The camera will not take a picture it stalls sometimes does not take the picture at all this began happening when the LCD screen has a different menu when it is turned on possibly the flash screen with a blinking ?.

This problem is only related with back light in lcd screen and has nothing to do with ccd imager chip as explained by previous expert.
LCD screen is not getting enough voltage to lit back light to show its image thus you get darker image.
I suspect back light circuit section at main board got physical damage due to drop of camera. Visual check by qualified camera tech is needed to fix it.

before check the firmware reset the camera by going into menu > settings.

If there is no problem when you play back on a different camera or computer, then the fault concerns LCD ribbon cable or lcd controller circuit on main pcb.

If the recorded image is also distorted on computer and different camcorder, then you have a faulty ccd sensor.
Also wiring problem and pcb fault sometimes can cause ditorted picture, in that case the problem is usually a kind of dirturbance and does not happen all the time.

Regards.

Dear Peter,

It sounds to me as though your camera is experiencing the early stages of a CCD sensor problem. Users will often experience color changes and/or lines in their LCD screens when viewed in picture taking modes at this stage of the problem. Later on their sensors will ultimately fail completely and they will typicallt get nothing but a black screen.

To differentiate between a sensor problem and a LCD screen problem, try viewing your LCD screen in several different shooting modes (e.g. automatic, manual, program AE, etc) and then view your screen while in your menu (by depressing the menu button in any shooting mode). If you can clearly see your menu (OR, while in playback, pictures that were taken before the issue began) then it is your CCD image sensor and not your LCD screen.

If, however, all of these modes gives you the same distortion, it is your LCD screen itself that has experienced a problem. In either case, however, the primary solution is to send the camera in for service.

If you are under your 1 Year warranty this is usually no problem. If you are out of your warranty period and (and this is a BIG and) are capable of repairing your digital camera yourself, you have the alternate option of ordering just the defective part and installing it yourself. Replacment parts, however, come with no technical support and no instructions so make absolutely sure you are capable of repairing the camera should you choose this lower cost repair option. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
HeavyDLB

Have you tried the 'Menu' button? If you've turned off 'Review' in the settings menu, the screen doesn't show anything after you take a picture. If the screen doesn't come on when you push the 'Menu' button with a charged battery installed, your camera will need to be repaired.

you have to disamled your camera and reconnect the LCD it happens when the cable of the LCD is half out

Have you checked the display mode you're in? If you have the display set to off (to save power) and also the picture review time set to off, then you'll just see a black screen. Try pressing the 'Disp.' button below the screen when the camera is on - it should cycle through different settings with each press: Off, On, On with picture info. Similarly, in the playback mode this will show you more or less info about the picture you are viewing.

Even if the display is switched off, if you have your 'review' option in the menu set to anything other than Off (i.e. 2 seconds), then you should see the picture you've taken appear on the screen straight after taking it.

If it's not that, then I don't know the answer....

This seems to be a commonn problem for Sony and has been addressed several times in this forum: http://www.fixya.com/support/t119207-view_finder Please read all the solutions - basically, looks like the problem is with a loose connection and the fixes range from cleaning the contacts to giving a whack to the camera!

Hello, The problem is in bad contacts on flat cable from the LCD. Cleaning the cable and the connector can solve the problem. If you need more info please advice. ps: this should be the long term solution.

This sounds like what started happening with my camera a few weeks ago. I found that turning the LCD screen off during picture-taking allows me to take pictures. I then have to go into review mode to look at the pictures I took using the LCD screen. Definitely not a great fix. I'm trying to locate a firmware upgrade that may solve it.