# Analog TV, dead channel, static, background radiation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214 "2012-12-06T18:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/1 "2012-12-06T18:55:40Z")
A post from Cracked’s newsfeed, now circulating the internets, has it that “1 percent of static on an analog tv [the video snow is pictured] tuned to a dead channel is due to radiation left over from the Big Bang.” Huh? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/2 "2012-12-06T19:00:41Z")
> **[Cosmic microwave background](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background_radiation)** > > The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. It is a remnant that provides an important source of data on the primordial universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dark. However, a sufficiently sensitive radio telescope detects a faint background glow that is almost uniform and is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object. This glow is strong CM... ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/3 "2012-12-06T22:37:07Z")
I thought is was more like 10 or 30 percent. I remember reading that you can see the microwave backgraound and thinking “that’s cool!”, but then reading further basically what the OP wrote: Tune to a blank channel, and roughly 10 percent of the static dots are from the Big Bang. Well which ones? (I’m still bitter.) ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/4 "2012-12-06T22:59:27Z")
I found [this old SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=222665) which includes a cite (post #4, now a dead link) that 25% of the static comes from cosmic rays (apparently, further discussion says it is incorrect about it being CMBR), but this isn’t the same (another poster (#6) says 1% is from CMBR). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/5 "2012-12-06T23:11:54Z")
It’s going to depend a lot on the particular TV involved. The TV circuitry itself will generate noise. You can google “thermal noise” for more details on that. There will also be noise generated from stuff here on the earth, so if you are in a big city you’ll get more of that type of thing where if you are out in the country you won’t get so much. And then yes, some small amount will come from cosmic background noise. I wouldn’t expect cosmic background noise to be more than 10 or 20 percent under the best of conditions, and it’s certainly going to be a lot less than that in areas where other types of noise are more prevalent. Generally speaking, lower quality and older televisions will generate more thermal noise. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/6 "2012-12-07T13:40:34Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I wouldn’t expect cosmic background noise to be more than 10 or 20 percent under the best of conditions, and it’s certainly going to be a lot less than that in areas where other types of noise are more prevalent. Generally speaking, lower quality and older televisions will generate more thermal noise. But even so, cosmic radiation is a lot more than the microwave radiation from the big bang. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/7 "2012-12-07T14:00:52Z")
I have definitely heard this from other sources (not that we need any more prestigious than ‘Cracked’, if such a thing even exists). Most recently, I think, from ‘A Universe From Nothing’ by Lawrence M. Krauss. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/8 "2012-12-07T14:37:07Z")
The 1% figure has been floating around the net for years. Some quick Googling, with uncertain results (for me): > **[Noise (video)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_(video))** > > Noise, commonly known as static, white noise, static noise, or snow, in analog video and television, is a random dot pixel pattern of static displayed when no transmission signal is obtained by the antenna receiver of television sets and other display devices. > The random pixel pattern is superimposed on the picture or the television screen, being visible as a random flicker of "dots", "snow" or "fuzzy zig-zags" in some television sets, is the result of electronic noise and radiated electromagnet... An old SciAm article–no author here, secondary cite from astro magazine– > **[The Switch to Digital Switches off Big Bang TV Signal](https://www.universetoday.com/25560/the-switch-to-digital-switches-off-big-bang-tv-signal/)** > > \[/caption\] The switch from analog to digital television broadcasting signals in the United States , which was originally scheduled for February 17th, has been postponed until June 12th, 2009. To those anticipating the higher-quality picture and more... There is discussion of it at a higher level than I can follow at [Can TV Antennas Pick Up CMB Radiation?](http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=419534). Maybe this has some good grist for your mills. Any interpreters for me? Wiki has a large demi-portal to the topic of “noise,” BTW ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analog-tv-dead-channel-static-background-radiation/643214/9 "2012-12-07T15:05:14Z")
Well, I did get out of the hunt for the Straight Dope so far is that static snow is called “ant war” or fleas or bugs in other countries. Do the Eskimos have a hundred words for “ant war?”