So my wife and I joined the 21st century and got an HD TV. I was only really interested because I was sick of images stretching off of the side of our SD TV.
We have Dish Network and Sunday someone will come to hook up an SD receiver. However, I think our problem is with our current DVD/VCR and I just want confirmation.
The image kind of ghosts. I’m thinking it’s because the DVD/VCR isn’t upconverting (and I guess the TV isn’t either). If it matters the TV is a 37" Samsung 550.
The way the DVD/VCR is connected to the TV is by a coaxial cable to the antenna in on the back of the TV. I’m assuming if I get a Blu-Ray player and connect it to the TV with an HDMI cable the ghosting problems should go away, right?
Your VCR almost surely has a set of three jacks jacks in the back that are labeled “video out” and look like the yellow, white, red set in this picture. The yellow jack is for “composite video” and the other two are the left and right audio channels. Your TV should have a set of “video in” connectors on the back that are also red, yellow, and black. Get a set of composite cables (like the ones further down on this page.) (Hint: Go to a hardware store like Ace or Home Depot rather than an electronics store and buy the cheapest ones they have.) Hook up your VCR to your TV using the cable instead of the coaxial cable. See if that produces a better picture. But remember to find the “video out” jack on the VCR and connect it to the “video in” on the TV.
For even better results, see if your VCR has component video outputs like the red, blue, green set in this picture. If so, get a component cable like this with five connectors (red/ blue/ green for video and white/red for audio) and use those to connect.
No guarantees, but see if that makes a difference.
While I thank you for the suggestions please don’t assume I don’t know what the cables are or how they work, thank you. I have plenty of RCA cables and have used them many times before.
Anyway, I’ll try using them and see if it makes a difference.
You should always use the “best” possible connection between components. The coaxial is the second worst (after a bare wire). RCA jacks, including composite, S-Video, and component is always a better choice if available.
Nobody really connects a VCR to the antenna anymore. In the old days, you were pretty much guaranteed that either VHF channel 3 or 4 was clear and you could “override” that channel via the antenna. After the digital channel reschuffle, I’m not so sure that the “guarantee” of a clear channel exists. You would be fighting against that broadcast frequency and that is probably the source of your ghosting.
Complete your journey into 21st century TV by using the composite out jacks which pretty much any combo device should have. If it doesn’t, spring for a newer model.
I have DVD players connected to my HD TVs and the pictures are fine. I use either HDMI or component connections, never a coax connection. If you must use a coax be sure to use a high quality cable, not a Radio Shack kind.
I bought a new DVD/VCR* combo but this one is upconverting to 1080p, which is what my TV is.
Anyway, I’m using an HDMI cable and the picture looks great. So, problem solved, it was my old DVD player that was the problem.
*Yeah, I know, they have these things called Blu-Ray players and discs :D, but for the time being we don’t need one.