Samsung LE32N73BD No longer showing freeview menus

[E Parton]

..Hi friends ..
Spent most of my morning searching once again for a replacement main board ..
..and maybe I found one that will do the job ..
BN94-01077E

Whereas mine is a BN94-01077B
It certainly looks the same ...i/o connections etc ..
but the number is slightly different ..
Anyone know if there is enough difference to be an issue ?

Its a bit pricey ...so don't want to make a mistake if I do decide to buy it ..
Unless one of you guys has an exact match ...I might well have to take the risk..
The company selling it is SJS ....
Anyone had dealings with them before ? ..and if so ..are they reliable ?
rgds
Evan

[sparky]

hi
yes good firm send him a email he might be able
to say if compatable
dave

[E Parton]

Thanks Dave ..
Surprised when Stewart from SJS rang me an hour or so ago ..
I had emailed them with my address and details ..but without a phone number ...so was quite surprised when he rang me ...having obviously gone to the trouble of finding the phone number himself.
We discussed possibilities ..and there is good chance the 'E' board can replace the B  board ..after various links have been moved which relate to the type of lcd panel fitted ..
We've agreed that I should keep searching for an exact match over the weekend ..but should I come up empty handed by monday ..I'll order one from him ..and attempt to modify and fit it.
..and there is a discount available to Trade registered customers ..
rgds
Evan

[E Parton]

Cure or pure fluke ??
I took the plunge and ordered a BN94-01077E board ..
Mine was  BN94-01077B and couldn't source one anywhere ..
The board arrived this morning ...and although plugs and connections are the same ...its designed to drive a completely different LCD panel thus ...it can't be fitted without major board surgery ..
So I fitted it anyway ..but didn't plug in the lcd panel ...
Connected the dvbt boards to the top edge connectors and powered up..
It went through the initialise process ...but obviously there was bo picture ..
I then removed the main E type board and refitted the B type ..and the previously connected dvbt board ..
My intention was to give up and tell the customer ..he'd have to use a freeview box with it ..but to my amazement ...the dvb menus were back ??
Fluke ...coincidence ..or cure ?
Still not sure ..
It _may_ be that the E board wrote something to dvbt board during its brief lcd panel-less boot up ...making it initialise ...
I'll probably never know ..but a result is a result ...
And the set now functions correctly..
rgds
Evan

[E Parton]

...Hmm
..although I now have this set essentially _working_ ..
I still have an issue insofaras
The backlight shuts down ..ie no brightness/picture ...but ONLY occasionally and for short periods ..when the set is displaying a Dull low brighness Low contrast image ..
Once the broadcast changes to a brighter image ..say a studio picture ..the backlight comes back on ..and a picture is displayed.
In other words ..the backlight is either on or off depending on picture content.
Does anyone know if this is fixable ? ..perhaps by tweaking a setting in the service menu ?
rgds
Evan

[E Parton]

...Hmm
..although I now have this set essentially _working_ ..
I still have an issue insofaras
The backlight shuts down ..ie no brightness/picture ...but ONLY occasionally and for short periods ..when the set is displaying a Dull low brighness Low contrast image ..
Once the broadcast changes to a brighter image ..say a studio picture ..the backlight comes back on ..and a picture is displayed.
In other words ..the backlight is either on or off depending on picture content.
Does anyone know if this is fixable ? ..perhaps by tweaking a setting in the service menu ?
rgds
Evan

...Just a gut feeling ...
But ..I think this might be related to the Dynamic Dimming function in the TV .
Checking the service menu ..I can see this function set to'on' but is greyed out so can't switch it off to test my theory ..
Anyone know how to do this ?
rgds
Evan

[E Parton]

After some more digging on the net ..I discovered that disabling Dynanic dimming isn't an option on this model..and that it _can_be troublesome on certain sets..
I'm guessing that the combination of this feature being active ..and an lcd panel thats 5 years old is responsible ..
I did find however that ..selecting movie mode allows or automatically disbles the DD feature ..
I selected this mode and set up the TV for the best picture I could get..
Result is...the problem seems to have dissappeared ..
So far ..so good ..
But it would have been better to totally disable DD ..but can't.
Nice one Samsung ..more stupid tactics..
rgds all
Evan

[ProDave]

Could it be a fault with the inverter?

Maybe it's trying to just dim the backlights, but for some reason they go out completely.

i.e the inverter is working only on full brightness and for some reason is incapable of running at less than full brightness.

Is there a user option to dim the backlights, if so does that work, or do they go off as soon as you select anything other than full?

[E Parton]

Hi Dave ...
Not impossible that the invertor could have a threshold issue ...
But I'd be more suspicious about ageing ccfls.
However ..the set ran all day in film mode ...and in this mode its possible to set the brightness level so am guessing ..since it didn't cut out once on low level picture content ...it is more likely the dynamic dimming is the issue ..
Many users of these sets have reported flickering issues on certain picture content ...and have been forced to use the method I outlined to effectively ..disable DD ...though on some versiond the R and S models (mine is N) this can be switched off in the service menu ..
Many have done just this ...to combat the known flicker issue ..
I suspect my backlight cutout problem is just an extension of this problem emphasised by ccfl ageing.
There might have been a firmware fix for this broadcast for this model ..but If the set 'missed' the upgrade ..it won't have it.
Just a theory...but I've spent enough time and money fixing this TV ..so the customer will just have to take it back and run it in film mode ...with an explanation of course.
;)
cheers
Evan