The picture-in-picture feature works fine against a background of 'snow'. I can't get a full screen pix. The TV is six years old. Any sugestions, please.
I mentioned the PIP only to show that the TV is evidently receiving a signal because the small pix-in-pix is showing a channel. The PIP may not have anything to do with not being able to get the 'big' picture. The PIP can be positioned and sized but I can't change the PIP channel. The main screen, instead of showing a selected channel, just gives me 'snow' with only the PIP, in the corner of the screen, showing a channel. Thx for considering my problem!
Make sure that the remote is in the TV mode by pressing TV under "FUNCTION" near the top of the remote. Then, while the working PIP box is on the screen, press the "SWAP" button (which is also labeled with the PLAY icon. Hopefully, this will fix you right up.
Pressing SWAP button doesn't swap the PIP and the 'snow'. The main screen momentarily goes blank when I press SWAP. Then goes back to 'snow' and small pix. In the VIDEO 1 or VIDEO 2 modes the the PIP SWAP works. If V1 is label on upper left of main screen and V2 is label in small screen, pressing SWAP will actually swap V1 and V2 positions. The main and PIP screens are both black for this exercise.
OK, two more easy things to try. For these experiments, I'm assuming you have basic cable or an antenna plugged into the TV, and have already checked to make sure wires are plugged in, etc.
First, If you have your cable or antenna routed through a VCR, make sure the VCR ios off.
Second, the TV may have been switched to the auxillary antenna input. While on the "snow channel", Press the "ANT" button on the TV remote control.
Post back if that doesn't work, and we'll start diving into the harder stuff.
Yes, we have basic cable and we don't have a VCR. When I press ANT in TV, VID1, or VID2 modes the upper label in the small pix changes from 2 to AUX66 however, the main pix is still 'snow'. It is hard to describe but sometimes it looks like there is something moving around in the 'snow' like maybe the pix is trying to get thru. One almost has to use their imagination to see anything in the 'snow'.
Okay, make sure that it is not on AUX. What you need to do is check the cable line from wherever your splitter is, all the way to the back of the TV.
If you have a small TV, unplug the cable from your 32" and plug it into the small one. If you get a picture, there's a problem with the TV, or how it was connected to the TV.
If there is no picture, keep eliminating stretches of cable. So, remove the wall jack, and check those connections, etc. Eventually, you should be able to find the bad connection.
Since the TV is getting a small (PIP) picture it would seem that the connection to the TV is OK and that something internal to the TV is suspect. What do you think?
It's certainly possible, but it would be prudent to verify all easy avenues first. You can always try resetting the TV by leaving it unplugged from the wall for about four hours.
The TV is in an entertainment center, against a wall, where it has been for a long time. Its size and wieght make moving it very difficult - two strong backs are needed - only one here! Anyway I switched off the circuit breaker, that controls the TV, for four hours. Still get the same results - small pix OK, big pix snow or very garbled signal.
I agree with what you say about the PIP. It would seem that if the cable wansn't plugged in properly, the PIP wouldn't work either. That leaves me to believe that one of the tuners in the TV has failed. At this point, you can get it quoted by a technician. I wouldn't spend more than $150 total to get it repaired, since you can replace it with a comparable TV for less than 300 bucks. Of course, the other option (and maybe your best bet) is to save yourself the in-home service fee and just buy a new TV. Read "How to Determine if you Should Repair a Broken Device" to help you decide what to do.
What has happened here is that the "Main" tuner has failed. These sets have two tuners one for the "mother" or big picture and one for the "daughter"- small pix. Pressing "swap" changes the signal, but the small image always comes from the second tuner and the larger from the main tuner. Sony does it this way to save the cost of having two full fledged tuners by making the small pix tuner with no audio decoder - and swapping only the channel of the tuners (instead of both audio and video) saves on video switching circuits too.
Last time I checked the Wholesale cost of the part, from Sony was around $65, a savvy servicer can find one from another source (i.e. rebuilt or aftermarket) for around $30, labor rates and markups vary, but the repair could be around $120 to $130 depending on who does the job.
Awesome response Techrat, I suppose it makes sense that the larger image always comes from the same tuner, but what about the cases where you can switch between the audio on either tuner? It would seem to me that each tuner would have to have an audio decoder if sound can come from the "mother" and "daughter" tuners without swapping the images.
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Can you elaborate what you mean by "Can't get a full screen pix"? I'm not clear about what your problem is, or how the PIP has anything to do with it.
I mentioned the PIP only to show that the TV is evidently receiving a signal because the small pix-in-pix is showing a channel. The PIP may not have anything to do with not being able to get the 'big' picture. The PIP can be positioned and sized but I can't change the PIP channel.
The main screen, instead of showing a selected channel, just gives me 'snow' with only the PIP, in the corner of the screen, showing a channel.
Thx for considering my problem!
Try this,
Make sure that the remote is in the TV mode by pressing TV under "FUNCTION" near the top of the remote. Then, while the working PIP box is on the screen, press the "SWAP" button (which is also labeled with the PLAY icon. Hopefully, this will fix you right up.
Pressing SWAP button doesn't swap the PIP and the 'snow'. The main screen momentarily goes blank when I press SWAP. Then goes back to 'snow' and small pix.
In the VIDEO 1 or VIDEO 2 modes the the PIP SWAP works. If V1 is label on upper left of main screen and V2 is label in small screen, pressing SWAP will actually swap V1 and V2 positions.
The main and PIP screens are both black for this exercise.
OK, two more easy things to try. For these experiments, I'm assuming you have basic cable or an antenna plugged into the TV, and have already checked to make sure wires are plugged in, etc.
First, If you have your cable or antenna routed through a VCR, make sure the VCR ios off.
Second, the TV may have been switched to the auxillary antenna input. While on the "snow channel", Press the "ANT" button on the TV remote control.
Post back if that doesn't work, and we'll start diving into the harder stuff.
Yes, we have basic cable and we don't have a VCR. When I press ANT in TV, VID1, or VID2 modes the upper label in the small pix changes from 2 to AUX66 however, the main pix is still 'snow'. It is hard to describe but sometimes it looks like there is something moving around in the 'snow' like maybe the pix is trying to get thru. One almost has to use their imagination to see anything in the 'snow'.
Okay, make sure that it is not on AUX. What you need to do is check the cable line from wherever your splitter is, all the way to the back of the TV.
If you have a small TV, unplug the cable from your 32" and plug it into the small one. If you get a picture, there's a problem with the TV, or how it was connected to the TV.
If there is no picture, keep eliminating stretches of cable. So, remove the wall jack, and check those connections, etc. Eventually, you should be able to find the bad connection.
Since the TV is getting a small (PIP) picture it would seem that the connection to the TV is OK and that something internal to the TV is suspect. What do you think?
It's certainly possible, but it would be prudent to verify all easy avenues first. You can always try resetting the TV by leaving it unplugged from the wall for about four hours.
The TV is in an entertainment center, against a wall, where it has been for a long time. Its size and wieght make moving it very difficult - two strong backs are needed - only one here! Anyway I switched off the circuit breaker, that controls the TV, for four hours. Still get the same results - small pix OK, big pix snow or very garbled signal.
Matt, what do you suggest as a next step?
I agree with what you say about the PIP. It would seem that if the cable wansn't plugged in properly, the PIP wouldn't work either. That leaves me to believe that one of the tuners in the TV has failed. At this point, you can get it quoted by a technician. I wouldn't spend more than $150 total to get it repaired, since you can replace it with a comparable TV for less than 300 bucks. Of course, the other option (and maybe your best bet) is to save yourself the in-home service fee and just buy a new TV. Read "How to Determine if you Should Repair a Broken Device" to help you decide what to do.
What has happened here is that the "Main" tuner has failed. These sets have two tuners one for the "mother" or big picture and one for the "daughter"- small pix. Pressing "swap" changes the signal, but the small image always comes from the second tuner and the larger from the main tuner.
Sony does it this way to save the cost of having two full fledged tuners by making the small pix tuner with no audio decoder - and swapping only the channel of the tuners (instead of both audio and video) saves on video switching circuits too.
Last time I checked the Wholesale cost of the part, from Sony was around $65, a savvy servicer can find one from another source (i.e. rebuilt or aftermarket) for around $30, labor rates and markups vary, but the repair could be around $120 to $130 depending on who does the job.
Awesome response Techrat, I suppose it makes sense that the larger image always comes from the same tuner, but what about the cases where you can switch between the audio on either tuner? It would seem to me that each tuner would have to have an audio decoder if sound can come from the "mother" and "daughter" tuners without swapping the images.
We at TechLore appreciate the help you've given to the TechLore community. Keep it up, and you may be the next featured member!
Matt, Techrat, Thanks for your good advice! $150 was kind of the max we planned on spending. Will check locally to get an idea of what it might cost.
i am trying to get the number of the flyback transformer for the Sony TV model KV32S66