I can answer those. Its not hooked up to an external cable box, I hook the cable up to it directly. The noise happens most frequently though when I am watching a DVD or playing xbox on it. I am using an adapter for the Xbox and I have tried switching the adapters out and it doesnt really fix the problem. I havent noticed a change when the volume is a different levels, but the TV does usually stay at a low volume. It also doesnt only appear when letters are flashed on the screen, but it appears then too. Basically its when either large amounts of white appear on screen (like the intro to Halo 2 or when I am watching a movie where the set walls are painted a white or something in the same kind of family) or when the movie has lots of lighting. For example, the first nearly 20 minutes of Almost Famous are impossible to watch because its so brightly lit, and I can barely hear anything.

I am not electronically savvy. This TV has about 1000 knobs, and I am hoping something is adjusted wrong. Basically if you feel like it can't possibly be (blank) problem because only an idiot wouldnt have noticed that, you can safely assume I didnt notice it.