A TechLore "Ask the Experts" Question...

Question:

The TV at my place of work will make a loud, annoying buzz when ever there's too much white on the screen. I searched the tips section of this web site and found nothing related. I'm not sure if this is something that can be fixed or not, but it's rather bothersome.

-submitted by JackB

Answer:

There's nothing more annoying than a buzzing TV... especially when you're trying to get some work done! Fortunately, the way you've described the problem indicates something that can be easily fixed.

White is the most stressful color for the television to make, and so requires the greatest amount of juice from the television's power supply. Many low to mid grade CRT television's contain power supplies that are inadequate to power the television during these stressful moments. In most cases, an inadequate power supply will cause the television CRT to bloom on bright scenes, thereby distorting and bending the picture. Another common side effect is that the overstressed power supply will make a horrendous buzzing sound when trying to product white scenes.

Most televisions default to cranking the white level (often called contrast or picture) of the television as high as it will go. To help reduce or eliminate the buzzing sound on these types of TVs, reduce the white level by lowering

the TV's contrast or picture control. The image may not "pop" off the screen as it would with the white level cranked, but it should alleviate the stress on the power supply enough to stop the buzzing... unless the power supply is shot.

Matt Whitlock - Editor, TechLore.com

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