HistoryProf

I'm slowly trying to upgrade things and am a bit flustered at my current situation. I have a low-end player and a basic 19" GE tv. Last month I got a Pioneer 711 receiver to start working toward a basic HT set-up. The problem right now is that more often than not i'm seeing diagonal waves flickering across the screen of my tv when watching dvds. they aren't still, but flow to and fro in a zebra-ish fashion if that makes any sense. It doesn't seem to occur early in a film, but after awhile it rears its ugly head and bugs the living **** out of me!! I have the video feeds running through an RF modulator out of necessity, but since it doesn't happen with VHS I figure it has to be the TV and incompatability issues with the hi-res of dvd. Can anyone help me out on this one? I'm not exactly rolling these days, and trying to get one componant a month. I just ordered a center channel speaker to begin the revamp of the audio, and was planning on saving the tv upgrade for the holidays. Is the GE the source of my problems? or the RF modulator? Or what?!??!? it's driving me friggin nuts!!!

Brian Shannon

It might be the modulator or some other form of interference.

Does it do this when the DVD player is not on? Do you still have the problem with your TV source or VCR?

goatweed

I would check the RF modulator first. How old is it? You can always go to a Radio Shack and pick up another one for $20, try it out - if it works, then your problem is solved. If not, then return the new modulator for your $20.

You also mentioned a new addition in the form of a receiver. Does it get very hot after running for a while ? Is it close to the video cables (in your case, COAX I am assuming, since you're using a modulator)? If so, maybe the receiver is giving off some kind of interference that is being picked up by the COAX, which might be an occurrence of the receiver getting hot. I had a similar situation when I had my old TV/RF setup, and I moved the receiver farther away - problem solved. In my case, the problem was there from the start, not after a while or so into the movie. I'm no expert, but I do know that video interference is usually due to poor quality video cabling (the rubber casing letting interference through) or the cables simply being too close to a component that emits large amounts of interference.

HistoryProf

It's not noticeable when just watching tv or the vcr....only when watching a DVD, not always, and usually after it's "warmed up" - i.e. 1/4 to 1/2 way into a film. It definately seems like some kind of interfearance, but i can't figure out what it might be. The cable runs into the vcr, which then runs into the modulator along with the dvd player, then into the tv. could it be the proximity to the receiver? I haven't checked to see if it happens with the receiver on or off...i'll check that out now...

HistoryProf

Ok....so reaaranging and separating the modulator from the receiver as much as possible seems to have helped. I did notice moving the mod around that it was worse closer to the speakers. I have big crappy ones, so i suspect that when i upgrade those to the Bose 201 bookshelf system in coming months i'll be better off on that front too. (and have more room for dvds!! )

I am curious about one thing here: Which cables are most likely to be causing the interference? I have a higher end coax going from the mod to the tv, but a plain ole generic one going from the vcr to the mod.

ngp

I would check the RF modulator as folks have mentioned above....also, your low end video cable.

You mentioned that the speakers seem to affect your lines....can you move the speakers away and run just the DVD (even if its w/o sound) just to see if you are getting magnetic interference from the older speakers?