Setting Up DVD Player

• Arrange a place where you can sit down and see the screen, use the remote control, and rearrange both ends of the video cable, all without moving.
• Don't succumb to the urge to tidy up the cabling before you get everything working right. If every time you change a video cable connection you have to squeeze behind a cabinet, you may go nuts and you may not get it to work.
• After making each video change, wait a couple seconds. You are manipulating three different devices, each of which needs to change its operation to handle the new format. Often this takes long enough that you notice the delay. If you keep changing the video settings too rapidly, you can change to the right settings but then change away again without ever realizing you already had it.
• Having audio probably won't make setup any easier, so you can probably just completely ignore the audio for now. (If you think the audio will be helpful, connect directly to the DVD audio so you'll always hear the same thing no matter how cables are rearranged or switches flipped.) (The switch-adapter probably only handles video but not audio.)
• If you're not sure where you are and want to start all over, press the Default key on the remote. This key restores all the factory settings (in North America probably NTSC, Interlaced, S-Video, Brightness=0, Contrast=0, Sharpness=Low, 3D Process Reverb Mode=Off, etc. etc.). Be careful not to press this key if you don't really mean it.

DVD Players may send their video signal out either their S-Video port or their Component Video ports, but often not both at the same time. If one is selected, the other may propagate errors, garbage, or even no signal at all.

You may be able to get around this initially by moving one of the conectors on the back of the DVD Player from the Y Component Video port to the Composite Video port (so the DVD Player's composite‑video output is connected to the switch-adapter's Y component‑video input), then disconnecting Pr or Pb or both.

Once you can read the on screen display —even if it's pink or blurry or torn or flickering— you can set everything you need to. It's unpredictable when this will happen; you might need to proceed with all the steps below before you finally get visual feedback. But be ready for this at any time; as soon as you can see the on screen display, all the rest of the steps will be much easier.

Depending on what country you're in, all TV signals may use either the NTSC format or the PAL format. (There are some other formats, but they're not very common, and not relevant to DVD Player setup.) You need to make your DVD Player send its signal in the same format your monitor expects. Once correct, the N/P setting very seldom needs to be changed again.

Likely your monitor expects signals in the same format TV uses in your country. In theory DVDs may contain information in either an NTSC‑like or a PAL‑like format; in practice though all DVDs commercially available in your region almost certainly match the format TV uses in your country. Only if you obtain DVDs from other parts of the globe for your region free DVD Player might NTSC/PAL be an issue. Some DVD Players do a decent job of converting formats internally, so you can watch a PAL DVD on an NTSC monitor, or vice versa (assuming region restrictions have also been dealt with).

(Both NTSC and PAL are interlaced analog TV formats. NTSC typically has 525 vertical lines and shows 30 frames per second [actually 60 interlaced half‑frames], which meshes with 60Hz electricity mains systems. PAL typically has 625 vertical lines [576 visible] and shows 25 frames per second [actually 50 interlaced half‑frames], which meshes with 50Hz electricity mains systems. NTSC was the first standard and was originally used for black-and-white signals; PAL is mostly about a more accurate method of impressing color information on an analog broadcast signal. NTSC is used for example in the U.S., while PAL is used for example in Australia.)

(In the DVD world, size and frequency vary and so are more important to users, while the exact method of encoding color and other information remains constant and invisible. So NTSC is used to mean pretty much the same thing as 480i, [525 visible and invisible lines at 60 half‑frames per second], while PAL is used to mean pretty much the same thing as 576i, [625 visible and invisible lines at 50 half‑frames per second]. This is a reasonable and useful common usage of these terms, even though in a strict sense the terms actually refer purely to analog signals [especially encoding methods].)

It's pretty easy to tell which format you need. If the format is right, the monitor will usually display something (maybe garbage). If the format is wrong, no harm will be done, but the monitor will be all black, not displaying anything at all.

You can set this even when you can't see the On Screen Display. A button labelled N/P on the remote control will flip back and forth from one format (NTSC) to the other (PAL). Press and release N/P; if the screen changes from all black to something (even garbage), you can stop as the setting is now correct; but if the screen changes from something to all black, put it back the way it was by pressing and releasing N/P again. If the screen was all black both before and after pressing the button, try continuing below, then if it doesn't work, press the key once more and try again.

The same setting is also available via the On Screen Display in the Preferences category as TV Mode", which may be either NTSC or PAL. (Don't mix this up with the other setting also named TV Mode but in the Video category.) Setting this through the OSD may be more convenient ...if you can see the OSD at this point.

Broadcast TV uses interlaced scan (first draw every other line, then go back to the top and draw the missed lines) while computers typically use progressive scan (draw every single line in order). By quickly drawing half the picture while the other half stays the same (and the half‑picture persists, originally because of slow posphor), interlaced scan can produce a less jerky picture where bandwidth is tightly constrained, and is less subject to having the picture completely obliterated by a burst of broadcast interference. Progressive scan can produce a crisper picture on larger screens if bandwidth and interference are not issues. Type of scan is what the letter on the end of resolution specifications is about: 1080p is progressive while 1080i is interlaced.

You need to make your DVD Player send its signal in the manner your monitor expects, which for a computer monitor is virtually certainly progressive It's pretty easy to tell which format you need. If the format is right, you will be able to (sorta) read the monitor. If the format is wrong, no harm will be done, but the monitor will just display completely illegible bands of gobbledygook colors.

(A complete format specification would include i line/dot/pixel counts in both directions (or count in just one direction and also the aspect ratio), ii whether the scan type is progressive or interlaced, and iii the frame rate. In most cases once a couple things are specified, the rest either default or are handled automatically and don't need to be explicitly stated; thus a format is often written as simply something like 1080p. The most commonly needed additional specification is frame rate; unfortunately how to write it isn't entirely standardized. You may see for example 1080p24, but you may also see 1080/24p or even just 24p.)

You can set this too even when you can't see the On Screen Display (assuming you've already correctly set NTSC or PAL). A button labelled V-MODE on the remote control, in conjunction with the button labelled ENTER, controls interlaced or progressive. Press and release V-MODE, wait a second, then press and release ENTER; if the screen changes to something you can read, you can stop as the setting is now correct. (On the iView‑102DV if you key V-MODE but don't follow by keying ENTER, your instruction won't be complete and nothing will happen.)

If it still doesn't work, try (slowly) pressing the buttons a couple more times, as V-MODE probably cycles through not only interlaced and progressive but also S-Video and YUV. As a result it may take four (rather than just two) presses to return to the original setting.

The same setting is also available via the On Screen Display in the Video category as TV Mode, which may be either P-Scan or Interlace. (Don't mix this up with the other setting also named TV Mode but in the Preferences category.) Setting it through the OSD may be more convenient ...if you can see the OSD at this point.

Your ultimate goal is to set Component to YUV (not S-Video) on the On Screen Display, and connect the three Component Video ports on the DVD Player to the three ports on the switch-adapter. If you haven't already got there, do so now.

After you get the On Screen Display (OSD) fully working, you may need to go a little further and adjust the video Brightness and Contrast settings in the OSD, perhaps to positive or even double-digit positive values. These settings may default to zero, which on some monitors may be rather dim.