Wii flicker issue

[Navyblue]

I wonder if I am alone in this.

Whenever fluorescent lighting is turned on or off, or when refrigerator/chiller's compressor kicking in, the screen would flicker once, from as short as half a second to as long as two seconds. Depending the moment, not only that it is an annoyance, it can be deadly. If I am connected to the internet, it seems that it would cause me to disconnect.

I thought it could be a voltage issue. I tried plugging the Wii and the TV on a UPS running on batteries and unplugged to the mains, the issue remains. So it can't be a interference issue from the mains.

So I guess it left me only with the possibility of RF interference? If so, what does it interfere with? The power supply? Wireless controller? Wi-fi? The Wii is in the living room, all fluorescent lighting in the house affects, including those in the bedrooms. The refrigerator is in the kitchen. What can I do about it?

Thanks.

[Navyblue]

So I guess, my experience is really odd?

[flashnolan]

By "unplugged from the mains" are you saying that you ran the TV and Wii entirely on battery power and still could see it being effected by other electrical devices? Hmmm.

If you use a voltmeter what is your voltage across the Hot and Neutral plugs in your outlets before, during, and after this happens? What does your voltmeter read between Neutral and Ground pins on your outlet plugs? What kind of AV plugs are you using from your Wii to the TV? RCA? S-Video? Component?

Do you have a spare fluorescent tube (smaller the better)? Walk around with it and see if you can get it to dimly glow just by sticking it near the motor, etc.

[Navyblue]

Originally Posted by flashnolan

By "unplugged from the mains" are you saying that you ran the TV and Wii entirely on battery power and still could see it being effected by other electrical devices? Hmmm.

Yes. Before I did this all I thought was line noise from the mains.

Originally Posted by flashnolan

If you use a voltmeter what is your voltage across the Hot and Neutral plugs in your outlets before, during, and after this happens? What does your voltmeter read between Neutral and Ground pins on your outlet plugs?

I'll try to do this, but it sounds scary.

Originally Posted by flashnolan

What kind of AV plugs are you using from your Wii to the TV? RCA? S-Video? Component?

I tried both component and composite and have the same effect.

Originally Posted by flashnolan

Do you have a spare fluorescent tube (smaller the better)? Walk around with it and see if you can get it to dimly glow just by sticking it near the motor, etc.

Too bad nope.

I noticed that halogen lighting does not affect the Wii as much as fluorescent lighting. Only the track of halogen lights directly above the Wii causes it to flicker, and briefer than what the fluorescent does. Another track of halogen 6 feet away does not affect the Wii at all. But pretty much all the fluorescent in the whole apartment does it.

[RedLeader]

Odd.... I have a CFL lamp 4 feet from my Wii and have never had any issues.

[Navyblue]

Yes, I thought it really odd too, Ilve never imagined fluorecent light can have such great effect. Btw does your CFL uses electronic ballast? Most fluorescent in my house are on magnetic ballast.

[RedLeader]

I use self-ballasted CFL lamps. Think it's an issue with the magnetic ballast?

[Navyblue]

That is my guess. It sounds crazy, but it is the only thing that I can thought of. But the refrigerator's compressor also does the same thing, I really don't know what to think.

[Navyblue]

Finally got to do more tests and observation.

I measured the mains while turning on and off the fluorescent light, no voltage fluctuation.

I noticed that turning off the fluorescent light has more effect than turning on. And I notice not only the video goes off momentarily, the sound did skip too.

The sound was originally connected to TV. I connect the sound directly to my HT receiver bypassing the TV. Now the video goes off, but not the sound!

Conclusion: It's the TV, or the cable, but not the Wii.

So far the Wii is the only source that is using analog connection (both composite and component) to the TV. My PC and DVD player uses HDMI connection and are fine, and so is the analog TV antenae. Someday I might try using component cable to connect the DVD player to the TV to see if the same hiccup occurs, but I have to dig out some RCA cables first.

Anyone else have this problem with your TV? I have yet to determine if it is really the TV or it is a poorly shielded the cable issue. Any suggestions?

[necropimp]

a few suggestions... use a different input on the TV for the Wii... go through all your component inputs then s-video then composite

try third party cables (if the problem improves or gets worse either way it will determine if the cable is part of the problem)

does your receiver have component switching? if so try a running the video through the receiver (you never know..) if it can send the video from the component to your tv through HDMI do that

[earwicker7]

I'm guessing an unshielded cable is to blame given what you've said.

[Navyblue]

My "HT receiver" is an all in one unit that only takes in sound and not video input, or at least I think so.

The component cable used is an after market one, but pretty thin looking. I have the same problem with the stock composite cable. I haven't seen a Wii cable that look too different from mine locally.

I'd hate to get a real HT receiver that output HDMI just to solve this issue. My wife would probably be more so.

[earwicker7]

Originally Posted by Navyblue

The component cable used is an after market one

I've bought aftermarket video game equipment, and the results so far have been pretty miserable. For example, I bought a Wiimote charger that was built so shoddily that the Wiimote wouldn't fit in it. And an XBOX controller that didn't work at all.

I'm sure I have an aftermarket story with a happy ending somewhere in my gaming past, but I honestly can't think of one at this point.

[Navyblue]

Just for update.

I didn't attempt to solve the issue until I got a cable TV box, which connects to the TV by component cable, which flickers just as the Wii with the stock cheap cable. I put on some relatively cheap RCA cable but nevertheless shielded cable and the problem went away.

I tried wrapping aluminum foil on the cable and connect it to the sugnal ground to mimic a shielded cable, it didn't help. I then proceed to wrap the Wii console in aluminum foil too, it didn't help either. But with the foil and both my palm sandwiching the console the flicker intensity reduces significantly.

I haven't decided of what to do next. My only idea is to put the console, power adapter and cable inside a steel enclosure, with openings in front and 5 RCA jack at the rear which will allow me to use shielded cable. The thing is it requires a lot of motivation and the chances of it working is not too optimistic.

But I wonder why am I seems to be the only one with this issue, and if it is a Wii issue or is it a Samsung LCD TV issue, or both.

[earwicker7]

Well, there are only a few possibilities at this point. The one that kind of yells "Come on, look at me!" is the cable. If you are using a shielded cable and don't get the problem, it seems natural that getting a new, shielded cable for the specific type of output your are using is the answer.

The other possibilties are much less likely. There could be a problem with the connectors (they're loose or there is a short) on the Wii or the TV. There may be something wrong with the Wii processor where it outputs some signals correctly but doesn't output one type of signal (I think the problem is with component output, correct?) correctly. I don't know how a Wii operates, so I'm not sure if the latter applies.

Solution--find someone else who owns a Wii and other cables and see if you can reproduce the problem. Process of elimination will show the culprit.