"Banding" is a term describing a particular kind of picture quality problem that can be experienced by any TV. Vertical or horizontal bands appear on the screen, and can often be an indication of a malfunctioning TV, a cable service outage, a loose physical connection or some other technical issue. The technical support department of your cable provider can of course assist you in addressing and resolving these problems, but with some simple and painless troubleshooting at home, you can narrow down the problem's cause and in all likelihood can restore full functionality to the TV.
Step 1
Reset the TV by unplugging its power cord for 30 seconds and plugging it back in. Power the TV back on and check the picture for any improvements. This simple reset procedure can often resolve many of the most basic picture quality problems a TV can experience, including horizontal and vertical banding. If there is no improvement in the picture, however, some further troubleshooting will be required.
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Step 2
Unscrew the coaxial cable that attaches your wall cable outlet to the coaxial input on either the TV or any digital cable box you may use with the TV. Check the end of the cable to see if the copper needle running through the middle is bent, dirty or damaged. Minor bends can sometimes be corrected by hand, but if the needle is too bent or dirty the entire cable may need to be replaced. Whichever the case may be, screw the cable back into the coaxial input until it is just hand-tight and again check the picture for any improvements.
Step 3
Secure the audio/video cables that attach the source device you are trying to watch to the TV. If you are watching a DVD player connected to the Sharp TV via RCA cables, for example, unplug the yellow RCA video cable on both the DVD player and the TV and check for any damage. Again, replace any cables that are badly damaged. Plug the RCA cables back in and check for improvements.
Step 4
Scan your entire channel lineup and all of your TV's video inputs to determine the scope of the problem. If the banding only occurs on one or a few channels, check the same channel or channels on the other TVs in your home. If the other TVs show banding as well, the problem is more than likely a broadcast outage and you will need to report the issue to your cable provider. If all the channels and video inputs on the TV feature feature the same banding issue, the TV will likely need to be serviced or replaced.
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