Hi. I have a Zenith XBS444, which so far I've been very happy with. It's got 2 composite A/V inputs, component output, S-video output, and ANT IN/ANT OUT, and plays DVDs and VHSs to boot.
We have a decent TV that's right under it, nothing fancy but just has S-video input. We just got this TV today.
What I planned was to hook up just the S-video to the TV, I assumed that since the Zenith HTIB allows you to select your input, it would take that input and output it through all the output channels it can, including the speakers that came with the HTIB.
I planned to just hook up the S-Vid to the TV, and no sound, so that you'd just hear the sound of the HTIB Speakers which sound much better.
Problem is, when the S-Vid is connect between the two, and TV set to S-Vid input, it just displays a default "Zenith" screen that the HTIB displays, for example, when DVD is selected but there's nothing in the tray. Why is the HTIB not outputting any video signals to the S-Vid output so the TV can display it?
Also, The basic cable works when attached to the HTIB, then another (F/coax) cable connecting the HTIB to the TV. But, the basic cable doesn't work at all (blue screen) when attached directly to the TV. What's up with that?
Thanks for all the help, I know this post is both exhaustive and exhausting!
"Problem is, when the S-Vid is connect between the two, and TV set to S-Vid input, it just displays a default "Zenith" screen that the HTIB displays, for example, when DVD is selected but there's nothing in the tray. Why is the HTIB not outputting any video signals to the S-Vid output so the TV can display it?"
On these combo-type units, the s-video and component outputs are reserved for DVD only. You will have to hook up the unit's VCR composite video output seperately to another video input on your television or just stick with composite (which will not give you as good a picture as s-video will on DVD).
One thing you could try, if your set only has one set of A/V inputs, is to go to the store and purchase a multi-source video switcher that can deal with s-video and composite sources. Hook the switcher using both s-video and composite. Then hook the DVD player part of your combo unit to the no. 1 A/V input ports (s-video) on the switcher using s-video. After that, hook the VHS VCR part of your combo unit to the no. 2 A/V input ports (composite) to the switcher. Then, with the TV on monitor mode (video input), you can simply switch between the DVD player and the VCR.
Another solution would be to consider buying a new TV with multiple inputs (if your current television only has one set of inputs).
"Also, The basic cable works when attached to the HTIB, then another (F/coax) cable connecting the HTIB to the TV. But, the basic cable doesn't work at all (blue screen) when attached directly to the TV. What's up with that?"
Could it be that your television is set to ANTENNA mode as opposed to CATV? This would be the case if you can't receive anything above channel 13 with a direct connection of your cable service to your television. - Reinhart