY the same pattern you would see on the screen, but smaller.
It runs, but it looks like you have no video drive to the blue, but turned up the G2 to see it. The blue path is not being modulated. Evereything black is blue, the whites are not. When I kick up the menu I see white, but this might mean nothing. As you turn the set off, it does not blank the blue completely. It does not go black, it goes dark blue.
With what I know, my conclusion is that the pinkish filter they removed (the part not burnt up) was the polarizing filter for the blue panel.
Now I thought the polarizing filter had to be close to the LCD to work. But then if the light rays are coherent they will stay polarized when sent though a longer space.
The symptom is clear, the blue is not being modulated and I can get polarizing filers. A pink filter does not make the red color, no way, dichroic mirrors do that.
In light of all this, I believe that what was removed was tthe polarizing filter for the blue channel, the symptom speaks for itself.
I have to assume I am right at this point in time. I can get polarizing filters, no problem. Thing is which way to orient it ? If It is wrong the blue will have a negative image, if it needs to be at 45 degrees and it is not, look for a really wierd gamma curve.
Can anyone think of a way I can determine this ? I can prove my theory by putting a polarizing filter there, if there are any areas of the screen without blue, it will prove my case. We do need to know if I am right, or the blue panel is bad. We are not going to even think of changing it without proper support, software and info, of which we have none.
I don't know about you, but I didn't learn all this shit to be a lightbulb changer. This is the future, and all you guys in those ASCs right now, save money. In a few years there wil be no ASCs. If you call them, it is a simple matter, send the $3,000 and get your new light engine, and then throw the old one in the dumpster. Cool huh.
If this thing gets up and running right, it might be worth $1.500, one third of it's original cost. It has DVI inputs, everything. I also have the stand, which was $500.
Even if we have this light engine out and running on the bench,how do we determine which way to install the polarizing filter ? Is there anything better than trial and error ? Trial and error costs alot of money in this case. Anything to that end is greatly appreciated, and remember, if you are in the business, this is the future.
JURB