Field Monitor woes
 

Hello all,

I am trying to get a external monitor set up for my father in laws XH-A1 Camera. I have taken the 1/8 inch jack on the back of the camera used the cable that converts this to RCA to hook it up to a normal LCD TV, and then nothing happens. Is there some way to use an external monitor with this? Or is there a menu setting that I am missing. Thanks for any help!

Patrick

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

If it's a regular TV, the hookup won't be automatic. Check your TV settings and make sure that it's inputting from the RCA jacks.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

I have done that. i also tried multiple TV's. And still no signal. The switch on the back of the camera is set to the appropriate Video input. I really have no idea why it is not connecting. Thanks for the suggestion!

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

But you're trying to output from the camera, right? Or are you trying to input to the camera from the TV?

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

I am trying to monitor what the camera is seeing while the camera is recording. My father in law wants to shoot by himself, so he wants the TV to show what the camera is seeing, while he records. So output from the camera to the TV.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

I have done this so may times. You need to select channel 3 on your TV use the RCA cable from the camera to your TV and that's it.

Good Luck.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

Are you using the 1/8 inch to RCA cable that came with the camcorder (has 3 (yellow, red, and white) RCA conenctors)? The typical 2-conductor RCA ot 1/8 cable will not work properly.

See page 99 of the manual. Be sure the switch by the jack is set to the A/V1 position. And be sure the monitor supports the video format you are outputting.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

thanks for all the replys!

1. Yes, I am using the cable that was supplied with the camera, it has the 3 Red, Yellow, and White plugs with the 1/8 inch plug on the other side.

2. Matthew, I have not tried putting it on channel 3 yet. I will give that a shot tonight! Thanks for the tip!

3. Don, I will reread the manual and see if I missed something. Also what do you mean by format? It is a hd capable TV, and I am trying to send normal SD 4:3 to it. Would frame rate throw the TV off as well? It has been a long time since I have done any of this so I am not sure these days.


Thanks again for all the help guys!

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

Do you get any sound?

What make/model monitor are you using?

Some possible items to check:
If the monitor has a s-video input, having something plugged into it may disable the composite input.
Some TV sets may require explicite selection and configuration of the input you want to use; i.e., tellit youwant to use the composite video input with a SD (480i) signal.
Some sets had AV output jacks that look just like AV input jacks. Connecting to them does nothing.
Make sure the 1/8" plug at the camcorder is fully inserted (it has 4 contacts, not just 3).

Selecting channel 3 may not help. That would apply if you are using a RF adapter to allow connection to the ant. terminal of the TV.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

Thanks for tips Don.

1. Matthew, I tried it on Channel 3 and it didn't work.

2. Don, I get no sound or picture, the TV says "No Signal"

3. The make and model are: Element Electronics, ELEFW195

4. Don, I unplugged everything except for the RCA's on the TV, and then I double checked to make sure that it was plugged into the "in" ports.

5. I was unable to find anything in the menu of the TV about telling it what signal it should use.

Should I replace the cable? That is the only thing I haven't tried. I restored the camera and the TV to the factory defaults to see if I had some kind of special setting wrong on the camera and that failed as well.

Sorry to be so difficult, I have done this exact thing in the past and I have no idea why this is being so difficult now. Thanks again for all the help guys.

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

Can you connect a conventional VCR or DVD player using the composite video cables to the TV/Monitor. Do you get audio and video OK?

Can you try connect the camcorder to a different TV? Does it play OK?

Re: Field Monitor woes
 

Can you try the component video output?