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S-Video to RCA is Black and White
I have a Dell inspiron 1420
I purchased a cable with a 7 pin S-Video & Headphone plugs on one end of the cable and 3 composite RCA plugs on the other end. I want to plug my laptop into my television and make the TV a second monitor..
Everything seems to works fine, but the picture on my television is black and white when I connect the cable. This is the second cable like this I have purchased and I'm beginning to think it's a setting on my computer that's causing the lack of color.
Any Ideas?
MicroTest
934 Posts
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May 5th, 2013 16:00
Check if there are any PAL/NTSC/Secam settings in the display control panel.If so try each of them.
chris.boyd
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May 7th, 2013 16:00
I looked through my settings on the tv and didn't see any of these listed. I should mention I have a Philips projection HDTV 50PL9126D TV.
I looked on my computer as well but was unsure where to look to find the settings you mentioned.
MicroTest
934 Posts
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May 7th, 2013 17:00
It was just an idea - I am not familiar with your system.I have a USB video grabber that converts analog video signals into a digital signal.To make this work properly I have to change the software settings from NTSC (American system) to PAL (European system) since my old VHS tape recorder is also based on PAL.If I don't do that the picture is black and white - different technology......
Below is an excerpt of the manual for your system :
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_inspiron_laptop/inspiron-1420_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf
chris.boyd
3 Posts
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May 7th, 2013 19:00
Thanks for the posts, I really do appreciate it. However I was messing around with settings for almost an hour and still can't get color. I get real crisp and clear black and white, but can't seem to find that elusive color. I swear i had some for a few seconds but it went away and haven't been able to get it back. Not sure what I must be missing
MicroTest
934 Posts
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May 8th, 2013 06:00
The "7-pin mini-DIN"-connector is a variant of the standard 4-pin S-video connector.According to Wikipedia the three extra sockets may be used to supply composite video.But that doesn't seem to be the case for Dell laptops.
www.svideo-rca.com/dell.htm
The three additional pins are obviously used for digital Audio - I assumed that one of the pins provides a Composite signal(=Chrome + Y mixed together)
In you case Chrome + Y are available separately only - according to the standard 4-pin S-video layout.What you need is a S-video to RCA converter (cheap cable just wire Y and C together without filtering) that adds C & Y appropriately to a composite signal.
Some people on the Web report the same cable works on one Dell laptop but not on another different model ? !
For more information check out the links below - it's worthwhile reading:
http://www.svideo-rca.com/
www.svideo-rca.com/dell.htm