New TV: digital problems making me a sad panda :(

Edrof

Edrof

Edrof

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Not getting much thread love in the TV section so thought I'd ask here as I'm getting desperate!

I bought a Samsung LE32C530 32-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 50Hz LCD TV on Friday and am experiencing bad receptionon the BBC channels (mainly Cbeebies). It is very stuttery with what I think are called macro block errors and more.

Called Samsung, but they were unhelpful and the operator may have been on some sort of dope.

My last setup (an ancient Sony TV and a cheap and very bad Alba freeview box) was fine with very rare stutters.


Cbeebies signal strength is in the 90s, but is getting bit error levels. I can get more info if anyone needs it.

What is the solution? A signal booster? A stand alone digibox? Pancake?



Thanks for reading - I know nowt about this stuff!
 
I've had issues with my tv card just fixed it actually. I had two aerials so swapped over that helped and also removed my gpu/sound card as no longer need them (although this is relevant for your case).

Try and think if anything (apart from the tv) has changed since your last setup.
 
Different tuners have different tolerances to signal interference. Many things can effect the outcome. The Alba box may have had a better shielded tuner or was more tolerant with signal degradation.

Things you can do are:-

Improve the coaxial wiring from the TV to aerial. This includes possible changing the wiring to a better shielded type and removing as many cable joiners/splitters. If you can make it shorter then this will help. Also check that the connectors are attached properly if they can be removed.

A booster on a big aerial is essential and you probably already have one (in the loft maybe). Check it out to see if it's OK and check for loose connections.

Check the aerial alignment. Bit more difficult to do and probably best left to last if all else fails. If it's an old aerial then it may benafit getting it replaced with a high gain wide band type.
 
Thanks for the info so far guys.

I'm in a flat so there's one big aeriel on the roof somewhere. I have an aerial cable going straight from socket to TV so no loss of signal there. I could try a more expensive cable I guess. All plugs and sockets are fine and dandy.

Info from the CBeebies channel:

Frequency: 530,000 KHz
Service ID: 4240
Multiplex: (TSID 4000, OSID 233a)
Network: London ID 3005

Signal strength early 90s
Bit Error Level 60s going up to 2000 sometimes.

Perhaps the above might be useful to one of you guys. The manual and TV self-diagnosis info all say it's nothing to do with the TV.
 
UPDATE!!!


Think I might have solved the problem. I swapped the new, fancy-pants lookin' aerial cable for an old one that looks like it might have belonged to Sir Francis Drake and the signal seems to be much better.

Thanks for taking some Saturday time to help out, though guys!
 
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