Ghosting and fuzzy cable picture!? (1 Viewer)

[MatthewLei]

Hello, my house has digital cable from Adelphia. In my bedroom the picture on channels 2-6 are fuzzy and I have noticed ghosting too. If it matters the coxial cable goes to the digital cable box and I use composite out to the tv and stereo. Any help would be great.

 

[GregLee]

I didn't know cable could have ghosts. Are you sure you have your TV set to an input mode where it shows the signal it is getting from the cable box? If the cable actually is giving you a picture with fuzziness and ghosts, maybe it's a cable installation problem of some sort that the cable company could help you with.

Digital cable can potentially give you a better picture if the cable box has an S-video output jack and if your TV has an S-video input. It can also give you better sound, if the cable box has a digital audio output jack and you have an A/V receiver with a digital audio input.

Perhaps you could give more information about what input and output jacks your cable box, TV, and stereo have.

 

[Michael Reuben]

1. Check all connections. Even one loose connection in the chain can cause the kind of problems you've described.

2. Try a different coaxial cable. It's possible that the one you're using has been damaged or is defective.

3. If your cable box and TV support it, try an S-Video connection instead of composite.

4. If none of these help, contact your cable company and schedule a service call. You may be receiving a weak signal, which is something only they can fix.

One other thing: Are there other cable setups elsewhere in the house, and do they exhibit the same problems? If they don't, there may be a problem with the house's internal wiring.

M.

 

[MatthewLei]

Hi, thanks for the tips. I'll try them all once I wake up a little bit. We have digital cable in five other rooms in the house, its only a problem in this one room. Could it be because we split the cable wire in here for the tv and cable internet?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Could it be because we split the cable wire in here for the tv and cable internet?

Yes, the signal in that room may be too weak to be split. Try it without the split; if that clears up the problem, then you'll probably need a signal booster of some sort in that room.

M.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The "Ghosting" problem is often caused by reflections in the cables. This can be from:

- Loose or poor connectors on the ends
- A splitter/amp with un-used outputs.

Radio Shack sells little "caps" that you put on the ends of your un-used splitter outputs. Try some of these if the situation applies to you.

 

[James Brown]

A lot of the times, its an issue with defective cable or connections. With the lower channels being affected it can also be ingress.. where the local stations satellite signal is being picked up causing a duplicate image or just poor reception.

Sometimes just a weak signal can also cause this.

Notice that the channels affected are just the local stations?

Another thing to think about...

Our local cable company here will provide enough signal to provide picture to 4 tvs. Anything after that the customer is responsible for purchasing a $48 Amp that they sell and install.