READER FEEDBACK
EVERYTHING FOR ELECTRONICS
FEELING DEGRADATION
To get straight to the point, my
question is basically this: "What is
pixelation??" Here is my short story:
About a year and a half ago, I switched
(finally) to digital cable from analog
cable. Everything was great until this
condition on our Sony Trinitron (2003
Model) screen appeared. It looked like
a bunch of small-box like squares on
the screen. The sound also was
intermittent. This condition could
sometimes last five minutes or a few
hours. I called our cable company and
they said we had "pixelation!!" Since
then, we have switched cable boxes
twice. No improvement! When I took
each cable box back to try a new one,
I would receive free channels (movie)
for a while with a small price reduction
on the cable bill. But the company will
not tell me exactly what pixelation is.
It seems to me that it is something
that can't be corrected. My guess is
that it has to do with the ionosphere
and some type of signal interference
because it heats up and scatters
electrons to cause radio wave
distortion. So, if you could please help
me with this TV (cable) problem I
would really be in debt to you!!
Alan J. Smith
Digital and analog communications
differ in several important ways.
One is signal degradation. Analog
communications degrade gradually as
the noise level or signal attenuation
increases. Digital communications,
on the other hand, can be relatively
immune to low to moderate noise or to
a moderate degree of attenuation — by
virtue of redundancy (i.e., encoding)
and error correction schemes. What
you're seeing is the result of signal
degradation past what can be fully
recovered by digital signal processing
routines. Too much data are lost to
recompose the full resolution image,
so the display algorithm creates a lower
resolution version.
The bottom line is that the signal
isn't clean enough for your video system
to reconstitute a high resolution image.
It could be the fault of your cable
service, your equipment, or a local
source of interference. Interference
could come from a defective microwave
oven, a police or ham radio operator,
cordless phone, or any number of
electronic devices. You can try installing
an EMI filter at your set box top and on
the feed from your cable company to
minimize interference.
Published Monthly By
T & L Publications, Inc.
430 Princeland Ct.
Corona, CA 92879-1300
(951) 371-8497
FAX (951) 371-3052
Webstore orders only 1-800-783-4624
www.nutsvolts.com
Subscriptions
Toll Free 1-877-525-2539
Outside US 1-818-487-4545
P.O. Box 15277
North Hollywood, CA 91615
FOUNDER/ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Jack Lemieux
PUBLISHER
Larry Lemieux
publisher@nutsvolts.com
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/
VP OF SALES/MARKETING
Robin Lemieux
display@nutsvolts.com
EDITOR
Bryan Bergeron
techedit-nutsvolts@yahoo.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeff Eckert Russ Kincaid
Vern Graner Fred Eady
Ron Hackett Louis Frenzel
Joe Pardue Paul Verhage
James Antonakos Peter Stonard
Bob Smith Gerard Fonte
Jay Carter Steve Russell
Balakumar Balasubramaniam
Editor Bryan
continued on page 91
10
February 2009
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Tracy Kerley
subscribe@nutsvolts.com
SHOW COORDINATOR
Audrey Lemieux
MARKETING COORDINATOR
WEBSTORE
Brian Kirkpatrick
sales@nutsvolts.com
WEB CONTENT
Michael Kaudze
website@nutsvolts.com
PRODUCTION/GRAPHICS
Shannon Lemieux
A.J. Cohen
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Debbie Stauffacher
Copyright © 2009 by T & L Publications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval. We are
not responsible for mistakes, misprints, or typographical
errors. Nuts & Volts Magazine assumes no responsibility
for the availability or condition of advertised items or for
the honesty of the advertiser. The publisher makes no
claims for the legality of any item advertised in Nuts &
Volts. This is the sole responsibility of the advertiser.
Advertisers and their agencies agree to indemnify and
protect the publisher from any and all claims, action, or
expense arising from advertising placed in Nuts & Volts.
Please send all editorial correspondence, UPS, overnight
mail, and artwork to: 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA
92879.
