Strange high pitch TV noises

[Dave Lenton]

I have a problem - quite often my TV makes a really strange noise. Its a high pitched shrieking noise, which is highly annoying. The only way I can find of getting rid of it is to either turn the thing off and on again (a trademark computer user's solution to a problem) or to thump the damn thing(ditto). What's even more annoying is that other people just can't hear it. When I complain about it (and other TVs which make a similar sound), people look at me as if I'm loopy. They can hear it if they stand close to the telly, but not if they sit back down on the sofa.

Its not just TVs though. I've noticed that several plugs and some light bulbs make similar high pitch strange noises. Sometimes it can get more then just an annoyance - if I walk into a shop selling TVs, I'll often come out with a headache because of the mass of squeaking coming from all the TVs. Occasionally I get a headache from just a single TV making the noise. I'll be fine until the squeaking starts, and then I feel quite uncomfortable.

I had thought to myself "maybe I've got quite sensitive hearing", but sometimes it appears to be the opposite. If I go to a bar or club playing loud music, I find my hearing is much worse then other people. The people I'm with can be happily having a conversation with each other by shouting over the noise, but I can't make out a word they're saying because of all the ringing distortion in my ears from the music.

Is it possible that my hearing is just shunted a bit towards the quiet end of the scale i.e. I can make out quiet sounds a bit better then average, but at the same time struggle to clearly hear loud sounds? Some people have good close vision but bad far vision, so I wondered if there is an equivalent with hearing. I've got just about no medical knowledge, so I'm not sure if that could be possible or is complete nonsense. Maybe most my friends and family are a bit deaf, or maybe I'm just imagining it all!

Anyone else get effected strangely by standing in a room full of TVs?

[Svend Rost]

Dave Lenton:
I have a problem - quite often my TV makes a really strange noise. Its a high pitched shrieking noise, which is highly annoying. The only way I can find of getting rid of it is to either turn the thing off..

Well, when I lived together with my (now) ex-girlfriend, I had the same
problem.. Now that we have split this terrible noice you describe has gone
away.


Could it be tinnitus? it's possible to "catch" it, if your very stressed.

edit:
While taking a small break, I found the following links:
http://wtmboards.com/K8genaug9/messages/4649.html
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23198

It seems as if, you are not alone.

/Svend Rost
[ October 05, 2005: Message edited by: Svend Rost ]

[Michael Ernest]

Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
I have a problem - quite often my TV makes a really strange noise. Its a high pitched shrieking noise, which is highly annoying.

That's Fox News. Just change the channel.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Svend Rost:

Well, when I lived together with my (now) ex-girlfriend, I had the same
problem.. Now that we have split this terrible noice you describe has gone
away.


Could it be tinnitus? it's possible to "catch" it, if your very stressed.

edit:
While taking a small break, I found the following links:
http://wtmboards.com/K8genaug9/messages/4649.html
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23198

It seems as if, you are not alone.

/Svend Rost

[ October 05, 2005: Message edited by: Svend Rost ]

Thanks. Its nice to know that I'm not a complete freak and that other people can hear it as well!

I read somewhere on one of the pages you linked to (or a page linked from there etc) that as most people's hearing gets less sensitive over time, people often loose the ability to hear these noises as they get older. My girlfriend will be pleased - it drives her up the wall when I'm turning the telly off and on every time some adverts come along.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Michael Ernest:

That's Fox News. Just change the channel.

S*OL



*Snort. It wasn't pretty.

[Jesse Torres]

Originally posted by Michael Ernest:

That's Fox News. Just change the channel.

[Stephen Boston]

I believe that is the HZ Freq for the picture tube you are hearing from your TV. When electronic cash Registrators first came out (I'm telling my age I think) my Mom and I could hear the freqs coming of of that thing.

As I have gotten older (45) I find I no longer can hear the HZ freq from the TV. Hearing a-ok otherwise.

[Alan Wanwierd]

Yes - I hear it too!!!

Its a *very* high frequency noise - which explains why many people cant hear it - its right on the limit of most people's audible range!

Fortunately - as you get older the tiny hairs in your ear that enable you to hear are likely to fall out and thin a bit - which will drop the upper threshold of your audible range. Eventually you will no longer be able to detect TVs annoying whining noise!!

...and as far as the nighclub problem goes - I think that a different problem and is more neurological than physiologicial. Some people seem *very* good at filtering out background noise to listen to whatever they wish - others (like you and me) struggle to filter and find everything just blurs into a wall of noise making everything indistinguishable. Heres a few things I have noticed that may or may not have any credence:

1) Women appear to be better at audio filtering. My wife is constantly complaining that I have the car CD too loud - particularly when I turn it up to cover loud engine & road noise.. I believ she can hear the CD and ignore the backgound noise whereas really cant hear the CD above the background noise unless I crank it up!!!

2) My wife comes form a large family and when they get together there is always TV on and a least 3 different simultaneous conversations in the room. My family on the other hand tend to have conversations in "series" rather than in "parallel" - and either sit and watch TV (thus not talking) - or have TV off.. Perhaps then the filtering skills are learnt and I missed out?

[Gerald Davis]

I hear it too, I thought I was some sort of freak, I tell thee. I also hear cat deterrer.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Adrian Wallace:
...and as far as the nighclub problem goes - I think that a different problem and is more neurological than physiologicial. Some people seem *very* good at filtering out background noise to listen to whatever they wish - others (like you and me) struggle to filter and find everything just blurs into a wall of noise making everything indistinguishable. Heres a few things I have noticed that may or may not have any credence:

1) Women appear to be better at audio filtering. My wife is constantly complaining that I have the car CD too loud - particularly when I turn it up to cover loud engine & road noise.. I believ she can hear the CD and ignore the backgound noise whereas really cant hear the CD above the background noise unless I crank it up!!!

Hmmm. That may be it. Normally I am reasonably good at filtering out sounds - often when discussing music with my girlfriend I find I can better pick out individual instruments then she can, but then at louder volumes the opposite applies. Maybe I loose my ability to filter sounds as the volume increases.

2) My wife comes form a large family and when they get together there is always TV on and a least 3 different simultaneous conversations in the room. My family on the other hand tend to have conversations in "series" rather than in "parallel" - and either sit and watch TV (thus not talking) - or have TV off.. Perhaps then the filtering skills are learnt and I missed out?

Could be. I quite often read while the TV is on and don't have much problem paying attention to the two different streams of information. On the other hand, I find it hard to listen to two different people talking at the same time and keep track of what they are both saying. I'm ok at filtering different sources of information from different senses, but not lots from the same sense. When my girlfriend is with her friends they will be having several parallel conversations (like you mention above) and be able to keep track of them all. Perhaps this is an acquired skill.
[ October 07, 2005: Message edited by: Dave Lenton ]

[Nanhesru Ningyake]

I had a Philips Magnavox Stereo TV which would emit this high-pitched sound when in stand-by mode - very irritating. This could not be heard when the TV was on, so I had to switch off the TV when I was done watching it, rather than leave it in Stand-by...

[Jesus Angeles]

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