hi all,

before i call a sky engineer to check out my system / dish....wondered if you guys have any ideas what could be the problem.
when watching footie through my skyhd box and tosh lcd tv there seems to be 2 feint vertical lines one near the centre the other to the right hand side of screen. the problem seems to be with sky sports only - other channels are fine also no problems with the dvd picture.
ive checked all connections and as far as i know the sat dish has not been knocked or moved.
your thoughts would be appreciated.
regards, scotty

any ideas at all ?

hi scotty

i had problems with horizontal lines with my digital-tv cable box. it's a crap model, but i have no choice. everything is encrypted and the card and the box are locked...

when i scaled a 4:3 letterbox picture to get rid of the black bars on top and bottom to fill my 16:9 screen on this dvb-c box i found those lines.

when i did the same, but used my tv to make it fit, i did not have this problem.

so the scaler in the box is by far inferior than the scaler on my tv.

probably sky sports comes with another resolution than the other channels? then the box has to scale, where it has not to with the others...

good luck
adrian

thanks for the reply my lines are vertical (top to bottom)
regards, scotty

Difficult one Dave. Given that the lines only appear on Sky Sports it's unlikely to be the sky box & more likely to be Sky's transmission.

Have the lines always been there but you've only recently become aware of them perhaps?

It would also be worth checking the other HD channels. Tune in to one & try turning the contrast & brightness controls on the TV up & down to see if the lines are also present - perhaps they're just more obvious on the sports stuff. If they are then it'd be worth trying a new box. If they try & charge you, say you'll just cancel the subscription. Works wonders!

Sorry I can't help any further.

thanks tony,
i cant remember the lines always being there and they are only visible on sky sports all the other hd channels dont seem to suffer this problem. im now wondering if the dish needs re-aligning ??
regards, dave

Dave,
Its not your dish if it was moving it would mess with every other chan.
The same goes for the LMB, the bit that points at your dish on the end of the arm.
You can check the plug on the end of your sat lead that goes into your box.
But again that will normaly mess with all chans.
I think its a box set up thing.
How long have you had the dish up and how long the HD BOX?
Munch

think i will get a sky engineer out to check the hd box - thanks all for your input.
dave

ok guys heres an update: got the sky man down to look at the system - he checked the dish and the hdbox said everything was hunky dory so got the tv engineer down to have a look at my 42" tosh lcd.
he told me something very interesting....he reckons ALL flat screens come out of the same factory LG ! and are then sent out to other tv manufacturers factorys to have their parts fitted and their own styling of surrounds and stands etc - they are then badged accordingly.
he reckons that its a well known design fault in the screen and will have to be replaced.
he also reckons that MOST lcds / plasmas have known design faults.....which brings me to the question. perhaps thats why tvs are replaced on a very frequent basis for updated/newer models.
im lucky that i took a 5yr warranty and will get mine fixed or replaced but am annoyed that these big companys are knowingly selling tvs with known design faults!
in the meantime im stuck with a portable with no sky............BOLLOX !

Hi Scotty,

Your TV engineer is incorrect, LG do not source all flat screens, certainly Pioneer and Panasonic are not made by LG, and I doubt very much that Sony are.

Also I cannot fathom how just HD Sports would be affected if other HD channels are Ok. This would most likely be a Sky box fault possibly a card issue which I have encountered in the past.

I am on my third Sky HD box by the way.

Regards

Gerry

hi gerry,
your right the lines are on most channels but are more evident on the footie channels - probably because of the pitch where its most noticable.
it wasnt just the engineer who i heard this from, last year on the gadget show they visited the LG factory and said the same thing ? gawd knows!
regards, scotty

I read recently in what Hi FI that Pioneer were going to source their plasma screens from Panasonic after the next gen of TV's because they were too expensive to make themselves. Clearly LG don't make screens for Pioneer or Panasonic. At least not Plasma anyway.

Regards

TC

lcd got taken away today - guy reckons i could be without it for 2 weeks.....shit!
will let you know the outcome.
scotty

Hi Dave. I've been told loads of old tosh by some of these so-called "Engineers" in the past. The Sky installer guys are worse & seem to make it up as they go along!

One of them decided my dish was faulty, and just wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell him it worked fine when I wired back in my old Sky+ box, it was just the HD box that'd gone up the swanny. Oh well, got a new dish out of it I suppose!

Most of these guys are just ladder monkeys. I had one tell me the LNB had packed up and it would be £250.

Got one off the web for about £15.

Steve

i know what you mean guys...when i enquired if i would get a loan set whilst it was away he said that most houses have more than one set anyway and the new flat screens cant be repaired on site anymore. technology eh, dont ya love it!

Here's a little info re TV's...

Pioneer & Panasonic are currently leading Plasma manufacturers, until of course Pioneer throw in the towel after their next range comes out, when they'll most likely be putting their own spin on Panasonic panels.

Panasonic are also one of the 3 main LCD manufacturers... the other two being Samsung, and Sharp being the largest LCD panel manufacturer in the world.

Sony screens are currently Samsung panels, but Sony, Pioneer and Toshiba have all signed agreements with Sharp to use their panels in the near future.



As for being "in development" and "having design flaws", tell me something else that has a product shelf life of 8-12 months that isn't subject to this.

Scotty, hope your set comes back to you soon.
For what it's worth I know a bit about this kind of tech (I'm a gadget nut with friends deep in the industry) and the failing of an ancilliary board, such as a video input card can be fixed in your home if the part is immediately available. Failiure of a major component, such as the panel itself, or a lack of immediately available spares, is more than likely why your screen will have been taken away.

All the best

Mike

thanks for the insight mike.
all the best, scotty

latest update:

had a call today from the repairers stating that my screen is f****d and needs replacing. toshiba have discontinued this particular screen but will send a replacement new upgraded one......just hope this one lasts longer than 18 months this time!!
will post final findings when ive viewed new screen which should be back end of next week.
scotty

quote:

Sony screens are currently Samsung panels, but Sony, Pioneer and Toshiba have all signed agreements with Sharp to use their panels in the near future.

Mike: I have heard, this is more a marketing than a technical issue. When the japanese buy one of "their own" tv sets, they expect it to be a product of japan. Which means no korean panel inside...

Scotty: Bad luck. That's the way it goes with those short lifecycles... At least I hope it is a generous offer, and that the new one will not only be without lines, but probably a small update too (to balance for the long waiting).

good luck
Adrian

adrian,
luckily i took a 5yr extended warranty and it wont cost me a penny......but im still sore with toshiba and wont buy their products again.
scotty

STILL NO TELLY.......

LATEST: lcd has been written off by the repairers due to no more of these screens......
unbelievable but true - tosh have no more screens for my model so a £1200 18 month old market value telly is junked ! waiting to hear from insurance on a replacement....and i tell you something it WONT be a toshiba thats for sure. let you know the outcome.
scotty