More sound with no video (but the other way round)

[grandsire02]

I am recording (or trying to record) from my PC on to a VCR. When I play the tape back the sound is OK but I am not getting any picture – just a black screen. I have tried WIN-DVD7, WMP 10 and Creative Media Player to play the video files on my PC, all with the same result. When recording to the VCR, if I put the relevant video player in ‘restore down’ mode, the VCR does record my PC desktop together with the video player’s skin (and my cursor movements if I move the mouse around), but still a black video player screen! Can anyone suggest why this is and what I can do to remedy it? I am running XP Home and have a Radeon 9200SE video card.

[redwudz]

Sounds like an overlay problem. Check your video card settings. I use VLC for outputting to my video projector and it works well for that. I start the player and drag it over to the other screen.

I use a ATI 9550 and check 'Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor' for the second display. You may need to set your screen resolution/refresh different for the output to the VCR also. I'm having good luck with the newer ATI Catalyst drivers.