diddy

I've finally joined the human race and bought a DVD player. However, I can't get the bl**dy thing to work. It's got something to do with me having an old TV that only has the aerial output.

Does anyone know if this should work, or what lead I need to get?

Thanks,

Paul.

h2oskineil

Most DVD players will have various outputs, Optical, Digital Coaxial, Scart, S-Video and there should be a standard RF Aerial lead.

You will get the best picture using S-Video or a Scart lead, but you say that your TV doesn't have a scart, ARE YOU SURE YOUR TV DOESN'T HAVE A SCART??? It is an oblong 'female' connector on the TV which takes a 'male' plug. It must be a very old TV to not have a scart plug. (sorry I'm not trying to be rude).
The Scart lead is not included with a DVD player and needs to be purchased seperatly.

If you do not have a Scart... try this.
Plug your aerial lead into the DVD player (RF In) and then with another lead (usually not supplied) you need to connect the RF Out (female connecter) to you TV. This will send the standard TV picture to your TV via the DVD player. Tune your TV until you see a picture.
Once you have a picture, play a DVD an see if the DVD will output the picture via the RF lead to your TV.

worzel

I don't think you can receive a signal from the aerial through a DVD player like you can a video. So you need a second hole in your tv, one way or another (red, yellow blue sockets perhaps if no scart) then set the TV to AV.

If you only have the one hole in your TV for coax you could always unplug the aerial and swap it for the DVD lead.

Tiawamutu

...unless it's a dvd recorder

worzel

True but he said player not recorder

diddy

Thanks, yep $40 bucks for the TV from the Sally Army - always good when you're starting out over here.

So, if I do the telly via the DVD, having only an aerial output in the TV should work?

I've checked and checked and there is only one output from the telly.

Paul.

Tiawamutu

yeh ah no......I don't like it

Was just trying to Say it works with DVD recorders

worzel

Dick Smith have an offer on in Perth of a 51cm colour tv for $119 and plenty of scart / s-video sockets. Might be worth an investment if they do it over there?

Big Galah

Do you mean only 1 input to the TV - the aerial ?

If that's the case you need to check the DVD player has RF out - otherwise it's no use to you (unless you want to go via a VCR).

If it does, get a separate RF lead (like the one from a VCR to the TV) and an RF aerial splitter (from Dick Smith). Plug the splitter into the back of the TV and you should then be able to plug the aerial and DVD player into it.

Play a DVD and tune it in as a separate channel.

That should work and allow you to switch between TV channels and the DVD. Otherwise you'd have to mess around at the back of the TV every time you wanted to use the DVD player.

BTW - SCART is also known as a EURO connector, and is not as common here as 5-lead component (Y + Cb + Cr = VIDEO) and (red + white = AUDIO).

Composite( red white and yellow leads/connectors) is more common video out from VCRs here, but can also be output from a DVD player.

S-video is different again.

RF Out gives the the lowest quality ouput of all these, but if your TV only cost $40 then it's probably not worth worrying about.

Cheers,

Big.

diddy

Thanks guys for this.

Unless I've got an RF output then I may have to buy a new telly.

Stupid question, Big Gallah, but how do I tell if it's got an RF output. Also, I don't mind changing over at back of telly if this helps.

Paul.

Trevglas

If it has RF out, it will have a socket for a coax cable (this will look just like the one you plug the ariel into on the back of the TV).

Apart from DVD recorders, I have never seen a DVD player with an RF OUT socket. The options you have are therefore

1. Forget about DVD for now
2. Get a new TV
3. Connect the DVD up to your VCR (using the AV leads: the plugs and sockets are colour coded, normally yellow, red and white, where yellow is the video and white and red are the sound)
4. Try to pick up a box called an RF modulator. These are sometimes used with games consoles to play the game on a TV.


By the way SCART plugs are not that common here, although they are beginning to appear on new kit.

diddy

Thanks for this, so I can connect via the video right?

The leaflet says don't do this as it distorts picture?

Paul.

Trevglas

You would obviously get a better picture by connecting the DVD player directly to the TV, but at you originally pointed out, you have an old TV, and direct connection is not an option.

By the way, when we first bought a DVD player, we also had an old TV and had to operate the DVD through the VCR. The picture was still better than you would ever get from a video tape.

In our case, our VCR was also ancient, and only had mono sound. We had to buy a 2 into 1 audio lead to get the full sound.

diddy

Thanks.

Paul.

Bob

Problem with feeding a DVD player through a VCR is macro protection, could scramble the output signal, so might need to have the player...the RF modulator in that case would be the better bet...