"Colin Trunt" wrote in message
...
I am connecting my PC to my TV to use as second monitor using a hdmi
cable/connection.
The TV has 4 hdmi ports, however after a while one of them stopped working
properly, ie
I got 'noise' on the screen, a bit like lines of 'glitter' across the
screen.
Anyway I switched to a second port and that seemed to work fine....for a
while, then
that too developed the same kind of problem.
Anyway I try a third port and that works fine. However I am getting
worried now because
I have only had the TV about 3 months and the ports seem to only last a
about a month
and a half.
I connect a cable to the port almost every day and disconnect it after, so
the port
sees a lot of 'action' and I am wondering if I have damaged it.
It seems a delicate connection consideing the size and weight of the
cable, the metal
contacts/threads look about a millimetre of less wide, easy to damage I
would imagine.
Anyway I have a look at the ports and they appear fine as far as I can see
(not very
easy to see in though!!), however I notice on the cable one of the pins
appears to be
short.
According to this image it is a +5 volt pin
http://www.h-online.com/open/imgs/45...2cf765c641.jpg
However also note on the image the same pin seems to be short, as it does
he-
http://www.blogcdn.com/hd.engadget.c...cking-hdmi.jpg
So I expect it is not needed.
Actually that is disappointing as it appears to rule out a fault with the
cable, which
is easier to resolve.
It woudl be handy if you could have a look at your cables and tell me if
they all have this
'feature' (I only have one cable).
It does however make sense it is not the cable, because othersewise it
would not work
in any socket, and it works in the two I have very rarely used.
It is this TV by the way:-
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/pro...TACHI-L32VP03U
Maybe that is why it was so relatively cheap?
It will be a real pain if I have to return it, however it looks like I
will, should be
no problem as it's only 3 months old.
Also I expect a lot of other TV's will have the same problem as HDMI has a
lot of delicate
connections going to it.
It also has a VGA connector so maybe I should get a VGA cable instead?
Or I have been thinking of getting a short male to female connector and
leaving it in
the socket so it experience less stress.
Any thought? Anyone had similar problems?
Boy oh boy ... Just consider what an HDMI port is actually intended for,
and then stop to consider whether it's likely to be designed for repeated
plugging / deplugging. As far as hot connecting goes, no, you shouldn't
really. A short 5v pin ensures that as the cable is inserted, all other pins
connect first. If you really must keep disconnecting from the TV, you would
probably do better to go for the VGA socket, which is more robust than an
HDMI connector, and should be able to accept the same resolution as you are
shoving up the HDMI. That's probably not the resolution that you're actually
seeing anyway as, unless the TV has a full HD panel - which it probably
hasn't if you say it was cheap - the image will be being scaled to match the
panel's (low) resolution.
Even using the VGA socket may not result in a much longer life. You are
talking heavy cables here, and (normally) printed circuit mounting
connectors, often these days with surface mount pins. Add that to the fact
that the set will be built with lead-free solder, and repeated flexing of
the joints from repeated connecting / deconnecting, is sure to lead to early
demise, as you have found to your cost. A sacrificial extension cable, or
HDMI splitter box is, I feel, the only way that you are going to protect any
TV from damage caused by what you're trying to do.
Arfa