TV Tuner Problem - DVR Options?

dave1949 · Jan 8, 2014

Our almost five-year-old 40" Samsung LCD TV has a problem with the tuner. It gets static lines across the screen and in the sound only when the source is the normal cable content. Streaming from our wireless network or video input from a DVR box with tuner are perfect. (We don't own a DVR, that was the cable company's that their tech used to narrow down the problem.)

They re-did every connection from the TV to the pole at the road. Powered our TV from the inverter in their service truck to eliminate electrical interference. Hooked up a portable test TV to our cable and it worked fine. Replaced their splitter unit. Hung their signal analyzer on the cable at the TV and it showed nothing wrong with the signal. I think they did a very thorough job of trying to fix it.

So, for you knowledgeable folks out there, I have two questions.

1) Is it worth trying to get the TV fixed? Anyone had a TV fixed lately? The cable tech said he thought it acted almost like there was a loose connection involved, but bumping the case didn't seem to make a difference. Similar sets now cost about 1/4 of what we paid five years ago.

2) What are some good choices for a DVR box with tuner? I looked up TiVo and they have a $15 monthly service fee. The cable company box would add $24/month to our bill and we would get about two dozen more channels with nothing to watch. :laughing: Are there DVR/tuner units that have no monthly fees?

We don't watch much regular TV, so this won't be a critical marital issue until the Red Sox start playing this spring. :laughing:

Bird · Jan 8, 2014

Similar sets now cost about 1/4 of what we paid five years ago.

I'm afraid I can't help you, but you're sure right about that cost. We just recently replaced our 5 year old Samsung 40" LCD with a 46" LED Samsung. This was one time that we really came out ahead by paying for an extended warranty or service contract with Best Buy. The most comparable TV to our old one wasn't much over $400, although we paid $1,300 for it 5 years ago. But the replacement I picked out was more than $600 and Best Buy still gave it to us without it costing us anything.

/pine · Jan 8, 2014

dave1949 said:
Our almost five-year-old 40" Samsung LCD TV has a problem with the tuner. It gets static lines across the screen and in the sound only when the source is the normal cable content. Streaming from our wireless network or video input from a DVR box with tuner are perfect. (We don't own a DVR, that was the cable company's that their tech used to narrow down the problem.)

They re-did every connection from the TV to the pole at the road. Powered our TV from the inverter in their service truck to eliminate electrical interference. Hooked up a portable test TV to our cable and it worked fine. Replaced their splitter unit. Hung their signal analyzer on the cable at the TV and it showed nothing wrong with the signal. I think they did a very thorough job of trying to fix it.

So, for you knowledgeable folks out there, I have two questions.

1) Is it worth trying to get the TV fixed? Anyone had a TV fixed lately? The cable tech said he thought it acted almost like there was a loose connection involved, but bumping the case didn't seem to make a difference. Similar sets now cost about 1/4 of what we paid five years ago.

2) What are some good choices for a DVR box with tuner? I looked up TiVo and they have a $15 monthly service fee. The cable company box would add $24/month to our bill and we would get about two dozen more channels with nothing to watch. :laughing: Are there DVR/tuner units that have no monthly fees?

We don't watch much regular TV, so this won't be a critical marital issue until the Red Sox start playing this spring. :laughing:

1.)...I would contact a Samsung repair person and see if it has modular components like power supply cards tuner cards etc... (like most flat panels)...? If so I would get an estimate...

2.) How tech savvy are you?...with even a "moderately" old PC you can add an HD TV tuner card w/ HDMI I/O and Dolby 7.1 ss...from about $80 on up...add a new 1 or 2 T-bite hard drive and with some software you have your own DVR with a (TV display) you can control with a wireless mouse and or the remotes that come with the HD tuner cards...No monthly charge...!

dave1949 · Jan 8, 2014

Bird said:
I'm afraid I can't help you, but you're sure right about that cost. We just recently replaced our 5 year old Samsung 40" LCD with a 46" LED Samsung. This was one time that we really came out ahead by paying for an extended warranty or service contract with Best Buy. The most comparable TV to our old one wasn't much over $400, although we paid $1,300 for it 5 years ago. But the replacement I picked out was more than $600 and Best Buy still gave it to us without it costing us anything.

Ha! We did buy a four year service contract--which expired last April. Not something I usually do, but the sets were expensive back then and fairly new, so I thought it could be worth it. Best Buy treated you well, that's good to hear.

Just guessing, but I really doubt I could get this one repaired for much less than ~$200. I would have 1/3 to 1/2 of the price of a new set in a repair. That doesn't make much sense probably. I may decide to try opening it up and looking for loose connections and re-seating things before doing anything else.

dave1949 · Jan 8, 2014

/pine said:
1.)...I would contact a Samsung repair person and see if it has modular components like power supply cards tuner cards etc... (like most flat panels)...? If so I would get an estimate...

2.) How tech savvy are you?...with even a "moderately" old PC you can add an HD TV tuner card w/ HDMI I/O and Dolby 7.1 ss...from about $80 on up...add a new 1 or 2 T-bite hard drive and with some software you have your own DVR with a (TV display) you can control with a wireless mouse and or the remotes that come with the HD tuner cards...No monthly charge...!

#1 sounds like a good idea.

#2 really isn't something I want to do. I'm sure it would work, but I'm not interested in getting on the hardware/software updating and messing around treadmill anymore. Years ago I assembled our home PCs from Computer Shopper components, did the low-level disk formats and partitioning, loading OS and software, etc., but I honestly don't care about that stuff now. Good idea for someone who does though, so thanks.

KennyG · Jan 8, 2014

I would not put money into a 5 year old TV with the advances made today. This is just my perspective, but in this situation I would:

1. Upgrade to a 50 to 60" TV - big is better.
2. If the old TV is a 1080 resolution model, use it as an additional computer monitor. It will be impressive.

MossRoad · Jan 8, 2014

From the sound of it, you are using the internal tuner on the TV to tune the cable channels, correct?
You don't have a cable tuner box between the cable and the TV, correct?
And the picture from the cable is lousy, but all other sources are good, correct?
And you tested the cable with other TVs and the picture is good on those other TV's correct?

That leans towards the internal tuner, or the connection between the cable and the internal tuner in the TV.

You could use the TV as a monitor and get an external tuner in several ways...

Does your cable company provide cable tuner boxes? That could resolve the issue, but you probably have to rent the box.

You may be able to purchase a tuner box that is compatible with your cable system. That would take a little research. Our local cable company forbids that and all boxes have to be verified.

You could put a DVR with its own tuner between the cable and the TV.

I would first look inside the case of the TV and look for obvious stuff from the cable input jack to the tuner. Heck, it could just be a dust bunny. But first, google that model of TV and use "model + tuner + replacement or repair". etc... and you'd be surprised how many repair videos are on-line these days. Many show tips and tricks as to how to open the case, replace parts, etc.... If it looks simple and cheap, attempt the repair. If not, trash it. A 5 year old TV that may cost $400 new now isn't worth putting $200 into. Maybe $100 at most, unless, of course, you enjoy tinkering as a hobby.

Good luck. I'd like to see what you find or how you proceed. :thumbsup:

Larro Darro · Jan 8, 2014

Like others have said, it sounds like your tuner has gone out. We have several DVD records with tuners. They are harder to find with tuners today, but you might try a thrift store for one. Or even an old VCR would do. All you would be using it for is the tuner. If you find one, use the RCA jacks to connect it to your TV. I think that would get you going.

Larro

Larro Darro · Jan 8, 2014

My above post was assuming your signal is analog. If it's digital, that wouldn't work.

Larro

buckeyefarmer · Jan 8, 2014

I have a channelmaster digital tuner/DVR for digital OTA signals. no monthly fee, but you can pay to get advanced programming listings. If your cable box is analog output, I just bought on amazon an analog tuner with hdmi output to go between an analog cable box and a new tv that doesn't have coax input. think it was around $40.