Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 July 24

= July 24 =

Can connecting a PlayStation to a TV damage it?
I offer a vacation property and some guest connected a PlayStation to my TV. After this client, the TV became jumpy. Although you can still watch it, it's nerve wrecking. It's like watching a YouTube video with poor bandwidth.

I tried re-synchronizing the channels, but the problem remains. I seem to remember that as a kid, people believed video game consoles could damage TV. However, TV and video game consoles are completely different nowadays.

Could it be that the PlayStation damaged the TV? Is there something that can be done?

C est moi anton (talk) 15:55, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * This is unlikely. PS connects to TV through HDMI, which can not do anything to your TV. Ruslik_ Zero 18:26, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Nitpicking: older PlayStations connect via SCART. Not that I know how this could physically damage the TV. 93.136.81.26 (talk) 23:28, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * However, a loose connection could cause intermittent problems. Maybe check that something didn't come partially unplugged?  (Hmm, this is my second time in a few weeks here suggesting people check their connections.) --69.159.11.113 (talk) 19:22, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Probably because that's so often the issue. :) You can picture the renters shifting the TV to one side or the other to access the ports and thereby loosening some connection, either on the TV set itself or whatever it's plugged in to. Because of the way cords have a knack of winding around themselves in awkward ways, it's very common for something to pull loose. Matt Deres (talk) 12:47, 25 July 2019 (UTC)
 * I'll try to change the cable. My current guess is that the cable was damaged or partially damaged, and twisting/bending it triggered the issue.C est moi anton (talk) 12:59, 25 July 2019 (UTC)
 * There is a lie to children tech companies often try when muggles call in with their problems: unfasten the cable completely and reverse it. That is, if you have co-ax running from the router to a plug in the wall, undo both ends and literally re-attached the cable the other way. Reversing the cable doesn't actually do anything, but it does force the user to really make sure their cables are seated correctly (as opposed to assuming they are based on how they look). Before you buy anything else, at least give this a try. Matt Deres (talk) 17:18, 25 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Strictly speaking, reversing the direction does help if the punter has somehow bought themselves an active cable, particularly as active HDMI cables almost always only have the chip in one plug (and thus the plugs are labelled). Connect them up the wrong way round and they don't work. In a domestic setting few people need (and so few people have) active cables, but they're quite common in commercial and industrial settings - so they're readily available. Thus its not impossible that some consumer might buy one inadvertently (they cost more, and someone might just buy it on the principle that expensive==good) and be flummoxed when the expensive cable doesn't work. So phone-based tech support telling grandma to swap the cable around is probably easier than trying to get Grandma to confirm that her unbranded HDMI cable is or isn't active. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 19:31, 25 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Just tell granny that all the electrons are clogged up at one end, and you need to turn the cable around so they can drain back out. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 12:19, 26 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Thank you for the correction - I wasn't really aware of the details around active cables. The suggestion to switch ends is, of course, much older than that. I got those kinds of instructions twenty plus years ago. Matt Deres (talk) 14:13, 26 July 2019 (UTC)

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