# My TV is making weird noises **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530 "2011-02-07T16:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/1 "2011-02-07T16:47:13Z")
I just bought a new TV a month or so ago. Maybe two weeks ago I was watchig it and the sound just got…weird. Like it was on mute for a moment, then on again, then off again – at a rate of about 10-15 cycles per second. Bad enough that I couldn’t understand what was being said. This would last for a minute or two, then it would go completely silent for a few minutes, then it would come back to normal for a while. This went on for the entire afternoon, all on the same channel. It didn’t happen again for a long time, so I kind of forgot about it. The in the past few days it’s been happening again. Not quite as bad, the “fluttering” would only last for a few seconds then everything would be fine. I kind of figured it was a cable thing, but I never had that problem with my older TVs. The problem seems to happen no matter what channel I’m watching. It doesn’t happen with Wii or DVDs. The only thing that’s really changed is now I’m hooked up via HDMI cable instead of RCA cables. Any idea what might be causing this? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/2 "2011-02-07T17:12:23Z")
Do you also have a DVR box? This is common on some DVR boxes. If YES: Try to rewind the current show a few seconds and the audio will be fine. . ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/3 "2011-02-07T17:19:27Z")
Yes, actually, and I tried that yesterday. Is it the combination of the DVR box and the HDMI cable? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/4 "2011-02-07T18:13:29Z")
Not sure. How long is the HDMI cable? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/5 "2011-02-07T19:02:05Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Not sure. > > How long is the HDMI cable? I have no idea. Six feet maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/6 "2011-02-07T20:49:11Z")
If it’s over 5’, you can get audio issues. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-is-making-weird-noises/570530/7 "2011-02-07T20:55:37Z")
I had an issue like this that was solved by taking the tv back to the store- replacement worked fine.