Sound but no picture

[toppjoppe]

I have a problem that I seem to be unable to solve. My DVD-player (Plu2 DS-6338D) sends out audio signals but fail to send any picture. This happened in a very peculiar way as one day when I started the player the picture was very faint but you could still see that it was there. I didn't manage to solve the problem and so just used it as an mp3-player for a while. Then one day when I loaded an mp3-disk suddenly the picture appeared again and I thought "wow, I'm a genius at electronics". I then proceeded with watching a movie and as the movie played the picture faded away and is now totally gone. The sound still work though. I've of course tested different cables and different TV’s but the same scenario repeats itself, sound but no picture. I have tried to contact the company from witch I bought the player but as this was over the internet the only means of contact were email. After not getting any answer and repeating the question with a slightly bitter touch I finally got an answer that said I should try the NTSC/PAL button on the remote. Well, I'm a chemist and not all that good in electronics but this explanation seems a bit stupid (I have to admit that I've tried it even though it seemed a waste of time)

Ok, so do any of you have any idea of what can be wrong? It seems to me that some component must be broken but if so do you have any clues and do you thing I could fix this myself? Sending it back to the seller seems as a waste of both time and money.

regards

[Roundabout]

Several different possibilities.

One, try another output connection - if the player has component video output, try using that instead, if you have a component input connection on your TV.

Try another cable. If you're using the yellow composite video connection, replace the cable and make sure it's well plugged in to the back of your TV (wiggle it around slightly to make sure).

Try another input connection on your TV. If you have more than one composite video input, move it to a different connection, to make sure this is not a problem in your TV.

If none of that works:

Since the audio works, there is no problem with the laser or associated electronics, or power supply. The problem would have to be in the video output stages of the player. If you want, you could open the player while it's playing and use the insulated end (handle end) of a screwdriver and press lightly on the main circuit board while the disc is playing to see if the video comes back on. If it does, it means you have a bad solder connection somewhere (it could even be right at the video output jack itself, since this is the connection most used and therefore most stressed and likely to break the solder connection where it is connected to the main board).

If you have a bad solder connection, you have two options. If you can locate the bad connection (I use a toothbrush with it's bristles to locate intermittents by rubbing around on the board until I hopefully find the bad solder joint) then you can solder it yourself if you want. You can buy a low-wattage soldering iron from Radio Shack for less than $5.00 and solder the connection. Or you can take it to a shop and have them solder it, showing them where the problem is - if they'll agree to charge you only for the soldering. Most shops would be reluctant to do that, because you could come back later and blame them if it stops working. For that reason, you'd almost have to do it yourself.

If you can't find the intermittent this way, and repeated light tapping on the board doesn't have any results (if you see flashing video while tapping, you have a bad solder joint) then you have a component problem. Then it gets more expensive, because it will require troubleshooting in a shop with proper equipment.

In that case, depending on what you paid for this unit, you may decide it isn't worth repair. In general, unless it's some special model that you just love and can't get anymore, then it's usually not cost effective to repair the cheaper (sub-$100) players anymore. It's up to you, but at that point, I'd just buy a new one.

Hope that helps.

Roundabout