Brightness Problem

[marksk]

I've just bought my Starlogic DVD player from Amazon and noticed that on some - but not all - DVDs the brightness does an odd thing. The brightness gets ever so slightly lighter then alternates at 1 second intervals between the original brightness and the new brightness. This goes on for about 10 seconds. Then 1 minute or so later the brightness goes back up and alternates again. Any ideas??? 8)

[lordsmurf]

Macrovision

[Richard_G]

Connect it directly to your TV and not via a VCR.

[marksk]

Ah! So you guessed it's linked up through the VCR! My TV has no scart socket so it was my only option. Thanks for the info!

[Richard_G]

Macrovision is an anti copy signal put on the DVD (and a lot of pre-recorded VHS tapes) that confuses a video recorder. As you are going via a VCR the macrovision is being detected. If you have no scart on the TV your only other alternative is a modulator to convert the video/audio signal from your DVD player into an RF signal that you can tune your TV into.

[bendada]

A better way is to get a SCART adapter

[pepegot1]

Go here fo a good cheap solution:http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer.html

[Richard_G]

A better way is to get a SCART adapter

As his TV doesn't have a scart socket, what help would that be? If he doesn't have scart, I'm assuming that the current setup is DVD scart to VCR scart and then RF modulator in the VCR to aerial connector on the TV.

[Richard_G]

Go here fo a good cheap solution:http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer.html

But he's in London and the link you provided clearly says they only ship to the US and Canada. A stabiliser like this would need to go between the DVD player and VCR so still isn't ideal, a means of getting the DVD signal directly into the TV has got to be better.

[bendada]

You can purchase SCART to S-video adapters, SCART to phono adapters, any kind of adapter. You just need to do a little legwork

Just type "SCART adapter" into your browser's search. In fact, I did that for you and found a good match at a company in the UK:

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/scartleads.html

[Richard_G]

Unfortunately, none of these will help. UK televisions will have a scart socket first and then may have phono sockets as well. Usually, scart is on the back and phonos are on the front so you can plug your camcorder in. If a TV doesn't have a scart socket, it won't have any other external AV inputs so no amount of cables will do any good.

One day, I'll get round to writing a guide on scart sockets. As they are a European thing, anyone outside Europe doesn't understand them. Come to that, a lot of Europeans don't seem to either!

[bendada]

Here's a UK company that provides the needed modulator

http://www.threedoubleyou.com/rfmodulators.htm

And, by the way, I do understand SCART. Just wasn't aware that if a "UK television" doesn't have a SCART input, then it has no other inputs beside RF. The French really did a number on you guys with that moronic standard (I read somewhere that SCART was probably originally designed to prevent TV imports to France)

[Richard_G]

The French really did a number on you guys with that moronic standard (I read somewhere that SCART was probably originally designed to prevent TV imports to France)

I wasn't aware the French started it, but it wouldn't surprise me, but why moronic? It is totally idiot proof for the average person that simply wants to buy his TV, VCR, satellite receiver, DVD player and just plug them in. At least you can't get it wrong like you can with composite or component. You can't plug a scart plug in any way other than how it is supposed to go, unlike a TV covered in hundreds of different coloured phono (sorry RCA, if you must advertise) sockets. They also have an auto switching pin so that a TV will automatically select the correct input. If I press PLAY on my DVD player or VCR, the TV automatically selects the corresponding input, press STOP and it switches back to TV tuner.

The only time they cause problems is when people start trying to do things slightly out of the ordinary or use the wrong adapters (such as trying to use an IN scart adapter supplied with a camcorder to get video OUT of something). My only complaint is that they can be an absolute bastard to wire when you want all 21 pins and are using decent quality (ie thick) cables!