Pink and Purple TV...
 

OK, so maybe not exactly a computer thing, but my hitherto reliable 24" Panasonic TV has suddenly decided that it doesn't do green. So everything is in a less-than-pleasing pink and purple....

So after nearly 15 years it's going to have to be replaced with something rather newer. Not a bad innings, really. It cost the equivalent of £730 in today's money, yet the replacement 32" TV I'm considering costs less than half that.

The trouble is, all my peripheral devices (DVR / Sat / VCR) use SCART rather than HDMI, which is clearly the new way. As is optical connection to AV amplifiers, rather than RCA phono which my amplifier uses.

I've seen SCART-to-HDMI converters available at the usual website, but has anyone got any experience of these? They seem to have generally favourable reviews, as do optical-to-phono audio adapters - and would be a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing the peripherals.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Sounds like your existing telly is an LCD model that uses CCFL tubes - they do go 'pink' after lots of use and the only solution is to 'bin it' or replace the tubes - a specialist operation beyond the skills of the average DIYer.


I'm not 100% sure I 'get' your current set up, but if you would prefer to stick with Scart then there are tellies out there even though it's no longer a universal connection in the digital age. I'm a fan of Samsung tellies, I think if you look at the Richer Sounds website you might find they are still supplying tellies with Scart connections but they tend to be slightly not quite current models, but they offer multi year warranties so you are not completely up the swannee if it goes wrong in later years. You might also have to consider buying a combined Scart/RCA switcher, they are out there if you Google. I hope this is a little bit useful.

I can recommend Richer. We moved our 4 year old TV from our main TV using a Sky box to secondary use and discovered the RF Tuner was U/S. They were unable to repair and replaced with an update LED one with a new 5 year guarantee.

The replacement is Panasonic with SCART, HDMI and WiFi.

Just bougth a "Philips" 32'' TV which has one SCART, and I think a lot of others have that, too. So you can connect the "best" source to that w/o losing quality from an adapter.

Generally the rule of thumb is to use the adapter at the "end" of the higher quality, e.g. if the source has HDMI dont change until just before the lesser-than-HDMI (e.g. hdmi-to-smart just at the TV).

IoW, since your sources are all on the "low" side, you wont lose much (if at all) by adaptering it to HDMI.

The old TV was a CRT device, so I'm sure that any repair would be both expensive and ultimately futile.

The new TV (which most certainly will NOT be a Philips!) might have a SCART input, but not 2. In any case, the existing SCART leads wouldn't reach it. Hence I will need 2 SCART-to-HDMI converters for the 2 HDMI inputs, not a SCART to phono converter.

So, as I asked originally, has anyone any experience of SCART-to-HDMI converters?

Have you tapped the neck of the tube - and wiggled the connector?

If you try this, please wear a suit of armour* and do not use a hammer. Well, not one made of metal.

*Please use the type of armour seen in Starwars as this is non-conductive. AND HAVE THE VISOR CLOSED.

If this procedure does not appeal to you, give the FSL a call and see if he'll come out of retirement. I have a feeling he'd know just how hard to hit a CRT neck.

I don't know where you live, but if you google 'crt television repair' you will find there are still companies out there who can have a look at your telly. If your telly has suddenly gone pink then it sounds like a simple fault rather than wear and tear.

You could join this forum and ask your question about hdmi adopters etc.

Vintage Television and Video - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

It is full of knowledgable people who will give you the benefit of their experience.

Waggled the scary connector?

Just sell it to a colour blind neighbour.

... or even swap for a known goodun, if you can borrow one. Worked for me, years ago.

Get a 2 (or 3) into 1 SCART box, then you only need one SCART-to-HDMI converter. Most come with a fly-lead for the output, which might give you the extra length needed. The basic ones use a switch to select the required input, but others auto-detect based on which input is "live".

On second thoughts, I may have got your problem the wrong way round - apologies, if that's the case...

If the picture has suddenly gone pink, have a look at the CRT base printed circuit board. There are usually three high wattage cathode resistors that get quite warm in operation.Its a favourite place for dry joints.

Good advice from Gemma. But...if you do this, make damn sure that capacitors are discharged either by leaving the set unplugged for a few days or using a discharging device. You will be working in an area where voltages are ramped up way higher than mains. Get this wrong and... well! Don't want to preach but this is NOT something for someone unskilled to attempt.

The main, and almost all, dangerous stored voltages are in the tube. More precisely, between the outer conductive coating of the glass and a similar coating on the inner surface. The voltage on a colour TV are much greater than on the old black and white tubes - and they were capable of giving a good sting.

Colour EHT is much more dangerous, as even without the capacitance of the tube, the voltage, 30kv or so, will sustain while trying to make you jump about with your eyes crossed. Add to this the storage of the tube's capacitance and you'll find Darwin's law comes into play about the time you stick a screwdriver under the rubber connector to see what that's all about.

However, while the voltages on the tube's base are not to be sneezed at* it should be possible to tease at the little PCB and its components with a trusty knitting needle. A well-positioned mirror, or a semi-skilled friend, should be placed to monitor all progress. It might help if the friend was also a nurse skilled in resuscitation procedures.

One's trust in knitting needles should only extend to ones made of plastic.


*The C&G course on telly-mending repeatedly stressed the inadvisability of sneezing - either metaphorically or literally - upon all things electrical.


My lecturer at PYE Cambridge told me of a time he'd awoken in hospital to be told he'd had an electric shock. That didn't surprise him that much, but what did leave him aghast was his rubber heel marks tracking across his lab's ceiling. A mere 9kv, but EHT from a hard-wound transformer.

Well, thanks for all the suggestions, but the somewhat elderly Panasonic TX24-DX1 will be off to the recycling place next week. Fare thee well, trusted old friend of 14 years....

Having huffed and puffed and shifted furniture accordingly to create enough space, the new kid on the block will now be a Panasonic TX-32DS500B plus a few hidden converters so that it will accept my SCART peripherals via HDMI and also to convert the optical digital output to RCA phono for the AV system. There's so much free space now available that I've constructed a shelf system to hold some of my DVDs.

I'm rather looking forward to watching Battle of Britain on the new TV, particularly scenes involving a certain Section Officer....:ok:

Well done, you've made the smart choice in not poking around.

More than likely a dry solder joint with a telly of that age.Takes longer to get the back off
than to do the repair

Well, I tried the SCART-to-HDMI upscalers but, although they worked, the resulting picture was rather artificial. I also found that they became very hot when left on for an extended period.

However, the TV has an AV1 RGB SCART socket and an AV2 component / composite 5/3 socket phono input option. The RGB is fine for Sky SD / DVD - much better than the converted HDMI option, although the composite input isn't up to much, but OK for my old VHS tapes.

So my advice to anyone else thinking of using SCART-to-HDMI converters is only to do so if there's no other option.

I do wish that the Panasonic picture was a little brighter though...

Hopefully just a menu setting, although I did recommend Samsung as a make!

The HD picture quality is very good; menu settings allow 'custom' adjustment for each source. Digital non-HD channels really show up the poor quality of the source material, but RGB AV1 means a better picture from my old Sony Sky receiver than Freeview SD.

Composite AV2 is no better than adequate for PAL VCR though.