B&W picture using Onkyo TX-SR505

 

New member
Username: Jack_c

Winona, MN United States

Post Number: 5
Registered: Apr-08
So I get my new Onkyo TX-SR505 receiver yesterday. Plug my DVD recorder, DVD player and cable box into it. Turn on the TV and I get a black and white picture. The first time it changed to color after a few seconds, the second time it stayed B&W. Didn't matter if I tried the cable box or the DVD recorder. Thought it was my crummy old composite cable, so I tried another of my crummy old composite cables - no change. Hooked it up with the video straight to my 4-into-1 RF modulator (bypassing the receiver), using the same cables, picture returned to normal. I have to use the modulator as we had a power surge a few years back and now the only input that works on the TV is the coaxial cable.

Any ideas? It's not a big deal as I wasn't really planning on running the video through the receiver, but I would kind of like it to work. Maybe I should try a higher quality coaxial composite video cable? Maybe the RF modulator is causing the problem? Though the old cables and modulator work fine when I don't run the video through the receiver.
 

Silver Member
Username: Jrbay

Livonia Detroit area, Michigan USA

Post Number: 183
Registered: Feb-08
First though was that you had a bent pin on an S-Video cable but you are using composite (yellow) right? Then trying to plug it into an antenna coax? Well there may be your problem because the new Onkyo will not "modulate" the signal to channel 3. For some reason I find the dictionary defining these things better than I!

From Wikipedia:

Composite video is the format of an analog television (picture only) signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier.

Hope this help!
 

New member
Username: Jack_c

Winona, MN United States

Post Number: 6
Registered: Apr-08
Yeah, I'm using a composite cable (yellow). I run it from the "monitor out" jack on the receiver to an RF modulator, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Video-Selector-RF-Modulator/dp/B000165AOY The modulator allows me to plug in several devices using composite cables, and output them via coax cable to the TV (because the coax input is the only one that works on my TV).

It might have something to do with the channel, I'll have to think about it. It's almost as if the signal from the receiver isn't precisely on channel 3. Maybe it's far enough off to screw up the color but not so far off as to mess up anything else. If I hook it up that way again, maybe I can try the tuning control on the TV and see if that fixes it.

Thanks for the idea!
 

Silver Member
Username: Jrbay

Livonia Detroit area, Michigan USA

Post Number: 187
Registered: Feb-08
Actually the point is that you need an RF modulator to transfer the signal from Composite to RF. Your new Onkyo does not have a modulator so I do not think any tuning of your TV tuner is going to help on this one.
 

New member
Username: Jack_c

Winona, MN United States

Post Number: 7
Registered: Apr-08
Well, I've got an RF modulator, and what i normally do is this:

Cable box > (composite cable) > modulator > (coax cable) > TV

That works fine. But when I got the new receiver, I tried this:

Cable box > (composite cable) > Onkyo > (composite cable) > modulator > (coax cable) > TV

That causes the TV picture to be black and white. I would think the Onkyo would pass the signal through unaltered, but it's apparently doing something to it.
 

Silver Member
Username: Jrbay

Livonia Detroit area, Michigan USA

Post Number: 195
Registered: Feb-08
Ah Ha! Well I see what your saying now. Sorry for taking so long to catch up with you!
Well you are right, the Onkyo should not significantly alter the signal except it will cause some resistance so now I am wondering how "crummy" your old composite cables are. Are they that old, damaged, or really long?
If so, I suspect that by adding the Onkyo and another cable to the pathway that this might be causing the problem. there is a clue in all of this that it worked for a brief time. I am wondering if you use one device with your best and/or shortest cables if you wouldn't get the color back. Still seems strange though
 

New member
Username: Jack_c

Winona, MN United States

Post Number: 8
Registered: Apr-08
That might be it. My cables are old, don't really know how old but they've been around for a long time. Very crummy, the one I used was actually an old RCA audio cable, I pulled the two wires apart to make two single cables out of it. Dumb I know. No external damage, but there may very well be some internal problems. They're long as well. I run a 6' cable from the cable box to the RF modulator, but with the Onkyo, it's a 6' cable from the cable box to the Onkyo, then a 12' cable from there back to the RF modulator.

Then of course the RF modulator degrades the signal quality a bit more.

What type of cables cause the least resistance? I've got a brand new 12' coax digital audio cable (RG59U) that I use for the audio from the DVD recorder to the Onkyo, and another 6' which I should get Saturday or Monday.

I'll have to try hooking the cable box up with those when I get the other one. That sounds like it definitely might help. When I've had bad cables in the past, it would usually cause some distortion, like a line moving slowly from left to right across the screen. But maybe if the length and low quality of the cables are just putting a whole lot of resistance in the signal path, it might generally degrade the signal to the point where I lose the color.

Thanks for all the advice!
 

Silver Member
Username: Jrbay

Livonia Detroit area, Michigan USA

Post Number: 197
Registered: Feb-08
I think you are on the right track (I strongly resist putting your name here )

With that being said, you don't have to spend big money on the best cables to fix this problem decent cables from a place like monoprice.com should do it. Please let us know the results and good luck!
 

New member
Username: Jack_c

Winona, MN United States

Post Number: 9
Registered: Apr-08
I got my other 6' coax cable from Monoprice. Hooked it up like this:

cable box > (new 6' coax cable) > Onkyo > (new 12' coax cable) > RF modulator > (old coax cable) > TV.

I not only have color, but I think the 18' of new coax gives me a noticeably better picture than 6' of my crappy old composite cable! Thanks so much for your help Jim, for a while there I thought there was something wrong with my new receiver, and that would have been a MAJOR bummer!

Next time I get a few extra bucks I'm ripping out all my old junk cables and replacing the whole mess. I was being cheap about it because I figure I'll be getting an HDTV in a year or two, so what's the point in getting new composite cables when I'll be replacing them with HDMI and component anyway. Looks like I was too cheap!
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