Scrolling white horizontal lines... (1 Viewer)

[Eric Shafer]

When I hook up my PC to my TV (not an HDTV) I get the following result.

Horizontal lines that scroll very slowly from bottom to top.

I am using a Geforce 4 MX 440 card (It is an old card I had laying around ) connected to my TV via S-video cable.

So I plugged the TV and the computer and the TV into different outlets. Still white scrolling lines.

The cable I am using is from an X-BOX advanced AV pack.

My 2 guesses are that I need to change the refresh rate of my video card (currently 60Hz), or buy another S-video cable.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eric Shafer]

I tried a different cable tonight and still the same result.

Watching DVD's on this TV with the Xbox connect to the TV via S-video cable works just fine.

When I go to change the refresh rate my only option is 60Hz.

:frowning:

 

[Eric Shafer]

I am going to hijack my own thread.

So I seem to have narrowed the problem to my cable TV.

When I unplug the coax-cable from my TV, the white lines are gone. YEAH!

However now I cannot watch cable TV.

After some creative searching on the internet, I believe what I have is called a ground loop.

To my understanding, to fix it the cable company (Comcast) has to come out and correctly ground my connection.

I hope people will read this thread and experience less frustration than I did trying to troubleshoot this problem.

Has anyone had to request this from your cable provider, and if so what were your results.

I will try to keep everyone updated on how things go.

 

[Jeff B D]

I also have Comcast here in Denver. I've had the same, exact problem that you have. It's frustrating having to disconnect the rf cable everytime I want to watch a DVD (I use my PC's DVD drive via S-video cable).

I've tried a filter attachment and a switchbox, both from Radio Shack, but they never worked. After seeing your post and doing subsequent research, I would agree with you that it is this ground loop problem that is the cause.

Did you contact Comcast already about this? I'm curious about their response, the cost, etc.

I found a "cable isolator" advertised on the net, at elect- spec.com. It says it takes care of ground loop issues, plus some. What do you think of this device?

Anyways, "I feel your pain." Please post any updates or resolutions, if you would. Thanks

 

[Eric Shafer]

I did get ahold of Comcast.

They came out the next day and found that the cable was not grounded correctly at the point where the cable entered the apartment.

After being grounded correctly the white lines were gone.
I don't remember too many of the details, but I seem to remember him grounding the cable to a "rod" instead of the way it was previously grounded.

I haven't seen my bill yet, but the representative on the phone said that if the problem was found to be external there would be no cost. If internal they will charge me $20.

Since the repairman changed the connection on the outside of the apartment, I do not predict I will be charged.

I Hope this helps!

 

[Jeff B D]

Thank you for your response. I've contacted Comcast via email and requested that they inspect the ground outside. I live in a condo complex and I suspect the same grounding problem exists.

I've also considered getting a surge protector with the EMI/RF filter. I read a post where a guy had the same problem and this solved his problem. I'm looking at the Acoustic Research model at Best Buy for 29.99. This person who posted had purchased a Monster Cable model.

In any event, I'll post after Comcast comes out to report on the results.

Thanks again!

 

I was having the same problem, I was actually able to remedy the problem with a surge protector as Jeff had stated he read worked. Now my HD is actually HD again