Problems connecting blu-ray player to TV

Ben84

This seemingly simple task is turning out to be hard work, so any help from others who may understand something I don't would be excellent.

Basically, I have a TV set (beovision 9000) from around 1980, and I'm trying to connect a blu-ray player to its coax socket through a modulator. I've taken the composite video, left and right audio signals by phono cables to the modulator and tuned the TV to the correct channel it transmits on. I have perfect sound, but the picture is horrible. Unstable, rolling and with weird colours. I'm starting to suspect the blu-ray player is actually not PAL - which is the only signal my TV can accept. It's confusing, as the settings in the menu and the manual refer to it as a 576/480i signal. It's not clear when set to this which one is being produced, and there's no mention if it's 50 or 60 Hz either. I'm stuck, so wondering if anyone else has had this problem? Is there a way to make sure my player is producing a PAL signal to eliminate the possibility this is the problem, or maybe even fix it (I can hope!).

googler

The specs in the user manual for the BluRay should confirm this. Did you buy it new in the UK? If so, odds-on are that it is a standard PAL machine.

What make and model? Who made the modulator?

ifstar

Surely you are missing out if you are connecting a 1080p Blu-ray player to a non HD tv from the 1980s?

I would have thought that this would be the most likely cause of the problems.

Ben84

googler wrote: »

The specs in the user manual for the BluRay should confirm this. Did you buy it new in the UK? If so, odds-on are that it is a standard PAL machine.

What make and model? Who made the modulator?

Good point, I forgot to mention it's a Samsung BD-C6900. The manual isn't very useful in general, it's rather vague about many things and it says nothing about refresh rate. However, I bought it in the UK.

The modulator is made by SLX and is pretty simple on the outside, with the only user controls being there to switch the channel it outputs to.

Now, as the 576i resolution is combined with the 480i I started to guess it might be decided by the disc you play and tried a PAL DVD. It did seem better, more square and lined up with the screen and with less weird colours. Still flickering a lot and a bit distorted however, so something is still wrong.

Ben84

ifstar wrote: »

Surely you are missing out if you are connecting a 1080p Blu-ray player to a non HD tv from the 1980s?

I would have thought that this would be the most likely cause of the problems.

Well, it might seem that way, but I prefer the CRT TVs to flat screens. Haven't quite placed what the difference is, but I find it more immersing, I can forget I'm watching TV so much easier with an old tube TV. Maybe it's just familiarity, but I guess we all know what we like.

Meanwhile, having a blu ray makes it easy to buy any disc I find in the shops and this player allows streaming from BBC iplayer too, which would be good.

Still, I really did expect from the statement that it can output 576i resolution that it was a PAL compatible player. Maybe I was wrong.

Lumstorm

I maybe wrong but I think the BD player will output a 60Hz signal which should be ok with most TV's manufactured in the last 20 years. Fact is though BD is not intended to be used on a set that old time to update the TV or go back to DVD.

I_have_spoken

I'm amazed anyone's even thought of connecting blueray to an 1980's telly via RF!

Getting it working, dunno, but I would think you'd need an expensive converter that can lock to different timings from the player.

It may even be that the DRM copy-protection on blueray is interfering with the signal, stopping the old TV locking to the picture.

googler

Try another modulator.

Trawl eBay for an analogue VCR or DVD recorder that will take the component/composite video & audio feed, and which will have an RF modulator built-in. It's clumsier than current solution, but worth a try.

You can buy these machines for buttons on the Bay.

Have you successfully used the current modulator with any other source components?

custardy

I know its off topic
why did you go bluray?
you get on benefit and have a generally more expensive medium to buy
DVD would have been the more apt choice

Ben84

custardy wrote: »

I know its off topic
why did you go bluray?
you get on benefit and have a generally more expensive medium to buy
DVD would have been the more apt choice

I think you're right, DVD is much easier to get working with this TV. However, I don't find blu ray more expensive, well not always. My laptop plays blu ray and DVD, and I've gathered a lot of blu ray discs just by buying them when they're cheaper. So, that's saved money. As for the blu ray player for the TV, I'm not expecting HD, it just seemed logical at the time to get a player which plays all the discs I already have. It would be good for movie nights too, as friends often come over and we watch films. Right now we can only play DVDs on the TV, but they also have blu ray discs they can bring over if I can find a way to play them on the big TV.

Ben84

googler wrote: »

Try another modulator.

Trawl eBay for an analogue VCR or DVD recorder that will take the component/composite video & audio feed, and which will have an RF modulator built-in. It's clumsier than current solution, but worth a try.

You can buy these machines for buttons on the Bay.

Have you successfully used the current modulator with any other source components?

I have tried two modulators, so I now think it's that my TV doesn't work with 60hz and possibly the colour coding from the player is not PAL either. I don't have a VCR any more, but far as I know, it will do exactly the same thing as a modulator does?