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I have a 40in Sony Bravia from 2009. Last week, I was playing my PS4 and the screen suddenly went black. I thought it was a problem with my PS4 (I'd already had to return a defective unit), but now I think its a problem with the TV itself.

Most HDMI devices plugged into the TV do not work, but I am still able to watch analog TV through a coaxial cable. Both my PS3 and PS4 do not show any video when I power them on. The TV alternates between "no signal" and "audio only." I have a HTPC connected to my TV via HDMI which does work most of the time. Sometimes, however, I have to select the input a couple of times to get it to work and sometimes a get an "unsupported signal error" and the image is distorted and has a green cast. This goes away after I change to a different input and change back to the HTPC. I have tried each of these on various HDMI ports with the same result.

I don't really know much about what goes on inside of a TV, but it seems like there isn't a problem with the panel itself and that the problem is with the inputs. Is there some sort auxiliary board that I could replace or is it time to get a new TV? I'm comfortable opening up electronics, I just don't have any experience with TVs specifically.

My attitude to consumer electronics is that it's all low-quality; If it's only just out of warranty it may be worth repairing but as things age beyond 3 years I don't usually bother, the exception being Samsung's which had a bout of exceeding low-quality caps, easy to replace with ones that last a good deal longer. I'm not aware of that issue affecting Bravias though.

I used to repair things but realistically even Japanese goods are made in China these days so the solder dries out, capacitors age, everything is built to survive the warranty period at minumum cost and no design effort or component cost is considered to produce something with durability or reliability beyond this time. Once a 3+ year item dies, you can replace the failed part or board but other boards in the unit are likely degrading at the same rate as the failed board.

You'll potentially spend more over the next 3+ years replacing parts for your Bravia than you would on a completely new product with superior specs all round. It, too, will be a cheap and nasty made-in-China thing, but at least all the low-quality PCB and cheap-ass parts will be brand new and under warranty.

They just don't make stuff like they used to, just be thankful that things are much, much cheaper than they used to be, in relative inflation-adjusted terms at least

Can you see any image at all on the screen ? Try shining a flashlight at the screen at an angle and see if you can see a VERY faint screen which would indicate your inverter has gone bad. If you don't see an image, then I'd guess its the power board itself. It would seem that the inverter and moreso the power board are common failure points on the Bravia line from my googling so far, so here's a few diagrams of what you are looking at replacing (dependent on what model Bravia you have compared to the schematics in the link)

http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/3erj4-preparing-change-inverter-board-sony-kdl-40s2000.html

I've not been inside that TV specifically but I'd expect an input board dealing with the HDMIs. It's at least worth opening up and seeing if there is anything obviously wrong, e.g. checking ribbon cables between the boards, checking for dried caps.

I would also suggest having a serious Google hunt based on different versions of the model number, and you may come up with the service manual or replacement boards / parts for it.

notfred wrote:

I've not been inside that TV specifically but I'd expect an input board dealing with the HDMIs. It's at least worth opening up and seeing if there is anything obviously wrong, e.g. checking ribbon cables between the boards, checking for dried caps.

I would also suggest having a serious Google hunt based on different versions of the model number, and you may come up with the service manual or replacement boards / parts for it.

If you need to take it to a repair shop to do the work around here the cheapest guy is a minimum $200.
Take that into account on thinking about a repair shop.

But I did a quick search on ebay for "Bravia parts" and plenty came up.
the HDMI and analogue signal parts are definately separate boards. if you are adventurous enought search for your exact model.
though the hdmi boards I saw seem to be about $120.

Vizio has a 40" Smart TV (meaning built in WiFi and apps) for $500.

It would be a shame to just throw out, donate, or give away a 40" screen, but keep this in mind when considering repairs. If it's going to cost several hundred dollars to repair, you would be better off just getting a new model.

try resetting everything to factory defaults

Clearing is done by going into the service mode (display, channel, 5, volume plus, then power ). Press 8 and Enter, which returns everything to the factory preset condition.

Our 52" Bravia from 2009 crapped out the same way last year... turns out one of the main boards was fried. Parts and Labor would have been about $800, but we called Sony Customer Service and they sent us a refurb replacement for $400. We made sure to say that it was a branding issue (i.e. we bought a Sony because of the brand name, and were disappointed in the quality of the product). That ended up being cheaper than buying new TV. They even took the old broken TV back, so no shipping charges.

Okay, everyone. Thanks for your help. I'll have some time over the weekend to check some of these things out, but at this point I'm kind of leaning toward just getting a new one.

Purchasing a spare part that may or may not fix the problem with >$100 seems like throwing good money after bad.

Another complicating factor is that I live in Japan, but my TV is from the US so any sort of warranty or refurb is really out of the question.