Bizarre NES picture issue

[Gooseberrysoda]

Replaced the 72-Pin connector about a month ago, and recently, it's started doing this thing where the quality of the picture directly correlates to the position of the 1st player controller cord. Any idea why this would happen?

EDIT: Nope, that's not it. I was playing with my laptop, and the picture is fuzzy when it's plugged in and charging. From across the room. With a different outlet. Weird.

[Ziggy]

Outlets in the same room are usually connected to each other in parallel on the same breaker. You were essentially using the same outlet.

Depending on some factors though, outlets and lights in different rooms can be on the same breaker as well. Ever hear an AC compressor kick on in another room and the light dims for a second in the room that you're in?

[Exhuminator]

I was playing with my laptop, and the picture is fuzzy when it's plugged in and charging.

It definitely sounds like some sort of EMF/RFI interference. If for some reason it's electrical, that problem is fixed by plugging the NES into a filtering device such as this:

http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F9H100-CW/

That inexpensives device has EMF/RFI dB reduction among its other features.

If for some reason the laptop's charger outputs interference wirelessly that your NES is picking up through its video cables, you should invest in shielded video cables for said NES.

[Hobie-wan]

If the laptop is spitting out that much interference, it might have issues.

[Ziggy]

Or at least, the charger.

[CRTGAMER]

Is it really the laptop? Maybe the problem is the NES toaster connector?

How about a direct unlinked screenshot of a NES game in the OP to help in the guesstimation?

[ApolloBoy]

Or at least, the charger.

This a million times. A lot of aftermarket laptop chargers put out a surprising amount of interference, especially when they're on their last legs. I had an aftermarket MacBook charger that created loads of interference when it was close to death, and the interference was so strong that my PVM started displaying thin diagonal lines of static even when nothing was connected.