Sharp Aquos loud buzzing! at DVinfo.net

Aric Mannion · April 14th, 2008, 11:30 AM

My Sharp Aquos 32inch HDTV makes high a pitched buzzing sound that is constant but slightly random while watching TV. It's beyond annoying, and I noticed that it doesn't always do it (not everyday). Why would it make this sound once and while? My fear is that as the TV gets older this may become more frequent, and then it is going in the trash.
It's not too loud, but I can't drown the sound out by turning up the volume because it's just so high pitched!

Chris Soucy · April 16th, 2008, 10:13 PM

I'm going to assume this sound is evident (when there at all) even if the sound system is muted and thus not a sound system problem.

If the sound is coming from the body of the display itself and thus mechanical, it sounds like a choke in the switch mode power supply has a loose winding or is causing some other mechanical movement.

Time to call that pesky repair man.

CS

Aric Mannion · April 17th, 2008, 10:19 AM

It's so inconsistent, but when it happens it's like the noise old CRTs made but louder. Not quite a "buzz"... I am paying for best buy's extended warranty has anyone noticed this with there HDTVs?

Chris Soucy · April 17th, 2008, 11:31 AM

Switch mode power supplies (found in just about everything nowadays that run off mains power) use high frequency "switching" and clever sampling & smoothing to convert the voltage levels to the DC required for digital circuits.

The sound you hear from CRT's (BTW, if you can hear it, you must be under 18 or thereabouts) is the line scan oscillator (erm, delving into the vaults on that one) running at about 15 khz, from memory.

[No. of lines per field X No. of fields per frame X No. of frames per second]

A mis - behaveing SMPS could sound just the same. Not common, but anything can go faulty.

CS

Aric Mannion · April 18th, 2008, 12:02 PM

do you think that's what I'm hearing? The "Switch mode power supplies" -I live in an old house with old outlets.
One time I changed the picture adjustments (contrast and whatnot) and the sound stopped, that could have been a coincidence, but is there anything in the way HDTV display an image that could make sounds? It's almost like what hard drives sound like when they are thinking (random bzzzzz-bzzz).

Chris Soucy · April 18th, 2008, 12:09 PM

Well, I can't think of anything else an LCD display could possibly have wrong that would give rise to audible noise.

I would have the power outlet checked to make sure there is no issue with faulty connections etc, but if that is ok, there is nothing else.

CS

PS. The equation I gave you in post #4 works out thus:

240 (NTSC?) X 2 X 30 = 14.4 khz (I wasn't far out)

Dave Blackhurst · April 19th, 2008, 01:50 PM

Don't know if this applies, but I've got a TV that buzzed like the dickens, when I called, they suggested I turn the backlight to "bright", and sure enough the buzzing went away - turned out they shipped with the backlight turned down, and it resulted in something buzzing... turn the backlight up, no problemo...

April 14th, 2008, 11:30 AM	#1
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	Sharp Aquos loud buzzing! My Sharp Aquos 32inch HDTV makes high a pitched buzzing sound that is constant but slightly random while watching TV. It's beyond annoying, and I noticed that it doesn't always do it (not everyday). Why would it make this sound once and while? My fear is that as the TV gets older this may become more frequent, and then it is going in the trash. It's not too loud, but I can't drown the sound out by turning up the volume because it's just so high pitched!

April 16th, 2008, 10:13 PM	#2
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,682 Images: 18	Hi Aric............. I'm going to assume this sound is evident (when there at all) even if the sound system is muted and thus not a sound system problem. If the sound is coming from the body of the display itself and thus mechanical, it sounds like a choke in the switch mode power supply has a loose winding or is causing some other mechanical movement. Time to call that pesky repair man. CS

April 18th, 2008, 12:09 PM	#6
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,682 Images: 18	Hi........ Well, I can't think of anything else an LCD display could possibly have wrong that would give rise to audible noise. I would have the power outlet checked to make sure there is no issue with faulty connections etc, but if that is ok, there is nothing else. CS PS. The equation I gave you in post #4 works out thus: 240 (NTSC?) X 2 X 30 = 14.4 khz (I wasn't far out) Last edited by Chris Soucy; April 18th, 2008 at 02:34 PM. Reason: +

April 17th, 2008, 10:19 AM	#3
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	It's so inconsistent, but when it happens it's like the noise old CRTs made but louder. Not quite a "buzz"... I am paying for best buy's extended warranty has anyone noticed this with there HDTVs?

April 17th, 2008, 11:31 AM	#4
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,682 Images: 18	Switch mode power supplies (found in just about everything nowadays that run off mains power) use high frequency "switching" and clever sampling & smoothing to convert the voltage levels to the DC required for digital circuits. The sound you hear from CRT's (BTW, if you can hear it, you must be under 18 or thereabouts) is the line scan oscillator (erm, delving into the vaults on that one) running at about 15 khz, from memory. [No. of lines per field X No. of fields per frame X No. of frames per second] A mis - behaveing SMPS could sound just the same. Not common, but anything can go faulty. CS

April 18th, 2008, 12:02 PM	#5
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	do you think that's what I'm hearing? The "Switch mode power supplies" -I live in an old house with old outlets. One time I changed the picture adjustments (contrast and whatnot) and the sound stopped, that could have been a coincidence, but is there anything in the way HDTV display an image that could make sounds? It's almost like what hard drives sound like when they are thinking (random bzzzzz-bzzz).

April 19th, 2008, 01:50 PM	#7
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Don't know if this applies, but I've got a TV that buzzed like the dickens, when I called, they suggested I turn the backlight to "bright", and sure enough the buzzing went away - turned out they shipped with the backlight turned down, and it resulted in something buzzing... turn the backlight up, no problemo...