LCD problem

Lensmith

Well-known member
I tried searching the site here and, with no results to help me, I'm posting the problem.

My LCD screen does not work. No image is produced. Just black. The camera has not been dropped or banged. All I get when I turn on the camera is a black screen. Regular viewfinder works fine and camera records fine.

The only thing I can think of is a big drop of my sweat landed on the screen a few days back, which I quickly wiped off, but maybe...and that's a big maybe...some of that moisture worked it's way into the screen. The camera worked fine for hours afterwards. I put it away for a couple of days, then yesterday turned the camera on and all of a sudden nothing on the LCD screen.

Well...I do get a half squeezed image if I fold the screen back against the body of the camera. Squeezed in the sense that there is video on the left third of the screen, top to bottom, with nothing on the right, two-thirds of the screen. The entire image is squeezed into that left "third".

If I position the screen any other way all I get is black.

Are these screens that fragile that a drop of sweat will knock them out? I'm thinking maybe the ribbon is worn but the camera is just not that old and I baby this thing.

Again, it hasn't been dropped or banged.

I am headed up to Miami in a couple of weeks and wondered if anyone can recommend an authorized repair location they trust. My other option is to send it up to Roger Macie in Boston.

Any suggestions or comments about this screen problem?

I'm all ears to any and all ideas about how to repair this problem and prevent it from happening again.
 
For what it is worth...an update.

I fooled with the camera yesterday turning it on and off, putting the LCD in various positions with no change from earlier symptoms I described.

This morning I turned the camera on and now, with some warm up time, the LCD does produce an image in it's "normal" open position but, at this time only on the right third of the screen. Top to bottom there is video but all of it is crushed over to the right third side of the monitor.

The more I look at this the more it seems like moisture.

I'm leaving the camera on and it seems, VERY slowly, the image is starting to expand across the screen...but it's still not to the halfway point yet.

I'm going to let the camera sit with the power on and the screen flipped out for a while and see (hope, pray) that with the heat of operation, the problem will solve itself.

I'm still obviously concerned but...being stuck in the third world here...my avenues for advice are limited so bare with me if I seem to want to share more than you'd want to know about this situation.

It does not seem to be a problem with the ribbon.

Maybe, in the future, I should put some kind of plastic wrap over the screen to keep my sweat from touching/dropping onto the screen and gettting inside.
 
Just for "update"

The LCD is still messed up.

I guess my trip to Miami this month will cost me a little more than I first expected.

I still can't figure exactly how and when this "problem" came to be.:furious3:

Any suggestions for a south Florida repair location would be appreciated.
 
This is a "just for fun" update to this stupid problem I'm having with my LCD flip out screen.

Somehow, I now have a full size screen in the LCD...but it's now REVERSED!

Backwards!

The time-code numbers as well as the image and all other graphics are reversed BUT if I flip the screen so it faces forward everything is normal and not reversed!

I talked with my tech in Miami and I'm prepared to replace the entire screen if need be but this is just plain crazy!

I've dealt with humidity problems before but this takes the cake. I blame humidity or moisture simply because I am positive the camera hasn't been banged or dropped.

Whatever the case, I'm going to do or buy something to better protect the LCD screen in the future.

I had no idea those screens were so delicate!

Live and learn!
 
The way it was squeezing your image and now displaying it back to front tells me the screen is ok, but its somehow getting a bad signal.... someone with more knowledge of this could explain it in detail perhaps.
 
Man. What a weird problem. That really sucks man. Sorry I can't help you. Try pming the member Speccomm on here. I believe that is his sn. He might offer some advice, and if you need it fixed he is a great place to go to.

Tim.
 
Well, good news for me! After just over two months, Panasonic has finally been able to deliver the needed part into my engineers hands. Sixty plus days to get parts from a company still seems way to long for me but...bottom line, my DVX-100a is finally fixed.

Now all I have to do is fly up to Miami to pick it up! That adds another US$450 bucks to the US&780 bill waiting for me to pay in South Florida.

Maybe someday Panasonic will get their act together.

Until then, Sony will always be number one with those of us who actually make a living shooting video and not just hobbyists who can live for months on end with a broken camera.

I have come to the conclusion that, while I love how my DVX100-A shoots when it is working correctly, I can not afford to deal with a company that is unable to offer continued and timely support for the products they sell.

From now on, I'm a "Sony only" cameraman when it comes to purchasing equipment...as I was before, and should have remained. :)
 
August first! Today! I just got my DVX-100a back in my hands after a three month wait and her LCD screen is working fine!

Life is good again!
 
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