Hello all, I have a friend’s AK in my studio since few months and just yesterday I saw that the right half of the display and around upper and low edges of the left side have a lower contrast compared to the typical and the centre of the display (as you can see from the attached image).
Thank you very much in advance.
I see the A4 screen go more this way (faint, mine is not as bad as that) than the common issue on the AR where people describe it more as something like excess contrast, in these pictures I have photographed the two test modes for the LCD all black/white … this may reveal something more and the thread should cover some similar discussion ground (without any evidence it would help, I did a lot of cycling between the two test states … I’m not sure if it was more to do with having it on, but it seemed to lessen a little bit for me)
Hi !
I’ll try keeping it switched on for an hour and see if there is some improvement.
How do you get in that screen test mode?
Hold down Function when booting - select one - then I think it’s the first two trigs, other ones test LEDs etc
yeah a little bit similar - best to get advice from support if it doesn’t improve through usage
I’ve recently sent back to repair my rythm because of similar issue. It seemed to be permanent unfortunately.
I can’t get it why Elektron chose such unreliable screen on these machines.
yeah…in my AK have a little part like that…
Support replied me. They said: "The LCD changes like this overtime. Sometimes it goes back to normal and sometime it needs to be replaced. "
Crossing fingers for the first option!!
I talked to my friend who’s an electric engineer and worked with LCDs before about this issue. He said that the above answer from Elektron support had been a bullshit. In his opinion they just applied poor quality LCDs on the devices which can loose certain conditions very easily (he had some guesses about what might happen in such cases). But he definitely doesn’t think this is the normal behavior of those screens.
I can’t add to this story anything as I’m out of this technological territory. The only reference point I have are those many “old-fashioned” mini video games from my childhood which also had similar basic LCDs and they lasted for so many years (even a decade) without such issues.
Does he have an idea if this LCD can be easily replaced?
I would like to attempt this task by myself or with the help of a skilled iron guy.
The costs of service for this replacement is far beyond any reach for me…too much (considering also the shipment costs…)
Do you have valid warranty on your device yet? If so, don’t do it yourself, Elektron will kindly repair it to you.
Otherwise you have the option of DIY, but I can’t help you with that. According to my very poor knowledge on this replacing (applying) LCD screens should not be a difficult thing. You may find guides and videos in this forum and in the internet out there.
I doubt it’s the intended behaviour, more a problem batch or long term issue that is hard to test for, this happens to anyone who manufactures items at some point. Suspect that this would have been a factor in changing screens on the newer boxes.
Though this sort of stuff is what makes me glad that there are not user rechargeable batteries in Elektron boxes. 
Out of warranty.
I wrote this thread in the hope to find anyone/anything to guide me in the possibility to attempt a DIY approach.
yep my lcd on my rytm is loosing contrast too. But very smoothly like it is loosing the black in it.
That’s super easy to fix, there is a dimmer for that.
Just open your unit watching out for the flat connectors, place it vertically like a book. Plug it turn it on and adjust the dimmer slighlty.
It will be like new in no time.
Welcome your experience and welcome here @Elektroskop !
I’ll try as soon as my life will allow me.
Thanks for your insight!
Namaste
No, they use a widely known brand used by many other manufacturers. It could be the case that certain batches of the LCD are more prone to problems occurring than others, this is quite common in electronic components in my experience, I have experienced this first hand myself with connectors, components and even solder.
Hope it helps!