COMMON PROBLEMS WITH YOUR DVD PLAYER
1. Problem:
How do I connect my DVD player to my TV.
2. Problem: My TV only
has one SCART socket and I’m already using that
for my video recorder (or something else such as a digital
TV box)
3. Problem: I have connected
my DVD Player to my TV with a SCART-SCART (or an S-Video
to SCART lead) but the picture is black and white with
all DVDs that I play.
4. Problem: My DVD player
is playing other DVDs OK but US DVDs are displayed in
black and white?
5. Problem: My DVD plays
on my PC but not on my DVD Player
6. General options that
may be worth a try if you are having problems:
1. Problem: How do I connect my
DVD player to my TV.
The three most common ways to
connect a DVD player to a TV are as follows (NB. all
DVD players should have at least one of these connections
most will have all three.):
(1) SCART lead. A lead with 21 pins at
each end that looks like this.
Scart cables can carry both picture and sound.
If both your DVD Player and your TV have a SCART socket
then a SCART to SCART lead is your best option. These
leads cost from £5. (Better quality SCART leads
generally cost from £30 upwards.)
However, if either your TV or DVD player does not have
a SCART socket then you can try using one of the following:
(2) S-Video. A small round connector with
4 metal pins and one plastic pin that looks like this.
S-video connections only carry a picture not sound.
(3) RCA/Phono. A small round connector
with only 1 pin that looks like this.
The phono socket for the picture on the DVD player is
usually yellow.
If you are using S-Video or RCA you will
also need to connect up the sound. This is usually done
using two extra Phono connectors for left and right
audio. (The connectors for these on the back of your
DVD Player are usually coloured red and white.)
If your DVD player has no SCART socket but your TV does
then you should get either an S-Video to SCART lead
or a Phono to SCART lead. (S-Video gives a much better
picture quality than Phono.) It would be best to get
a lead that also has two extra phono connections for
the sound, i.e. either an S-video and two Phono to SCART
or a three Phono to SCART lead.
If your DVD player has no SCART and neither does your
TV then your TV may have a S-video or Phono connection
for the picture instead. TV’s like this usually
also have two additional Phono connections for the sound.
(These connections may be on the side or front of your
TV, sometimes under a flap, rather than on the back.)
If both your TV and DVD Player have an S-Video socket
you will need to get either an S-Video to S-Video lead
for the picture and a pair of Phonos to Phonos lead
for the sound. If your TV and DVD Player only have Phono
connections (this is very unusual) you will need to
get three Phono to Phono leads.
You cannot get an S-Video to Phono lead as these two
types of connection are not compatible.
2. Problem:
My TV only has one SCART socket and I’m already
using that for my video recorder (or something else
such as a digital TV box)
If this is the case then you have 3 options:
(1) Get a SCART switcher box. These boxes have 2 or
3 SCART inputs and one SCART output. You can connect
your DVD player and your video recorder to the inputs
and the output to your TV. There is then a switch to
determine whether the signal from your DVD player or
your video recorder are sent to your TV. Argos sell
a 3 way SCART switcher for about £10. Expect to
pay more for automatic or remote controlled switcher
boxes.
(2) Many DVD players have two SCART sockets
which allow you to “pass through” the signal
from a video recorder or a digital TV box. If this is
the case connect the SCART output from your video that
is currently plugged into the TV into the input SCART
socket (usually labeled Video) on your DVD player. Then
connect the DVD output on your DVD player (usually marked
TV) into the back of the TV. When the DVD player is
not playing a DVD (or is not turned on) it should pass
through the signal from the video.
(3) Does your TV have another input e.g.
S-Video or Phono that you can use?
3. Problem:
I have connected my DVD Player to my TV with a SCART-SCART
(or an S-Video to SCART lead) but the picture is black
and white with all DVDs that I play.
Either your TV or your DVD player (but
not both) are set to S-Video.
Your DVD Player is outputting a S-video
signal and either your TV cannot accept an S-video signal
or, if you have a TV with multiple SCART sockets, you
have plugged the DVD Player into a SCART socket on the
back of your TV that is not S-Video compatible.
A SCART lead can be used to send a picture
in three different formats. These are called RGB (for
Red, Green and Blue – this gives the best picture
quality), S-Video (good picture quality) and composite
(average picture quality). S-Video sockets can only
be used to send an S-Video signal. A single (yellow)
Phono socket can only be used to send a composite signal.
DVD players can usually be set up to output
a picture via their SCART socket in any of these signal
formats. To do this usually involves going into the
Setup menu on your DVD i.e. press the Setup button on
your DVD remote. Refer to your DVD Player instructions
for how to do this. You want to select either RGB or
composite.
Not all TVs can accept an S-Video signal.
If you have multiple SCART sockets on the back of your
TV then only some of them will be able to handle an
S-Video. If you cannot change the output from your DVD
player and you have multiple SCART sockets on the back
of your TV try connecting the DVD Player up using one
of the other SCART sockets.
4. Problem: My
DVD player is playing other DVDs OK but US DVDs are
displayed in black and white?
This is probably because your DVD is outputting
the US disc in NTSC (the American TV standard –
60 frames a second) rather than PAL (the UK standard
– 50 frames a second) and your TV is not compatible
with NTSC.
Most TVs sold in the UK over the past
10 years will work with either NTSC or PAL signals,
but some TVs will only work with a PAL signal. DVDs
made in the US are (usually) recorded in NTSC. DVDs
recorded in the UK are (usually) recorded in PAL. (All
DVDs from your local DVD rental store or sold in high-street
shops should be PAL. Imported DVDs from the US will
generally be in NTSC.)
All DVD players can output a picture in
either PAL or NTSC. Even if your TV is not compatible
with NTSC you may be able to get your DVD player to
output an NTSC disk in PAL. (NB Usually DVD players
that can do this output the NTSC as PAL but with 60
frames a second. If your TV is not compatible with NTSC
it may not be compatible with this PAL 60 either.)
Most DVD players decide whether to output
NTSC or PAL based on whether the disk that you are playing
is NTSC or PAL. If your DVD player plays US disks in
black and white but UK disks in colour then this is
what your DVD player is doing. However, many DVD players
can output NTSC disks as PAL. There are several ways
to get your DVD player to do this.
(1) Some DVD players have to be “told”
whether to output a disk in NTSC or PAL. Some DVD players
have a switch on the back of the machine. For other
models the output has to be switched via the remote.
This is usually done by pressing “Setup”
on your remote and then accessing the Picture menu.
Refer to your DVD Player instructions for how to do
this.
(2) Some machines make the decision of
whether to output NTSC or PAL at the time they are turned
on. This means that if you turn the DVD player on with
an NTSC disk in it all DVDs played until the machine
is turned off will be output as NTSC even if they are
PAL discs. Try turning your DVD player on (at the mains)
with a PAL disk in it. Then put the NTSC disk in and
try playing it.
(3) If you have a Sony or Toshiba player
then try setting the player's SCART socket to output
in RGB mode. (Detailed in your users manual) You must
use a SCART to SCART cable and it must be connected
to the SCART socket on your television which is RGB
compatible (Normally AV1).
5. Problem: My
DVD plays on my PC but not on my DVD Player
This is probably because many of the problems listed
above simply don’t apply to playing a DVD on your
PC. (Your PC can make decisions for you because it controls
how the signal is sent to the monitor etc.) If this
is the case then the DVD itself is OK and the problem
is somewhere in your DVD player to TV connection or
in the set up of your DVD player or TV.
You can buy PC graphics cards (about £50 upwards)
that have outputs that allow you to connect your PC
to your TV.
6. General options
that may be worth a try if you are having problems:
Turn around your SCART to SCART lead.
This may sound strange but it really can work! This
is because some SCART leads do not have all 21 pins
wired up and are only intended to be used in one direction.
If your TV has multiple SCART sockets
try plugging the DVD Player into each one in turn. Usually
all SCART sockets will accept a composite signal but
only some will accept an RGB (usually AV1) or S-Video
signal. (A SCART socket that handles RGB usually doesn’t
also handle S-Video and vice versa.)
Unfortunately, some DVD players have more
problems than others playing different types of DVD.
Generally, older DVD players have more problems with
new DVD disks than newer DVD players. (Some well known
DVD titles such as The Matrix are known not to work
in certain models of DVD player.) If your DVD player
is more than about 3 years old you are more likely to
have problems.
DVDs sold by SPV are recorded using a
standard called DVD-R. This is the most compatible DVD
recording standard available but there are still about
3% of DVD models (generally older models) that will
not play them. All DVD players sold today should play
DVD-R disks.
