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I've always noticed that all tvs emit a high-pitched noise that is quite bothersome to me. After some viewing I don't notice as much, but I'm wondering: do all tvs have this problem? At the library at school, I always know when a tv is on even if there is no VCR playing anything. I can hear it from the basement at home when the tv is on upstairs. Why do manufacturers make such products with such a clearly audible noise? Anything that can be done about it?
Follow Ups:
What annoys me is some people can't hear this high-pitched noise. I thought the repair guys were lying. How could anyone NOT hear that? It's so loud! But I've come to the conclusion that it's just simply out of the range of some (probably most) people's hearing.I recently bought a 32" TV, which I ended up exchanging, hoping for one that didn't make the noise, but the one I exchanged it for seems worse. You just can't tell when you're at the store which ones are making the noise and which aren't.
My last TV made the noise, but it wasn't near as loud, so I'd like to know: what characteristics about the TV make the sound louder? Is it the size? Are flat screens worse? What? I'm guessing size. So I'm going to see if I can exchange my 32" for something smaller, although I've read posts on 27" that claimed a loud high-pitched noise... My last TV was a 23", but *sigh*, I so wanted a large TV.
Yep, it's the raster scan frequency pointed out by Abe. It's always driven me nuts and just like you I can hear a muted TV from rooms away just because of that high-pitched squeal. Or if I walk into a store and I know there is a security monitor because of that noise.Thankfully I no longer have to deal with that when I watch TV. I got me a plasma...soooo calming to watch.
I'm looking into buying a plasma set (40-50" range) and here in Boulder (CO) there is a real noise problem on most models. Turns out that the high altitude causes some problem resulting in a great deal of buzzing noise. The only unit I've found not having this problem is the Pioneer Elite series (ouch, expensive).Anyone else know about this problem and if there is a way to correct it other than buying the elite series?
Unfortunately, the solution is too expensive for most people. Altitude is one problem that plasma may never overcome at a price that's acceptable for everyone.As you get lower in altitude (from where you are), plasmas buzz less. Where I live in LA, we're 6ft below sea level so I actually buzz more than the plasmas do.
:-)
I suspect we'll end up buying the pioneer elite unit since they seem to have the solution in place. Funny problem this altitude stuff. How does NEC deal with it? Oh, and I used to live in LA (south bay) and didn't buzz, just glowed a bit.
LA = Louisiana
Sorry -- but to anyone west of the Mississippi LA is Los Angeles. I had heard that there was a state in the southern part of the US with the name of Louisiana but wasn't certain...
New Orleans is a shithole .And that's from someone who was born in New Orleans and spent 20 years of his life there.
Oh, but the food might be worth the rest of the hassle - I have a friend teaching at tulane who left NY to go there about 10 years ago and won't leave because of the food. Go figure.For me, it is a bit too humid and rainy...this is why I spend 1/2 my time in London!??!
But what about all the stress some people go through trying to decide which one to get ? The damn thing had better be calming to watch! Something needs to take their minds off the fact that they've lost a few years on their life in the hand-wringing decision process.Of course, there are those people that buy a Panasonic or Fujitsu just so that they can take that stress by the balls and say " fugetaboutit "!
Sorry, I didn't ever see the original article about the NEC. Any quick thumbnail version you might post? More curious than anything else. Don't bother if it is an imposition or hassle but I'd appreciate it otherwise.
on the Stereophile Guide to Home Theater website in the archives or via their Search function. Don't try to find it if $ (and I mean $$$$) are tight. I found my post here from a few months ago, but the link just spits out gibberish now. Sorry.
Where do you live? Here in Colorado where we start at 5000-feet, just about all Plasma screens emit an annoying buzzing sound, much louder than any raster scan 15KHz from a TV set. Apparently, the gas pressure in a plasma screen is affected by our high altitude and somehow causes this loud buzzing. It varies from brand to brand and even production runs within a brand/model but most are loud enough to be annoying. I'm at 6000-feet which isn't high by our standards but it's high enough that I can't be happy with a buzzing plasma in the living room. ;-(
My post was meant to be humorous -- not an all-out endorsement of plasma for everybody.I posted a link a few months back for you. SGHT had some information about what NEC was doing to eliminate the buzzing problem at high altitudes. Unfortunately, it was not an inexpensive solution. Did you get to check it out?
Hi Joe, if I lived at a lower elevation I would seriously consider plasma and for anyone who can't hear the buzzing at a 'normal' altitude, I think it's the best looking technology available today. Next time I'm in CA I'll visit an electronics store to see if I can hear the buzzing there at sea level. I think LCD technology might be right for me but in a large screen, LCD is even more expensive than a good plasma. So I wait. ;-)
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Hey.. anyone know what frequency this happens at? It's sounds exactly the same on every tv I've encountered...
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