Tips and recommendations include: “Just call a technician whenever your TV is acting up or your speakers are buzzing.” But this advice may cost you several hundred dollars in repairs that can be accomplished in under ten minutes.
“Home Entertainment System” sounds like something big and complicated that requires an installation technician to set it up or troubleshoot it once it malfunctions. Most home entertainment issues are caused by very basic connectivity problems or outdated configuration or component failure that does not need installation or repair by a professional. The reality is that consumer electronics companies and repairmen benefit greatly by consumers believing that home entertainment systems are too complicated to handle by themselves.”
This e-book will debunk technical terms to provide you with no-nonsense answers to common problems associated with entertainment systems. You will learn how to distinguish quick fixes from serious issues that require professional attention. Let us debunk myths that make your movie nights a less than seamless experience and turn you into your friends’ resident expert on how to make your entertainment systems run smoothly.
Myth vs Truth
1:Your TV is dead if there is no picture. → Usually, the problem is only with the cable or input.
When your screen goes black, panic mode sets in. You immediately calculate the cost of a new television and wonder if this means cancelling your weekend streaming marathon. Take a deep breath now-the vast majority of “no picture” scenarios have nothing to do with a broken TV.
First, simply check all of your connections on both ends, particularly any of your HDMI cables that may have worked their way loose. These types of connections will not click snugly into place like they should, and after a while may very well come loose through pets or children or even just the resonance of a pounding subwoofer. Firm all of the connections down and make sure you’re on the right input by cycling through all of your options on your remote control.
If the darkness persists, try the first thing that TV techs do when they arrive, which is: Unplug your TV, wait sixty whole seconds, then plug it back into the wall. This allows the capacitors to drain completely. This simple reset resolves temporary glitches in the TV’s processor that can freeze the display while leaving the power light active.
2: Speakers That Buzz Need to Be Replaced → The True Cause Is Ground Loop Interference
That pesky hum or buzz emanating from your speakers sounds costly. You think of exploding parts and expensive repairs, all while the source is nothing more than electromagnetic interference, easily correctable without having to go near the speakers.
A ground loop occurs when all your home entertainment components are plugged into different outlets in a house. This creates different paths to ground and results in an electrical hum or buzzing noise that occurs through speakers or soundbars that are plugged into cable boxes, gaming consoles, or TVs. When more components are added to a home entertainment system, interference will worsen since it creates an antenna effect that picks up electrical interference emanating through a house’s electrical wiring.
But for you to solve this problem, you simply must put all components of your entertainment system into one power strip or surge protector and get rid of all ground paths that are causing all those interferences. But if it still lingers, you can purchase a ground isolator for less than twenty dollars at most stores; they are small devices you put between your sound system and speakers to disconnect that faulty power path.
3: If your streaming quality is poor, you need faster internet. → Your speed is being hampered by the location and settings of your router.
Buffering during critical points of a story might just make you question your internet package. You can bet your provider will offer to upgrade you to a higher package, but I guarantee that you can provide the necessary speed if you effectively use what you currently have.
All streaming services only need 25 Mbps for 4K streaming, and still, you are experiencing stuttering and degradation on 100+ Mbps connections. Often, this is always related to Wi-Fi signal degradation and not necessarily related to bandwidth. Your Wi-Fi signal drops in power dramatically when it must pass through walls, metal items in the house, and even aquariums and mirrors. Anything that may be in front of the wireless signal broadcast and/or the streaming device is preventing it from slowing down the signal speed for you to experience the buffering that you are experiencing.
Now, position your Wi-Fi router in a strategic location and as high as possible and away from all those devices which might cause interference with it—like your microwave and those Wi-Fi phones you have around. But if you are already not close to where you have placed your home theater system, you may want to invest in a Wi-Fi range booster or even make use of power line networking because you already have existing wires within your home environment which would connect you directly to those farthest points within your home.
4: Remote controls need to be replaced when they die. → Most “Dead” Remotes Can Be Fixed by Cleaning and Resetting
“Your remote control has stopped working, so off to the store to get another.” However, “that thirty-dollar universal remote control could be overkill if all it takes is some TLC to fix the original.”
The reasons that non-functional remote controls will not work can be amazingly ordinary and completely unhinges with any connection to any issues with the motherboard. Corrosion in batteries prevents contact, button pads collect sticky residue left by snacks and drinks, which clogs up the conductive membrane, and in some cases, it just loses connection with the item. This happens in the same way as when it is broken.
Take out the batteries and check the compartment for any white or green buildup you can remove using a toothpick and alcohol afterwards. Open the TV remote by removing the hidden screws underneath the battery sticker and clean the button pad and circuit board using alcohol on a cotton swab. Lastly, for remotes that have an infrared connection, check how the light at the tip of the IR flashes when you click the buttons using the camera lens of your smartphone since it can see infrared light.
5: Professional Calibration Is Needed for Audio Sync Problems → Lip-Sync Issues Are Resolved with a Simple Delay Adjustment
Dialogue that doesn’t match up with the mouth movements drives you to distraction. This desynchronization may seem like a complex technical problem, requiring expensive equipment or an expert’s touch, but it is one of the easiest to resolve yourself.
Audio delay occurs because your TV processes video and audio at different speeds, particularly when routing sound to external speakers or soundbars. Modern TVs apply considerable processing to the picture-upscaling, motion smoothing, HDR tone mapping-which delays the image by milliseconds. On the other hand, your soundbar or receiver outputs sound almost instantly, and this creates a latency issue where voices come before the lips move or vice versa.
Check your TV’s sound menu settings to see if you can select something like “Audio Delay,” “Lip Sync,” or “AV Sync” – each manufacturer has a different way of saying the same thing.
Default to adding a 50-millisecond delay to your audio output; then adjust in 25 millisecond chunks while playing a video with clear dialogue until voices perfectly sync with lip movement. Many soundbars also provide this adjustment in their settings menus, giving you two places to make fine adjustments. Some systems offer auto-calibration, which involves playing test tones to measure and correct
Start Troubleshooting Like a Pro
It is time to stop taking home entertainment systems for some sort of mysterious black boxes that only a select few understand. The repair business builds its revenue model around your uncertainty, charging premium prices for repairs you can confidently do yourself with simple supplies you already have.
Most problems with entertainment systems turn out to be with the connections, settings, or simple resets, rather than failed components that need replacement. Take a reasoned approach to problems and understand the basic communications between your devices-you go from being a helpless consumer to being able to sort out most issues presented. Add a small toolkit comprising isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs, and a spare HDMI cable, and you are ready to sort out most issues that will present themselves.
Pros
Empowers readers with practical, do-it-yourself solutions that will save a pretty penny by avoiding unnecessary technician call-outs.
Debunks common myths in a clear and logical fashion, showing how perceived complex issues can often be reduced to manageable step-by-step fixes.
Forces one to methodically troubleshoot a problem, acting in a more self-sufficient manner and limiting frustration with home entertainment systems.
Cons
Oversimplifies some issues that could lead the readers to misdiagnose serious hardware failures that really need professional repair.
Lacks the explanations of all safety warnings, including ones related to opening devices or dealing with electrical components, since that could be dangerous for any beginner.
Relies on a base of comfort with basic tech troubleshooting that may annoy or confuse readers with less technical ability.
The next time something goes wrong, try not to immediately call for help or shop for replacements.
Spend ten minutes methodically troubleshooting: check cables, fiddle with settings, and attempt to execute strategic power cycles. You’ll save hundreds of dollars per year while earning the satisfaction of self-enabled problem solving and keeping your entertainment system running smoothly for years to come without relying on anyone else to enjoy your favourite shows and movies.