Help - new TV ... high-pitched tone/ringing (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Schnacke]

I've had a 32" JVC television for about 3-4 years. At times I noticed that I could hear a high-pitched tone when it was on. Kinda like back in grade-school computer science class when everybody was supposed to turn off their computer and monitor at the end of class ... but if somebody forgot to turn a monitor off you could hear a distict high-pitched tone. Well, at least some of the kids could hear it. This JVC would do that when it was on, but it wasn't all that loud and it didn't bother me unless I watched way too much TV.

Last weekend I took delivery of my first projection TV - a 43" Philips that was on closeout at Fry's. I was thinking the high-pitched tone wouldn't be a problem on a rear-projection set. But this thing is worse than my JVC ever was. I can't watch a movie without my ears ringing afterwards! I can hear it using any source - tuner, DVD, VCR. And the volume level doesn't affect it.

I'm thinking this has got to be bad for my ears. In fact, I'm afraid I may already be getting tinnitus. I'm going in next week to have my hearing checked. My wife says she doesn't hear it. But she was apparently one of the kids who couldn't tell when a computer monitor was left on. Still, I'm worried about her too.

My questions are:

What in the TV is making this noise?

Has anybody else experienced this problem?

Do you think the TV is defective or can I expect every 43" Philips to do this?

Is there something that can be done to "fix" it?

What brands are more or less likely to have this problem?

I consider this a health issue, so any assistance you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated. I tried a quick search on this site, but came up with nothing. I've had the Philips for just over a week so I think I can still return it. But I need to make a decision fairly quickly.

 

[MikeyWeitz]

I would contact either Phillips or the store you bought it from. Their is no way it should be that loud where it is even remotly uncomfortable.

 

[Christian Dolan]

Ryan,

First, relax. Your hearing is, in fact, very good, considering our hobby.With your JVC, I believe that you were hearing the actual scannng of the CRT itself. The horizontal scanning rate for NTSC is @15.75kHZ, high, but still in the audible range (that's why you can just "tell" that a TV is on). As for your new set, RPTVs use three CRTs. The set is probably scanning at a frequency higher that NTSC, and therefore out of the audible range, so maybe you're hearing the cooling fan? Hope this helps.

-Christian.

 

[Roy H]

Ryan, I do not know if this is a known problem with PHILIPS TV's or not, but I had two of them that did the same exact thing. When I was down at my house in Florida I wanted to get a small TV for one of our guest bedrooms. I went to WAL-MART and purchased a small 19" PHILIPS. I got it home, hooked it up to my cable and a VCR and watched it for a few minutes and all was fine. We never really watched TV in that room so I did not notice the problem right away. About a week later I was in the bedroom setting it up for some people who were coming down from New York for a visit and I put the TV on. After about 20 minutes the thing started giving off a high pitched ring like you described. It was so high that at first I could not tell where it was coming from. I finally noticed it was the TV, the only way to stop it was to turn it off. I know how you feel it will drive you insane and I could never watch it that way. I returned that one and got another TV. This time a decided to spend a bit more and got a 20" stereo PHILIPS thinking a better (HIGHER PRICED) set would do the trick. No dice, the new one did the same exact thing. I did notice if I moved the TV a little further away from the VCR and the mini CD stereo system that were on the same rack the ringing would stop, but only for a few minutes. It would just start ringing again and I had to return that one as well. I do not know if the PHILIPS TV's are sensitive to other components or not but I could not deal with it. The high pitch ringing was not very loud but that was all I could hear no matter how loud the volume was on the set. I do not know if this will help you or not but I can assure you your not crazy, and your not just hearing things. I was lucky, my Wife and my Daughter could also hear it.

Good luck,

Roy.

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

Mikey,

Thanks, I'll send an email to Philips and see if they care enough to respond.

Christian,

Thanks. It makes sense that the scanning rate would cause this problem with the tube TV. But I just don't know what to think of the RPTV. I definately don't hear or feel any air flow. Its not at all like the sound a computer fan makes. Its just strange.

Roy,

Thanks, I was pretty sure I wasn't going crazy. And even if I was I wouldn't want to live with this annoyance.

All,

I can still return the TV for another 2-3 weeks. I'll keep it a little longer. If anyone has more info I'd very much appreciate it.