I turned on my Hitachi 50V500 today and all of a sudden it is all washed out. Super bright very much over driven. It has been running great since Dec of 2003. Still on the orginal lamp. Can a dying lamp go bright instead of going dead? I hate to buy a new $200 lamp if that is not it. Any other HIT 50V500 owners had this problem? HELP!!!
PS: I was able to use the color controls to adjust a lousy, but watchable picture. I have the color almost off, and the brightness, contrast, etc. way down as well.
First, the lamp, while probably on the last legs, isn't what's causing the problem. You've probably got a bad light engine.
If it is your light engine, Hitachi might pick up the cost of it. You pay for the labor. I bought my TV in October of 2004 and recently had the light engine replaced.It had a red glow problem that has been noted in another post on this website. Send them a letter to the address that is in your owner's manual and approach them in a decent manner and see what they will do for you.
I recently got mine back from my local repair center. It was the same problem as almost everyone else, "Light Engine." If you have no extended warranty, you may want to contact Hitachi and see if you can beg for "parts only" replacement. It worked for me. I had to pay $250 labor to have it replaced. But the part is anywhere from $700 to $1200 around the NET. The replacement light engine is an upgraded part according to my technician that replaced mine. He said this is common with a lot of the DLP and LCD TV's. The Blue source burns out due to heat. The replacement light engine accomodates the heat issue much better. He said I should get normal use out of the set now. PS: I am still on my original lamp (4 yrs.)