What is "sparklies"

n. 1 (context informal English) Things that sparkle; gems. 2 (context television English) A kind of interference pattern on analogue satellite television, caused by a signal that is either too weak or too strong.

Sparklies is a formal term, as used by British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) and a number of hardware makers including Amstrad and Pace, for interference on analogue satellite television transmissions.

Sparklies are black or white 'hard' interference dots (as opposed to the 'soft' interference patterns of terrestrial television), caused either by too weak or too strong a signal. When within the satellite's rated reception footprint, sparklies are most likely to be caused by a misaligned dish, or LNBs which are too high- or too low- gain for the dish and receiver.

Sparklies do not occur on digital satellite systems; similar problems with digital signals cause MPEG artifacts.