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NotTaR of Television Sets : Saturated color but almost no brightness
 Copyright © 1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying. I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.

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Saturated color but almost no brightness

This means you have lost the luminance input to the chroma decoder or final video chip. A failure of the brightness limiter may result in similar symptoms.

A few common causes are:

With a scope and schematic (or even just a pinout for the chip), you should be able to trace the luminance signal to see where it is getting lost.

This is also NOT a picture tube problem. :-)

(From: John Mehrtens (sarge@drag-net.com).)

I have had several TVs and monitors where the delay line in the luminance circuitry has failed. Usually it's made out of glass, and inherently is fragile. Sometimes whacking the monitor would make it come back, leading to the thought of connectoritis or a cold solder joint -- where in fact it was the delay line (long rectangular unit with two to four leads). Replacing the delay line was the solution, but to check it first it'd be a good idea to look for 'in' and 'out' on the line and short the pins. The picture may be shifted, colours may not line up, but it'll tell you that it's the delay line if the picture comes back at all. It's better than looking at a saturated picture with no luminance! :)


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