# HDMI connection & white speckles



## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

For the first time I have seen video artifacts caused by a HDMI cable/connector issue.

Story is...
The color wheel on my brother's Samsung DLP broke and after weighing the pro/con of fix/replace he decided to replace.
So today I went with him cause I like shopping for electronics and he needed help with the transportation and installation.
He picked a Samsung PN60f5300AFXZA.
Since he already had the other TV, DVR, BD player setup through an AVR the only connections to the TV was the power cord and HDMI.
There were white speckles all over the screen appearing and disappearing randomly.
Otherwise the picture was fine.
Since the TV was the only thing that had changed I must admit I was about ready to box it up and take it back, but I wanted to make sure before returning it.
So I unplugged the HDMI from the DVR to the AVR and connected the DVR directly to the TV...no more white speckles....hummm, some strange AVR thing with the new TV??....strange HDMI cable issue with new TV??
Reconnected the DVR to the AVR and the AVR to the TV...no white speckles.
So in the end two HDMI cables were completely disconnected and reconnected and the white speckle problem went away.
Up until today I have only seen HDMI cable/connector either work perfectly or not at all, and even though the white speckles were completely unacceptable the picture was otherwise unaffected.


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

I've seen several anomalies with HDMI where there was still a picture but "noise", "speckles", "glitches" or "lines" in the picture, due to a bad HDMI connection or too long an HDMI cable for the application. Usually it's just as you mentioned, picture or no picture, but there _are_ cases in-between. Connectors can be subject to oxidization or just poor contact, and re-seating the connector can often be the solution for this issue. The fault may never happen again, or the cure may last a only few minutes - it's hard to predict, however a recurring fault probably warrants a new cable (unless the problem is in the connector that's part of a piece of equipment). Gold plated connectors are better since gold on gold makes a contact immune to oxidization. Most all HDMI connectors, and many other types of connectors are gold plated for this reason (plus it adds to their sales appeal). Good luck with your fix. It might be the only fix you ever need.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I agree that you should check to make sure the HDMI cable is fully inserted, then change out the HDMI cable before returning the TV. I have even seen green screens and hash when a connector is not completely inserted. So in theory, HDMI is go/no go but sometimes is just isn't so.

You would think that HDMI is standard across the board, but different makes and models of TVs have different capabilities for lengths of cables. If he has a long run, many HDMI splitters have built in signal amplifiers. The Monoprice Redmere cables work very well for long runs as well.


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## AVoldMan (May 15, 2011)

chashint said:


> For the first time I have seen video artifacts caused by a HDMI cable/connector issue.
> 
> There were white speckles all over the screen appearing and disappearing randomly.
> Otherwise the picture was fine.


I have also had HDMI connection issues. In my case, they progressively got worse over weeks and months. Moving or disconnecting then reconnecting the connector only temporarily helped. The corrupted video signal would return later at random times. My picture problem eventually went to white screen flashes or completely blank (black) video. The audio channel seemed mostly unaffected.

I finally ordered some *Deoxit D5 spray contact cleaner* (about $10-$15) for electrical connectors. I sprayed both ends of the HDMI cable and then inserted and reinserted the connector several times to wipe and clean the contacts. The video corruption problems have gone away! I guess this cleaning procedure should be part of a regular maintenance program - maybe once a year or when required.

My feeling is that many people may just swap cables with either new or old ones and not really realize that a little cable connector cleaning with the right stuff would not only fix their problem but also probably prevent future problems.

BTW, I live in Florida. We really do have alot of humidity that doesn't help the problem.


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

Humidity _and salt_. If you live near the ocean, some salt will eventually migrate your way and it can cause some serious corrosion. I saw a gold plated connector that was exposed to salt spray and the gold was gone. I would have trashed that connector because of the condition of the contact areas but it wasn't mine so all I could do was recommend a replacement.

I don't know if I would spray your contacts on a regular basis because some cleaners can cause their own problems. If the problem is fixed, I would wait at least a couple of years or until the problem reappears.


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