Input resolution problem?

[fritzi93]

Ran across a strange problem last week.

My wife complained that the HDTV in the living room (the one she usually watches), was very glitchy when displaying HDTV channels. I had a look and yes, the picture would macroblock and occasionally get a "glitch" in both audio and video. SD channels were unaffected.

Off and on last week I tried to solve the problem. The last thing I wanted to do was call Comcast and have some ignorant tech (who knows less than I do) pontificate to me on the problem, and in the end fail to solve it.

I traced the cable from the street to the house, and all branches of the cable and signal boosters. Checked all connections on the HDTV. Even checked the cable modem. Nothing. Finally I turned off the box and entered the menu. Display was set to 1080i. Huh? I know I had it set to 720p, cable HDTV looks better as 720p on that TV, even though it's a 1080p set (Philips 47" 1080p 120Hz LCD). So I reset it. Picture still was glitchy.

Then I got an inspiration. :P I started up the BD player and set it to 720p as well rather than 1080p, played it awhile to be sure it was okay, then turned everything off and unplugged the power strip. Waited awhile, replugged the strip. Turned on the TV, checked that output resolution on the cablebox was still 720p, and powered the cablebox up.

Voila! Problem solved.

Now I know the Philips set doesn't have top-flight electronics in it. Its scaling is poor, as proven by the fact that an upconverting DVD player displays MUCH better than a plain old 480i DVD player. Nevertheless, the picture is good, if given a signal it likes.

So what was the cause of the problem? I have my suspicions, but would like to hear any thoughts on this. Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

Not enough info yet. Just keep observing, look for patterns longer term.