# White lines at the top of the screen



## sman (Nov 15, 2004)

I have a Panasonic Plasma TV and just got the HD Tivo the other day. When I'm watching analog TV I get white jumping lines at the top of the screen. I've tried different resolution and unable to get the lines to disappear. I'm using the HDMI Cable to connect the Tivo to the TV. I have checked the book for the TV and Tivo and found nothing on moving the screen. Any help would be great.


----------



## beejpowers (Sep 29, 2004)

kinda like morse code, just at the very top (first 5 lines)...
that's control track/timecode... your underscan on the TV is showing you that.
In fact its always there, TV manufacturers just conceded that the Case of an analog TV would cover it from being shown even though it is always displayed. Its just the clash of old and new technology.

It varies from station to station for me. Mostly it shows up on HD stations running up-converted Analog playback.
You can adjust underscan if it bothers you that much. Not much else to do though, sorry


----------



## DavidS (Sep 27, 2000)

I have it too, only on SD signals. From reading of other threads, I understand it to be a data feed part of the signal. We see it because overscan on our TVs is improperly adjusted - seeing too much of the top of the signal. (The HD tennis feed on HDNET has a thin grey line at the top; I suspect this is due to the same problem.) I have not done it yet, but I understand that the overscan can be adjusted by entering the service menu. This thread in the AVS forum has lots of information on how to do that and many other things about the Panasonic plasmas.


----------



## sman (Nov 15, 2004)

Thank you so much for the post, I will try adjusting the overscan tonight. This is GREAT info!


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

I have the same thing on my bedroom HDTV. It is a Syntax Olevia LT32HV. I called Syntaxgroups support and they said that you can not adjust overscan on this TV and the lines are there because the TV's overscan is set so that you can use the TV as a PC monitor too. I have been looking for info on how to get into the service menu on this TV for weeks now.

Anyone know how?


----------



## mdryja (Dec 24, 2002)

Another simple way to get rid of this is to just do a simple vertical positioning adjustment of the picture. That's what we did for our two Panasonic plasmas, at least. Move the picture up just a tad, so you can't see the morse code. You don't lose any picture, really, because it's only a line, maybe two, that you're hiding.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 18, 2003)

tazzmission said:


> I have the same thing on my bedroom HDTV. It is a Syntax Olevia LT32HV. I called Syntaxgroups support and they said that you can not adjust overscan on this TV and the lines are there because the TV's overscan is set so that you can use the TV as a PC monitor too. I have been looking for info on how to get into the service menu on this TV for weeks now.
> 
> Anyone know how?


Hold down Source and channel up on the TV, not the remote. I haven't played with any of those settings myself and only accidently discovered it by trying to turn that back light on, which is done by hitting source and volume up. If you can figure out how to set the underscan in there, let me know as I have the same issue.


----------



## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

beej said:


> kinda like morse code, just at the very top (first 5 lines)...
> that's control track/timecode...
> 
> It varies from station to station...


Most media servers blank or strip out VITC (vertical interval timecode) but most stations either pass or add closed captioning on line 21. Some add TVG info in line 13, and there can be other vertical interval signals added (ghost canceling, test signals, etc.) but mostly what we are seeing is closed captioning. If you see the phenomena disappear during most local commercials, that is most assuredly what you are seeing.


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Trevor said:


> Hold down Source and channel up on the TV, not the remote. I haven't played with any of those settings myself and only accidently discovered it by trying to turn that back light on, which is done by hitting source and volume up. If you can figure out how to set the underscan in there, let me know as I have the same issue.


Cool, I will see if I can figure out how to move the image up a bit to cover the CC flicker.


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Anyone know if this will still happen with component cables?


----------



## mdryja (Dec 24, 2002)

yup, it still shows white lines with our component cabled connection.


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

mdryja said:


> yup, it still shows white lines with our component cabled connection.


I guess I need to find the service mode adjustment for overscan then.


----------



## DavidS (Sep 27, 2000)

I've learned that the current Panasonic ED models (mine is 42PD50U) do not allow overscan or verticle positioning adjustment. However, I did discover that if I change the resolution to something less than 1080i, the blinking line disappears. Since these are not HD signals anyway, this is a pretty good solution for me. YMMV


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

DavidS said:


> I've learned that the current Panasonic ED models (mine is 42PD50U) do not allow overscan or verticle positioning adjustment. However, I did discover that if I change the resolution to something less than 1080i, the blinking line disappears. Since these are not HD signals anyway, this is a pretty good solution for me. YMMV


I tried that on my Olevia and it did not work. I am still looking for a way to fix this issue.


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Anyone know how to fix this. I called Syntax support. I was told since this TV displays the resoultion it is fed it can't adjust to remove the CC white crap from the top of the screen. I think he was right???

And because this TV can be used a A PC monitor, you can not adjsut for the CC bars.


----------



## bwaldron (Mar 16, 2003)

I have the same model TV and have experienced the same problem, but only with HDMI at 1080i. I switched to using component instead and don't see it any longer.



DavidS said:


> I've learned that the current Panasonic ED models (mine is 42PD50U) do not allow overscan or verticle positioning adjustment. However, I did discover that if I change the resolution to something less than 1080i, the blinking line disappears. Since these are not HD signals anyway, this is a pretty good solution for me. YMMV


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

The only way to adjust for overscan is to be able get into the service mode of the TV. This won't be shown in your manual, you have to search on the internet to see if anyone knows how toget into it. Check the AVS forum. 

But, I'm not even sure if plasma TVs have adjustments for overscan.


----------



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Switched to component cables on my Syntax Olivia LT32HV and no more lines.


----------



## AlvinYoung (Dec 8, 2008)

hi...

If you want a good HDTV, go with a better brand like Sony or Sharp. Saving a couple hundred bucks now will prove costly in the long run.


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Hmmm, Alvin, 

I'm wondering why you resurrected a very old thread to make your first post. 

And now I'm wondering why a replied.


----------



## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

Most modern HD encoders can mask CC info so that it won't appear during local upconversion. Of course the local engineers have to be motivated to actually set this parameter, and some are, while some are not. A call to the local station could help motivate them.


----------

