I spent hours troubleshooting my TV until I found an outdated cable hiding behind it

Published Sep 7, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT Tyler is an automotive journalist and content contributor at How-To Geek with over three years of experience covering the automotive industry. His work focuses on delivering clear, well-researched, and engaging content that helps readers better understand the vehicles they drive and the technology behind them. Before entering automotive media, he spent five years as an academic editor, developing a strong foundation in research methodology, factual accuracy, and structured analysis. This background informs his journalistic approach today, ensuring that every article balances technical insight with accessibility for a broad audience. Tyler specializes in automotive journalism, content strategy, and SEO-driven publishing, with a particular interest in performance, reliability, and the cultural role of cars. He approaches automotive writing with a distinct philosophy: vehicles should be engaging and expressive, not merely functional tools. This perspective shapes his coverage and allows readers to connect with cars beyond basic specifications. I recently hooked up an old PC to my TV, expecting it to be the perfect way to turn my living room into a makeshift gaming setup. The hardware was more than capable, and both the PC and TV supported the refresh rates I wanted, so I assumed everything would work without a hitch. Instead, I was greeted by constant stuttering, flickering, and occasional black screens that made the whole setup feel broken. Naturally, I started blaming the obvious culprits. I spent time changing display settings, checking refresh rates, and making sure the TV was in Game Mode, but nothing seemed to make a difference. The eventual fix turned out to be far simpler than I expected, and it had nothing to do with the PC or TV themselves. A forgotten piece of hardware sitting behind my TV was quietly getting in the way of the signal, and removing it immediately solved the problem. Plagued by constant flickering and stuttering My TV and my PC weren't the problem Credit: Amazon Recently, I grabbed an old PC and decided to set it up as a console in my living room. I popped it down and plugged it in, expecting it to be pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, I hit a wall straight away. Despite my PC being more than capable enough to run the titles I was playing, everything felt clunky and slow. It didn't take too much troubleshooting The first thing that I encountered was what felt like a drop in frame rate. While both my PC and my TV were capable of outputting a high-quality image at 120Hz, things were stuttering straight away. This initially made me worry that my computer was ready to give up the ghost, but the more I experimented, the more I felt like something else was the issue. Alongside the stuttering image, the connection would occasionally be lost, with my TV going dark for a couple of seconds before everything would come back. I spent longer than I care to admit fiddling with settings on both my TV and my computer, from adjusting refresh rates to making sure that Game Mode was turned on. The problem was much simpler than that, though, with the culprit being a little cable dangling behind my TV. I still had an old HDMI splitter plugged into my TV I forgot I even had it plugged in Credit: David J. Buck/How-To Geek Back when I first got my TV, I had too many things that I wanted to keep plugged in all at once. Searching through my box of cables, I found an HDMI switch that allowed me to swap between two inputs. After cleaning up my setup and moving a lot of things into my office, I apparently left the HDMI switch behind, with an HDMI cable plugged into it. Without thinking, I plugged my PC in without checking the other end of the HDMI. An old or outdated HDMI switch can cause some annoying issues Turns out that the little cable was the cause of all of my problems. A simple extra connection in the chain was not only causing dips in connection but also a lower refresh rate. Removing it from the chain and plugging things directly into my TV completely solved all of the problems. The flickering was gone and everything appeared to be running at a higher frame rate. Not only was this a good reminder to check the cables I was using, but it also prompted me to sift through my big box of spare cables and devices and trash anything else that was outdated or wasn't being used. Getting rid of unnecessary cable clutter can make a big difference An easy fix Credit: Bertel King / How-To Geek All it took to fix my problems was to remove the old HDMI switch from my setup and plug my PC in directly. Making sure that you don't have any old or forgotten things plugged into your setup can make a big difference. You might not think that something as simple as an HDMI switch could affect image output so drastically, but checking your hardware first can save you a lot of time troubleshooting. Outdated HDMI switches or extenders can cause lots of issues The switch that I had plugged in didn't have any heavy-duty purposes when I first used it, which was also admittedly a long time ago. The combination of its age and the demanding signal that it was dealing with exposed its weaknesses. You can also run into the same kind of problems with a cheap switch. The higher the bandwidth required, the more likely it is that your switch is going to struggle to produce a clean and smooth image. This isn't to say that you shouldn't use HDMI switches. Modern, high-quality splitters can handle some pretty heavy-duty tasks and can be a great addition to a setup. It not only gives you access to another port, but it also means that you don't have to swap cables constantly, instead of flicking a switch to swap inputs. UGREEN 4K @60Hz 5-in-1 HDMI Switch $30 $37 Save $7 This 5X1 HDMI switch from UGREEN is the best option for most people because it’s affordable, offers five HDMI 2.0 inputs, and supports a 4K@60Hz output. The simplest setup is always best While there are a ton of neat cables and gadgets out there that allow you to do much more with your setup, oftentimes the simplest way forward is the best. In my case, a switch that was meant to make my life easier ended up causing display issues and making me worry that there was something wrong with my setup. It's a good reminder to clean out any old hardware that you don't use anymore and stick with modern, high-quality products instead.