Problems with Sony Bravia HDTV

TW_78

Hello. Recently, I bought a Sony HDTV. Specifically, I bought the following TV:

40-inch Bravia S Series LCD Flat Panel HDTV, model number KDL-40S3000


Here is how my TV-cable-VCR system is set up. My cable provider is Comcast, and I have only basic cable. Thus, my cable consists of nothing but a coaxial wire (coax, for short). The coax comes into the house and is plugged into the VCR's "in" slot. Another coax connects the VCR's "out" slot to the "cable" slot on the TV.


There have been a few problems with this system:

1) On the HDTV, the digital channels look good. However, the analog channels sometimes look good and sometimes look bad. By "bad", I mean that the channels are full of snow and are grainy.

For example, channel 7 (the ABC station in Chicago) might look bad, but channel 7.2 (the corresponding digital channel) looks great.

Also, the analog channels are inconsistent in their behavior. On some days, the analog channels will look bad; on other days, the analog channels will look good.

So, why are the HDTV's analog channels looking bad? And why are the analog channels looking bad only sometimes?



2) Another problem seems to be my VCR. This is a Sony VCR with an analog tuner (model number SLV-N750).

The VCR is set to analog channel 4. Here in Chicago, channel 4 is also a Spanish channel in my cable lineup.

One thing that sometimes happens is the following: I turn on the TV, and I turn on channel 4. The channel looks good. However, when I turn the VCR's power on, the channel starts looking snowy and grainy. Note that the snow happens when I simply turn the power on. I have not yet pressed the TV/video button on the VCR remote control in order to watch TV via the VCR tuner.

So, why does turning on the VCR cause channel 4 to start looking bad?
Is my VCR properly connected to the TV? Are my coaxial wires weak or malfunctioning?



3) Another problem with the VCR is the following: Sometimes, when I play a recorded tape, the image is snowy and grainy. Sometimes, the image is good.

Prior to the HDTV, the same coax that connects the VCR's "out" slot to the HDTV's "cable" slot also connected the VCR's "out" slot to my old analog TV's "cable" slot.
The material on the tape was recorded when my VCR was connected to the analog TV (Mitsubishi brand), and the tape looked good on the analog TV.

So, why does the image from the VCR tape look bad on the HDTV?



4) When my VCR was connected to the analog TV, the analog TV *also* had some problems with snowy analog channels. However, in the case of the analog TV, the only analog channels that had problems were channels 2, 3, 4, and 5. These were the channels that were closest to channels 3 and 4, the VCR channels.

On the HDTV, the analog-channel problems are not limited to just a few channels. On the HDTV, most or all of the analog channels experience snow and graininess.



5) At one point, I was trying to watch the digital ABC channel, and the TV said "no signal". Hours later, the signal was there again.

Also, our cable subscription is very basic, and we do not get channels like "Comedy Central" or "Cartoon Network". However, one day, I was scanning through the digital channels that we have, and I saw "Comedy Central" and "Cartoon Network". The next day, we again did not have these channels.

So, what is going on with these signals? One day we have Comedy Central, and the next day we don't?




So, please give me some advice. I appreciate any info.

Scottnot

Make a few changes:

If you wish to record directly from the cable to the VCR, then:
- put a splitter on the incomming cable and run one cable to the VCR and a second to the cable box.
- Use either VCR RF out to the TV or (preferably) S-Video/RCA audio out to the TV.

If you wish to record from the cable box:
- connect the incomming cable directly to the cable box.
- connect cable box S-Video/RCA audio out to VCR in.
- Use either VCR RF out to the TV or (preferably) S-Video/RCA audio out to the TV.

After trying this, report back with any other issues/quesions.

TW_78

Thanks for your reply.

Actually, I have no cable box. I have basic cable. So, I have only one coax wire.

The coax comes into the house and is plugged into the VCR's "in" slot. Another coax connects the VCR's "out" slot to the "cable" slot on the TV.

Scottnot

You can continue to do this, if you wish.

Or you can use a splitter and connect the cable directly to the TV and the VCR; and use S-Video from the VCR to the TV. This would be the preferred method for most, I believe.

The reason to use the splitter it; even with basic cable, you are probably able to receive the local HD channels "in the clear", but your VCR will not be able to tune them while your TV will.