HELP! Problem hooking up my tv!

[TorchTheWitch]

This has been making me nuts for weeks and I still can't figure out what the hell the problem is. I got a flatscreen tv to replace my old big heavy square boxy tubey tv that finally died on me after nearly two decades of faithful service. The problem is that the new tv is for some reason not recognizing the dvd/vcr player (two players in one, not two different machines).

I hooked it up with the cable that has the three red/yellow/white thingies on each end just like it was with the old tv with one end in the dvd/vcr player for dvd/vcr "output" and the other end plugged into the "video 1" holes on the new tv (just like the manual said). Then I went through the set up menu and chose the "input" for "video 1" connection had the player hooked up... just like the manual said.

However, the tv is not recognizing that the player is hooked up at all. A dvd or vcr tape does play in the player, it just isn't showing on the tv and the tv isn't even recognizing that the player is hooked up since I'm not even getting attachedI'm not even getting the little box in the corner of the screen telling me anything like I'm rewinding or there's no disc or whatever... the tv just doesn't seem to know that there's a player hooked up at all.

I even tried a different dvd player in case there was some kind of problem with my dvd/vcr player and get the same result though that player worked just fine on my friend's tv who I borrowed it from.

I also tried three different cables all of which I know work and one of them right out of the package brand new, so it's not a problem with a defective cable.

Anybody that knows anything about this kind of stuff know what the hell is the problem here? The manual is no help, the the manual for the dvd/vcr player is no help, the website for the new tv is no help, and googling for a solution to the problem hasn't helped.

Incidently, I don't have cable tv and just use the antenna and watching regular tv channels works just fine... the problem is only with the dvd/vcr player not being recognized for some reason.

[Duer 157099]

1. Are there more than one set of AV inputs on the TV?

It could be faulty connectors. Are there other types of connections available that you can check, like S-Video or HDMI?

Also, maybe jiggle the connection around a bit to see if that helps?

Run through all the various "Input" options, just to see if any of them hit the signal.

[TorchTheWitch]

3. believe it or not "jiggling" seemed to work

Actually, it wasn't really jiggling but mashing the cables into the holes harder. I don't know why but they slip in easily for the player and my stereo and my old tv but on the new tv you had to really mash them in, so they must not have been in all the way before.

Well, at least it worked for the borrowed dvd player hooked up to the "video 2" input... my player still doesn't work hooked up to the "video 1" input for some reason.

At least I got something working right. I'll fight with it more later.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[mikeytherat]

2. I can help - what is the make and model of the TV?

mikey_the_rat

[TorchTheWitch]

4. Panasonic TC-L32C22

See my post #3 above... I did get the borrowed dvd player working on the "video 2" input, but my player still doesn't work on the "video 1" input for some reason.

Could dust in the holes where the cable heads get plugged into the player cause a problem? I noticed my player is dusty as hell where stuff gets plugged in, but I didn't figure that dust could be IN the holes since I unplugged it from my old tv and plugged it right into the new tv... but maybe somehow in the process I got dust in the holes.

Is it normal to have to really mash those cable heads into the holes on the tv? They slip right in easily with all my other devices but it's the right cable. Actually, they go into the holes fine, it's that metal bit at the end that they go over that's such a tight squeeze.

Other than this hook up problem it's a really nice tv. The picture is sooooo big! And I thought my old boxy heavy tubey tv had a big screen! I love how light it is to pick up best though. The one thing I do hate about the old tv's is how damn heavy they are. What a damn project it was to get the damn thing off the stand by myself!

The dog is snoring the plaster off the ceiling again... can you hear him? Any second now he's going to wake himself up with all the noise he's making and think there's an intruder in the house not realizing it's him buzzing and honking like a Messerschmitt.


Thanks for the help!

[Betty88]

5. are you using standard or component cables?

New TV's have bunches of hookups so you have to be sure you are using the right cable and putting it in the right input.

The Yellow is usually the old style (standard) video connection then the red/white are the audio (simple stereo)

There is also a component video cable connection that is made up of 3 wires for the video and two for the audio. in the picture below the first two are audio and the rest are video on the nice new TV if HDMI is not available this is the way to go for a better picture.



Now what might be confusing is you may be putting the old style yellow video into a port that should be used for a component connection. Look at the back carefully it is very likely that Video 1 is a component connection (you could have 2 sets of these)

Take a look at this picture

See on the right the Yellow/White/Red that is the old style hookup video/audio right and left
the connections in the center are component connections 3 for video and next to that 2 for audio hope that helps.