Mark_TB

Sony 34XBR960/VCR Video Problem

I'm having trouble with the picture quality on my Sony 34XBR960 when using a VCR. I'm normally good at troubleshooting problems, but this one has me completely stumped. I hope someone here has a suggestion that might help.

Shortly after purchasing the Sony HDTV, I noticed an intermittent blurring/ghosting of the picture when I would play back tapes made on my VCR (at that time a JVC HR-VP59) through the composite input. The picture would blur slightly for just a split second. It didn't seem to happen with any regularity and didn't repeat on a consistent basis. Sometimes it could be fine for an hour, while other times it could happen every second or two.

I thought there was a problem with the VCR, so I bought a new JVC HR-S3912 and connected it through the S-Video input. The problem still continued.

Interestingly enough, I found that prerecorded tapes and tapes made before the purchase of the HDTV played back fine! I also took some of the tapes I had trouble with to a friend's house and tried playing them on his system. Of course, they played fine there.

My guess then was that there had to be some kind of interference problem, so I upgraded all of my cables and played with every hookup combination I could think of. The problem remains.

So now I'm at a total loss. Any ideas?

John S

I'm at a loss too... Just for grins, can you try your other sources, on both the composite and svideo connections?

I can see no reason that only a VCR should cause it. But then again, HDTV's have a way of revealing flaws that other video displays may not. But it does not sound at all like that is what is happening here.

PS: I wached some old VCR stuff over the weekend. Not as bad as I always make it out to be. But it certainly doesn't even approach what I get off of laserdiscs.

Mark_TB

Well, John, this afternoon I hooked up my DVD player using the composite and S-VHS outputs and guess what? It played back fine, of course. It was worth a look, though. But I'm still back at square one.

One other thing I forgot to mention before: when I watch TV programs "live" using the VCR's tuner, they look fine as well. It's only when I tape the program and play it back that I have this stupid problem.

Any other ideas? Anyone?

John S

It must have something to do with the Displays de-interlacer perhaps? I am really clueless on it though.

Mark_TB

Well, I'll try asking again.

Maybe I can describe the problem a little better now. It almost looks like a slightly weak signal coming from the VCR. The best comparison I can think of is from the "old days" when using a terrestrial antenna for TV reception -- if something passed close to the antenna, the picture sometimes weakened slightly, causing a momentary bit of blurring or unsteadiness without actually breaking up.

I know this is unlikely, but could it be a power source problem? Both the TV and VCR are plugged into the same power strip. Could the higher power requirements of the new HDTV somehow be affecting the performance of the VCR? (As I said before, tapes recorded before the purchase of the new HDTV still play fine, as do prerecorded tapes. So maybe something's affecting the VCR during the recording process?)

I am really desperate here. As before, any ideas or suggestions are most appreciated.

Mark

John S

I think it is your VCR.....


When I first got HDTV, I really considered VCR stuff to be totally unwatchable. I forget why, buy I decided one day to try my backup VCR as I had two in my system until to move to HDTV. Moral of the story VCR stuff looks fine, and it was just something odd with that previous player. That same player had always looked fine on my 46" NTSC display though. But it was much as you saying, only some tapes, inconsistant, ect..ect..

EricRWem

Garbage in, garbage out.

This TV, like any other quality HDTV, is going to be merciless with weak signals.

Mark_TB

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm exploring one last option by following up on the electrical side of things.

I went and bought a Monster Powerbar 1100 this morning. It's supposed to even out power fluctuations and eliminate noise. I hooked it up and immediately noticed a better picture when using the VCR's tuner. I'm test recording a tape now (I'm going to let it run a few hours to be sure)and I'll try playing it back later.

Another thing I noticed: the Powerbar has a "Input Voltage LED Bar" that displays the voltage going into the Powerbar. It keeps fluctuating between 110 and 120 volts. Would this be of any significance?

Mark