huge favor??

hey if someone has there 500 near them and could do me a huge favor and check the contrast to see if it can go completely dark,,and what happens when you turn the contrast completely off?? does the screen go blank or does just the light dim and you can still see the words??

please help!!

or has anybody had a problem with the contrast screw??

or had to replace it??

I'll look for ya, but I don't remember seeing a contrast screw on my 500. Where is it located?

its located in the battery tray,,thank you!!

Ok. I'll probably not explain this very well, but I'll try.

First, the screw feels very flimsy. It was really hard to tell how much to turn and how far it would go. It looks like it has a turning radius of about 180% though. I can see how it would break easily - and I didn't push mine too hard for fear of breaking it off. I think I turned it enough to clearly see how the display appears in each state.

My 500 has 3 types of things you can see.

- Dark Grey pixels display characters.
- Medium Grey pixels appear as squares on a "turned on MPC 500" that form the basis for where the Dark pixels appear.
- Light Grey consistent background - same as if the MPC 500 is OFF.

CONTRAST - 50%

MPC OFF
- Entire display is in the Light Grey state.

MPC ON
- Light Grey background
- 2 Rows of 16 squares made up of Medium Grey pixels on top of the Light Grey background
- Dark Pixels overlaying each Medium Grey Squares

CONTRAST - 0%
You almost cannot tell that the MPC is ON in this state. The only thing that gives it away is the bluish glow from the backlight.

MPC OFF
- Entire display is uniform light grey

MPC ON
- Entire display is uniform light grey

CONTRAST 100%
You can tell the MPC is "on" because of the squares made up of Medium grey pixels. On my machine you can also see the characters composed of Dark Grey pixels, although it is harder to do so.

MPC OFF
- Entire display is uniform light grey

MPC ON
- Light Grey background
- 2 Rows of 16 squares made up of Medium Grey pixels on top of the Light Grey background
- Dark Pixels overlaying each Medium Grey Squares

(The difference between this state and the 50% state is that the Medium grey pixels and Dark grey pixels are more difficult to distinguish - although the grey pixels never reached the completely darkened state of the Dark Grey pixels.)

I aint breaking my 500 too.


I actually did screw with the contrast when I first got it, and scared the sh!t out of myself!
It IS flimsy.
One thing I can tell you is that you cant see sh!t adjusting it up or down. There's only one usable sweet spot which turned out to be where it was set in the first place.

Think about taking it into a TV repair shop or something. Any decent electronic repairman should be able to swap a new pot in there I would think.

the contrast screw is more about the angle of viewing, so you should adjust it for the place you sit at the most with it and jsut leave it there

thank you guys very much for all your help,,,its lookin like i caught a good deal so far,,,i cant wait to get it to see!!!

thanx a lot mesohordey i really appreciate your time,,thanx a lot!!!!