A question for all you DVD owners

[Debi]

I bought a DVD player on Black Friday (the $98 deal from Walmart!) as well as a few DVD's. Every DVD that I play goes back and forth between a normal picture to a dark red and then back again. What is wrong with the DVD player that it is causing the DVD's to distort the picture? Is the DVD player defective, or did I install it wrong?

[dandave]

I wish I could help. I have managed to play only one DVD on ours, however. Even then it took me a lonnng time. I still don't know how I did it! Accckkkk!

[WDWHound]

Depending on who you connected the DVD to the TV, it could just be a loose connection. I would go back and unplug and the cable that connects them, then plug it in again. Make sure you do t5his both at the TV anbd at the DVD.

If that doesn't fix it, I am not sure what to tell you. If the problem persists, I would consider returning it.

[snoopy]

Debi, it has been my experience that you are better off buying a mid-priced DVD player. We tried buying a cheapie one year, as did my sister, and we both had nothing but problems with it. Mine skipped, hers froze up in certain places.

Of course, for all I know this could just be manufacturer problem, or it could be as WDWHound said, just something not plugged in right. But this was our experience with the Black Friday DVD players - they were junk. Which brand is it?

[Micca]

Could be several things. How old is your tv and how did you connect your player to it? You might re-check the manual. Also try that machine with some other televisions. If it's bad with more than one it's the dvd player.

[Debi]

The DVD player is a Symphonic, and is a DVD/VHS combo. I also have a Sylvania television. Does this help any?

[Jiminy102]

When we got pur first DVD player we had the same problem. We needed a box to wire it through. We went to Radio Shack and told them the problem and got what I believe is called a RF modulator. But they can tell you what you need. We have an older TV that was not made for DVD players. WE have had no trouble since and the box is usually less than $30.

[DisMNagain]

Ditto what Snoopy said.

We've gone thru 2 DVD players ...the cheapie ones....and we're now on our third. Spent a wee bit more for it and it DOES seem to be better all around. (easier to figure out even! wassup with that??)

Good luck......I feel so darn technologically challenged most days. Sheesh.....

[snoopy]

Oh, those DVD/VCR combos are really the ones you don't want to buy cheap. We also had one of those, and ended up taking it back. We ended up buying a mid priced DVD player and a top of the line VCR, and have been very happy with them both.

[Debi]

Thanks for all your help, everybody! I'll make a trip to Radio Shack today and hopefully they'll have that box. We'll take it from there!

[Lurieh]

Here's another thought:

What you might be seeing is the Macrovision copy protection software built into the DVD. It prevents people from copying the DVD onto another format(DVD, CD, or VHS). Your DVD player side might be thinking you want to record the DVD onto the VHS side while you are watching it and using the Macrovision to distort the picture. How have you hooked up the player? Are there two separate connections for the DVD side and the VHS side? If so, you may have to hook up the DVD side directly to the TV.

Godd luck!

Dave

[Debi]

That definately is a possibility, Lurieh. Because my television is a TV/VCR combo, and my DVD player is a DVD/VHS combo, it might be thinking that I'm trying to copy the DVD. There is only one connection, though, from the TV to the DVD player. Any suggestions?

[kejoda]

Is there a 800 number on the box? Maybe they will help. I know my brother once said that sometimes diffferent brands don't work well together but that was many years ago and it didn't make sense to me.

We have tape a few movies and they do go from light to dark if they are protected.

[Lurieh]

Ok, here's a quick link to a home theater forum that has some suggestions:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?threadid=102237&highlight=tv%2Fvcr

I'll just paraphrase what they are talking about. Basically, if you have two separate inputs for the TV and VCR, hook up the DVD to the TV inputs. One other suggestion calls for taking the VCR off "Record" mode. You may have a button on your remote that says tv/vcr. It toggles the VCR from record mode to TV mode. If you hit that button it may help your Macrovision problem(hit it while the DVD is playing and see what happens).

I forgot to mention that the TV/VCR button will be on your TV/VCR remote, not the DVD remote.

[Debi]

I have a button on my TV/VCR remote that is marked TV/FM. Is that the same as a TV/VCR button?

[Lurieh]

I don't think I've seen a TV/FM button before. Does your TV let you listen to radio stations? I would try it anyway, it won't hurt.

[Debi]

I'll give it a shot! No, I can't listen to the radio from my TV, so I have no idea what that button does. We'll find out, though! :)

[Debi]

Nope, that didn't work. Any other suggestions? I still plan on heading to Radio Shack tonight and hopefully get some sort of converter box (as was previously mentioned in this thead). Hopefully that'll help!

[Micca]

Sounds like you're on the trail of a solution. My bet is that it is definitely related to the way you have it connected to your tv. If your tv is a model that does not have actual video in inputs and you are using the RF attachment (with two screws like you would use to connect an antenna or an old vcr) that is definitely the issue. RS probable does have some kind of converter for that. If not, it might be time for a new tv. Even inexpensive current models will have a video input suitable for dvd. Sorry you're having so much trouble....this is supposed to be fun:rolleyes:

[Debi]

The problem has been solved! I went to Radio Shack, explained to them what was going on, and the problem was pretty obvious. What happened was that since both the DVD player and my TV have a VCR component to it, the DVD player sensed this, and intentionally caused the image to be distorted, in order to prevent illegal copying of the DVD. All DVD players have this feature now - if it senses a recording device, then it automatically distorts the picture. So, I returned the DVD/VHS player to Walmart and bought a "regular" DVD player. I'm all set now! :)

[Micca]

:D