5 common digital video errors, their causes, and how to fix them

Today’s new digital video formats like HDMI and DVI provide uncompressed digital audio and video with a sharp, crystal-clear image quality. No more flickering and blurry pictures. However, even the best inventions have their limitations. Digital video signals require a huge amount of bandwidth to be transmitted properly. Using low-quality cabling or distribution equipment may lead to problems. Here are the five most common:

Problem #1: Black screen (no picture at all).
Possible cause: A. Bad cable or one that’s too long, causing either the video signals or EDID/HDCP control signals not to be transmitted properly. Make sure that you use good-quality, high-speed HDMI® cables—they don’t even have to be expensive ones—or try an HDMI extender. B. HDCP is unsupported. Does the display support HDCP? DVI displays usually don’t.

Problem #2: “Sparkles” in the picture.
Usually caused by: Too long or inferior HDMI cable. Use a video extender, and/or buy quality HDMI cables from a reputable supplier.

Problem #3: RGB color tint.
Usually caused by: A color encoding issue, a common problem when using a DVI display with an HDMI source. If you’re using a splitter or an extender between your source and the link, make sure it handles EDID. If possible, force the source (for instance, a Blu-ray player) to output HDMI video with RGB color encoding instead of Component (YPbCr) video encoding.

Problem #4: White noise, or just “snow,” for a picture.
Usually caused by: An HDCP issue. This is actually what the encrypted video looks like. It happens when your display (or any active component, like an extender or a splitter, used in the transmission) doesn’t support HDCP. The display, in turn, isn’t able to decrypt the video stream. Be sure to use equipment that supports HDCP.

Problem #5: Flickering, unstable, or blinking image.
Can be caused by: Electromagnetic or radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI), bad cable, or cable that’s too long. These all can cause issues with HDCP or the video signal, resulting in flickering or the video randomly disappearing then reappearing after a second. The solution: Use certified high-speed HDMI cables instead of standard HDMI cables, or if you need to transmit longer distances, try an extender. If you’re already using an extender, try changing to shielded CAT6 solid-core bulk cable.

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