Correct terminology for HD picture issue: "shimmering"

I have an older Hitachi plasma TV (42 HDS52A) that has a picture issue of a "shimmer" effect on items such as automobile chrome, grass, patterns on clothing, around hairlines on people, etc.

I am first trying to determine the correct "term" for this effect or issue. Is it "shimmer", or I've heard "crawling moss". I should note that I only seem to see this when viewing HD television broadcast. I use Comcast cable with the Pace RNG110 box.

I was wondering if switching from the HDMI cable connection to a component cable connection might help the issue. Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

bump, still hoping to find out more about this issue....

The effect is noticeable from the normal seating distance (7-8 ft). I have heard about things like the "compression artifacts" you reference, but I am wondering what that is. I have read that it is often the "source", or cable tv signal. I am using HDMI cable, and not to open the "cable pricing debate", I switched from my (very) expensive Monster cable to a generic cable with absolutely no picture difference.

I must admit that I did notice the effect on my neighbor's LED (Samsung) TV, but not to the degree I see on my set. The other sets in my home are CRT HDTVs, connected with component cables to Comcast boxes.

I'm wondering if changing picture settings, or switching to component cables may help. It does get annoying, but perhaps I have become too sensitive to the issue...

Thanks for your reply and help!

I hope this helps someone with the same issue. I was able to reduce/eliminate the "shimmer" through a couple of settings adjustments.

First, I adjusted "Noise Reduction" on the TV menu from "off" to "high"; I immediately noticed an improvement.
Next, I adjusted the Sharpness setting from 75% down to 40%, this made a huge difference. After reducing the sharpness setting, I went back and turned "Noise Reduction" off.

Again, I hope this helps someone.