Elite 151FD Issues

dsteak

I purchased a Pioneer Elite 151FD because of all the positive reviews I've been reading in the past. I've had my eye out for prices to drop and finally they did, I suppose because of the impending Pioneer plasma discontinuation.

At first I was a tad surprised at the flat picture. The blacks were truly amazing, but the lighter shades seemed grey. Several users seemed to rave about the Pure setting, but it looked cloudy and washed out to me, regardless of the source. The picture was very clear, especially when upscaled, but any kind of night or cloudy scene caused detail to disappear (facial features, etc.).

3 weeks later I had an ISF callibration done, and that really seemed to fix everything. However the pro who came to perform the callibration seemed quite surprised at how dingy the picture was especially for a brand new one. He said it was the darkest Elite he's every seen out of the box.

The next day, I was watching a movie, and the unit shut off. The manual suggested waiting 5 minutes, unplugging it and plugging it back in, but the tv would not turn back on. All I got was 2 red blinks and a pause, over and over. The store and Pioneer among others said it seemed the power supply went bad. Could this have caused the dark picture to begin with?

After grappling with the store, the manager finally agreed to replace it with a new one (even if I was past the 30 day store warantee, kudos to them). His quote was classic. "I have the same unit, and I can't imagine what you must be going through. Exchanging it is the right thing to do". Anyway, I'm concerned that maybe it wasn't the tv, but my electrics that caused this. Everyone says no, but I'm wondering if there's a way to know? We had no lightning that night and my other components are fine. The installer mounted a heavy duty power supply/protector into the wall that sits behind the unit, which is where it's plugged in. I also have a Richard Gray power station that my other components are plugged into. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

Loves2Watch

I wouldn't worry about it because as others have said, it was a faulty power supply in the TV. It does happen and I'm glad to hear the place you purchased it was so generous with replacement.

And yes a poor or faulty power supply could in fact make the picture "dingy" as you described it.

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