A PHILIPS 42FD9954/17S PLASMA TV SET THAT HAS NO PICTURE CANNOT TURNED ON BY THE REMOTE

You either need this part (http://cgi.ebay.com/Philips-50PFP5332D-37-LJ92-01401-Buffer-Board-/150501144120?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230a913638) or this one depending on your dead screen issue (http://cgi.ebay.com/Philips-50PFP5332D-37-LJ41-04216A-X-SUS-XSUS-Board-/170550290208?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b596e720)

This model has PiP (Picture In Picture), find the button on the remote or check manual, this mode is most likely turned on and is being shared with one of the AV channels, or try turning on a plugged in SCART device to see if this picture shows on the other half of screen.

I would first check if there is an available firmware upgrade for your model .Upgrade requires you to download firmware from philips website.Then transfer it to a memory stick .Then use a memory stick reader to plug into tv for firmware upgrade.Other wise the set would probably need repair .Possible a bad SSB board or another issue

First red light normal
Now select channel or other source from remote with full batteries or pushing buttons left down side of TV. Red light is only stand-by

I finally found a fix to this! YAY. I thought I might have to return the TV. I have the Phillips 42PFL5603D, but should work for other models.

On the TV press menu picture settings---picture---dynamic contrast (turn off) AND active control, turn off
If you have Comcast Moto box: on the Cable box go menu--->setup--->cablebox set up---RF BYbass set to ON
If you have a non-Comcast Moto Box, I'm sure there is an RF bypass setting in the menu. You'll just have to look for it. Another fix was close saying to only turn of the active control, but it took all 3 of these for it to work consistently. The latter let it work for all of 30 seconds.

Check the cables first that connect to your video device, are they in tightly?  Test the cables on another TV to make sure they haven't gone bad, which is common.  Also check the input selection on the TV to make sure it matches with the video input the cable is connected to.

Quick test of the plasma screen itself:

1) Turn on the TV
2) Try to bring up an on screen setup menu using the remote or buttons on the tv.
3) Does the menu appear? If so, the screen itself is ok.

If it doesn't come up you make have an issue with the screen itself. I am not sure it would be possible to set contrast and brightness settings such that the picture would completely disappear, but I suspect you should be seeing something on the screen just from having turned it on.

We also need to know more about what you have connected to the television. HD televisions typically have several inputs on them including HDMI, digital cable, VGA and component. Let's say for example you have PS3 connected via HDMI. You can tell the PS3 to send audio across the HDMI cable as well as video. You also have the option of running separate connections for your audio signal. It is the existence of these options that make it necessary to understand where and how you have things connected, very specifically.

you need to replace y-sustain board.

I had the same problem (with 42FD9954/17S) that when turned on the unit, the green LED turned off and came back to red again some time later. I kept turning it on and once it went to a clicking relay sound and blinking green LED with it. It did that for a while and stayed turned on. I noticed that it is temperature sensitive. Colder the room is more often does it. Used a hair dryer and blown hot air into the unit at the left bottom grills. It helped and started to tun on quicker. Later it has deteriorated so bad that I took it a part and after several ice spraying test showed that on the middle big board (power board) there was an electrolyte condenser went bad. It is the one one which is at the middle, bottom center of the board near the fixing screw. There are two of them (cylindrical objects). The left one was the culprit. However when I fixed it, it turns on immediately but goes blinking red after that. Phillips say it is a static discharge problem. I might blown something when soldering the parts. I don't know what. Any ideas?

You can go into the menu and adjust the picture setting. If that does not fix the iss and the set is under a year old then it will still be in warranty. Contact Philips at 1-88- 744-5477 and have them do the repairs under warranty. Don't do it your self because that will void your warranty.