Riddled TV Repair Forum

4uzindian · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: United States

i have a Philips magnavox #HD2530 c221 regular TV. the picture seems to be very slightly squashed. i got into the service menu it has these choices. geometry-audio-AKB-VSO-tuner-white noise. would any of these be able to stretch the picture just a little bit ?

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JTS1957 · Joined: 21 Jan 2009 Posts: 2395 Location: Far, Far Away

While an adjustment would probably TEMPORARILY "strech the picture," why don't you troubleshoot it and find the bad capacitor?
I presume "very slightly squased" happened over a period of time longer than one day and I hope you haven't changed any setting in the service menu.

4uzindian · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: United States

thank's for the reply i hven't changed any settings. i don't know anything about checking for a bad capacitor. if there is something simple i could do i'll do it . otherwise i'll just leave it the way it is. back to the question. are any of these adjustment's used to strech the picture? is ther a web page that explains how to to use these ?

JTS1957 · Joined: 21 Jan 2009 Posts: 2395 Location: Far, Far Away

Even though you'll have access to many. many items, this is the ONE you requested. I would highly recommend NOT experimenting with ANY other item. Read through the WHOLE procedure first, then have at it.

Vertical Amplitude (VAM):
1. Enter the Service Alignment Mode (SAM) by pressing the following key sequence on
the remote control transmitter:
0-6-2-5-9-6-Status
Do not allow the display to time out between entries while keying the sequence.
2. From the top level SAM menu, use the Menu Up/Down keys to highlight the Geometry
sub menu.
3. Use the Menu Left/Right keys to enter the Geometry sub menu.
4. In the Geometry sub-menu, use the Menu Up/Down keys to select VAM.
5. Input a crosshatch pattern to the antenna/cable input terminal. (any placard cable station or any channel with mostly steady video, like a home shopping channel.)
6. Using the Menu Left button, reduce the value so that the picture does not fill the entire
screen.
7. Use the Menu Up/Down keys to select VSH (Vertical Shift) from the Geometry submenu
and, using the Menu Left/Right keys, center the picture on the screen, top to
bottom.
8. Using the cursor up/down keys, select VAM from the Geometry sub-menu, and use the
Menu Right key to increase the value to obtain a slight overscan.
9. If other Geometry adjustments are needed, proceed to the necessary adjustment using
the Menu Up/Down buttons.
10. Upon completion of Geometry adjustments, press the Menu button to return to the top
level SAM menu.

To exit the Service Alignment Mode, turn the set off with the Power button on the
remote control. To turn off the set without exiting SAM (or erasing any stored error
codes), unplug the AC cord. When the set is powered on again, the Service Alignment
Mode will still be active.
Note: When SAM is exited or a power interrupt occurs, the volatile SAM items AKB,
VSD, AFW, and SBL will be reset to their original values.

4uzindian · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: United States

thanh's for the info. i got to step three. didn't have to select vam it was the only one displayed. step 5 didn't have a pattern to display the screen was black with white static... so the number displayed with vam was 21. pressed right arrow on remote it went up to 31 if i pressed left it went to 42. so i left it at 31. would this be step 8 to increase overscan? used remote to turn off tv. turned it back on i guess it streched it a little bit. does this make any sense? looking at the versus channel the channel icon is perfectly round so it must be ok. any comment's and i'll listen.

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JTS1957 · Joined: 21 Jan 2009 Posts: 2395 Location: Far, Far Away

Left arrow should decrease - Right arrow should increase. NOT both increase.
You DIDN'T input a pattern, so you didn't get a pattern.
Yes, but you skipped over step 7 entirely.

You need to supply the "pattern." In your case you don't have access to professional test equipment to generate one, so you'll have to improvise.
Imagine if you will a image of a stationary basketball that covers nearly the entire screen.

The first thing they want you to do is to purposely "shrink" the top and bottom until you can see black (an unscanned area) at the top & bottom of the screen. VAM (If the amount of black at the top is equal to amount of black at the bottom you can skip the next step).
Next they want you to go to a different adjustment and move the whole screen up or down until the amount of black at the top is equal to the amount of black at the bottom ("center"). VSH
Last they want you to "stretch" the top & bottom until they both overfill the screen by 0.25" - 0.5" VAM

Now, with a defective part still in the set, you may not get a perfectly linear "basketball" and you may find that you will need to repeat frequently as the defective part keeps "drifting."

4uzindian · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: United States

your right i went from step 3 to step 8. my service menu didn't display the vhs letters. so i can't do that. when i go into service menu the screen is black so i can't do the basketball thing cause there's nothing to see. so i just raised the vam number thinking this should strech the picture. i'm going to mess with this again in a day or two and i will post what i've done. right now i'm watching a 27" sanyo i got from behind the local goodwill store this morning. i'll hook up the philips again monday . thank's for such good advice. until later.

4uzindian · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Location: United States

still here didn't get back to philips yet. i'm starteing a new post if you want to check it out.