The last time I tried to use our Toshiba SD-1700 DVD player it was
acting up. The sound and picture were all there, but there were also
lots of tiny dots which just looked like multicolored snow. These dots
looked random at first, but eventually we could see that the frequency
of something was drifting and the dots were organizing into diagonal
lines (upper left to lower right.) At first the diagonal lines looked
like they were about 1" apart (25" screen), but as time passed these
rows of dots would wander around a bit and eventually line up into
more populus rows, next with about 2" between rows and finally with
about 4" between rows. It seemed clear that some frequency was beating
against the horizontal sweep frequency and that this frequency was
changing as something warmed up.

I didn't notice any change in the angle of the lines as things warmed
up, but it may have.

The spots tend to be light, so are most noticable against dark
backgrounds.

I tried another disk and that one displayed the same symptoms.

I have checked all the connections and they seem fine.

I have played a tape and that also seemed fine.

Our TV is a '73 Zenith 25CC25, so the DVD player has to play thru a
cheap RF modulator from MCM onto channel 4. Right now I have no way of
knowing whether the problem is due to the player or the modulator.

If I adjust the fine tuning off a bit, so that the picture is on the
verge of going B & W, the dots seem to disappear, but I think this is
only because I'm actually already losing color.

I'll check and adjust the colorburst frequency in the TV, but I
haven't done that yet. It's been a long time; I'll have to pull out
the Sam's.

Before I waste a lot of time trying to chase down this problem, do
these symptoms sound at all familiar to anyone? I'm just hoping for a
suggestion as to where to start looking.

thanks,

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Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
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