Kilted Fool Posted March 13, 2002 Share Posted March 13, 2002 Ok folks, this isn't specifically Klipsch related, but I've found this forum to be very helpful when I was putting together my audio for my computer, Klipsch is the monster there, so here I am again. The wife and I went a little nuts and purchased a new DVD player, amplifier, and surround system this past weekend. We've been fiddling with the connections for a few days now, and have gotten everything to work for the most part, though we haven't managed to consolidate remotes just yet. My wife did most of the connections because she's a- the patient one and b- small enough to get in behind the entertainment center The biggest problem we're having is that DVD playback quality is terrible. We bought a few DVDs so we could enjoy having this stuff once it was all put together, and right now my VCR outputs a better picture. The picture when playing DVDs tends to "cycle" through a very bright, then a very dark picture, with occasional flickers of blue screen. Very annoying and not at all what we were expecting. (Researches model numbers in another window) Our system: 27" Sharp TV 3 yrs old (No S-Video connects, just coax and front and rear red white yellow RCAs) Sony VCR (pretty standard item, 1 1/2 yr old, think it has S-Video and others) Motorola Digital Cable Box (we have comcast, this version of the box they supplied has no S-Video or SPDIF connections, just coax or RCA) Sony 5 Disc DVD player, model DVP-NC600B (Got this for $250 on sale from $300) Yamaha receiver, model HTR-xxxx (was $400, supposedly down from $800, supposedly leftover overstock from Christmas, supposedly top of HTR line which Tweeter doesn't normally stock, they handle the higher line) Mirage AVS 200 satellites and AVS 100 center channel I believe (they had Klipsch in stock, couldn't afford them, first upgrade planned)since the pics on their site look similar. Boston Acoustics PV400 subwoofer (They didn't have the matched sub for the Mirage speakers, so they discounted this one and matched it in) Bought a Monster Cable optical for the DVD to receiver connect and a Monster Subwoofer cable. What am I doing wrong? Cable comes in to the cable box, then through the VCR, then I believe to the receiver. Just about everything is connected to the receiver, since it has something like 60 jacks on the back of it. Also, on another note, did I get boned on pricing? Receiver $400 (claimed $800 normally) DVD $250 (claimed $300 normally) Spkrs+sub $600 (claimed $500+$300 normally) cables+wire$150 Thanks much KF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 13, 2002 Share Posted March 13, 2002 Not enough information to determine what might be wrong. It sounds like a loose connection. For the best quality audio and video, minimize the number of components a signal passes through. For example, connect the DVD video directly to the TV, not through the reciever. There is no reason to send the video through a reciever unless your TV has only one input. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted March 13, 2002 Share Posted March 13, 2002 well john there are a few reasons usually most important being the on-screen-display from the receiver or pre/pro to the tube. i like it for viewing while watching dvd. iow from my couch position like to be able to readily see the volume level of the pre/pro. guess i could put a mirror up though. if THAT was hurting the video quality though yea i'd certainly go without the osd & video switching provided. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake2 Posted March 13, 2002 Share Posted March 13, 2002 For trouble-shooting purposes, follow John's suggestion and connect the RCA video output from the DVD to the RCA video input on the Tee-Vee. Make sure you select "line" as the source for the TV, BTW. If you are still having problems, but the picture looks fine when the VCR is connected the same way, I'd exchange the DVD player for a new one. Doug ------------------ My System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhbee78 Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 one time i hooked up my DVD player through my VCR just to see what would happen and the whole bright to dark thing happened to me. it sounds dumb, but make sure you dont have the DVD plugged into the VCR. im guessing this isnt the problem, but just my 2 cents. just take all the stuff back and throw it at the store manager, then when he/she wont take the equipment back because its damaged, give 'em the old 1-2 and hope they dont sue you... ------------------ Denon 1601 Sony VCR, DVD, CD Changer (all from Best Buy... that means its the 'Best') Philips CD Burner Panasonic 32" TV KSB 3.1 KSC-C1 KSF-S5 KSW-12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 KF - It sounds to me like you have the DVD going through the VCR then to the TV. This will not work. Most DVD's are copy protected. The picture problems you are seeing are due to the copy prohibition encoding on the DVD messing up the VCR. This will happen even if you are using the VCR as a straight pass through. You need to connect the video output from the DVD player to either (a) the TV directly, or ( through the Yamaha if it has video processing. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Ray's Music System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilted Fool Posted March 14, 2002 Author Share Posted March 14, 2002 Last night we lost our temper and went for a KISS principle connection setup. Pulled the VCR out of the system entirely, will be moving it upstairs and pairing it with a different TV in the office/computer room/ guest room. Then pulled all connections off the back of the receiver except the optical from DVD and the subwoofer cable. Digital cable came into the cable box and out to the coax on the tv, and we ran red and white RCA connectors into the receiver so we can get digital surround from cable movies. Ran a single RCA connector from the DVD video out to the tv, and I think that was the lot of it. Worked like a charm, seems to be fine now. I hadn't realized that the optical apparently carries the full audio signal as well, but to my half deaf ear, we had true 5.1 surround (with some juicy Replacement Killers gunfights). So the optical carries video and audio to the receiver, where audio is used and video dead ends. Video is supplied direct to TV through Video jack, which required us deleting all channels from the TV's memory except 4 (for cable box) and the Input 1/Input 2 that you use for playstation and the like. Could I put the VCR back into the loop so long as it was wall-cable box-VCR-TV on coaxial and DVD-TV(video) and DVD-Receiver(audio) on RCA connectors and optical cable respectively? And if I had a TV with S-Video or optical input capability (down the road maybe) would it make sense to run through the receiver or stick to the direct approach? I didn't really understand the on-screen display option discussed above. Now you mention it, I recall that sort of picture happening years ago when I tried to use two VCRs to dub a copy of Tombstone. Appreciate the help. It's ironic that I can build my own computer, but I get lost when I talk home or car audio. Now to cross program all the remotes and get down from 6 remotes to 1-3. Crazy. KF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake2 Posted March 15, 2002 Share Posted March 15, 2002 KF - To clarify how I read your last post...there is no video signal in the optical output from your DVD player. That is audio only. So the audio signal goes, in digital form, to your receiver, which decodes it. The video is going in analog form from your DVD player to your TV via the RCA connection. The on screen display refers to connecting a video cable from your receiver to the TV so that you can see the receiver's setup menus on the TV. Makes like pretty easy. If your TV does not have enough inputs to connect both the DVD and the receiver, you may choose to connect the DVD video into your receiver, and allow the receiver to route it to the TV via the cable you connect from the receiver to the TV. Hope that helped. Doug ------------------ My System This message has been edited by dougdrake2 on 03-15-2002 at 12:21 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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