Bubba1546080759 335 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) A problem had started today with our Sky HD box, where the picture starts to flicker quite badly and has horizontal grey lines on it. I have attached a picture to show you. I have checked connectors, tried scart connection and checked the tv (tv had no issues with the PS3) The box is around a year old. It stopped doing it for a while after I left the box unplugged for about 10 minutes, it then started playing up again after an hour. The flickering carries on for around 20 - 30 seconds, then you get crystal clear image, then it starts to flicker again. If I fast forward or pause, the picture is usually clear whilst doing this. Has anyone got any ideas about this? Sky will charge me a call out fee and past experiences with their installers has been very poor. It seems to be affecting my recordings more than anything. I can sit and watch BBC and Sky One with no issues, change to channel 4 and the problem starts straight away. Anything recorded seems to have the problem straight away. Edited June 28, 2011 by Bubba added extra info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSC1 + 131 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Firstly I'd check your signal strength, Settings > Signal then look to see if anything major is identified there. My next step (as you're mainly getting issues with recordings) is to perform a small operation on the hard disk in the box, you have to access the hidden installer menu to do this. The installer menu can be accessed by pressing 'Services 0 0 1 Select' Then scroll along to the sky+ rebuild option and press select. Worth a go if nothing else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_101 6 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'd suggest not using scart and usng HDMI instead. Try a new HDMI cable - gold ones work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSC1 + 131 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'd suggest not using scart and usng HDMI instead. Try a new HDMI cable - gold ones work very well. Personally there is no point in gold cables! They are a waste of money and i'd be damned if you see the difference. Given the connector at the back of the TV isnt gold there wont be a major increase in connectivity / picture. As HDMI is a digitial picture (and standard) the picture will be the same reguardless. However it is worth trying a different HDMI, although it the fault persisted using scart its unlikely to be the output. I'd also try unplugging the PS3 (not that there should be any interference) but just to eliminate another factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrative Account 7 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Try a new HDMI cable - gold ones work very well. In general an HDMI cable will either work, or wont. A digital signal is a series of 1s and 0s, so they either get sent and received, or not.. The only real exception is with long distances where some really cheap cables sometimes have bandwidth problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_101 6 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I generally see the gold HDMI cables have better connectivity than other cheaper ones. Probably nothing to suggest that this is the case but you should definitely try a new HDMI cable - and not a cheap one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrative Account 7 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I generally see the gold HDMI cables have better connectivity than other cheaper ones. Probably nothing to suggest that this is the case but you should definitely try a new HDMI cable - and not a cheap one. Hi Alex_101, we have discussed HDMI quality and cost previously, the thread can be found here http://www.policespecials.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=116010 the end result it that there is no difference in HDMI cables and you shouldn't pay more than a few quid for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba1546080759 335 Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Just an update for you all, since a second reboot the problem hasn't returned yet. As for scart, I only plugged that in to see if that had the same problem, normally its unplugged. All cables have been checked, know idea what had caused it and fingers crossed it won't come back. Thanks all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotlush + 1 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Just an update for you all, since a second reboot the problem hasn't returned yet. As for scart, I only plugged that in to see if that had the same problem, normally its unplugged. All cables have been checked, know idea what had caused it and fingers crossed it won't come back. Thanks all If it's an early box it may be a sign the PSU is starting to go, plenty of info on t'web about it. Spookily I've got Sky coming round to look at my HD box today as it's playing up (no signal on some channels, failed recordings even on any anytime) so suspect I'll be getting a new box... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnsy2023 2,895 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 The only real exception is with long distances where some really cheap cables sometimes have bandwidth problems. The problem isn't with bandwidth but with signal attenuation and interference. Almost right though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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