Philips HDTV Convergence

This week the picture on my Philips 51" projection screen TV went haywire. The upper and lower left side of the screen suddenly developed a problem with the color alignment. After some online research, I discovered this is due to a convergence chip on the circuit board that has failed. Apparently this is a common problem on all projection screen TV sets. Mine lasted 4 years, and I guess that is typical. Nothing gets me more than when I find out something is a "common problem" and the cost to repair it is half as much as the item is worth. No wonder Philips was trying to sell me the extended service plan so aggressively. They probably knew this was going to happen.

So, what now? Well, in my research I discovered several websites with information about how to fix the problem yourself. The problem is so widespread that literally hundreds of people have posted comments about their experience with the convergence chip issue. It will cost about $400 to have a technician come to your home to fix the problem. If you are good with a soldering gun, you can do it yourself for around $40. Since the parts are so cheap, and the TV is already out of warranty, I figure I may as well give it a try. Half the problem with electronics repair is finding out which components need to be replaced. Since most people have reported success by replacing the convergence chips, the work is already half done.