Ok here's the deal. I just switched from my regular digital Comcast box to a new HD box. As soon as I got home from the local Comcast satellite "store" I hooked it up. And immediately started having problems. The box doesn't receive a signal from the remote very well. So I brought the box back the next day and switched it out for another box, and a new remote. Same thing.
So I call Comcast to find out what the heck is going on... no one can figure it out. So they set up an appt for a technician to come to my place and try to see if he can fix it.
The tech showed up yesterday. I explained to him what was going on, and then showed him what I meant. I press a button on the remote and I might get one response per every 50 presses of a button. Very frustrating. So the tech tries another new remote, the 3rd one since I switched to HD last week. Same thing.
Here's where it gets even more frustrating. The tech calls his supervisor for guidance, and his supervisor tells him to find something that would be interfering with the infrared signal. So the tech goes "your XBOX is interfering with the infrared signal." And I go "um... no, the XBOX isn't even on." So he disconnects the XBOX and tries it again, same thing. No response from the remote to the box. So he calls his supervisor back. After he hangs up the phone with his supervisor he turns to me and says "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do to help you, your TV is interfering with the infrared signal, call Panasonic." And then he gets up and leaves.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life.
By the way, I have a 50" Panasonic PZ77u plasma. The original black digital box worked just fine.
My TV isn't interfering with anything... Comcast is just full of crap.

So my question for you experts is this: what do I do next?
Call Panasonic and see if they will come out and check it out?
Call Comcast back a 3rd time and complain, with probably no results?

I can't believe they pulled this crap on me. Way to shirk your responsibilities and blame the problem on something else just so they don't have to deal with the problem anymore.
I'm so upset and would love to just drop Comcast all together, but I can't have satellite in my apartment, so I'm stuck with cable.

Sorry if this wasn't typed out very well, I'm really tired and upset.
Is anyone else having this problem with Comcast HD?

Unplug the TV and try the remote/cable box. Or try the cable box on another TV in a different room.

Or... put the IR emitter of the remote directly in front of the IR window (receiver) of the cable box.

If all of that produces the same results, it's beyond me. Unless, you used the same dead batteries in every remote that you tried. ;)

Some plasmas DO interfere with IR remote receivers - as some plasmas didn't have decent IR filtering on their screens, and generate significant amounts of IR noise. It was a known issue in the UK with some models of set top boxes.

Are you able to try a different TV - with the Plasma unplugged from the mains?

Tried all that. Even the technician sat there right in front of the tv/box and put the remote right up to the box... did that with both boxes, same thing.

Don't have a 2nd TV, so can't try that. Brand new remotes both times.

My TV didn't interfere with the digital Motorola Comcast box. Why the HD Motorola Comcast box?
Makes no sense.

My TV didn't interfere with the digital Motorola Comcast box. Why the HD Motorola Comcast box?
Makes no sense.

Plasma and LCD displays can interfere: they throw out so much IR noise that the box does not always respond to a remote control signal: the IR noise fills the room bouncing off walls. LCD displays in particular throw off a lot of noise from the CCFL backlight, especially within a few minutes of turn on

there is a simple test: turn off the display and see if the problem goes away

and a simple fix: put a small piece of generic masking tape over the IR eye of the stb: this acts as a filter: use additional layers if necessary. Some folks have success with a post it note instead of tape: try it. Also try to orient the stb so it is not directly in the line of sight of the display

Ok so I just can't ever have HD then? Sweet. Back to digital then I guess.

What does stb stand for?

What does stb stand for?

set top box: the Comcast box

If I cover the infrared eye on the cable box then it's really not going to receive the signal.

If I cover the infrared eye on the cable box then it's really not going to receive the signal.

you asked for help: this trick with the masking tape works more often than not: it still allows the signal to be received but acts as a filter

the tape is translucent

would it not be worth a try?

Yeah I'll try it, for sure.
If it doesn't help, what should I do next? If anything.

Yeah I'll try it, for sure.
If it doesn't help, what should I do next? If anything.

there are a lot of experienced members here on AVS to help you: hang in there and let us know how you make out

make sure the masking tape is the inexpensive painter tape/ beige color: or a piece of post-it note paper [translucent]

Will do. Thanks for your help.
I'll report back in a couple hours, when I get the chance to try this.

And you mean regular clear tape, right? Clear/cloudy, not colored.

Some reading:
http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=ad8f1c28094af1f97594aa0297ccf159&action=printpage;topic=16475.0

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/tivo-series3-plasma-tv-big-problems/

Will do. Thanks for your help.
I'll report back in a couple hours, when I get the chance to try this.

And you mean regular clear tape, right? Clear/cloudy, not colored.

yep: cheap original painters masking tape

Some reading:
http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=ad8f1c28094af1f97594aa0297ccf159&action=printpage;topic=16475.0

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/tivo-series3-plasma-tv-big-problems/

great links

in my HT, which has several LCD and plasma displays: the IR noise problem was unsolvable...especially at night:

my only solution was to go to an RF remote control system

here is an even better idea:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15016651#post15016651

Ok, it worked. First I tried masking tape, then I tried heavy duty gift wrapping Scotch tape, and that also worked.

I don't know how or why, but it works. Thanks for the help!

You da man Marky Mark.

great news :)

this trick is not mine: I learned it here on AVS several years ago from other members when I had a similar problem...I was also skeptical

This is what AVS is all about: glad it worked

Glad to hear you have an inexpensive solution/workaround!
Good thread, good info/help and most of all... good results. Thanks to all!

Ok, it worked. First I tried masking tape, then I tried heavy duty gift wrapping Scotch tape, and that also worked.

I don't know how or why, but it works. Thanks for the help!

It acts as an infrared filter. The noise from the plasma or LCD is high enough to cause problems but much lower than that from the IR remote control, by reducing the amount of IR passed to the receiver, the remote signals still get through, but the background noise is reduced enough to stop causing problems.

I had the same problem only it was caused by a fluorescent lamp(CFL). The tape trick worked for me also.

If you don't have any masking tape, three layers of plain printer paper, or just one sheet folded over onto itself three times, have also done the trick for me in blocking IR interference. Find the sensor, tape the paper over it, and (with any luck) you should be all set.

I have this same problem with a DCH3200 from Cox. With the (LCD) TV off, the remote works the box fine, but with the TV on the remote won't operate the box. So......where is the IR receive window on the cable box?? I looked all over the front with a flashlight and still can't find it.

I found the IR sensor, it's above the channel up/down buttons in a rather large oval shape. You can only see it when a flashlight is pointed in that area at a angle.

I have this same problem with a DCH3200 from Cox. With the (LCD) TV off, the remote works the box fine, but with the TV on the remote won't operate the box. So......where is the IR receive window on the cable box?? I looked all over the front with a flashlight and still can't find it.

Well I'm screwed. Masking tape didn't work, translucent scotch tape didn't work, a paper towel didn't work, polarized sunglasses didn't even work. I have to put the remote up against the IR window touching it for the remote to work. I guess I'll try some other materials--mirror sunglasses, wax paper, etc.

Two layers of plain white paper seems to have done the trick for me. Thanks for a helpful thread guys. ;)

I experienced the same probrom with my Motorola DCH3200 HD cable box and Sharp LCD TV. With the TV off, the cablebox remote works just fine as seen by the channels changing on the DCH3200 display. But, when the TV is on, the cablebox remote ceases to work.

As suggested here, I fixed the problem by taping a piece of white paper over the IR receiver on the DCH3200.

Here's a picture:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=131877&stc=1&d=1233367282

So Comcast was right after all . . . Too bad they didn't know about the little trick to fix it, but I guess you can't blame them for that

will this work for interference on a Remote IR receiver in a seperate room? Instead of buying the more expensive Plasma proof Receiver? (which work great, but I have 2 regular ones that I can use for free)

So Comcast was right after all . . . Too bad they didn't know about the little trick to fix it, but I guess you can't blame them for that

Cox doesn't know about it either nor does Motorola, or Toshiba in my case. At the least they're playing "dumb" about it, maybe they DO know and won't do anything about it so they deny it exists.

will this work for interference on a Remote IR receiver in a seperate room? Instead of buying the more expensive Plasma proof Receiver? (which work great, but I have 2 regular ones that I can use for free)
While they may not be as affected, plasmas are not immune to the problem. How do you have a IR receiver in another room, do mean RF? An IR receiver in another room couldn't be, shouldn't be affected by the IR interference put out by the TV in another room.

RNG200? The infrared receiver on it is a POS.

Ah dang.. now I see it a Moto box. Above is still true though. :)

I'm in Roseville, MN, about 20 miles from Slick26 in Burnsville, and I had the same problem. I spent 12 hours trying to correct it before discovering this thread. A small piece of Post-It note covering the IR oval on the Motorola DCH3200 cable box has now ended the problem.

But, in the past week I've spent 4 1/2 hours on the phone with Comcast. 2 1/2 hours of that was waiting on hold. I also made 5 trips to Comcast offices picking up equipment and replacement equipment. No one at Comcast had any idea what the problem could be. How is that possible? If you check the links posted above on this thread, you can see that the issue is common and and has been known about for years. Is Comcast just trying to generate fees from service calls? (One Comcast person told me that each time I picked up another remote someone had added a charge to my bill ... which he removed.)

Here's what happened to me. In January I bought a Samsung 32" HD LCD TV (LN32A450) and upgraded from Comcast digital to Comcast HD service. I traded in my old Motorola cable box for the new HD box (Motorola DCH3200). Everything worked perfectly. But, a few weeks later I decided to return the 32" Samsung and get the next size larger, the 37" (LN37A450). I put the new TV in the same location as the old, and hooked up all the cables in the same way. Everything worked for a few hours. Then the remote stopped functioning, except for volume and mute controls.

That led to a week of wasted time and frustration, which a Post-It note has now ended. Comcast sucks!!!

I have just one remaining issue. Even though I put the Samsung code into the Comcast remote, volume and mute controls work poorly. I have to try several times before they will work. Any advice out there?

Just FYI, see this I posted on a similar thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15706939#post15706939


But, in the past week I've spent 4 1/2 hours on the phone with Comcast. 2 1/2 hours of that was waiting on hold. I also made 5 trips to Comcast offices picking up equipment and replacement equipment. No one at Comcast had any idea what the problem could be. How is that possible?
Like I have said for decades now, especially these days, all tech support sucks. They are not trained, and "read from a guidebook on-the-fly". And remember, usually somewhere in SE Asia.

Is Comcast just trying to generate fees from service calls? (One Comcast person told me that each time I picked up another remote someone had added a charge to my bill ... which he removed.)
Possibly. But if they charged you anything, you need to get your money back. You, (we all) that are using cable from a cable co. are renting their equipment and what comes with that rental fee is service. Since so many millions have flat panel HDTV's now, I find it hard to believe the providers and suppliers haven't caught on to this yet. Obviously something is going to have to be done, either with the HDTV manufacturers (in researching some kind of "filter" for the screens), or cable box manufacturers in researching some kind of "filter" for the remote sensor panel. Of course, each will blame the other for the problem and say it's the other's fault and their obligation to fix it. I'm just glad there's a simple fix for it on our end, and if we can do it, certainly they can do it.

I put the new TV in the same location as the old, and hooked up all the cables in the same way. Everything worked for a few hours. Then the remote stopped functioning, except for volume and mute controls.
That's doesn't make any sense. What would make it suddenly stop working? Did you change any settings on the TV?

I have just one remaining issue. Even though I put the Samsung code into the Comcast remote, volume and mute controls work poorly. I have to try several times before they will work. Any advice out there?
Sounds like you need "more filter". Try another Post-It note, or two. Or layer(s) of plain white paper which worked for me.

"That's doesn't make any sense. What would make it suddenly stop working?"

I think it stopped functioning because the TV was interfering with the remote signal (as described in this thread). The better question is: why didn't the 32" Samsung also cause the problem with the remote? I don't know. Perhaps because it is smaller and generates less EMF?

Regarding my last remaining issue with the volume and mute controls on the remote, I found one more Samsung code and fed that to the Comcast remote. Now the mute and volume controls work perfectly. Whew!

Thanks to all for sharing the simple solution to this very frustrating problem.

"That's doesn't make any sense. What would make it suddenly stop working?"

I think it stopped functioning because the TV was interfering with the remote signal (as described in this thread).
Obviously, but no you don't understand. The operative word there is "suddenly". Why was it working fine "for a few hours", then suddenly stop.

The better question is: why didn't the 32" Samsung also cause the problem with the remote? I don't know. Perhaps because it is smaller and generates less EMF?
Settings, screen size, brand, model, etc. Each TV is going to generate a different amount, and possibly different type of interference.

Regarding my last remaining issue with the volume and mute controls on the remote, I found one more Samsung code and fed that to the Comcast remote. Now the mute and volume controls work perfectly. Whew!
That's also strange, and interesting to know. I've never heard of codes for a uni-remote working partially! Operating more or less buttons yes, but not still working buttons but acting sluggish or like the batteries were weak. That's good to know.

OK, I don't know why it worked for a few hours. It apparently stopped because of the interference problem, but why it worked at first I don't know. I was actually channel surfing with the favorites button (through several channels) when it suddenly stopped working.

Over the next several days I disconnected power from the Comcast box (for minutes or hours) a few times. Each time after I powered it back up it worked for a few minutes before stopping. I imagine there's a logical explanation for this, but I don't know it.

As to the mute and volume controls, with the wrong code I could mute the TV with the mute button, and un-mute it with the volume-down button (after a few tries). But, that's about all that worked. With the new (right) code, both mute and volume function perfectly. (By the way, the Comcast remote-control guide says the TV LED will blink twice after you've entered the correct code. Not in my case. It didn't blink twice for any code.)

My Sammies don't like Dish codes either for volume..seems the the factory remote must machine gun the signal...because the dish buttons will only raise ONE step at a time...if at all.....

FINALLY =] I joined two other forums (Audioholics and HighDef), but couldn't find this solution. I can't wait to try this at home. BTW, HDTV = Toshiba 46XV545U and STB = Motorola DCH3200. Thanks guys!

Depending on how you think the picture looks turning down the backlight(if that is an option) will also sometimes solve the problem with motorola cable boxes.

Wow, it looks like the Motorola DCH-3200 is a common thread with these problems.

I have a 2007 Samsung LN-T3242 LCD and posted my IR interference problem in that thread - people said that it has been a problem with newer Samsungs, but no one had heard about it with the '07 models. I had no problems with an older Motorola STB, plus 2 DVD players. But this happened with a Bose CD player a while back and I figured it was the Bose. Now, I hook up the DCH-3200 and I get the interference.

I'll try the masking tape and/or folded paper ideas. Thanks for the solutions! Also, thanks for letting me know where the IR eye is on the box!

Wow,
Worked for me.
Tape over the IR receiver.
Google is my friend.
Thanks AVS.

My story is similar to all of the others...except. remote has been working forever...4 yrs NO PROBLEM, then all of a sudden....BAM!!!!! Had Comcast out twice, exchanged boxes got an updated Motorolla (there are benefits to everything), still the same problem. Thought of everything frequency and all, then got online and looked here. The thing that fixed the problem was a post it note over the IR receiver on the Motorolla DVR. Fine, I can tell everyone the fix, but like Clint, I want to know why. Everything was the same and could not figure out why it was doing this until I read about Backlight. I recently re calibrated the Plasma! for a better picture. The picture is better, but now I use a post it note as a filter. Not a big problem! My guess is that by recalibrating the picture, making it brighter, it emmitted more light which interfered with the IR on the DVR.

Will at some point recalibrate the picture and see if it works without the paper as a filter, but for now I am a happy camper again!:D

Utilize IR, not RF. This will correct the IR interference problem.

Switch the DVR (if able) from IR to RF mode then reprogram your remote if you have an RF-capable remote.

Newer directv remotes are RF capable, I'm unaware of other companies.

Utilize IR, not RF. This will correct the IR interference problem.

Switch the DVR (if able) from IR to RF mode then reprogram your remote if you have an RF-capable remote.

Newer directv remotes are RF capable, I'm unaware of other companies.
:confused: I think you need to read over all this again. ;) IR is the problem, not RF. The interference being put out by the HDTV screens is interfering with IR frequencies, not RF.

Switch the DVR (if able) from IR to RF mode then reprogram your remote if you have an RF-capable remote.

Newer directv remotes are RF capable, I'm unaware of other companies.

agreed an RF remote is often a better solution: but some boxes, even if switched to RF remote mode, still have the IR eye active, and still can suffer from IR noise overload, and thus may still need the fix

nothing wrong in these tough economic times to to fix something with a piece of tape if that resolves the issue

Masking tape solved this problem for me.

I had a similar issue with a satellite box not that long ago... Believe it or not, it was the CFL bulbs i had in the lamps in the room causing the interference. Took me a week to figure that one out...

I've been having this problem with my 2-day old Tivo HD. I've never had any trouble with any other devices, including Moto STB's and pre Series3 Tivo's.

I don't have any CFL's in that room (wow I hope LED's are better than CFL's, otherwise I'm going back to candles after they criminalize incandescent bulb use). The problem in my case appears to be caused by the auto-brightness sensor on my older LCD television, but I haven't quite isolated that as the cause yet.

(wow I hope LED's are better than CFL's, otherwise I'm going back to candles after they criminalize incandescent bulb use).

Are you referring to lightbulbs or backlights for LCD TV's?:confused:

Backlights are "CCFL" with traditional LCD TV's.

Anyway... plenty of suggestions here. Let us know what you find.

LED backlit displays should not cause IR noise issues

I replaced several CCFL LCD displays with the new Samsung UNB series in my home: to me they are a big step forward in performance, particularly black levels