AV queries answered by our team of experts

Whats my HD future?

We have had Freeview for a couple of years now, and Ive just invested in a big LCD atscreen. I see that its HD Ready and wonder how I can take advantage of that, given that I dont want satellite TV and cannot get cable. Will there be HD transmissions on Freeview in the future?

Lee Penfold, via email

Alien blotches
My big rear-projection TV had to be taken away for repair because it had failed completely no sound, no vision. It was repaired okay; something had died in its power-supply section according to the (very hefty) invoice. Now the set has been returned to me, I have a completely different problem in the form of green, pink and purple blotches all over the screen, especially in bright picture areas. Any suggestions as to what the problem is?

Anna Collins, Shefeld

Barking idea
A farmer had two dogs: one big, one small. He had two entry aps in his back door: one big, one small. Asked why, he said that he got the small dog rst and that the big newcomer could not get through the small hole. Do you think were creating the same effect with all the various signal and data interfaces that now exist? Could we not send low quality signals down highpass leads now and in future?

John Bailey, via email

You can buy a hi-def disc player (Blu-ray or HD DVD) or at least an upscaling player for standarddenition discs; games consoles, too, offer hi-def digital feeds.
I do take your point, but bear in mind that a Scart port, for instance, can convey three different types (and qualities) of video signal. The problem is that to ease the upgrade, path compatibility must be provided across two, three or more generations of home entertainment equipment; and AV signals, be they analogue or digital, are a bit different to dogs and door-entry aps!

Paul Richards

Toshibas HD-EP35 HD DVD player is currently one of the most affordable ways to enjoy highdenition pictures
Regulator Ofcom has now reserved spectrum space for at least four HDTV channels on Freeview and will be auctioning off the rest of the spectrum to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, they will be a while in coming and well have to wait for the completion of the digital switchover in 2012. New (and much more expensive) receiver boxes will be required, designed for DVB-T2 and MPEG4 modulation and encoding standards.
Whats undoubtedly happened here is that the road journeys to and from the repair shop have stirred up the dust that was inside the TV at the outset, and then redistributed it over the optical system. This has happened to such an extent that its now interfering with the individual light beams. Its probably best to call the service company and arrange for internal cleaning, hopefully at no further charge in view of the already hefty bill.
Despite numerous visits to a repair shop, Ian Mannings Sony DVD recorder is still faulty

Spooky power fault

I have a Panasonic TH42PX60B TV and a new Sony RDR-HX710 DVD recorder. I nd that the recorder will only operate if its unplugged and re-plugged at the mains, but as soon as its switched on it crashes. Its been to a Sony repair shop four times

Decisions, decisions

Im trying to choose between two big TVs, and hoping that you can help me make this difcult buying decision. Ive drawn up a short list and managed to narrow it down to two sets: the Hitachi L42VP01 and the JVC LT42DV8BG. We want to use the TV for movie viewing, not sports or gaming, and will hook it to a SkyHD box.

P Weiss, via email

The JVC is better than the Hitachi, though its price reects that. It has a better picture and
sound, also more features and three HDMI sockets, compared to two on the Hitachi. Neither of these LCD screens is outstanding in terms of black-level performance, particularly noticeable when viewing movies in low ambient light. Better in this respect is the Sharp LC-42XD1E if you can still track one down.
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Send your queries to: Video Forum, What Video & High-Denition TV, Future Publishing Limited, 2 Balcombe St, London NW1 6NW, or email: VideoForum@whatvideomag.com. For a guaranteed personal reply, post your query with a cheque for 4.95, made payable to Eugene Trundle, together with an SAE and still the fault persists. But this recorder works perfectly in the homes of friends and neighbours. I believe this is a compatibility problem with the Sony TV, what do you think?

Ian Mannings, via email

Star Letter

Known problem

Bad solder joints could be the problem with A Sharlands 28in Sharp television
It could be, though this sort of thing is unusual. If it still happens with the TV signal-coupling cable removed, try a mains lter and feeding the two from different mains sockets. If the fault only crops up with the AV link cord connected, try another cable then get the TV checked out, since the recorder works with other screens. Take the recorder in with the TV so the fault can be demonstrated.

Make do and mend?

Our Sharp TV, 28LF92H, is not very old, but has now got a fault that I hope you may be able to advise on. It started with the picture collapsing, at random times, to a bright white horizontal line across the screen; and developed into complete failure whereby the set tries to start then shuts down completely. Do you think repair on this one is viable?

A Sharland, Canterbury

Panasonics TH50PZ70 is a top performing plasma screen suitable for any home setup
It most certainly is. This fault syndrome is invariably caused by bad solder joints at the lead-outs of the eld timebase chip IC600. All thats necessary is for an engineer to reow them, and it doesnt have to be a Sharp agent because this set uses the Turkish Vestel 11AK45 chassis common to several makes and models. Save money by transporting it yourself.

AV from scratch

Im replacing my old 36in Philips CRT TV which has a 5.1 sound system. Ive got 3,000 to spend and Im considering the following: Panasonic TH50PZ70 plasma TV; Onkyo TX-SR605 amplier; Mordaunt-Short Alumni speaker set; Sky HD box; and good quality HDMI and speaker cables. Is there anything wrong with this combination in your view? Later Ill add a hi-def disc player.
Craig McKenzie, via email

In your own time.

We are having a ding-dong with the dealer who sold us a JVC LCD television, model number LT-26DT8ZJ. The set sometimes has a delayed switch-on: it may take nearly 30 seconds to produce sound and vision. At other times its up and running in little more than two seconds. The dealer and his engineer claim that this is normal. They do not have an identical model to prove it to me.

Paul MacFarlane, Wolverhampton
I recently had a V+ drive installed by Virgin Media, as I plan to enjoy HDTV and all the benets of having a PVR hard drive. After a while, it became apparent that our box had a few problems. For starters, programmes wed recorded and viewed were refusing to delete from the Recorded Programmes menu. Then serial recordings, set up to record every episode, were cutting short before the end of the programmes, and nally, the quality of the programmes wed recorded is invariably bad, being plagued by frequent sound glitches, pixellation and motion judder. It some cases, watching a replay is excruciating rather than enjoyable. My HD Ready Panasonic Viera LCD TV delivers good SD and HD pictures with no problems from the cable source during live TV. A helpful tech support person from Virgin emailed us the simple procedure for reformatting the V+ drives hard disk, which took care of the non-deleting programmes by wiping everything off. She also explained that the timing could be set manually for recording programmes so they wouldnt cut before the end, which I grudgingly accept as a solution, as Id prefer the automatic functions to work properly. As to the bad quality issue, however, theres nothing we can do. She said this is a known problem arising from a bug in the software that Virgin is aware of (likewise the faulty timing).

Chris Kirkwood, by email

It sounds to us like there is probably a problem with the hardware, rather than the service itself. We contacted Virgin Media on your behalf and a spokesperson for the company said: If a customer believes they have a problem with their service or the V+ Box they should contact customer services on 1111, or 150 from a Virgin Media landline. Well do everything we can to help and will repair or replace the V+ Box as necessary. We hope this leads to a satisfactory solution for you.
What Video & High-Denition TV/Virgin Media
Every AV journalist, dealer and consultant has different views and favoured makes and models, and I would not seek to impose mine on you and our readers. You have chosen a reasonable ensemble within the budget youve set, and I cannot foresee any compatibility or hook-up problems with these components. The Panasonic TV is an especially good choice.
Yes, this is normal on this model. A light-up delay of up to 30secs is within specication. What is not clear is why theres such a variation in the delay between the green light coming on and the screen coming to life. Its governed by the central processor chip, whose on command takes between 1 and 22 seconds in tests here in the workshop.
This months star letter wins Heroes Season One, Part Two DVD boxset (out now for 34.99) p
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VIDEO FORUM

Combi conk-out
My Samsung DVD/VCR combi has failed. The tape section works ne, also replay of DVDs which Ive bought, rented or recorded myself before the trouble cropped up. The machine will not record RW discs. Ive tried different makes of blank discs to no avail. Have you encountered this and can you tell me whats gone wrong please? The model number is R320.

Michael Drake, via email

Though its tempting to take kit such as this Humax Freeview PVR abroad, it will not work in many far-ung places like the Caribbean due to different electricity supplies

Barbados bound

In the spring we shall be moving permanently to Barbados. We want to take our TV, Freeview box and video recorder with us, along with audio equipment. Can you please conrm that it will work there?

Adam Hooper, via email

No. Even though your gear may be able to cope with the NTSC TV transmissions in the Caribbean, the electricity supply there is 110V, which your equipment cannot work on. The cost of power and signal transforming kit, and of carriage, would exceed the value of the gear. Sell it or junk it, then, and buy new equipment when you get there. On a similar note, Mr. Hewson of Leeds, your camcorders battery charger will work on any mains power supply anywhere in the world happy shooting.
Sometimes it can be difcult getting a Scart to connect to a socket, but Paul has a solution.
These are not the most reliable of machines. Weve seen a few in the workshop here, some with the fault youve described. Cleaning the laser lens may provide a cure certainly you should try it but its more likely that the laser assembly is faulty and in need of replacement. In that case you need to get an estimate and weigh that against the cost of a replacement combi, some of which are now available for as little as 120 on the internet.

The force be with you

How much force do you need to push a Scart plug into a Scart socket? I bought a second-hand LG DVD player and nd it very hard to get the plug (which is okay on other equipment) to go fully home into the socket. Can you advise?

Colin Droy, via email

Home games arcade
I have an Xbox 360 and have been given an old CRT projection set by my father. It has no digital video sockets, but it does incorporate a VGA (computer type) connector which Ive conrmed as okay with my PC. I want to hook the game to this to produce an arcade type setup. How can I do that? And can you point me towards a cheap 5.1 surround sound outt to put into the equation please?

Jon Murray, via email

Fires, surges and fuses
Since we had a house re weve been conscious of safety. My TV is rated at 220W, which I know corresponds to just under 1A from the 230V mains supply. I found a 5A fuse in the plug (giving a potential dissipation of over 1kW) and replaced it with the lowest rating I could nd, 3A. That blew within a week, and another after 10 more days. Do manufacturers lie about the energy rating of their products?

David Hearne, via email

This situation more often arises with Scart plugs of the locking kind: they have four sprung latches in the metal skirt. If other Scart plugs are similarly hard to push home it may be that the LG socket terminals are corroded or distorted. In that case a squirt of special switch-cleaner/ lubricant (not oil) on both plug and socket should help matters. You can get the aerosol uid at specialist shops like Maplins.
Keene Electronics (9000 or www.keene.co.uk) offers a range of accessories, among which is a 2m VGA cable, code 39902 at 16 plus post and packing. Regarding the surround sound gear, talk to your nearest branch of Richer Sounds.
No. The problem is that the inrush current at the moment of switch on is several times the steady-state consumption. This is catered for by a low-rated surge-resisting fuse in the mains line inside the TV. Thus the plug fuse really protects just the power supply cord and youre quite safe with a 5A (colour-coded black) fuse there.
Paul Richards Keene Electronics provides cables for connecting an Xbox 360 to a CRT TV
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