Flicking Hell

[juboy]

I've been living with what I think is a problem with my DVD replay through my system and thought I'd ask whether anyone might have any ideas about solving it.

Basically it's this... I used to run a Panasonic A360 DVD player through an Ecosse Armageddon SCART lead to the RGB input on a Panasonic 36PF10. I only ever buy R1 DVDs and so it was all set-up correctly in terms of NTSC output/input etc. I don't think there were any actual 'simple' errors I'd made that were causing the problem which was a slight 'flickering' of horizontal lines in about the top 4 inches of the TV screen.

I recently upgraded to a Toshiba 510e, using the same TV and SCART as above. The problem still occurs.

The weird thing is this, SKY works fine through the SCART lead and RGB input and some DVDs play fine also, with no flickering.
However, I rented the R2 'We Were Soldiers' last night and noticed the flicking was getting really bad.

Anyone know what's going on? Other than that problem the TV has a rock solid, excellent picture usually. My only thought is that it may be a SCART problem but I've isolated it from power/connection cables and the problem still occurs.

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated as this problem is now making me twitchy when I watch DVDs and is spoiling my enjoyment of my HC

 

[kevb]

Was there a lot of white in the picture while the flickering was occuring, was it a constant problem or just during certain scenes.

I have a Panny TV and 510E and a had a similar problem, which I have sort of resolved.

 

[Philip Newton]

I have a similar problem. When the screen is black e.g. after the warning page before the titles i notice horizontal white scratches moving up and down and sometimes during the film certain scenes flare up brighter and then go back to normal, I use a tosh 220 with jvc 28 inch flatscreen connected wit prowire scart, any help would be great.

 

[bob007]

The only thing I can think of is to narrow the problem down - Try another scart, see how that handles RGB, if the problem is still there try switching signal from RGB to S-Video or even composite. Should then be able to tell whether it's the scart or TV.

 

[juboy]

Originally posted by kevb
Was there a lot of white in the picture while the flickering was occuring, was it a constant problem or just during certain scenes.

The flickering does occur more noticeably during lighter scenes. Dark scenes appear to be pretty much unaffected. With some discs it's a fairly constant problem, others sporadic.

Originally posted by kevb
I have a Panny TV and 510E and a had a similar problem, which I have sort of resolved.

I'm all ears (or should that be, eyes)

Bob007 - good advice, thanks. I have actually switched out the SCART and the problem remains. Also, the Ecosse SCART works fine with Sky. I don't think it's the lead. I will try S-video later today, I admit I hadn't thought of that as the TV has S-video in on the front panel, which I don't like using.

 

[Philip Newton]

I upgraded to tosh 220 so I could have RGB as had panny rv31 before, so it would be a shame to loose RGB, so I may try another scart lead first, but I also got that lead because I heard it was very good at RGB. It could be the TV and if it is do you think it could be interference from someting electrical or radio etc

 

[kevb]

Juboy sort of echoing what Bob said first off switch the scart cable so the DVD is in the input the Sky box was in and vice versa. If this doesn't work you could try the steps below.

On my TV Scart input 2 seems to pick up interference from somewhere which results in a water ripple effect with Svideo. Scart socket 1 had these bands that would move up and down the screen in RGB. No why was I using Bog Standard Video for anything. The problem is with the chaise that’s used for most of the panny models.

To solve this problem I read in the TV section of this forum about other panny owners who had similar problems. Basically you need to get into the service menu and adjust the DVCO settings.

Here is a link to a helpful web page that I used to solve my problem. The guy mentions using a Pal colour bar to get the setting correct. I used the colour pattern found on the THX optimiser on the Phantom Menace disk to set mine up. It's not as scary as this guy makes out he is just covering his arse.
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=D...um=2&[email protected]

Philip it could be your problem is similar to Juboys. Have a search in the TV forum to see if anyone had the same thing. It could be you need to get into the service menu and adjust something.

 

[juboy]

Excellent, thanks Kev... I've printed out that newsgroup post and am now off to try and rectify this problem if I can.

I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again.

 

[kevb]

No problems. Fingers crossed it helps you.

 

[kevb]

One thing I forgot to mention. I always turn my Sky box off when I watch a DVD as I find this can improve the picture sometimes. Could be my imagination but it works for me.

 

[Philip Newton]

Sorry for dumb question, but am I searching for a way to alter my tosh 220 or my tv (jvc) and what do i need to be asking

 

[juboy]

Originally posted by kevb
One thing I forgot to mention. I always turn my Sky box off when I watch a DVD as I find this can improve the picture sometimes. Could be my imagination but it works for me.

Totally agree. I notice this most when watching my VCR, with the Sky box on it's colour banding city! Turned off, it's fine... so I figured best to turn it off when watching DVDs. I now actually unplug it completely.

Philip Newton - not sure what the service menu access is for JVC I'm afraid Maybe give their consumer advice line a call?

 

[kevb]

Originally posted by Philip Newton
Sorry for dumb question, but am I searching for a way to alter my tosh 220 or my tv (jvc) and what do i need to be asking

As Juboy said It's your TV is causing you problems. Search the TV forum for your problem scratches or banding on your model number. If you don't get any joy try ringing the JVC customer service centre, see if they have any ideas on the cause or will tell you how to get into your service menu and what you need to adjust. If that doesn't work get onto the people you bought it off and complain, get them to send an engineer out to have a look at it.

 

[Philip Newton]

I will try it thanks

 

[juboy]

KevB, I owe you a drink! I've just been into the service menus for the 36PF10 and using Video Essentials I've re-adjusted the geometry (which was a little out) and tried the DVCO adjustment... it went from 000 to -001 and then back to 000.

I then swapped out the VE disc and put the 'We Were Soldiers' DVD back in and the flickering has totally gone.

How happy am I?

Thanks again and good luck Philip, let us now how you get on.

 

[kevb]

Glad to be of Help Juboy. To my critics who think I am a waste of space. Take it Back.

 

[juboy]

I only wished I'd asked sooner... I've had a good few films spoiled by that flickering

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that it's a permanent fix.

 

[kevb]

If the picture goes strange again, repeat the process, I have found the settings need adjusting now and again. I am not sure if it's down to RFI in the mains or not.

I still get the odd very faint banding here and there but not like it was, and only normaly when there is virtualy white image on screen.

 

[juboy]

Quick update - by doing a lot more research and using VE along with the service menu, I've now got my 36PF10 looking the best it's ever looked.

I also thought I'd check the factory settings on my 32PF10 and they are WAY different to the 36PF10 even when both are optimally set-up. Weird. It's obvious these TVs do need additional attention if they're to perform to their best.

Anyway, another tip for those of you with easy access to the rear of your Panny TV and have the flicking problem... simply unplug all other SCART leads and any RF lead from aerial or VCR while watching DVDs through the RGB socket. This, combined with the DVCO calibration removes the problem entirely, although I admit, is forcing you to jump through an awful lot more hoops than should be necessary.

I'm in love with my TV again now... even Sky looks excellent!