why does my plasma tv screen occasionally blank

It's likely none of the above, save for the note on it being the box itself.

When I had Time warner, then later called Bright house, and now Verizon FIOS, updating the software inside the box can and does sometimes cause the video to drop out... sometimes both the audio and video drop out for a litte bit.. seconds or a minute.

With FIOS this happens nightly between 2 - 4AM. the cable co is looking to see what PPV movies I've watched, IF ANY, and updating their software or simply checking to see how many boxes are connected. Sometimes these actions will necessitate a reset of the box too.

oft times the cable co will say it's not them or it's not supposed to do that, but it is them and as it happens so far off peak times, while we're supposedly sleeping, very few folks ever mention it to them.

Do try another box though too.

All the aforementioned items herein may well be it too and if a simple replacement of the converter doesn't fix things, then look there.

Another item too could be the sender. the ch sending the info to the cable co can sometimes have intermittent drop outs. I assumed however, that as no particular ch was mentioned this was a global event... no matter the channel, it would happen now and then.

Could be a wealth of things, bugs, birds, rats, sun spots, immensely brief periods of narcolepsy, but I'll go with the box itself first... as all else is working without this irritating event.

WOW , talk about timing !!!

I am having the same problem with my Samsung plasma tv , model #HP-R4252X , and Brighthouse cable service .

The tv will go blank , as if you turned it off . Sometimes for just a few seconds and sometimes as long as a minute or two . When it comes back sometimes it is clear and sometimes it will have digital artifacts either in the video or audio or both .
This will not only happen on just the plasma tv but will also happen , at the same time , on our other tv which is analog and tuned to a different channel .

I am currently playing the fixit game with Brighthouse , on my equipment , to no avail ! So far they have made the following changes , repairs and checks :
1.) Three new HD box's for the plasma and one new digital box for the analog tv (digital for the music in my 2 channel room). Actually two of the HD box's were rebuilts and the last one is brand new .
2.) New ends and patch cords from the wall to the cable box's.
3.)A new (thicker...they have two types of cable the thicker one is capable of carying more info and is shielded) cable from the terminal/junction box to the box mounted on my house .
4.)A new box mounted on the side of my house .
5.)A check of all of my inside cable runs and replacement of the ones found to be noisy .
6.)Splitter changed twice .
7.)New connections made in the new box on the side of my house .
8.)A check of the new line from the terminal/junction box to the new box on the side of my house .
9.)Three modem changes . Yes I am having problems with my internet going down intermittenly like the tv and my phone service too !

The status now is twofold . First they found "noise" in the line supplying the junction/terminal box and they have requested a check of that line . They never followed through . A second request was made and is still pending after a week . You have to call to find out the results and make sure that they will do it !
They are coming out Monday to check all of my inhouse telephone lines .

These 'visits' have been going on for a couple of months now and I have not had any positive results . As a matter of fact the tv problem is what started it and it has now progressed to the internet and telephone service . It is getting worse not better !

Most of the problems happen during the daytime Monday through Friday . This is the time of high bandwidth demand from their commercial customers .
And all of this through an aging infrastructure originally designed for regular tv signal transmission only !
I am sure that they have upgraded and renewed the equipment in their receiving stations and transmission terminals . I know that they have not upgraded or renewed the aging , rusty and leaning junction/terminal box's in my neighborhood within the 20+ years that I have lived here . And they have not replaced or renewed the line feeding these box's in at least 10 years !

I wonder just how bad can Verizon be ?

Sorry for the rant .

Good luck .

Saki70

VERIZON FIOS has less bugs. Service and billing are another issue altogether. Some of their techs too are ham handed and thoughtless. Mostly however any issues I've had were resolved within a day... depending on what and when the issue arose. which was far quicker than bright house cable/time warner's response time for any issue.

The service I had the least trouble with was DTV. once the thunderstorm passed from being directly overhead, all was well. but of course... no phone or web.

Verizon billing just flat out is terrible. In my area following some outage of any portion of service, the customer has to call billing to ensure a credit is applied for it. it is not automatic as was with all other com providers.

their package prices are not uniform either, and they will not inform current customrers of further savings until you inquire personally. To correct one such instance took four months of me calling them each month before a final resolution or remedy was delivered.

I must say however, the quality of the phone line, web, and video are very very, good.

Pray for FIOS or get DTV for less troublesome video. Then all you have to worry about are trees, airplanes, birds, squirrels, slow moving storms, and sun spots.

uh... I'll pray too.

wow i never expected all these responses but my problem is more i notice with the hd channels than the regular channels and also i did not see the problem in summer, and winter in buffalo new york where i live now is pretty cold and coming to the wiring there are multiple splitters and also the wiring is pretty old!....im yet to call time warner sigh!