So the situation is my brother bought a 50" Samsung 720p plasma with Shaw HDTV cablebox. He happily watched it for about a month with a pair of M3s. I then lent him an M2 to try out as a center. Shortly thereafter he started feeling nauseous with a headache after about an hour watching tv (after a couple weeks this was reduced to about 15 min). I had him disconnect the M2 and play with a bunch of video settings and after a couple weeks of total abstinence he can now get through about an hour before the symptoms return. He has tried different viewing positions/distances to no effect. I can't test out his system for myself as I live elsewhere.

Anybody heard of this reaction to HDTV or plasma? Could it just have been the M2 he hated and this is now a psych problem?

I think he just has the flu, tell him to send the Plasma to me and I will check to see if there is any relation to watching the TV and getting sick.

He should have went with 1080p... He'd really be sick then.

The only thing I can think of is that he's sitting too close to the screen (which you've ruled out), or that perhaps the viewing angle (up/down) is causing his mind to play tricks with his stomach. That too sounds extremely unlikely to me, but it's the only thing I can possibly think of. (maybe he feels guilty about dropping the $$$ on the TV and when he watches is reminded of that?)

Jason, it's not the flu shot, it's a new unexplained "plasma illness". It starts off just as mentioned above and then next thing you know it's a wheelchair, true story, happened to me. I wouldn't want anyone else to experience the same thing so seeing that I'm already at that's a that state it should be sent over here because I can't get any worse.

It's called plasmaquadriplegia.... check it out on Wikipedia

God Help Me..... I'm actually tempted to copy and paste that into Google....

must..........resist.............!

Do you have a plasma also? Maybe I should post my address in the thread

Motion sickness, grab some pills from the chemist and give them a try.

Wow, if its motion sickness thats an extreme case!

Actually Graeme L may be right; it may be a form of motion sickness. I used to have trouble riding in a car when I was young. I have found that I cannot watch TV shot in the 4x3 format stretched to a 16x9 screen. Round objects are no longer round. A persons head may appear wide, but if tilted it becomes tall. Kind of like a moving funhouse mirror effect. Make sure he is never using the stretched screen effect. Zooming in may cut off some screen top and bottom info, but it gives full width without distortion.

Hi doormat,

Well, that's too bizarre! Actually, are you sure the M2 is in phase with the M3s? Listening to out-of-phase audio can sometimes induce a kind of nausea. I can't use noise-cancelling headphones because the noise-cancellation circuitry, which operates out of phase, gives me a queasy feeling. If I switch off the noise-cancellation, the headphones are fine. (I've experienced the same phenomenon with dipole surround speakers.)

OK, that's one theory.

Theory #2: Has your brother had vision problems? Does he need glasses and not realize it? Or if he does wear glasses, perhaps his eyes have changed and he needs a new prescription. Eye strain can certainly induce headaches and similar anomalies.

Regards,

I knew I'd get some helpful responses sooner or later!

The phase was my first thought too, and I had him describe to me in detail his wiring (I even mocked him for using the white stripe for red as I do the opposite, but he was at least consistent). His problem has continued with the M2 removed from the system entirely.

He does wear glasses, not sure when his last checkup was.

Motion sickness is another possibility that occurred to us. I've had him play with various video settings, but not sure what he's done. His health is poor right now so additional drugs probably isn't a good idea.

I was hoping to get down there this week to test his system, but car problems have left me stranded here in the GWN. So, on the advice of this forum I've offered to let him send his TV up here for a few months of rigorous testing.

All the best to your brother and I hope that his health improves ASAP and that it's not too serious.

Along the same lines as Alan's first theory, there are actually devices available called "Sonic Nausea" that generate ultra-high frequency soundwaves that induce nausea, headaches etc. I don't know if it's exactly what your brother is experiencing but I thought I would mention it as it sounds similar.

How many bands can be called that?

I'd vote for NRBQ. They opened for R.E.M. on the Green tour and were the worst band I've ever heard. After a while they just pounded on their instruments randomly. It was like a Yoko Ono "happening". Ugh.

And its only page 2. C'mon folks, we're slipping!

???

The thread shouldn't get relevant until the bottom of page 3.

Maybe he had too much to drink each time?

Get's sick after watching 'too much' tv you say eh? Hmmmm... well if you figure it out, bottle it! I'd like to give it to my kids!

I had no idea that was possible. All I could think of was the rare phenomena of people having seizures b/c of the frame rate (as I recall) of certain video games or shows. Maybe his TV just hits his brain in his own little special place at just the right frequency. Tell him to try watching a 120hz LCD or a 1080p and see if has the same response. If so, tell him to pick up a good book because his HT days are over.