Sumsung tv av out to DVD not working

[firleord84]

Hello all,
Ok, here is a once-over of my equipment. I have a newish (2006) Samsung CRT tv and a Sony DVD Recorder about the same age. I recently cancelled my cable so I am on antenna-only channels now. My DVD recorder does not come with a tuner, so I used to use an old VCR simply as a tuner for the DVD recorder.

However, that bit the dust so I got a converter box to act as the tuner. Keep in mind that this worked fine. But then I got the bright idea of using my tv's AV Out connection to my DVD recorder so that I didn't even need that converter.

So far that hasn't been sucessful. I have my digital rabbit ears on top of the tv connected to the coaxial input on the tv. I then have the AV Out connected to the DVD's AV In, and the DVD's AV Out connected to the tv's AV In. All of these are connected with composite (RCA) cables. What happens is that when I switch my tv to AV1 input, the picture is frozen on the screen and then starts to repeat itself up the screen with an increasingly loud humming sound, almost like something is stuck in an infinite loop.

I figured that since the AV Out on the tv was composite-only, I might be lucky enough to have a down-converter built into the tv, negating the need for the converter box. From the results, I may not have been lucky. Does anyone have any ideas? Is this a hardware issue or should I try something else?

My DVD recorder is slowly going senile anyway. Most of the time it has disk errors on DVDs it itself recorded, and then you have to repeatedly load the DVD until eventually it will accept it and be fine. It also feels the need to write lead-out on the disks when you try to open the tray, even if you were only playing them, not recording them.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

Would you mind posting the model number of your Samsung TV? I'd like to check out some information on it to see if I can help you out better.

 

[firleord84]

Welcome to the forum!

Would you mind posting the model number of your Samsung TV? I'd like to check out some information on it to see if I can help you out better.

Thanks for the reply! Certainly you can, my tv is a TX-T2793HX

 

[Adam]

If I had to guess, I'd say that your TV doesn't actually have the ability to convert digital video to an analog video output. I don't know that for sure, but I suspect it.

If the converter box is still working, that seems like the best choice for now with your current DVD recorder (I'm assuming it only has an analog tuner).

You've probably seen them, but there are DVD recorders with hard drives built in and digital tuners. My parents love the Philips that I got them years ago, but they don't make them anymore. Magnavox makes a similar one ($220 at Amazon). I haven't gotten one myself because, while they will upconvert to 1080, they record at 480.

 

[firleord84]

I was afraid you'd say that. And of course when I put it back exactly the way it was, it doesn't function in the same way anymore. Now I have to have the converter on and have the signal go through the DVD. The converter passthru isn't working for some reason. Go figure.

My current DVD recorder has no tuner at all. Even if they still broadcast in analog, I couldn't hook up the antenna directly to the DVD recorder. It has to pass through some device with a tuner first.

It seems difficult to find a DVD player with a tuner anymore. I suppose they assume everyone has cable or satellite, and they would be right for the most part. I'll look into it the next time I'm in the market for a DVD player, which may in fact be soon.

Thanks for your help!

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

So far that hasn't been sucessful. I have my digital rabbit ears on top of the tv connected to the coaxial input on the tv. I then have the AV Out connected to the DVD's AV In, and the DVD's AV Out connected to the tv's AV In. All of these are connected with composite (RCA) cables. What happens is that when I switch my tv to AV1 input, the picture is frozen on the screen and then starts to repeat itself up the screen with an increasingly loud humming sound, almost like something is stuck in an infinite loop.

Yes, an infinite loop is exactly what you have! You’ve essentially looped the TV’s output directly back into an input. Placing a DVD recording in the signal chain doesn’t change that, as the signal is passing straight through it.

It seems difficult to find a DVD player with a tuner anymore. I suppose they assume everyone has cable or satellite, and they would be right for the most part. I'll look into it the next time I'm in the market for a DVD player, which may in fact be soon.

Better start shopping soon! DVD recorders are essentially a dead product category. They never worked that well to begin with and were too complicated for non-technical users.

You can read about the demise of the consumer DVD-R format at this thread, paying attention to the posts by Citibear.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[firleord84]

Hi Wayne,
Is this post implying that HDD recording is quickly going to become the only type of recording? And if so, what about permanent backup that disks in general provide? Just connect the HDD to your comp when it gets full and dump the memory? I'm not at all familiar with that type of recording on tv, sorry.

Thanks.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

IIR time shifting was what most people used their VCRs for more than anything else, so a DVR (HDD) is much better suited and makes more sense for time shifting than a DVD recorder.

Still, as you know a DVR won’t cut it if you need a permanent copy of something. I get the impression from that thread that a lot of people are using video capture devices to dump everything to a computer, where they can edit with software much easier than from a DVD recorder, and then burn a final copy with the computer’s high-speed DVD burner.

Short of that, a DVD recorder with a HDD makes good sense, since you can pre- edit the recording and then do a high-speed disc burn, which gets more longevity out of the recording laser.

But as the thread notes, DVD recorders are a dying format, so you might want to snag one now if the video-capture-co-computer option doesn’t appeal to you. Alternately, there are some professional blu-ray recorders on the market, but they are very expensive.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[firleord84]

Wow, that seems a little complicated just to get files off the DVR. But I guess that's for copyright. Technically speaking you are allowed to make backup copies of programs for personal use, but we all know how easy to it is to break the "personal use" clause.

I guess I can live with that. I already have HD conversion software since I copy files to DVD for my sister-in-law when her HD camcorder runs low on space (but she doesn't have anything capable of playing files in HD format and wants them to play on her own DVD player).

Thanks for your advice!