[tjk417]

I've been using my TV as a second monitor to watch movies for about a month now with no problems. But today when I tried to watch a movie I got a black and white image from the TV. Everything is displaying correctly (with sound) but there just isn't any color coming from the TV.

I've ruled out the cables being the problem, as well as the TV, because they all work fine under different circumstances.

I've looked for a solution on the internet and now have wound up here with no success. I've tried changing the signal format from NTSC to PAL (i.e. M/NTSC --> B/PAL; though when I change the settings here, the computer changes both displays, one and two, to NTSC or PAL; meaning I can't have one as a PAL and the other as NTSC), disconnecting and reconnecting all cables, and of course re-booting.

My computer is a Dell Dimension 9100, with Microsoft Windows XP ver. 2002, SP3. The information that comes up from my ATI Catalyst Control Center says that the graphics adapter is a Radeon X600 256MB HyperMemory [DELL E173FP]/[Default TV]. Oh and the TV's a Magnavox, but like I said, the TV's working fine (cable, PS3).

I'm not sure what other information to give right now so let me know if I need to provide anything else.

Also feel free to contact me via e-mail if it suits you (<email removed>).

[Elvandil]

Try the fine-tuning on the TV. If it is automatic, see if you can find a manual setting.

(Your email was removed. This is a public forum and we share problems and solutions. You would also be picked up by bots scanning the net for email addresses and get flooded with SPAM.)

[tjk417]

By fine-tuning I assume you mean the brightness, contrast, and color levels of the TV.

Yeah I did, still nothing. And thanks for the heads up on the e-mail. I'm sorry.

[tjk417]

bump?

[tjk417]

uhh still looking for an answer here

[tjk417]

Just got done re-formatting my whole computer (groan) and still no change on the second display. Can someone please help?

[fairnooks]

What kind of connection is it exactly (I've read and re-read and can't see it for some reason)? Pins? Connections could be damaged. RCA-type Component, one of the color channels has failed on that connection giving either a bright-ish B&W or a dark-ish B&W. If its just the one Composite cable, I dunno. S-Video, one or more of the pins is not making contact. VGA and DVI, pins either damaged or not working. HDMI, again, I dunno.

It would be nice to be able to test the connection using anything else that you know will put out a color signal. Just from what you've written it doesn't appear you've tested that yet, doesn't matter if the cables or TV work fine in different circumstances unless by different you mean on that same connection with some other device.

Also,is there any possibility of trying/using a different connection type between compter and TV?

I've had a similar problem with a VGA connection, it just wouldn't quite go on far enough to make good contact and while it didn't render B&W, it was a distorted mono-color. A different VGA connector that fit better solved that problem.

[tjk417]

I've got an S-Video to S-Video cable going into an RF Modulator with RCA cables going to my TV for sound (there's one going into the modulator and one coming out going into the TV). Finally there's a cable that goes from the TV to the Modulator (the typical cable for basic-cable television, the one that screws into the TV, I forget what it's called). The modulator is plugged in of course.

Again this set-up worked just fine for a while and then obviously now this problem.

So are you saying I should try out a different modulator (which means I'd have to purchase another one) or go with a different set-up entirely? I'm using what I had available to me at the time, so I don't by any means think this is a very simple set-up that I've created, and I'm entirely open for a different method if it will save me the headache.

So I guess, to answer my question, yes I can change my set-up.

I'm only asking here because I want to know if there's something I'm missing that I could fix. I'd prefer to know what the problem is so I don't have to run into the same mistake again.

Last thought, the modulator was on for several hours (probably about 6) without ever being turned off. Is it possible that anything burned out?

[tjk417]

Thanks for the response btw.

[Ditchster]

Question is, does your tv have hdmi - if so you should connect your dvi output to the tv (asuming your card has dual dvi) via a hdmi cable and a dvi to hdmi adapter.

[fairnooks]

S-video and Coax should be dead simple, if you had like a DVD player you could hook up S-video to the modulator and then by coax to the TV independent of the modulator and you get two different results then you've found your problem. Its all about finding the exact source of the problem with the tools at hand by bypassing and swapping alternates.

That said, along the lines of Ditchster's post, almost anything is better than S-video, some connections MUCH better, such as DVI to HDMI or VGA to VGA if available. Video is passable via S-video but I can use my 37 and 42 inch TVs as nich sharp computer monitors and DVD-quality video stays DVD-quality when played back.

[tjk417]

I hear ya but the TV's old and it's all I have to work with. So no my TV doesn't have hdmi.

And fairnooks I tried your approach, and I'm still running into the same problem once I bring everything back together. The cables all seem to work like they should.

I don't know what else to do with the hardware, which really just leaves me wondering about how my computer's holding up.