Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

1. Could be turned off in the menus.
2. Maybe bad solder connections at the display tube. Fairly common.
3. Missing filament voltage or -30V power supply.
4. Bad driver IC
5. Display tube broken or otherwise bad.
6. Other?

Mark Z.

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

Hi,

Mark D. Zacharias wrote in message
...
1. Could be turned off in the menus.

Not possible (?) on this model. VFD can be set to *dim* but
not "off". (I have, of course, verified the display is black on
all possible settings...)

2. Maybe bad solder connections at the display tube. Fairly common.

That didn't seem to be the case.

3. Missing filament voltage or -30V power supply.
4. Bad driver IC

Looks as if there is a small microcontroller on the PCB
that handles the display and other indicators. Note that
the LED's work and buttons work -- so MCU appears
to work (though that doesn't guarantee the VFD drive does).

5. Display tube broken or otherwise bad.
6. Other?

(sigh) Next time I get a chance to disassemble it, maybe I'll
poke around more. Or, just leave it black since it really
doesn't display much :-(

Thanks!
--don

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

Before condemning the display or its drive electronics, check carefully in
the setup menus for a display control setting. I got caught by this some
years ago. I can't remember what model it was, but the setting was two or
three levels down in one of the system setup menus, and had the settings "
Bright " , " Dim " and " Off ".

I remember querying with the manufacturer's service dept, why " Off " would
be a valid setting, and they said that it had two reasons. The first was so
that it wouldn't be disturbing when watching a movie in a darkened room, and
secondly, so you could make it so that it didn't
' advertise ' itself to would-be burglars having a casual look through your
window ... !!

Hope this helps Geoff UK


"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

(sigh)

Well, we're not psychic, after all. All we can do without actually
troubleshooting the piece is offer our experience and some generalized
advice. Occasionally we do see a common problem. Only someone who works on
lots of Panasonics would have a clue if there were any such common problems
on your model. There are fewer and fewer such people anymore, since there
are fewer techs generally, and the players are so cheap these days they are
often thrown away rather than repaired.

Mark Z.


"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,

Mark D. Zacharias wrote in message
...
1. Could be turned off in the menus.

Not possible (?) on this model. VFD can be set to *dim* but
not "off". (I have, of course, verified the display is black on
all possible settings...)

2. Maybe bad solder connections at the display tube. Fairly common.

That didn't seem to be the case.

3. Missing filament voltage or -30V power supply.
4. Bad driver IC

Looks as if there is a small microcontroller on the PCB
that handles the display and other indicators. Note that
the LED's work and buttons work -- so MCU appears
to work (though that doesn't guarantee the VFD drive does).

5. Display tube broken or otherwise bad.
6. Other?

(sigh) Next time I get a chance to disassemble it, maybe I'll
poke around more. Or, just leave it black since it really
doesn't display much :-(

Thanks!
--don

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

Hi,

Arfa Daily wrote in message
...
Before condemning the display or its drive electronics, check carefully in
the setup menus for a display control setting. I got caught by this some
years ago. I can't remember what model it was, but the setting was two or
three levels down in one of the system setup menus, and had the settings "
Bright " , " Dim " and " Off ".

The user accessible menus allow "BRIGHT", "DIM" and "AUTO"
(the last is DIM unless you are currently interacting with the unit).
I, of course, tried all of the above before posting... :-(

I remember querying with the manufacturer's service dept, why " Off "
would
be a valid setting, and they said that it had two reasons. The first was
so
that it wouldn't be disturbing when watching a movie in a darkened room,
and
secondly, so you could make it so that it didn't
' advertise ' itself to would-be burglars having a casual look through
your
window ... !!

If the unit is off, the display is blank (i.e. unlike a VCR that may
continue to act as a "clock"). When "ON", there are 6 or 7 bright
LEDs that would surely draw attention to the unit.

Hope this helps Geoff UK

Thanks!
--don

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don

Hi,

Mark D. Zacharias wrote in message
...
(sigh)

Well, we're not psychic, after all. All we can do without actually
troubleshooting the piece is offer our experience and some generalized
advice. Occasionally we do see a common problem.

Of course!

Only someone who works on lots of Panasonics would have a clue if
there were any such common problems on your model.

.... which was the motivation behind my post. Or, a chance at finding
a drawing set that would at least cover the VFD and let me see what's
involved (without having to trace foils).

There are fewer and fewer such people anymore, since there
are fewer techs generally, and the players are so cheap these days they
are
often thrown away rather than repaired.

Yup. I try to design subassemblies around the magical $100 cost -- the
point
at which it is more economical to throw "bad" boards in a box to donate to
the
local technical school than to waste time and money trying to repair them.
Fortunately, those devices tend to be almost entirely electronic -- unlike
something like a carousel DVD player that has lots of mechanism and
will take up considerably more space in a land fill... :-(

Thanks!
--don

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,

Mark D. Zacharias wrote in message
...
1. Could be turned off in the menus.

Not possible (?) on this model. VFD can be set to *dim* but
not "off". (I have, of course, verified the display is black on
all possible settings...)

2. Maybe bad solder connections at the display tube. Fairly common.

That didn't seem to be the case.

3. Missing filament voltage or -30V power supply.
4. Bad driver IC

Looks as if there is a small microcontroller on the PCB
that handles the display and other indicators. Note that
the LED's work and buttons work -- so MCU appears
to work (though that doesn't guarantee the VFD drive does).

5. Display tube broken or otherwise bad.
6. Other?

(sigh) Next time I get a chance to disassemble it, maybe I'll
poke around more. Or, just leave it black since it really
doesn't display much :-(

Thanks!
--don

"Don" none@given wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking for pointers or a schematic of the front panel
VFD drive electronics for a Panasonic DVD-CV51.
VFD appears dead. Player works fine, otherwise
(including the other front panel buttons and LED indicators).
While the display isn't crucial to the operation of the
player, it's kind of irritating to know that it *should*
be illuminated, yet isn't! :-(
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
--don