So I have my DVD player hooked into an RF modulator that is hooked into the digital cable receiver. Everything was working fine and dandy until all of a sudden the picture turned BLUE. At first I thought it was some kind of “Wizard of Oz” type technique on the video itself until it switched back to color again. I put in other DVDs and the same thing happens.
My DVD player is just the cheap Apex brand, and I got the RF modulator at Radio Shack, so I’m not overly upset, I figure that’s what I get for going the cheap route.
Did I hook it up wrong or is my DVD player on the blink?
Well, most DVD players will show a blue screen when there is no DVD in or when the DVD is stopped. That might explain the color but you should see the DVD content when you try to play a disc.
If I were you, I would plug the DVD player straight into the TV. Using an RF modulator and going through a cable box will seriously degrade your picture quality. I’m assuming you had to use this configuration because you have an older TV. But even older TVs have the regular RCA type connections for video and audio in addition to the “screw-on” coaxial cable connection. So use those instead. If everthing works this way, then your RFM probably died on you. If not, there’s something wrong with your DVD player.
Or if your TV has component video or S-video connections, use one of these. Either way, you seriously should ditch the RFM and connect straight to the TV.
Wow. You’re not very old are you? Until about 7 years ago, that type of hookup was uncommon in TVs. I still see plenty with only an F-type connector and no RCA AV connectors at all. And for those of you who say using an RF modulator is a huge signal loss, I say bullshit. It’s no worse than running the signal through a VCR. We’re talking a 1-2 dB loss at most.
Almost all of my tv, vcr, dvd players all display a blue screen when no signal is present. The blue screen function can be turned off usually on the unit itself in the menu.
Try hooking up the dvd player directly to the tv if you can to test it.
Hmm… Seven years ago was only 1996. All but the cheapest TVs had line level (RCA) inputs long before that.
Well, if you don’t notice it, then no, its not a big deal. I guess. But again unless you have a cheap, crappy television, the difference with an RF signal is very noticeable. I have a flat-screen Sony WEGA and the difference between RCA and S-video is very obvious (to me anyway ;)).
Actually, I’ll correct that slightly. Saying there is signal loss isn’t really accurate, since we’re dealing with two different types of signals. The RF out is passed through an amplifier so that it’s level is pretty close to what the TV is expecting as ideal. There is a bit of distortion introduced, as with any amplification, but for the most part this is unnoticeable.
If you notice a difference between S-video and baseband RCA vidio on your TV, it means your TV’s comb filter is crappier than those on your DVD player. DVD players don’t inherently provide separate channels for luminance and chrominance, but rely on filters to separate them from the baseband video. Generally older and less expensive TVs benefit from S-video. Newer, pricier units usually do not.
Well, I have my digital cable receiver plugged directly into my TV, so do I just need to run a coax cable from the DVD to the receiver??
I have looked at the directions from the DVD player and they say to hook up the RFM unless you have S-video, which my TV does not. It’s not a really old model, maybe 1999, but there are no RCA plug ins or S-video, which is a real pain.
How is your digital cable reciever connected to the TV? Is it through a set of cables with red, white and yellow plugs or through the screw-on antenna connector? If the former, you’d be better off getting an A/V switch for two or more devices, along with an extra set of cables and connecting everything that way. If that’s confusing to you, I think I can provide a diagram. If the only connector on the TV is the screw-on one, you can run the output of the digital cable box to the RF input on the RF modulator, and conect the RF out to the TV. Again, diagrams available on request, but I do need to understand your setup better.
Check your DVD player’s manual or remote for a PAL/NTSC setting.
My brother bought an APEX dvd player. Work(ed) great, really cheap. About 3 months after he bought it, it broke, or so we thought. He showed me the picture from several dvds had now become black and white and wiggly, sort of like when your rabbit ears are not quite up to the task of pulling in that broadcast channel. It was plugged straight into RCA AV jacks, so there was nothing to do with an RF converter or any channel3/4 switches. I agreed, must be broken.
We returned it to wallymart, who were happy to exchange it for a new one. The new dvd player was 10$ less than it was 3 months ago, so they even gave him 10$. Whatta deal.
Anyway, we discovered that this newer APEX dvd player had a slightly redesigned remote control with a button labelled P/N. When pressed this button changed the dvd player from the NTSC to PAL standard. The incorrect setting (PAL) looked exactly like the previous dvd player’s bad picture. Pressing the button again to get it back to NTSC and it was “fixed”. My brother must have unknowingly hit the equivalent button on his first Apex dvd player.
So I’m guessing maybe your digital tv reciever or RF adapter shows you a blue screen when it thinks the input signal is crummy, and if the dvd player was set to PAL when your tv is an NTSC (or vice versa). Check to see if your dvd player has a PAL/NTSC setting, and make sure it’s set appropriately.